Racism in the United States

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that, while there have been great improvements in the condition of racism in the United States, there is still much racism to be overcome. The author points out that the Civil Rights movements throughout history have served to open many doors for African Americans; even 50 years of desegregation has not served to eliminate the vast poverty or lower levels of overall quality of life for the African-American populations. The paper stresses that perhaps the most glaring example of the racism still in existence today can be seen in the judicial system in America; an examination of over 2,000 murder cases in Georgia showed clearly that the death penalty was more likely to be sought by prosecutors if the victim of the crime was white.

From the Paper:

"As early as the 1860's, the civil rights movement was beginning to slowly take form. With the end of the Civil War, and with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which abolished slavery, the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed protection of citizens, and the Fifteenth Amendment, which barred voting restrictions, the issue of civil rights came to the forefront. Yet the so called "freedoms" gained through the passage of the Amendments were quickly doused by "scientific" ideas that whites were supreme, and by state governments enacting numerous laws to severely restrict suffrage in the South. Through the combination of local, state and federal government, racial segregation began to emerge as a result. In addition, group such as the Klu Klux Klan formed to show white supremacy and began to emerge in both the north and the south, further limiting the freedoms of the African Americans."

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