Racism

I have learned a lot about racism since we started our unit.  Before I was taught about the issue, I did not think it was a problem in the United States.  I thought racism was stopped a long time ago when the segregational laws were abolished giving everyone of any decent equal rights.  I have come to realize that it is still a growing problem that many fail to see. 

For example, in our prison system, almost half of the inmates are black whereas the total population of Africans Americans in the U.S. is more or less 15%.  I think this is partly due to poverty because there is a huge number of poor African Americans compared to white people.  Because of their poverty, they do things they normally would not do such as robbing a store for money that they desperately need to support their families.  Also, I think this is due to racism by officers and other people.  There have been a numerous amount of cases in the United States where African Americans do not receive a fair trial and get put in jail when they are innocent.  Overall, I think the U.S. prison system is full of racism towards the inmates and needs to be changed.

I have also come to see that there are many racist issues built into society that I never realized before.  I think the whole border issue shows racism towards Mexican Americans.  I know that some people do not want them in our country simply because they do not understand their culture and do not want to be around them.  I have come to see music nowadays also shows racism.  The article I did in class was about racism in music.  I never knew there were white supremacist bands who sang about the whites being the superior race.  I think this is a great problem and someone needs to do something to stop these racist bands before violence occurs.  

I have learned racism is still happening in the United States.  Before we started our unit, I thought that the racism problem stopped thirty years ago, but i have found out it is still going on in many places all over the U.S.  Many people in the United States do not realize racism is a problem.  I think everyone who knows about the racist issues still going on should try to inform other people about these issues.  By doing this, more people can make a difference in our society and take a stand against racism.