True enemy at the gates

John Medina

Research Journal

English 216, Fall 2020

True enemy at the gates

Introduction

Systemic racism in the US is an ongoing problem that affects minorities today and other small groups that face some type of racism everyday whether or not it’s out in the open or if it’s kept subtle through micro aggressions or other smaller forms of racism against people and these acts can lead to bigger problems for people later in their life and bigger decisions like whether or not they can continue to live a normal life because of things that may be forced onto them.

Systemic racism and bias isn’t only found in the US today in prison, education, and economics and before I get into those injustices today I wanna focus on and introduce what builds up the strong feelings many people like myself who see and experience injustice in minors way today and the minor experiences that people have the attitudes they have for fighting racial injustice stems from those experiences. NFL coach Anthony Lynn who coaches the LA Chargers has spoken about his feelings about coaching in a league where 60% of the players are black but less than 10% of the coaches are black in an article published by TIME magazine. Lynn explains many of the scenarios in his life where he himself had experienced racial injustice. Lynn recalls when he was younger in his small town when a girl in his class was handing out invites to her birthday party and she had skipped him and one other classmate because her parents wouldn’t approve because they were black. He recalls this was his first time experiencing racism or at least his earliest memory and he also recalls another time where he was moved from quarterback to running back and was told by his coach that “Black kids can’t play quarterback” and when he questioned it he was simply told “They’re not smart enough.” and then goes on to explain that during his senior year at Texas Tech there were multiple officers outside some apartments where his teammates lived and when the offices approached him while he was just seeing what was going on they assumed immediately he was drug dealer based solely on his appearance and he then “lost it” as he says and then proceeded to fight the officers which he says he regrets and was fortunate enough to be released based on his connections to football. Situations like this bring up a boiling point in people and also show how systemically any regular person of color can’t succeed in america when injustice is rampant because imagine if he hadn’t had his connections through his football career and what would have happened then if he was just any regular guy like most people of color are today in America. Chances are he’s charged and locked up for assaulting the officer but he himself admitted the actions were wrong but the things that led up to him doing that were the biggest factors for him reacting the way he did. Coach Lynn is just one of the many cases of people where he simply lucked out of the situation but we know many people go through this daily and we know people die from this causing the backlash we see and the distrust many people have for the police. Me personally I don’t distrust the police and I definitely think that reform or changes are needed to departments I dont think all cops are bastards nor do I call them pigs because I do know that some people are just assholes at the end of the day and some are just doing their jobs because they need to put food on the table like anyone else but I do know that some abuse their power but to stand for it and let it continue is completely absurd and I think that’s the real challenge people of color face in the US today.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes today are things that still harm the US and the people it affects. Stereotypes were even mentioned in Anthony Lynn’s story and he even talks about how they affected him in his life. Stereotypes according to Ben and Jerry’s (yes the ice cream company) who surprisingly has these stats on their website which is a bit funny considering they did have a racial stereotypical incident a few years ago where on their fortune cookie ice cream they had the phrase “taste the lin-sanity” on the cup which was interesting to say the least but that’s just nitpicking considering this was several years ago and it is a giant company but thanks to the stats they provided we can get an indepth dive of how systemic racism affects people today bit by bit. The US has many stereotypes about people of color today and it affects the same people today. Whether it be that you hate spicy stuff because you’re white or that you’re good at math because you’re asian there’s always gonna be a stereotype people subconsciously think about you or others and you yourself maybe guilty of this because i’ll admit it in saying that it’s even gotten me a few times and many people today think that the darker your skin the worst you are as a person. In the US black people today are 30% more likely to be pulled over by police for no reason at all based on a biased suspicion and today this is a rising scenario for muslims today in America who experience hate for the actions caused by others on 9/11. In the US schools are 3 times more often to suspend black students over white students for the same infractions and today even 67% of doctors are biased against african american patients when treating them and black americans already struggle with getting healthcare in the US due to insurance being at a high cost that many people in the US can’t afford today with lots of people of color being on if not below the poverty line. On top of this black children are even 18 times more likely to be tried as an adult in the court of law than white children no matter what crime it may be crazy considering when we’re talking about children who don’t even have fully developed brains yet but biased opinions will make them seem like they’re monsters when they’re just children. Black people also often see 20% longer jail times and are even 20% more likely to see a jail sentence when in court and the results come out. You can say that these stereotypes coincide with the fact that racism is still a thing in the US which also affects the rate that people are being hurt by things then you have a recipe for disaster. These deep rooted stereotypes that are based on the US’ biased opinions on people of color cause more and more harm when we allow them to continue to thrive in the country today.

School to prison pipeline

Education in the US today is another victim of systemic racism which does not help minorities today. The school to prison pipeline is known as a theory but can actually be considered by the facts that are presented to us. We already know thanks to Ben and Jerrys that black students are 3 times more likely to be suspended in schools and when you use that you realize that they are more likely to be punished for something they did without warning rather than being helped and taught otherwise. Children that get through this get ostracized and are essentially told they are guilty and live on with that for the rest of their lives without getting the help necessary to help them get through it. This eventually puts them against the schools law enforcement that takes them away. I myself have seen this happen at my school being that I went to a Oakland unified school district. I know these things like the back of my hand. Instead of helping these kids this leads to them not wanting to go to school and possibly leads them to crime which then leads to jail or prison for former students who fell into these traps. Looking back at Anthony Lynn’s story you could use that as the ultimate example as to why the school to prison pipeline is a thing and even looking back at what I said about children’s brains not being fully developed you could but it’s a stretch take that example and explain why something like the school to prison pipeline exist. Angst and pent up anger of teens is all too common no matter who you are but being picked on and targeted because your skin is darker than others and knowing that’s the reason then yeah trust me when I say that the angst and anger would get even worse.

Prison rates for US citizens today also varies by race. Black men today are five times more likely to be imprisoned over white people when in the court and when they’re between the ages of 18 and 19 they’re thirteen times more likely to be imprisoned. For petty crimes like marijuana which is used by the same amount of people no matter the color of their skin black people are still 3.64 times more likely to be arrested for having it on them over white people and throughout the years its been getting worse in the department of arrest not better even when marijuana is being made legal and being decriminalized in some places. When it comes to parole again black people get the short end of the stick making them more likely to be put under supervision when on parole and they also have a higher chance of being sent back to prison if they’re caught violating parole. Another unfair comparison of black people is that white people are shot by police and fatally wounded by police half of the time but black people are more likely to not only be shot but are killed by those bullets disproportionately based on the US population of black people. Anthony Lynn also did explain in his story that if he did what he did today chances are he would have been shot.

Conclusion

The problem with the US today isn’t because of other countries, it’s not because of some unfortunate circumstances, it’s not because “it happens” either. The unfortunate truth is that this is the reality we live in. We live in the reality where mothers fear for their child’s life for something as simple as walking home from school, we live in the reality where someone doesn’t feel comfortable putting on their hoodie because it makes them seem like a threat to others, we live in the country that consistently allows it to happen and we live under people who also have no problem with it happening and until we do something to change it whether it’s reform or a change in laws there’s nothing that’s gonna change if we always ignore the problem that we face and nothing will change for the people it affects.

Works cited/Resources used

Gregory, S. (2020, September 11). Chargers Coach Anthony Lynn on Systemic https://time.com/5887299/anthony-lynn-chargers-nfl-systemic-racism/

7 Ways We Know Systemic Racism is Real. https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2016/systemic-racism-is-real