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Racism in the United States

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Racism in the United States

Diversity is the cornerstone that makes the United States unique in its “melting pot” identity, but racism can be the unfortunate side effect of that diversity. Racism is defined as “A psychological attitude…based on demonstrably false theories of racial differences appropriated by a culture, even though there is no scientific evidence that race is a meaningful way to identify social or biological differences.” (Lemert, 2006) Today, racism is an issue still present in the United States as it is in many parts of the world. But one of the major issues with racism in the United States today is that the prominent focus tends to be on white and black relations, thus leaving many of the racial and ethnic groups that have been affected out of the limelight. The evidence of racism in the United States is dominated by the attempts of members of the white race to control other races, and it is overwhelming and it is an unfortunate part of American history that still resonates today. Jim Crow laws, policies such as “Manifest Destiny”, the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882…these are just a few of the many attempts to limit the rights of non-whites in the United States. Here, an argument will be presented in support of the idea that the racism debate is dominated by white and black relations, followed by the presentation of a counter-argument, and concluded with a response to the counter-argument. To begin with let’s explore some reasons why white and black relations are the primary focus of race relations in the United States. When many people think of racism in the United States, one of the first things that might come to mind is the forced enslavement of Africans and their subsequent poor treatment even after the 13th amendment completely abolished slavery. Just do a quick Google search on “Race

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