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Derek Lopez

Mrs. Lane

English 9 H

2 February 2018

Racial and Social Equality

There has always been, and there will always be racism. Parents, or family members can

teach their kids racism and those kids can teach their kids racism and so on and so forth. There

will always be people that just don’t want to change. There are just too many obstacles in the

way of America achieving true racial and social equality. America will never achieve racial and

social, as seen in To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

People may argue that America already achieved true racial and social equality and or

America will achieve racial and social equality. This is wrong and will never be right. As sad as

is sounds, racism occurs daily and is happening right now. For example, according to the

Economic Policy Institute’s article, “We still have a long way to go,” “we still live with a great

deal of de facto racial segregation.” This means that legally enforced segregation is no longer,

however this doesn’t stop the fact that it is still happening anyway, or under the radar. Another

example is from “To Kill A Mockingbird” when Raymond is talking to scout and dill and says “if

I weave a little and drink out of this sack folks can say Dolphus Raymond’s in the clutches of

whiskey that’s why he won’t change his ways.” To avoid people that give him dirty looks are talk

about him, he pretends to be an alcoholic. It’s easier for people to think that he is a drunk, than it

is to think that he associates with black people. This just shows that racism can be as little as
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giving someone a mean look all because of the color of their skin, or the people that they

associate themselves with. Most people say racism is calling someone someone out because of

the color of their skin, or harming another because of the color of their skin. This is right in a

way, but this is also very wrong. Racism can be as little as giving someone a dirty look or

choosing to separate yourself from another because of the color of one’s skin. However it also

doesn’t matter what the color of your skin is because people are racist, meaning no matter your

skin color, someone will treat you differently. Racism can be performed in so many different

ways that aren’t always loud.

Additionally, racism will always be alive, no matter your location, no your peers, most of

the time. For example, according to Huff Post’s article, “Everywhere you look, Americans are

spreading hate” “In a township outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, school officials confirmed that a

group of fourth-graders on a winning robotics team were told to “go back to Mexico” by other

students.” This just proves it doesn’t matter where you are, their will always be racism and hate.

Another example, according to AAP News and Journals GateWay’s article, “Social Inequality

and Racial Discrimination”, “exposure to personal racial discrimination has characterized and

influenced life options for many children of color in the United States.” As kids, there is so much

hate going around, it’s almost impossible to grow up unaware of this, better yet it happening to

you while still young. You can’t just expect the world to be perfect. This is exactly why racism

still lives and will always live. No human being is perfect, we all make mistakes. If the world

was perfect and we all lived in a utopian society, the world would fall. Asking everyone to be

exactly equal is like trying to ask a goldfish how it’s day was and expecting it respond. A utopian

society could potentially be a dystopian society. Trying to force people to be precisely equal puts
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you in a dystopian society. It just can’t happen and this is equality why America will never

achieve true racial and social equality.

On the contrary, some critics argue that we have already made great progress and are on

the road to achieve social equality. These people would argue that racism has lessened because

slavery no longer exists. They say that this was ended long ago and was abolished in the 13th

amendment, therefore showing progress in social equality. It is understandable why the

opposition believes we already have made so much progress. However, the amendment didn’t

abolish racism, it just abolished enforced slavery. As previously noted, while racism is no longer

legal, it is still happening in today’s society illegally.

In conclusion, america will never achieve true racial and social equality. It is a never

ending cycle. Because racists can always influence others and turn them into a detrimental

person. This is the exact reason as to why racism still exists in today’s society. Most of the time

the negative influences are people who are close to one. So that one trusts the other and respects

them so they will continue onto the domino effect. The domino effect is like when someone is

doing some wrong and someone else acts on this and does the same. In the end, just because

others are doing wrong, doesn’t mean you need to do the same thing.
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Work cited

http://www.epi.org/blog/long-way-to-achieving-racial-equality/

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/3-discrimination-an

d-racial-inequality/

http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2016/06/27/4-achieving-racial-e

quality/

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/06/27/key-takeaway

s-race-and-inequality/

https://prezi.com/ktwprlngydus/america-will-never-achieve-true-

racial-and-social-equality/