Question

“I can’t breathe”. Those are the last words of George Floyd. An officer's knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes because he was black. This unfortunate event ignited the Black Lives Matter movement. The strength to revolt and to resist is at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is now a global force. Sadly, with good comes bad. In retaliation of the Black Lives Matter movement comes the All Lives Matter movement. This movement is made to silence black voices. America is built on the systematic oppression of African Americans; the All Lives Matter movement is just another reminder of how deep-rooted racism is in America's system and society.

Martin Luther King Jr is a well-known activist and leader during the Civil rights movement. King wrote, “The letter from Birmingham” while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama. In this letter, King is trying to persuade the people that segregation negatively affected African Americans and how it causes racial inequality in the United States. This letter still speaks to African Americans because they are still being racially targeted. The reality is King was assassinated, and he died the most hated man in American. That was in 1968 which is not that long ago. The internalized racism in America has not been faced. Instead, it is brushed to the side, and the textbooks provided in schools teach the youth a whitewashed perspective of the civil rights movement. The perspective that the civil rights act was passed due to the peaceful protests but, for six days Americans rioted -caused $13.5 million damage- which then passed the civil rights act of 1968.(source) Why must the people riot to be heard? George Floyd's case is the fastest a police officer has ever been charged because of the riots. All the rage, destruction, and sadness are in a relation of the system that failed to protect innocent lives.

The police system and prisons in America are a prime example demonstrating how black Americans are targeted. The police system first started as slave patrols and night watches. (https://plsonline.eku.edu/insidelook/brief-history-slavery-and-origins-american-policing) The system is based on repressing minorities which is why it should come to no shock that it is structurally prejudiced. Many cases across the U.S. have been reported of officers using illegal techniques without any purpose towards African Americans and has become a serious human rights violation. 99% of killings done by police are not charged with a crime. A frequent fact that is brought up by the All Lives Matter movement when speaking of police brutality towards black Americans is that whites are shot more than black. An attempt to belittle a silence the black struggles. Ignoring the data, that there are more white people than African Americans; they are 13% of the population but make up 24% of those being shot. (source) The same system that white Americans feel protected by is the same system that threatens black Americans. On top of that, there is a corrupt prison system set in place. Before the abolition of slavery, there was no real prison system in the United States. Regulations called the Black Codes developed to criminalize lawful action towards African Americans. The implementation of these rules caused behaviors such as standing in one area of town to become the criminal acts of “loitering”, for which African Americans were incarcerated. As a result, the percentage of African Americans in prison grew, surpassing whites. Now, has become modern-day slavery. Private companies can use factories in prisons (https://www.reimaginerpe.org/node/856)

Furthermore, money in America is administered unfairly by race, particularly among whites and blacks. When one has less wealth, they are already at a disadvantage for a better opportunity or just at a better life. The black-white wealth gap is a consequence of the standardized restrictions blacks suffer in trying to improve their wealth. African Americans also face inequality when it comes to debt. The fact is that blacks are slightly less likely to owe money than whites. However, blacks' interest payments are comparatively high relative to the debt. (Hanks, 1) There is even "redlining" when it comes to certain areas. "Discrimination based on location is often referred to as redlining because, historically, some lending institutions were found to have maps with red lines delineating neighborhoods within which they would not do business."(Turner, 12) This practice is partaking in the growth of the wealth gap as the banks are providing easy loans to the Whites as they are considered to be law-abiding citizens while the similar loaning facilities are denied to the Black community. By having better access to financial resources, whites can collect funds for their ventures hence creating the income and upgrading their lives while all these opportunities are not present to the black community.

Lastly, there is a problem of whitewashing black culture and representing Black Americans in a bad light.  

My fourth paragraph is not done but that is what it will be about. Please write a 250-word conclusion about this essay

Answer 1

Conclusion:

Bottom line of the essay is that, the prejudices in the black community still exists even in the most advanced civilizations in the current world. There are very few changes which are worth mentioning with regards to the disparity between whites and blacks in the post slavery era. To make it worse, police forces have been treating black people the way one does to a criminal. This attitude is defacto, and the US in general is festooned with these narratives. These harmful narratives have set the precedents for the financial institutions to show reluctance towards lending to a black man when compared to a white man who probably has a lower credit score too. You see, this is a vicious cycle which never ends unless strict penalization is done on people who abet these practices. Apart from a socio-economic insecurity, these disparities and prejudices can promote an oppressive nature in Whites, and ultimately there is no room for a peaceful community in the long run. That fundamentally makes us ask one question. Are these protests not useful at all? When is the status quo changing or how is it changing? Change shall come from within and financial organizations, police forces and the general public needs to be educated about the fact that everyone's equal. I believe these are the baby steps towards abolishing the age old slavery narrative which though abolished, has been the fuel towards such aggression in the current world.

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