Many in society view extreme racial discrimination as a part of the past. However, discrimination still does exist and not much is being done about it. In AP US History, we recently finished watching the documentary "The 13th."
It reveals the modern discrimination occurring through more covert methods such as through media and laws. Media, surprisingly, is a covert method. Roles that African American characters take on fit the racial stereotypes that society holds due to a history of racial stereotyping, tracing back to the movie "A Birth Of a Nation." The modern characters that African Americans play often hold similar stereotypes with those of the 1900s. This instills and strengthens the prejudiced view that people hold of African Americans. Also, media tends to portray the negative aspects of the Black Lives Matter movement. It focuses on the violent riots of the movement, neglecting the peaceful protestors.
The next covert method is the legal system of the United States. The 13th amendment bans slavery regardless of race or religion - except as punishment for a crime. Here is the direct text: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Only 12-13% of the US population is African American, yet they make up 35% of jail inmates. There are more police supervision and search warrants in areas with a large amount of African Americans and Latinos.
The ending of the documentary was the most impactful to me. One of the people interviewed stated that when people learn about the lynchings and enslavement of the African Americans, they often have a horrified response. I, for one, thought along the lines of: "How could people during the time do that to other? They're horrible. If I lived during the time I would never stand still, seeing those actions occur." However, the reality is we are still living in those times, and people are doing little about it. Much of the African American community are in lower positions of status than most of the population. However, restrictions like the ones above are preventing them from escaping their situations and succeeding.
We were discussing our thoughts about the video in small groups of four after watching. One girl noted that she was looking through "The Most Influential Photos" according to Times Magazine. She noticed many photos during civil rights movements of the past, but there were few photos on the current civil rights movements. There are certainly influential events today such as the Dakota Pipeline protests or the Brown-Garner protest.
30 years from now people will learn about events that are currently occurring for us. They will most likely hold the same sentiments: "Why didn't they take action against such discrimination? I could have been a much better person."
So why don't we?
