Effects Of Discrimination On Race Discrimination

Discrimination Against a Race Working to Better Itself In a society where a racial divide is growing more and more prominent everyday, black lives are being put into the spotlight. White people have always had the upper hand in America, but exactly how much of an upper hand do they have? It has always been apparent, since the first developed human society, that with power comes opportunity. With the lack of power and opportunity in their own right, people of color miss out on options for betterment and equality. In a society where there are very few people of color in the top one percent of the economy, obviously the opportunities are going to be limited for the remaining ninety-nine percent. Lacking in opportunities, the remaining ninety-nine

Structural racism is often experienced in the workplace, school, home and social justice system (Watkins). The median black family of the ninety-nine percent is worth $1,700, while the median white family is worth $116,800: that is nearly sixty-nine times more than the median black families worth (Weissmann). In 2014, the Pew Research Center found that the median white household was worth 12.9 times more than the median black household, even though the households had very similar incomes (Weissmann). “When it comes to finances, the U.S. has left the typical black household with just about nothing” (Weissmann). Researchers have found that the black population in America is usually bound to poverty because of the lack of opportunities for success that they receive (Watkins). The lack of opportunities now effects their ability to receive a quality education, getting accepted and maintaining a good quality job, and accessing resources to become home owners or to provide for their families (Watkins). This lack of opportunities is also leading to discrimination, problems with the criminal justice system, mental health and violence problems, and racial and cultural identities

Highly popular cases of racial discrimination such as Oscar Grant, Sandra Bland, Alton Sterling, Philandro Castile, Trayvon Martin, and several more are heart stopping examples of discrimination based on race. Tre Melvin, a popular YouTube star, also experienced his own form of racial discrimination when buying a house for his mother. In his video “#BlackLivesMatter”, Tre Melvin talks about his arrest in the midst of several police brutality situations in 2014. Tre Melvin and his friends were looking at potential houses for his mother in Dayton, Ohio where he was born and raised (Melvin). Tre Melvin happens to own a white BMW, and has said several police officers have asked him about how he was able to afford a car as nice as his and if he is sure that he owns it (Melvin). A neighbor near one of the houses that Melvin was looking at called the police to report “vandalism and a house invasion by three colored young men in a stolen vehicle” (Melvin). Melvin’s rights were broken when multiple police officers arrested him and his friends without telling them why they were being arrested. Melvin was also being discriminated against when the neighbors called, assuming that because he was African American looking at a nice home, in a nice neighborhood, driving a nice car, all of those things must be stolen or broken into. Racial profiling was the cause for the arrest of three