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Black Boy Racism

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Not Forgotten Black people have had to suffer in America since far before its foundation. We see this in Black Boy by Richard Wright. The purpose for the creation of America was to grant freedom to all people, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, wealth, and past misdemeanors. However, only white males who own land had any real power, and even then, most of the power was diverted to representatives to use in the voter’s best interest. These racist tendencies have gotten better since then, but America is still troubled by the racism that still persists today. Racism is still present in the legal system, which can trace its routes from the racist tendencies of people who have no longer walked this earth for numerous years. Slavery wasn’t an …show more content…
Black people currently are still subject to the justice system, which disproportionately punishes them against their white counterparts. “A greater percentage of non-Hispanic blacks (2.8%) than non-Hispanic whites (1.0%) and Hispanics (1.4%) experienced excessive nonfatal force by police during their contact” (Hyland et al.). This demonstrates that despite what people may think about racism in America, racism is alive and kicking. There is no legitimate argument for blacks to be subject to excessive nonfatal force--to the tune of nearly three times--that of whites. Socially prejudiced police officers hold too much power that they can easily abuse to keep black men in a position of inferiority. The statistic is further supported by the NAACP’s findings, which states, “African Americans are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of whites” (Criminal Justice Fact Sheet). While this certainly doesn’t refer to all police, the statement reveals that there is a significant race problem amongst some of the police force. Furthermore, the justice system is disproportionately targeting the black community more than the white community. Langston Hughes documents this in his poem “Freedom

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