Racism in Today’s Society

Racism is such a big topic in our world it has always been a big problem, but as time progressed it has become worse with different cases of Hispanic families being separated at the border and children being thrown in “cages” and treated like animals. Young African American kids are getting shot for being wrongfully perceived as having a weapon. Police officers are just shooting first and asking questions later. Society is being filled with so many negative situations that a lot of people put off and do not deal with or address because we are all divided. It is such a sensitive topic because it is happening to certain races and it seems like they are being targeted. Racial profiling and racism is a common issue in minority families.

There are so many stories over the years of people getting wrongfully shot for supposedly having a gun when in reality they did not have nothing, and most they obeyed the police but still lost their lives. False gun identification should not be taken lightly because the police are killing African American teens are getting away with a light sentence or even having no jail time. In The Atlantic an article written by Olga Khazan she states that, “ In a year, over 57,375 people lost their life to police violence” (Khazan 1). In just a year so many people have died due to police shootings, that is including all the races. Police are starting to have a bad reputation because of the way they do their job. Such as shooting first and asking questions later which causes pain and heart break from the families that have lost a loved one from false accusations. Khazan states that African American males are more likely to get shot by police officers. She states, “According to several different studies, black men aged 15–34 are between nine and 16 times more likely to be killed by police than other people. In 2017, police killed 19 unarmed black males, down from 36 in 2015, according to The Washington Post” ( Khazan 2). This estimate is from 2017, imagine when 2018 is over and they would have done all the statistics for it. Most of the police that are shooting first and thinking later are getting little to no time in jail due to either the judge or the jury just not finding them guilty of their crime. We should be taking different precautions when it comes to arresting and shooting someone because they think they have a weapon. There are so many stories of wrongful deaths with police officers. When will people realize things should change? We should be figuring out solutions for this ongoing problem such as, going straight to your taser instead of going straight to your gun. Taser is a safer option and people would come out alive.

In a recent event at a mall in Alabama there was a mall shooting. The night of Thanksgiving 2018 Semantic Fitzgerald Bradford Jr an African American man was wrongfully shot by the police in the mall on the night of thanksgiving 2018. For being thought of as the active shooter for having a gun. An 18 year old boy and 12 year old girl were also shot due to the real gun man shooting them. In an article, Black Man Killed by Officer in Alabama Mall Shooting Was not the Gunman, Police Now Say by Mihir Zaveri went into detail on this tragic event. He stated, “ the police said uniformed officers who were providing security at the mall “encountered a suspect brandishing a pistol and shot him. It was not clear whether the officers believed Mr. Bradford fired or intended to fire before he was killed” ( Zaveri 1). They did not even ask him to put the weapon down or put his hands up. It seems the police forgot the rights of a citizen, they are supposed to be saying. Where are the head people that are incharge of the police because they need to be written up. Another source from a book, The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas based on a true story. Talks about a young African American girl and her best friend getting pulled over by a police officer and the cop makes him get out of the car and as the cop walks back to the car the boy reaches into the car to grab a brush as the girl is telling him not to. Then he gets shot right as he goes to brush his hair. He was claimed to have had a gun. “When I was twelve, my parents had two talks with me. One was the usual birds and bees...The other talk was about what to do if a cop stopped me. … “Starr-Starr, you do whatever they tell you to do," he said. "Keep your hands visible. Don't make any sudden moves. Only speak when they speak to you." ( Thomas 20). At twelve years old she had a talk about what to do if a cop stopped her because of the color of her skin. She had to start being fearful from the age twelve. At the age of twelve she learned how to try to keep herself safe around a cop because if she did not learn she could get hurt.

Migrant people are struggling to stay alive in their country so they come to America to seek safety and hope, but in return they get separated from their children and tear gas thrown at them like animals. An article in the NBC News called San Diego Border Crossing Shut Down After Migrants Try To Enter The U.S. by Annie Rose Ramos and Tim Stelloh. They talk about the San Diego border being shut down due to migrants trying to cross the border and it getting out of hand. They state, “Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that it used tear gas and pepper spray after several migrants threw rocks at border agents, striking them” (Ramos and Stelloh 5). Border agents felt the need to bring tear gas in and start throwing it because they got hit with things. Adults could not handle things being thrown at them so they decided to tear gas and pepper spray families with children and elders in wheelchairs. Another article by Jorge Ramos, Children in Cages, a Symbol of Trump’s America , talks about how migrant children are locked up in cages after being separated from their families at the border. The article also states, “Trump has already backed away from this cruel directive, which was carried out at the southern border during the first weeks of his administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, but most of the 2,300 children taken from their families, most of whom come from Central American nations, have not yet been returned to their parents” ( Ramos 1). Trump is not building a good name for himself as every opportunity he has to help America improve he just ruins it and brings us lower. This kids that have done nothing wrong are being harassed and thrown into metal cages with water chips and a aluminum blanket with around 20 other different kids. If a parent was to do this it would be considered child abuse, but the government is doing this. In a video with a migrant mother trying to seek asylum at the border got denied and had to seek asylum in Mexico. She was running away from a gang in El Salvador that tried to kill her son. She traveled 3,000 miles through 3 different countries. In the video she said, “ We don't want to be deported, we want to work” ( Reyes). They want to start a better life for their families people claim they steal our jobs but they take the jobs that people do not want to do. If people want jobs they should get off their high horse and take those jobs then. They are hard working people and are coming here to start something new for their lives and their children's lives.

Racism is such a big part of our world and it seems like its so hard for people to get past it. It usually has to do with generations of families teaching it to each other. Around the world a lot of minorities face obstacles just because of the color of the skin. No matter what color or race you are we all discriminate and if we do not stop thinking like this our world will be more divided as time goes on. African American and Hispanic people face struggles everyday with dealing with racism these cases stated in this essay is what is going on right now in the world. Our world is never gonna heal from this is we do not start fixing this.

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