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Janett Ramirez

Professor Tubbs

Engl 1301

30 November 2020

The Difficulties of Racism and Protesting

Our history represents our present, but what good does it do our society when all there is, is

hate and crime within our own humanity. Over the years since the early 1900’s there has been

racial hate within the communities but more specifically "toward Black people in America.”

Crutchfield, 28) Martin Luther King Jr. for example, was similar to a peace maker, he wanted to

make a change in this type of behavior of discriminating different ethnicities that were anything

but white but sadly he received the same treatment, discrimination, since many felt that black

individuals were uneducated and informal to start any sort of movement. (Marching for

Justice,5) Such action raised the start in protesting, where an idea is spoken upon by creating

posters with a phrase that most likely will strike an individual's emotions to understand the tragic

actions that are put upon selected groups. The purpose of protesting overall is to show those in

the communities but more importantly those that hold power the types of wrongs that are being

supported and are looking for attention from the news and media to get such message brought to

them quickly and dramatically.

Protesting has been an ongoing act that involves seeking for change. Often the participants

show their outrage by holding up posters with color and direct phrases to attract others into being

involved in what they are using their voices for or in other words what they are demanding from

the people, change. A recent movement that involves protesting is the Black Lives Matter

movement, where African Americans walked in public roads holding up signs that say, “Stop
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Killing Us” and “I am not a threat”. (Reno, 62) These types of wordings are heartbreaking

especially since it's our own communities that are influencing such behavior to take place day by

day while those in power sit in supremacy not knowing the morals they are implementing on our

youth. The reason behind the movement is to grab the attention, those in power, because they are

the only ones who can punish those that support racism either in businesses, parking lots, or any

public areas because they have that sort of power. (Crutchfield,28) But instead, the governments

take it as a threat, that the communities are at war with each other or are afraid themselves that

their own lives would be in danger because of news threads that are making them look like bad

leaders.

Racism has impacted our society in many ways, most importantly it has impacted youth's

health due to the constant worry and bullying about the color of skin they are or their ethnicity

background. (Zimlich,21) This is sad, especially because we are influencing our youth into

discriminating their peers and leaving it up to the parents to teach their kids to ignore such

behavior because racism is not something they have control over. This is a shared subject;

children are exposed to racism but only because that is what our society reveals to them on social

media and public places. (Davison,4) In other words, the majority of our society knows the battle

we are encountering, discrimination, and the only way to overcome such tremendous reform is to

have our very own voices speak to press and onto posters similar to the way Martin Luther King

Jr. in the 1960’s where he demonstrated his ideas of social change through walks, speeches and

protest. (Marching for justice,5) But instead, we continue to promote the act of discrimination

bringing out the range in people leaving them emotionally unstable and the point of view from an

outside party is they do not see the damage that has been done from past verbal abuse leaving it

up to a therapist to fix every wound that has been constructed. (Zimlich,21)

Now, protest does have its own side effects such as violence which is demonstrated during the

Black Lives Matter movement in the year of 2020 where African Americans used physical and

verbal force against law enforcement which is wrong on many levels. (Reno,62) The reason

behind such violence is due to the murder of a male named George Floyd, who was held on a

public road while an officer held his knee to his neck allowing a minimal to no air through his

body. Of course, this act is unjust just like the violence used on policeman, but the African

American community felt, why not treat those in authorities with the same sense that is taken

upon us due to our color of skin that was not chosen to begin with. This led to the protest and

walks all around the world which created a movement known as the, March for Justice, started

by three strong women who have yet to be identified because they feel like it's more of a national

problem that doesn’t need a face as a representation but instead a voice to end the racial

inequality. (Crutchfield,28) It is shown to be effective by having a leader but at the same time it

is not a necessity, by just having a group of people who are united and determined to achieve the

same outcome is the best thing because it shows how important the movement is rather than the

fame and attention. (Marching for Justice,5)

Overall, our society is in need of change, positive change that targets those that have been

discriminated for the appearance of oneself. Unjust acts involve the performance of

discrimination of color, age, religion and sexual status and when looking at these illegal acts how

is our country able to say they are united but yet are separated when it comes to one's

appearance. What needs to happen is those in power and not in power need to treat each other

with respect along with our youth. We are confusing our own population, and nobody is ever

perfect so why choose a specific color of skin gender etc. to be the face of “perfection within our

society. Instead, we should minimize the types of violence used to only when we actually feel
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threatened and not just because of what someone holds in their hand or the way one desires to

dress. We should be more concerned about one's behavior rather than one's appearance.

There are a variety of reasons one may consider protesting, but the purpose itself is to create

change through visual representation that strike one's emotions intentionally of what is occurring.

This is of course as I stated before, to grab media's attention and be brought to a tv, phone or ads

since that is what the majority of our generation spends their time reviewing quite frequently.

(Davison,4) By giving the constant attention to protesting, will effectively show those in power

that they need to create boundaries of what is discrimination to minimize the activity. A

movement that spoke upon brutal violence and discrimination to African Americans as well as

other ethnicities that is completely unjust to the human society. (Crutchfeild,28)

References
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Crutchfield, Leslie. "Black Lives Matter: From Protests to Lasting Change." The Chronicle of

Philanthropy, vol. 32, no. 9, July 2020, p. 28+. Gale Academic OneFile,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A629604708/AONE?u=txshracd2904&sid=AONE&xid=ab0d543

7. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.

Davison, Sally, et al. "Challenging the structures of racism." Soundings, no. 75, 2020, p. 4+.

Gale Academic OneFile,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A638610926/AONE?u=txshracd2904&sid=AONE&xid=d5bb41a

6. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.

"Marching for Justice." Diverse Issues in Higher Education, vol. 37, no. 15, 17 Sept. 2020, p. 5.

Gale Academic OneFile,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639279473/AONE?u=txshracd2904&sid=AONE&xid=39e0c37

3. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.

Reno, R.R. "White Racialism." First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, no.

306, 2020, p. 62+. Gale Academic OneFile,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A635666046/AONE?u=txshracd2904&sid=AONE&xid=b583f3e

0. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.

Zimlich, Rachael. "Racism, bias negatively impact children's health, well-being." Contemporary

Pediatrics, vol. 37, no. 1, Jan. 2020, p. 21+. Gale Academic OneFile,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A617763714/AONE?u=txshracd2904&sid=AONE&xid=1fbc413

e. Accessed 23 Nov. 2020.