How Does Racism Affect The Modern World

Racism’s Effects on the Modern World The United States has been facing the issue of racism since before it was even a nation. The Atlantic Slave Trade, which began in the late fifteenth century, set the foundation for over five centuries of racism, prejudice, and discrimination. Many of the major issues throughout American history have been centered around racism, such as the Civil War in the 1860s and the Civil Rights Movement of the mid-twentieth century. Although the United States as a whole is now much more respectful of and fair towards its non-white citizens, racism is still at the root of many of the nation’s problems. It may not be as easily identified as it was fifty years ago, but it is still an important socio-economic issue

American society operated under a “separate but equal” policy, meaning that it was okay for whites and non-whites to use different facilities, such as schools, as long as those facilities were the same. However, the facilities were usually anything but equal (“Civil Rights and Equal Protection”). On the contrary, today’s racism is usually less obvious. Those who are opposed to the integration of non-whites into American society make their opinions clear through acts such as selecting a white person over a non-white person for a job position. The fact that all of the Oscar nominations for the top categories were white for two years in a row seems to suggest racial prejudice. Compared to the violent displays of racism that were common in the mid-twentieth century, these displays of racial discrimination and prejudice seem much less

However, today’s leaders are trying to suppress these ideals by ignoring them as much as possible, which is proving to be counterproductive. In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, Malcolm X states that he believes that “the cause of the riots, the racist malignancy in America, has been too long unattended” (Haley 436-37). Racism may not be as easy to identify in today’s society, but that does not make the issues it causes less important; it is imperative that our nation addresses this problem before it