Problems of Colored People in the United States - Essay Example

The people of color remain a disadvantaged group in the American Society. The group has paid the hefty price of racial discrimination, which has been firmly rooted in American society for many centuries. From being slaves in the 18th and 19th centuries to perceived criminals in modern society, the people of color have profoundly suffered in the hands of their white counterparts. According to (), police brutality on the people of color has been prevalent in the last three centuries, leading to the death of many innocent black people in the country. Recently, the United States has witnessed dramatic social unrest throughout the country after a series of brutal killings of unarmed black people by the police. There has been a big social-economic disparity between the whites and the people of color, which has significantly disadvantaged the people of color. Based on this, therefore, this paper will examine the people of color as a disadvantaged group in the US and Canada. I will argue that systematic racism, social-economic inequality, and historical social-political injustices in American society form the primary reasons that have rendered the people of color as a disadvantaged group in society. The paper will consist of three main parts; the first part will provide various reasons that justify that the people of color are a disadvantaged group, while the second part will provide possible changes that can be made in the world to address the issue. The third part will be a reflection of the main ideas, which will be presented as a conclusion of the paper.

Evidence on why people of Color are Disadvantaged in Society

Police Brutality

Police brutality has historically remained has one of the key challenges to the lives of people of color in the US. The chances of living as a black person remain minimal compared to any other group in the country (Mowatt, 2018). For an extended period, the number of African Americans killed by the police remains high compared to any other cause of death among the group. Historically, the white authorities, both in Canada and America, incriminate anyone with black skin. That is to say that the authorities have predetermined decisions when it comes to black people. Statics have shown that the vast majority of the black population who died in the hands of white police officers were unarmed or were not involved in any criminal activity. The cases of deaths among the black population due to police brutality are nowhere to come to an end, given its current trends (Chatillon and Schneider, 2018).

Statistics show that over 17% of African Americans die from police brutality in the US. The number is just a representation of the few reported cases, which show that many more deaths go unreported (Lyle and Esmail, 2016). According to Alvarez et al. (2016), the corrupt judicial system has been escalated, which protects the white police officers after brutal killings. For instance, on multiple occasions, courts have ruled in favor of policemen despite the availability of solid evidence against their shootings. The political systems have also participated in promoting the racial injustice among the black population by overlooking harmful and unlawful court decisions made on the people of color (Harrell, 2000). Protests in the country have also been treated differently depending on the race involved in them. In the recent protests and unrest in the country, President Trump announced that the police had the "right to shoot" on protestors following the brutal death of George Floyd, a black man who was choked by a white police officer to death. The situation has been different for white protesters who are handled with care and calm from the police. Studies show that the vast majority of African Americans are more likely to die from police brutality than any other cause.

Social-economic inequality

The people of color have been widely disadvantaged in social-economic affairs in the US. The disparity in education and healthcare access has been widening between people of color and the other races in the country (Popescu, 2018). The phenomenon can be attributed to historical injustices that have been in place for an extended period in the country. Racial discriminations in educational systems have seen most blacks miss out on the prestigious course in colleges and other institutions of higher learning, to their white counterparts (Hunt, 2016). Until recently, when racial segregation was eradicated in public schools, African Americans had their own schools, which were far less good in terms of infrastructure and curriculum than their white counterparts. The situation has also seen the number of blacks holding white color jobs remain significantly low over the years, as the population is seen as only good in casual jobs, which has been widely used to promote employment discrimination among people of color (Krieger et al., 2012). Thus, most of them have ended up with low salaries, low savings, and low household incomes. Most of these situations have widely contributed to the increased wealth inequality in the country. The people of color remain the poorest in the country, while the whites accumulate a lot of wealth. The historical existence of mortgage market discrimination has led to a large number of African Americans missing out as house owners. Consequently, the population has ended up with low savings and tax benefits associated with owning a house. Lack of equal job opportunities has resulted in many Africans ending up in unstable jobs, making it hard to meet other needs such as health care and access to insurance services (Nazroo et al., 2007). The practice has seen high mortality rates among the group compared to any other ethnic community in the country.

Political Representation

According to Neville et al. (2016), people of color have been highly disadvantaged in the country's political representations. Until the 1970s, no black senator was serving in the country. The number of black elected leaders has been minimal, making it hard to champion the rights of the black people in the country. Only a handful of times have seen two senators elected at once in the senate (Martin et al., 2017). Even though the number of black leaders in the country has been gradually increasing, the gap remains a big one, posing a challenge in the representation of the Black population's interests. Consequently, there has been a lack of political goodwill in addressing the various issues affecting the people of color due to low presentations in the government. There remain high chances that the problem will continue existing unless there is a change in perception among the whites on the black's competency to excel in leadership positions.

Possible Changes needed to address the disadvantages of people of color in American society.

Based on the already mentioned challenges facing the people of color in the US, possible solutions can be put in place to address the issue, as discussed below.

Exposing racism at all its form – The white populations should not be comfortable with a system that favor them while hurting others. Instead, they should expose any form of racism, regardless of who is doing it (Krieger et al., 2011).

Constitutional Amendments to incorporate tough legal actions against those involved in racial practices such as racial police brutality should also be developed.

Reducing the social-economic disparities between the people of color and the whites in terms of wealth distribution, equal employment opportunities, and equal access to education and mortgage rights will create a fair environment between the two (Tomaskovic-Devey and Warren, 2009). Change in jury selections should also be done to ensure that judicial systems do not make racially biased decisions (Weddell, 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, systematic racism, social-economic inequality, and historical social-political injustices in American society form the primary reasons that have rendered the people of color as a disadvantaged group in American society. The group has been exposed to police brutality, unequal employment rights with the rights, and high social-economic disparities between them and other ethnic groups in the society. Moreover, a limited number of political leaders serving in leadership positions have made it had to address the challenges facing the black population in the country. However, possible solutions such as strategies for reducing social-economic disparities between the whites and the blacks, constitutional amendments to address racial discriminations, and exposing racism in all its forms form some of the ways that can be used to eliminate the problem.