Systemic Racism in the United States
Many individuals today have different point of views on how the United States of America became what it is today. For instance, point of views such as how society learned to function the way it does, the law and order in place, and ultimately, how circumstances have developed throughout history. Unfortunately, institutional/institutionalized racism, also known as systemic racism is also a concept that has settled and is grown to be quite predominant in the United States all through times past. Systemic racism continues to take place in settings such as banks, courts of law, government organizations, school systems, and the like. However, similar to any other challenge, there are steps to end systemic racism.
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Throughout history, one of the biggest and well-known examples includes slavery. In my opinion, slavery initiated the concept of systemic racism. The ideology of slavery explicitly declared that individuals who are of the white race, had the power to enslave those whom are of the African American race. Due to such a mindset, African Americans were mistreated based on their race. This ideology continued up until the year of 1865 when the United States abolished slavery and the 13th Amendment on the United States Constitution was established. Another example of systemic racism could be Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws, in short, legalized segregation between African Americans and whites in public locations such as restrooms, restaurants, and the like.
Similarly, there was a court case in which a female with the name of Susie Guillory Phipps in which she tried to sue the Louisiana Bureau of Vital Records to change her racial classification from black to white. Since a 1970 state law stated that anyone who is at least 1/32nd “Negro Blood” are avowed to be black. Thus, due to Phipps being a descendant of an 18th century white planter, but at the same time a black slave, she was designated “black” on her birth certificate. In a sense, this is an example of systemic racism since the established law at the time brought omission to Phipps based on her racial