Alec Arnold
HIST109
Dr. Jaede
22 March 2015
Systemic Racism Imagine as if you are trapped in a boat, lying in your own filth, heading overseas to a foreign land where you will experience things that you could never dream of. Imagine as if you lose everything you have to work for someone who would punish you for every mistake you make. These scenarios sound cruel, don’t they? Believe it or not, these were a part of everyday life for some groups of people. This kind of behavior occurred in America’s history because of systemic racism. Throughout the years with racism climbing the ladder to become one of the biggest problems. There have been many different factors that contribute to the ever-present issue of racism. When it comes to presidency, Abraham Lincoln was an incredible man who got the respect from millions of Americans. He had the rights of others in the back of his mind throughout his term and cared for everyone he knew. Not many realize though, that he also had slaves doing the same work for him that many other people had their slaves doing. The only difference was that Lincoln felt wrong for having slaves but never got rid of them because those were the ways of the time. So, Lincoln, known as one of the greatest and most inspirational men, felt that he would be judged or criticized if he didn’t have slaves. This reaction wasn’t the work of one individual but it was work of a group of people who agreed with racial profiling. With this being said, this is an example of systemic racism over individual racism because Lincoln conformed to the ideals of society and not based off of his own beliefs. When Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to guarantee everyone equal rights, not many realized what he was really stating. In the Declaration, he stated that all men will have equal rights but at the time, he meant that all white men were to be treated equally instead of black men and women. This problem did not only come up from individuals but was approached by a group of people who agreed to a superior race which was an example of systemic race. An article would not have been made if only one individual brought up the idea of race but considering a whole group took it to extremes, it brought on the idea of systemic race. Another way in which our history has displayed systemic racism is the Indian Removal. When the Europeans first discovered North America, they were running from their own government to gain freedom. Soon thereafter, they figured out that they weren’t the only ones there and realized that the land was going to be a struggle to obtain. The Indians put up a fight to keep the land that they owned but the Europeans were going to stop at nothing to get it. The Europeans felt that they were the superior race because the Indians weren’t Christian or white. Because of this, they assumed the Indians were the weaker race and the whites worked as a group to make sure that another race would take their so called land. This thought brought on the idea of treating them poorly and doing whatever it took to make sure that the land would be theirs causing systemic racism. Although the problems were at different times, the slave trade is both similar and different compared to the Indian Removal. Some of the comparisons between both of these problems are that both the slaves and the Indians were both uprooted from their homes and they were also both treated unfairly. Both the African Americans and the Indians were forced to stray from their home to move somewhere they didn’t want to move. On top of that, the land that they ended up at was a restricted amount of land. When the African Americans were traded to slave owners, they were treated poorly if they didn’t obey the master’s rules. Both the Indians and the African Americans were used for slave work as well. When the Europeans came to peace with the Indians, it really opened up ideas that the Indians would be able to help the whites with the crop growing and getting supplies that whites do not have access to, while the African Americans helped with whatever the whites needed. When the Europeans found out that they couldn’t work together with the Indians, they did whatever it took to wipe them out completely and didn’t care what it took to do so. Their race wasn’t the only thing that differed between the slave trade and the Indian removal. For starters, the Europeans had different reasons for treating the Indians the way they did rather than how the whites treated the African Americans. When the Europeans first realized that they had to get rid of the Indians completely, they did this so they could successfully get the land that they wanted. When the whites treated the African Americans poorly, they did so because the African Americans went against the rules of their masters. Another difference the two had were the time periods these two problems took place in. At first, the whites used the Indians for slave-like reasons but soon realized that Indians weren’t good at what they needed so they went overseas to get blacks who were looked at in a poorer manner. Whether it was a comparison or a contrast, all of the given points were examples of systemic race because it was a group effort rather than just an individual. When the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made, both of the documents were to help increase liberty, equality, and protection of rights for Native Americans and African Americans. They help increase these rights because before the documents were made, the people didn’t have limits to what they could do to the ones of color unless the president made certain rules. After the documents were made, people had certain limits to what they could say or do to someone. Even though it was frowned upon to treat someone of such disgrace, people still had the thought that those of color should not be treated the same as whites. So with that being said, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution helped increase liberty, equality, and protection of rights for the Native Americans and African Americans. With that being said, the race relations from 1706-1850 still hadn’t made any progress. The relation progressed in some ways but it also declined at points too. The race relation progressed when the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were made because it helped limit those who were white to what they could say or do to those of color. Even though the documents were made, it still didn’t stop whites from treating those of color poorly. The race relation declined as well though because when the whites lost interest in using the Native Americans, they switched to the African Americans and treated them worse than the Native Americans. When the whites were using the Native Americans as help, they respected them as well as hurt them but when they used the African Americans, the whites never really respected them. Systemic racism has been present throughout America’s history and has contributed to the way in which different races are treated today. By looking at trans-Atlantic slavery, the Indian Removal, and numerous different significant documents we can notice the changes in our past that have led to the views we hold in our current society. No matter what happens in America, racism will never be eliminated.