Revisiting Racism: Post-Segregation Tensions in America

“I have a dream that one day right here in Alabama little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” –Martin Luther King Jr. (Atkinson). Racism is believed to be a part of the past. In many circumstances it is, such as the desegregation of the army and schools. In light of this fact, tensions between whites and blacks have been increasingly seen in the recent shootings of unarmed black boys. This is determined in many different scenarios such as: George Zimmerman shooting unarmed Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old playing with a toy gun being shot by a city police officer, and one of the most recent and controversial, Michael Brown being shot down by a

Editor of The Onion, Cole Bolton states, “Confronted with the enduring shadow of slavery and Jim Crow-boom!-, and you simply react,” which is a portrayal of pathos. Using a form of satire, Bolton easily and clearly gets his point across, saying that the cop is treating the black minority unfairly and unequally more so than he would treat any other suspect. He is exemplifying that every policeman that is in a legal situation with a minority automatically switches to the mindset of an authority that would react to this situation a few hundred years ago, poorly and with racist treatment. Policemen nowadays should treat every suspect the same, no matter what the color of their skin is, whether it is black or white. Bolton is stating that cops go to extreme levels when confronted with a minority in a criminal situation and is shown with pathos. Another form of Juvenalian is in the likes of pathos when Bolton states, “You’re face-to-face with racial disparity that dates back to the 17th century.” By saying this, Bolton is describing how the mindset of a policeman changes so quickly from dealing with a white person to dealing with a black person. He is asserting that when in the presence of an African American, the cop must treat them the way that they were treated back in the 17th century when slavery and racist laws were in effect (Bolton). Bolton is using this to his advantage to express his

Nigel Covington, editor of The National Report gives a brief summary at the end of his article stating that James Holmes, who murdered twelve people in a movie theater, will only be charged with illegally parking his car in a handicapped parking spot when he murdered the victims. After already dropping the charges because Holmes is white, it turns out he is not above the law and will have to pay an eighty dollar fine for parking in handicap parking (Covington). Covington makes a mockery about the fact that the only punishment a man who killed twelve people will get a measly fine for parking in the wrong