Racism in the United States Essay Sample

Time and time again people have tried to tackle racism, but have had no success. Take Martin Luther King Jr. for example, he had a dream, a dream that everyone would be treated as equals and be judged by the content of their character and not their skin tone. He would give speeches and gather protests, but all would end with no avail. He had fought for equality and justice till the day he died on April 4th, 1968. That was more than 50 years ago, and today America is still struggling with these same issues. It's blatantly clear that racism is still largely prevalent in our world, whether it has been directed towards a specific individual or shared anonymously over a post, it hasn’t gone unnoticed. People won’t be able to escape unless something is changed. To even begin to tackle this problem, people need to start being more mindful of how they interact with others in real life and on social media.

Racially motivated acts have generally occurred while people are out in public. It’s either been harassment, name-calling, or even assault because of skin color. People shouldn’t have to fear being out in public, and doing things that they enjoy because of the ignorance of a few people. For example, people like Ibram X. Kendi, a well-known advocate for the critical race theory, thought that “the only remedy to racist discrimination was antiracist discrimination.” (Theissen) Having that mindset makes that person no better than the people who actually go around doing it. People have a big problem with racism and want it to end, so fighting this problem with another problem isn’t going to  get America anywhere, it’s just another huge step back. It’s not that “ Any way we go, we find that we're trapped.” (Malcom X) it’s just that people see a problem and automatically resort to the last case scenario, like retaliation. They don’t take into consideration the consequences of their actions or what could happen if they make that choice. People need to start being more mindful of their actions and what they choose to say or do in any given situation. 

It’s not just out in public that people are limited to receiving racist comments, it's also very common on social media platforms. According to Brendesha M. Tynes, PhD, “Recent theorizing suggests that social media often requires users to reveal their identities and that doing so can make individuals more susceptible to experiencing racial discrimination.” (Kahn, Spencer, & Glaser, found in Tynes) There will always be people out there who will go out of their way to make themselves feel superior. People cannot control what others choose to do and not to do, and if that’s what they need to get through the day, then shame on them. According to Ta-Nehisi Coates “Racism is a visceral experience”. (10) Visceral feelings are feelings that are deeply felt and are difficult to control or ignore. He’s saying that racism in America is something that he feels strongly about, and he, like many others, it’s something that's hard for them to ignore. When he says that this is something that cannot be ignored, it really goes to show how important this is. People use social media as a way to put themselves out there, and communicate with people that they wouldn’t have communicated with before. Now it's being used and weaponized for people's own personal agendas. If people used social media for what it was actually intended for, then people wouldn’t have to be susceptible to online discrimination. 

When there are people that agree, there’s always someone who disagrees or is skeptical. They think that some people’s minds can’t be changed, and they definitely aren’t wrong. There are people in this world who believe one thing, and if there’s any chance of there being another answer they tend to turn a blind eye to it. Ta-Nehisi Coates even concludes that “I do not believe that we can stop them”. (151) He makes a valid point, it's up to people to choose who they want to be and how they want to project themselves to others, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t ever happen. Ta-Nehisi also says, “they must ultimately stop themselves.” For being a man who seems awfully pessimistic, he gives a little glimmer of hope. There’s no person in this world who can say that nobody can change. Some people may be more stubborn than others, but it's still possible. People also tend to think that if change doesn’t happen right away then it'll never happen. That's just simply not true, as Abe Lincoln once said, “good things come to those who wait.” In time people can change, they will realize that their ideology was simply wrong and things could change. 

The big question has always been, can racism be resolved? In short, there is no real answer to that question, but what can be said is that there are steps that can be taken to get America one step closer to Martin Luther King Jr’s dream. This will not be an easy task, and there will be its ups and downs, people will lose hope, even like they have now. With time and persistence America will prevail, just like ending slavery. These things will not happen overnight, they will not come without struggle and hardships. America has done it once and America can do it again.