Rebecca L. Perry
Covert Racism
Stephen Lawrence, Michael Brown, Amadou Daillo, Patrick Dorismond, and so many more are victims of police brutality. All of these African-American men were innocent and unarmed. Lawrence was killed simply for being black. Brown was just a teenager when he was shot to death by a police officer for raising his hands to surrender. Daillo was shot 41 times for trying to enter his own apartment. Dorismond, was hanging out with a friend when an undercover police officer asked where he could get some weed. Soon after that, another officer shot him in the chest. The undercover officer confronted Dorismond because of his appearance.
What got me thinking about racism was when I read the novel The Help by Kathryn Stockett. This novel took place is Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s, when racism hit its peak. This novel shows how racism and segregation effected the African-American community. “I want to yell so loud that Baby Girl can hear me that dirty aint a color. Disease aint the negro side of town.” Aibileen, a maid that is working for Miss. Leefolt, a Caucasian woman. Aibileen takes care of a baby named Mae Mobley and she doesn’t want her to grow up thinking the wrong thing about colored people. Right now, the things that are getting put into this little girl’s head is the wrong outlook on life. She is getting taught that colored people are diseased and dirty, but this isn’t the truth. Racism is the central theme of this book and it got me thinking about racism in today’s society.
I believe that overt racism is a thing of the past and it will never return to the US, but covert racism still occurs in today’s society.
Being a bi-racial woman in America is hard because of all of the snide comments and looks that my family and I receive when we are in public. Not all people are accepting of my family because I have a Caucasian mother and an African-American father. I have heard little girls ask their mothers, “Why is she black but her mom is white.” Growing up this was the biggest question ever for my elementary school mates. A lot of the time, people don’t have to say a word to us. But their looks say it all. My story is far from unique. According to the New York Times, cases in which black people were killed by the police or died in custody have risen to national prominence in recent years, often prompting protest nationwide. In the cases stated in the beginning, these men did nothing wrong. Police took them into custody for no reason other than the color of their skin. Rates for cases like these are going up and the punishments for the police officers committing these crimes, aren’t getting any type of punishment. “Protesters have filed streets across the country in the last two weeks to speak out against two outrageous failures of justice.” The Rolling Stone. The majority of today’s society can see that what is happening to the minorities in America, isn’t fair.
Trump and Trump supporters believe that overt racism is a good thing and to this day, they act this way. Trump wanted to build a wall on the U.S- Mexican border to keep the illegal Mexican immigrants out. He even states that we, America, will not be paying for this wall, but that the Mexicans will. Trump believes that the immigrants are taking our jobs, but in reality, they are taking the jobs that no one wants to do. The majority of U.S citizens think that building the wall is the wrong thing to do. “President Trump has claimed that there is a crisis in the number of people attempting to cross the border illegally in the past few years.” (BBC News). He is proven wrong because recent studies have shown that there has been a drastic decrease in the numbers of arrests at the border.
If you see racism, take a stand to stop it. Be the bigger person and help America get rid of covert Racism once and for all.
Works Cited
Associated Press in Ferguson, Missouri. “Prosecutor Says Film's Edit of Michael Brown Shooting Distorts Incident.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 14 Mar. 2017, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/mar/14/michael-brown-shooting-documenta....
Balko, Radley. “There's Overwhelming Evidence That the Criminal-Justice System Is Racist. Here's the Proof.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 Sept. 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/09/18/theres-overwhelming-e....
Lee, Jasmine C., and Haeyoun Park. “15 Black Lives Ended in Confrontations With Police. 3 Officers Convicted.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 May 2017, www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/05/17/us/black-deaths-police.html.
Vozick-Levinson, Simon, and Simon Vozick-Levinson. “Black Lives Matter: 11 Police Killings With No Justice.” Rolling Stone, Rolling Stone, 25 June 2018, www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/black-lives-matter-11-racist....
“Why Does Donald Trump Want to Build a Wall? - CBBC Newsround.” BBC, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/46811167.
