Racism in America

How Structural Racism is Linked to Higher Rates of Police Violence

Institutional Racism Is Our Way of Life

The Reason This "Racist Soap Dispenser Doesn't Work on Black Skin 

7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism Is Real

As you look at the titles of these articles, one thing is clear: people are well aware of how racism is embedded into our everyday lives. Many people hear “racism” and immediately think about segregation and violence, however it can be as simple as microaggressions like telling someone they “don’t sound black” and as ingrained as redlining. Each article touched on just how deep racism can go. The first two articles provide in depth analyses of social injustices in a legal sense, with the first focusing on police killings of unarmed black people, particularly men and the second focusing on racism’s effects in the legal system as a whole. Brentin Mock, the author of the first article, provides studies that show that these occurrences are more than just a police officer acting “in the moment” or “feeling unsafe.” The article centers around a map that takes information on structural racism in correlation with police brutality and puts it into perspective. “Institutional Racism is Our Way of LIfe” tackles systemic injustices ranging from disproportionate sentencing to “disparities ... in neighborhoods,” to even something as simple as jurors. From the moment a black child enters the education system to the time they are an adult they experience countless effects of institutionalized racism. From preschool all the way through highschool blacks make up the better part of expulsions and are more likely to be referred to the police. When juveniles are tried in the court system, black juveniles are 18 times more likely to be tried as adults than white juveniles. Even in traffic stops, situations we used to deem as trivial but now hold very serious consequences for some, black citizens are disproportionately stopped time and time again. With sentencing blacks are more likely to receive the death penalty than whites are; an outcome that become far more likely if the jury is mainly white, which it often is. In both articles the reader is urged to be cognizant of the everyday effects of racism. The next two articles take a different approach. Although the third article comes off as a bit more lighthearted, it is anything but. The article highlights racist occurrences within the technological world; starting with a soap dispenser that could not detect a black man’s hand and ending with black people being categorized as “gorillas” by their phones’ image tagging features. While completely ludicrous, these incidents are the result of a pressing issue: the lack of diversity in the world of technological advancements. These examples are a sad reminder that in many of these companies there is no one there to remind engineers that systems like the ones mentioned need to take into account people of all backgrounds. something that can be forgotten when everyone in the room looks the same. Finally, Ben & Jerry’s has always been known to keep up with the social climate and make their opinions known in unconventional ways, like quirky ice cream flavors and names. However this time they went as far as to post an actual article on their website discussing the very real issue of systemic racism. In their article they touch on seven of the main ways racism reaches citizens: wealth, education, criminal justice, employment, housing, surveillance(mainly by law enforcement), and healthcare. In this day and age and political climate it is both inspiring and sad that an ice cream company, something so far from politics, saw fit to educate their target audience and take a stand that many companies are failing to do. While each article took a different approach at examining social injustices in America, they all had one theme in common, besides social injustices of course; each article seemed to be set up to convince the reader that structural racism exists. It is 2018 and America as a country is still refusing to come to terms with its racist undertones and history and the effects it still has today. Whether it be academic articles or a statement from Ben & Jerry’s or even scrolling through Twitter, time and time again we see two sides: those who refuse to accept America has institutionalized racism and those who grow tired of trying to prove its existence.