Racism

It is well known that in our society, which should be modern and open-minded, there are still prejudices based on beliefs and ideas that we should have left behind. An example could be the fact that many people are still discriminated against for the colour of their skin, their ethnicity and their religion. Racial discrimination, unfortunately, is a widespread phenomenon in our society. It may occur through prejudices and stereotypes towards these people who are defined "different " by society, to whom are attributed the same characteristics for large groups of people and these characteristics are especially negative. However, often they come from generalized and totally wrong ideas that do nothing but distribute these people in "boxes". Due to prejudice, these people have fewer opportunities, which are fundamental in order to live like everyone else and not live in the fear of not being adequate and not accepted, in all areas of public life such as employment and education but this also has an effect on the development of normal things that everyone should have the possibility to do, like renting a house. This looks bad and lets us understand how serious this situation is, but in reality there is much more; people are killed without an apparent reason and their "fault" is to be born with a different skin colour from white and it’s clearly not up to them. A case that struck me was the one of Elijah McClain: he was coming back home when somebody reported him saying he “looked sketchy” just because he was wearing a ski mask and waving his arms. The police arrived and after struggling to handcuff Elijah, they stated that he had resisted arrest, which was later denied, so the officers wrestled him to the ground and used a carotid hold, then when the paramedics came they gave him a sedative, a dose later found to be too much for his 143 pounds. This is a clear example of what could happen when you’re not white.

And there is not even justice for these people because people who have the power to change things want to obscure this part of our society, but luckily there are people who fight every day to make discrimination disappear and only in this way will we be able to reach a turning point. Thanks to these brave people, there is still hope in humanity.

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"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word."

(Martin Luther King Jr.)