Prejudice In A More Perfect Union, And Let America Be America Again

Racism has been around for a very long time. It significantly impacts American history. Racism has decreased through time, but it hasn't decreased much. Prejudice has caused African Americans a lot of hardship. An assumption or opinion about someone is referred to as prejudice. The history of racism is extensively discussed in the following three passages from Harper Lee's “To Kill a Mockingbird”, Barack Obama's “A More Perfect Union”, and Langston Hughes' “Let America Be America Again”. Due to discrimination and the African American community's disparity, prejudice has a major impact on minority groups. Minority judgments are impacted by prejudice because of the stories that young people hear. Some children may experience prejudice firsthand

In either case, it led to people passing judgment. In the article “A More Perfect Union”, by Barack Obama, he states, “There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off.” This is important because it shows how African Americans are judged due to stereotypes, as soon as they step into an elevator. This also shows how African Americans are painted as dangerous. If this wasn’t the case, a woman wouldn’t have to clench her purse when with a colored man. The history around African- Americans has painted colored people as bad guys. This is an example of prejudice because it’s the knowledge that people think they have, which they don’t. Obama shared with us his personal experience with this judgment. He states, “ There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store.” Furthermore, this explains how Obama had experienced prejudice, an African American man who later became the President of The United States. It didn't matter if Obama was a successful man, he still experienced several problems because of the

America is known as the land for the free. People are supposed to be treated as equals when moving to America. The environment in which we live affects our way of life. It influences the way we interact with the world around us. In the poem, “Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes, it states, “And torn from Black Africa’s strand I came to build a homeland of the free.” This quote shows us how people come to America to be free from their previous troubles. They want to build a better life for themselves. America has fought a lot to be a free country, but that doesn’t mean that we are a free country. During Obama’s speech, he states, “You know. We’re becoming a more perfect union, not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.” Obama shared his experience with prejudice so he knows that America is not perfect and that we aren’t the country that we wished we would be. The American dream isn’t how people think it is, not everyone is treated right, especially immigrants or people of color. They are not viewed the same as white people. Even though we were created the same, that doesn’t change how people view someone who is different looking than they are. In “A More Perfect Union”, Barack Obama states, “Am I judging people as much as I can based on not the color of their skin, but the context of their character.” This explains how some people judge others not for who they are, but for the color of their skin. It is not fair to