Kevin Vaupel

Professor Nicolls

Social issues

10 October, 2022

Racism and inequality

Throughout the course of our country's history, racism has imprinted itself into the

minds of people solely because of the color of their skin and how they were treated

during slavery. Slavery came about in the early 1600’s when the privateer, The White

Lion brought 20 enslaved African ashore in the British colony of Jamestown, Virginia.

Throughout the course of the 17th century european settlers in North America turned to

buying slaves as a cheap alternative for labor and a better “investment”.

In the 1900’s, Segregation was becoming less involved within our society but still

very strict on the ways of life such as, separate bathrooms, or not being able to drink

from the same water fountain. Many different african americans poured over into the

industrial cities to find work and later to fill labor shortages created by the world war,

although they continued to discriminate within their own community trying to find work

and provide for their families. In 1933 President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s new deal

provided a lot of incentives for African Americans including more federal support.

Along came world war 2, when many different african americans were part of the

Great Migration when black southerners relocated to northern and midwestern cities

because more people were sent off to europe to fight, leaving their jobs vacant and
black citizens being the only ones there to fill the job. The labor supply was then

strained with a decline in immigration from Europe and standing bans on people of color

from other parts of the world.

Then came along Martin Luther King Jr. from Atlanta, Georgia. He was a social

activist who led the civil rights movement in the mid 1950’s until he was assassinated in

1968 for his views and what he was fighting for. MLK came from a middle class African

American family, always growing up around southern black ministry. When the king was

fighting for equality within races, there was one story that always stuck with him and

drove him to make a change. When he was about 6, one of his white friends told him

that his parents would not allow him to play with the king because the children attended

different schools.

Moving along to Current issues within our society dealing with racism would be

the uproar that was caused in 2020 regarding a police officer and George floyd. When

George was buying cigarettes at a Minneapolis store, the cashier had suspicion that he

was using a fake $20 bill so then proceeded to call the police. When the police arrived,

they pulled a gun and put Floyd in custody. Floyd then resisted arrest when he claimed

he was claustrophobic and was then pulled onto the ground for 10 full minutes while

being unresponsive. Shortly following this event, the riots started almost immediately in

Minneapolis and soon throughout the entire nation.

This brought two huge movements into our society, the ‘Black Lives Matter’ and

the ‘I Can't Breathe’ movement. These movements took over the country coast to coast

and police departments around the country could not keep up with the damage and
injuries that were being caused by these riots. These riots got so worrisome that they

created a curfew in some cities and half of the country implemented the national guard.

There are many different ways you can implement CST teachings within this

social issue for example Human dignity. Human dignity covers the basis of embracing

yourself and being the clearest reflection of god within yourself. If every single person

followed this principle to be understanding and be a dignified person, racism would not

exist. They would be seen as a normal citizen instead of something they are not.

Another principle that can piggyback off dignity would be, Community and the common

good. This is a phenomenal CST solely because it explains why we should work

together in our community and to love our neighbor no matter what color, size or shape

they are. It is easier said than done to love our neighbor but it's going to take a

conscious social commitment between everyone to make it work.

Like discussed earlier racism has gone on within our country for way too long

and how advanced our society is. It should be everyone's right and responsibility to

make sure every person feels included within our community regardless of culture, skin

color, or ethnic background. Every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to

things necessary for human life, food, water, shelter, health care, etc…

In conclusion, racism, since way before any of us were born, has been an

ongoing issue within our society and its time it comes to an end. It is every citizen's

responsibility and right to fight for everyone to be equal regardless of background. As

for the question of solving racism, I don't particularly know if there is a clear cut way to

end racism but there are many different small things we can do to slowly decrease the

problem.
 A&E Television Networks. (2021, May 24). George Floyd is killed by a police

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Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Martin Luther King, Jr.. Encyclopædia

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https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther-King-Jr

National Archives and Records Administration. (n.d.). The Great Migration

(1910-1970). National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved

October 10, 2022, from

https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/migrations/great-migra

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History.com Editors. (2009, November 12). Slavery in America. History.com. Retrieved

October 10, 2022, from https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery