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During Hurricane Katrina, thousands of
African-Americans were dehumanised, and
abandoned by the Federal Government in New
Orleans…
Why does the United States refuse to accept
that racism exists? The only rational
explanation is because it’s in denial. With
the intensely racially discriminatory history
that the United States has, there is no other
explanation. During Hurricane Katrina,
thousands of African-Americans were
dehumanized, subject to racial slurs, and
abandoned by the Federal Government in New
Orleans. To add insult to injury, they are now
being blamed for being stuck in the city, as
to absolve any societal obligations to this
still disenfranchised population. The
conditions were more deplorable than most
Third World prison camps. There are first hand
accounts of people being subjected to racial
slurs by the United States military - and yet
there are many American citizens that don't
think race played a part in that situation at
all.
How can they be so blind? I think that they
have to deny the existence of racism no matter
how obvious it is because then they would be
forced to examine their own actions and
thoughts. They would be forced to wonder if
they have acted in racist ways. I think that
this thought is too much to bear for most
Americans, so they just deny that racism even
exists. Unfortunately, there are millions of
minorities in the United States that don't
have the luxury to deny that racism exists -
they are confronted by it everyday.
Situations such as the Duke Rape case also
shine an interesting light on the race problem
in the United States. Many African-Americans
can see a bunch of rich Caucasian college
students dehumanizing, disrespecting, and even
raping an African-American woman. Many
Caucasian Americans seem to think that this
society is just and sound in morality,
therefore, because there seems to be no
smoking gun in this case; the accused are
probably innocent. Add to that the fact that
many Caucasians seem to be ready to pounce on
any African-American that claims racial
inequality and you see the racial divide
clearly.
Race relations have been horrific in the
United States since the country was founded.
African-Americans just received legal
guarantees against discrimination a little
over 40 years ago. Although, it is clearly
incorrect to assume that justice now prevails
for everyone. Let's address this situation and
finally bring it to an end.
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