Racism and Inequality Archives

Why Going Test-Optional Won’t Make College Admissions More Equitable or Fair

The SAT, along with its counterpart, the ACT, has long played an integral role in college admissions. In recent years, however, there has been a slow push to eliminate these tests from admissions, with claims that they disadvantage low-income students and are racist. The push only sped up with COVID-19: many schools went test-optional to facilitate students who were unable to take the test. But the tests aren’t nearly as inequitable as activists say, and dropping the tests won’t do much to make college admissions fairer.

Derek Chauvin Found Guilty In George Floyd Murder

A month after the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin into the murder of George Floyd last May began, a unanimous jury delivered a verdict on Tuesday, finding Chauvin guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter. The verdict offered a sign of optimism that America was progressing toward a future in which people of all races would be treated fairly and equally and where police officers would be held accountable for their actions.

George Floyd Case Trial Begins in Minneapolis

One of the most closely-watched and important trials in a very long time began on Monday in Minneapolis, in the Hennepin County District Court, as the murder trial for former police officer Derek Chauvin, who is being charged with murder in the death of George Floyd last summer, started. The death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, resulted in nationwide protests against police brutality and calls for equal treatment of Black people, igniting the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

Atlanta Shootings Bring Attention to Anti-Asian Racism

Last Tuesday, on March 16, eight people were killed in a series of shootings which took place at three spas in the Greater Atlanta area. Of the eight that died, six were Asian American and two were white. All of them, except for one, were women. The shootings fueled fear that the shooting may have singled out Asians, and draws attention to the longstanding racism many Asians have faced in America, which has sadly become more exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

SCOTUS: The Worst Decision Ever (Dred Scott v. Sandford)

In 1857, the Supreme Court likely made one of the worst, if not the worst, decisions in its entire history in the case of Dred Scott v. Sandford, now commonly known as the Dred Scott case. It ruled that not only was slavery legal, but Black Americans were also not entitled to U.S. citizenship, regardless of whether or not they were enslaved. This court case is considered to be one of the major factors which caused the Civil War.

SCOTUS: How Interracial Marriage Was Legalized (Loving v. Virginia)

Believe it or not, as late as 1967, interracial marriage (marriage between a Black and a White) was illegal in much of the South. Interracial marriage bans were only ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the very fittingly-named case Loving v. Virginia of 1967. We will take a closer look at this case in today’s post.

What’s Going On In Kenosha, Wis.?

In the late afternoon on August 23, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a town of about 100,000 halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee, while responding to a 911 call about a domestic incident in the area, a Black man named Jacob Blake was non-fatally shot seven times in the back. The incident reignited the Black Lives Matter protests and riots that had roiled America since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Dealing With Controversial Statues

There has been a movement recently, in the United States and around the world, to get rid of statues that depicted figures like slave owners, Confederate generals, brutal dictators, and so on. In the U.S., for instance, statues of Christopher Columbus, Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and more have come into scrutiny as the country wakes up once again to the issue of systemic racism. Let’s discuss what should be done with these statues.

Remembering John Lewis

Today, as John Lewis (1940-2020) body is laid to rest in Georgia, we commemorate the sacrifices he made to the United States in demanding equal civil rights to all Americans regardless of skin color. He was an organizer of the 1963 March on Washington, led the Selma to Montgomery marches (later known as Bloody Sunday), and was one of the original Freedom Riders back in 1961. He was later elected to Congress in 1986, where he has remained a representative of Georgia’s 5th District until his death on July 17. He also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.

Racism Uncovered (Part 5): The Civil Rights Movement, Part II

Part 5: Civil Rights Movement, Part II

In this series, Racism in America, I aim to discuss the history of the United States with a focus on the topic of racism, both systemic and individual racism. Through this series, I hope to play a part in fighting the issue of racism that still persists in our society today. This series was inspired by the Black Lives Matter protest movement.

Last time in this series, we discussed the Civil Rights Movement up until the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Today, we will look at all the events of the Civil Rights Movement after the act was passed, and discuss some implications of how the movement reshaped the issue of race in the United States.

Racism Uncovered (Part 4): The Civil Rights Movement, Part I

Part 4: Civil Rights Movement, Part I

Continuing on from the previous post in this series, today we will be taking a closer look at the Civil Rights Movement. The movement was a fight by Black Americans to gain equal treatment under the law and desegregate the country. Having endured segregation and harsh Jim Crow laws for many years, an uprising occurred during the 1950s and ’60s, beginning a fight for equality and eventually ending in victory.

Continue reading “Racism Uncovered (Part 4): The Civil Rights Movement, Part I”

Racism Uncovered (Part 3): Reconstruction and the Jim Crow Laws Era

Part 3: Reconstruction

In the previous post in this series, we talked about the Civil War and also briefly Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution. However, despite efforts to reintegrate former slaves (and Black people) back into society after abolition via the aforementioned amendments, it was way easier said than done.

Racism Uncovered (Part 2): The Civil War

Part 2: The Civil War

In the last post in this series, we discussed the issue of slavery in the United States when it was a young country, all the way until the mid-1800s. We left off after discussing the Dred Scott Decision. In today’s post, we will talk about the events that led to the Civil War and the consequences of the Civil War.

Racism Uncovered (Part 1): Slavery

Part 1: Slavery and the Founding of a Nation

To understand present-day racism in the United States, we must first understand some American history. Slavery can really be considered the first form of “racism” in America (although, admittedly, at the time, the United States was but a small British colony).

The Latest on the George Floyd Case

The police officer responsible for the killing of George Floyd, Derek Chauvin, has now been charged with second-degree murder by the state’s Attorney General. The state’s Attorney General, Keith Ellison, said that “the evidence available to us now supports the stronger charge.” With this, the bail has increased the $1 million.

The Killing of George Floyd

In Minneapolis, on May 25, 2020, Memorial Day, at around 8:00 p.m. CDT, Minneapolis police responded to a forgery call on Chicago Avenue South, located south of downtown Minneapolis. George Floyd, an African-American man, was accused of allegedly using a forged $20 bill at a grocery store. According to the police, Floyd was in a car and seemed to be “under the influence,” and he “physically resisted” when ordered to exit the vehicle. After getting him into handcuffs, officers called for an ambulance as he “appeared to be suffering medical distress.” No weapons were used during the arrest by either party.