Written by: Niharika Chapagain - 25006, Grade IX
Posted on: 27 January, 2022
In the history of the US, there are many times that white people have enjoyed such legal and social privileges that have been denied to other people who belong to minor races and groups. Racism in the US has existed since the 1600s and even though there are many associations working together to abolish it, there are still many people who believe in racism. However, racial politics has been the main cause of the existence of racism in the US. Imagine the victims asking for justice to the government which is a racist system itself. This has been a serious issue in recent years, especially when much evidence was uncovered about it on the internet. There was this recent news, posted by CNN International about the authorities in California dismissing 90 cases due to the involvement of Torrance Officers under investigation for racist and homophobic texts. It shook me since the police were involved in racism when their responsibility was actually to take action against it.
The news reported that there were many photos of the ‘people of color’ being hanged and being disrespected. This case had enough evidence of discrimination and racism, however, still, no officer was charged with criminal charges since the government’s reputation and its trust among the people was at the stake. Knowing about racism in the country and in the country’s government is different since the government makes decisions for the country, and if the government itself is hollow then only the citizens and people can change the system. In the US, many police departments have taken a step towards racism by using violence against the people of color who are just as normal as everyone else. There was this incident of a police officer who pressed his knee on Jay Pharoah, a celebrity, for approximately 10 minutes choking him and at the end just left saying it was a mistake. It all happened just because his body color was different, however it was brought into the internet since he was famous. If that had happened to a normal person, it would have been suppressed by the government and this issue would never have come into light.
This has raised a debate among the public regarding the police’s racist behaviors. In the US, black people are suspected, and messed around with even when they are innocent. They are usually targeted with racist remarks wherever they go and also face life-threatening situations with the police which makes it hard for them to live a normal life, which is the only thing they wish for. In 2019, many unarmed black people were killed by the police leading this reality into many people’s lives who were unaware of the racism in the US police system. Public protests had broken out at that moment regarding the racial biases taking place inside the government but, of course the one in power wins. Which is exactly what had happened in the past and is happening in the present too. The whole US police system is not to be blamed since many officers are innocent too, however most police departments support racism in the US and it has caused many debates against the US government.
