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Adrian Avila

Dr.Castillo

English 12

10 April 2025

Racism in America

Racism happens when people are treated unfairly just because of their race or skin color. This

can happen to any race including even white people. It is not always about people saying mean

things, it can also show up in different ways, like when certain communities do not get the same

opportunities as others. For example, when Rosa Parks was discriminated against, because she

was black, she had to go to the back of the bus when transporting into public transport. Another

example, in some places, schools with mostly Black or Latino students do not get as much

funding or support as schools with white students. This is known as systemic racism, which

means “ relegation of people of color to inferior status and treatment based on unfounded beliefs

about innate inferiority, as well as unjust treatment and oppression of people of color, whether

intended or not. Racism is not always conscious, intentional, or explicit—often it is systemic and

structural.”

Racism can do more harm than just hurting people’s feelings, it can make them feel insecure or

unwanted in our society. Lucky, since we live in a digital age of technology it makes it easier to

communicate and make their voices heard through social media, like instagram, facebook or just

news outlets.

When Europeans came to places like America, they started to use race to say that white people

were better than everyone else and superior to them. This helped them feel empowered which led
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them into taking land and enslaving the colored people. Ibram X. Kendi, a historian, explains this

in his book Stamped from the Beginning. He says that racist ideas were made on purpose by

powerful people who wanted to protect their money and status. These ideas didn’t come from

fear or ignorance—they were planned (Kendi 45). This means that powerful people manipulated

the idea of other races to not be able to coexist with each other and monopolized and seized

control of America. They wanted themselves to feel like the most superior race and the

wealthiest, they even went as far as to limit what African Americans could do in America, like

segregating them from fountains, buses, and schools. Another writer who talks about racism is

James Baldwin. In his book The Fire Next Time, this describes what it was like living as a young

Black man in America in the 1960s. Baldwin’s writing shows a strong message because it shows

the difficulties and the pain of living in a racist country like America, but also the hope that

things can change for the better. He said that “racism doesn’t just hurt Black people—it hurts the

whole country (Baldwin 21)”. This shows that being racist to others would harm the US by

limiting people and making them commit crime to earn a living.

Even though the laws we had saying Black and white people must be separated do not exist

anymore, racism is still around if we like it or not. They just show it in a different way. For

example, schools in neighborhoods with abundance of Black and brown students often get less

financial support and support from teachers from schools in mostly white areas. This means

students of color don’t always get the same opportunities and support from the government and

parents than white people would have. Also, Black people are more likely to get in trouble and

stopped by the police because of the color of their skin, even if they didn’t do anything wrong.

Robin DiAngelo, a University of Washington professor who studies race, wrote a book called

White Fragility. She talks about how it is difficult for some white people to talk about racism.
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She says that many white people get upset or feel attacked, even if no one is blaming them

personally. But to fix racism, we have to be able to talk about it honestly, even if it’s

uncomfortable (DiAngelo 12). That’s the only way things will get better.

One thing I learned while reading about racism is that it’s not enough to just say, “I’m not

racist.” We have to be anti racist, which means we work against racism on purpose. Kendi talks

about this in another book, How to Be an Antiracist. He says that people aren’t just racist or not

racist. Instead, every action we take either supports racism or fights against it (Kendi 9). So, if

we see something unfair, we should speak up and try to change it.

There are small things everyone can do to help. Students can read more about racism, have

conversations with friends and family, and even join clubs that promote equality. In fact, Dr.

Kendi helped make a reading list just for teens who want to learn more about being anti racist

(Parents). The earlier we start, the more we can help change the future.

Sadly, not everyone wants to talk about racism. Some schools and libraries are even removing

books that teach about it. Last year, the U.S. Naval Academy took away books about race and

gender, including Maya Angelou’s famous memoir I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (AP

News). That book has helped so many people understand the struggles of growing up Black in

America. Taking it away doesn’t help—it just hides the truth.

Also, racism isn’t only in the South. Some people like to think it’s a Southern issue, but it

happens everywhere. Jeanne Theoharis wrote an article that shows how Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. had to deal with racism in northern cities too. People there were polite about it, but they still

kept Black people from getting jobs or buying homes in white neighborhoods (Theoharis). That
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is the kind of racism that evolved into them trying not to make it as bad as it is but still wouldn't

give them the right to make them equal.

In the article created by Jenne Theoharis stated, “While attending Crozer Seminary in

Pennsylvania, a 21-year-old King visited Mary’s Place in New Jersey.He was kicked out of a bar

at gunpoint with friends when the owner refused to serve them” this incident cause King to see

that racism was everywhere and not just in the South and made him even more resolved to fight

against it. It also opened people's eyes to how serious and unfair racism was across the whole

country. King wanted to change these perspectives on black people by making the civil rights

movement. The article states that “In 1963, King and the SCLC worked with NAACP and other

civil rights groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which attracted

250,000 people to rally for the civil and economic rights of Black Americans in the nation's

capital. There, King delivered his majestic 17-minute "I Have a Dream" speech.” This really

helped the black community in cementing their standing by not being violent with the

protest,which he believed would lead to sympathetic media coverage and public opinion. If it had

become violent people would have more reason to discriminate against the black community.

They also had to go through hardships when protesting, it started here that “King participated in

the Selma-to-Montgomery march in 1965. The brutal attacks on activists by the police during the

march were televised into the homes of Americans across the country.(12)”. This proved that

even though they protested with non-violent acts they still got beaten and threatened by the

police.

In conclusion, racism has diminished over the past decades with how strict the white people were

, but it still affects many people today. It started as a way for the wealthy and white people to

control them, and it continues through systems that are unfair. We all have a part in fixing it and
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improving the lives of the black community and many other races that have been discriminated

against.. That means listening, learning, and standing up for what’s right even if it may take

many more years for them to fully stop being discriminated against. Even if we can’t fix

everything all at once and it will take time, we can make a difference by speaking out and

treating everyone with respect.

AP News. “Maya Angelou Memoir, Holocaust Book Are Among Those Pulled from Naval

Academy Library in DEI Purge.” AP News, 2024,

https://apnews.com/article/9ac43d421bc8daffa9c055ccf8630221.

Baldwin, James. The Fire Next Time. Dial Press, 1963.

https://naacp.org/find-resources/history-explained/civil-rights-leaders/martin-luther-king-

jr#:~:text=History%2 Making%20 marches,Americans%20in%20the%20nation%20 capital.

DiAngelo, Robin. White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism.

Beacon Press, 2018.

Kendi, Ibram X. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America.

Nation Books, 2016.

Kendi, Ibram X. How to Be an Antiracist. One World, 2019.

Parents. “Alternate Summer Reading List: Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s Anti Racist Book

Recommendations.” Parents, 2023, https://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/books/alternate-

summer-reading-dr-kendi.

Theoharis, Jeanne. “MLK in the North: The Civil Rights Leader Understood That Racism and

Segregation Were National Problems.” Teen Vogue, 2023,

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mlk-in-the-north-jeanne-theoharis.

https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2021.01394#:~:text=Racism%20is%20the

%20relegation%20of,it%20is%20systemic%20and%20 structural.

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/mlk-in-the-north-jeanne-theoharis
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