Home of the free?

Much has changed since the civil war, slavery no longer exists, and all of the different races that live here are supposed to have equal rights. But there is still an undertone of racism in modern America in hate groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and skinheads, and there are still racial stereotypes. Even though slavery in America ended during the Civil war and racism and prejudice are considered a thing of the past, there is still racism in Modern America.

I have noticed that racism still happens quite frequently in modern America but in a more subtle way, such as this video that talks about how Black and Mexican people are also more often suspected of crime than white people because of the stereotypes that they are gang members and drug addicts. But those stereotypes started because of The Contra=Cocaine scandal that had to do with a secret drug cartel controlled by President Ronald Reagan and his administration. They sold cocaine to minorities in poor neighborhoods and used the money to fund illegal projects like supporting the Contras in Nicaragua. He targeted blacks and Latinos in poor neighborhoods, and he created many drug addicts along with negative stereotypes that still exist today.

The people living in some of the old confederate states have kept their civil war beliefs, such as in the book “Confederates in the Attic” by Tony Horwitz. I read a chapter in it for school that focuses on a case in a town in Kentucky, where a nineteen year old flew a confederate flag from the back of his pickup truck. When he was drove through that part of town were more black people live he was shot and killed. One white woman who Tony Horwitz interviewed about the incident said that the flag was a symbol of power and that “they just don’t want us to have it. They want the best jobs, the biggest money. Now they want this. If we lose the mascot, it’ll just be a matter of time before we lose everything, don’t put us where they used to be.” I think that what they really want is respect, and flying a flag from a time when they were enslaved by whites will be considered extremely disrespectful

There will always be racism in America, but it really should not be a big issue anymore. In fact being prejudice against a different race really goes against what America stands for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" Frederick Douglass’s speech “What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July?” which he gave during the civil war. In a part of his speech he says“What, to the American slave, is your Fourth of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelly to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour”.

What I take from what Frederick Douglass said is that Americans are always gratifying themselves for being part of the land of the free and the home of the brave, where everyone can make it if they try. But actually America has been going against its good morals throughout history by enslaving, discriminating, and mistreating people who they believe they are superior to.

Sources

"(1852) Frederick Douglass, “What, To The Slave, Is The Fourth Of July� | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"Evolution and Modern Racism." The Institute for Creation Research. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"Evolution and Modern Racism." The Institute for Creation Research. 2 Oct. 2008 .

Horwitz, Tony. Confederates in the Attic: Dispatches from the Unfinished Civil War. New York: Vintage, 1999.

"Ku Klux Klan." Spartacus Educational - Home Page. 2 Oct. 2008 .

" Modern Day Slavery: Racism and the Drug War - Political Forum." Political Forum - US & World Politics Forum. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"The American Experience | Reagan | People & Events | The Iran-Contra Affair." PBS. 2 Oct. 2008 .

"The Badger Herald - Racism lives on in modern America." The Badger Herald - University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2 Oct. 2008 .