Individuals Equal Power

          Prior to watching the documentary 13th, and reading "The Case for Reparations," by Ta-Nehisi Coates, I was already knew that there was and is an unequal treatment of African Americans in the United States, but I never quite knew the fullest extent of the treatment. I was never fully informed on the issues and consequentially never have had informed opinion on the systemic racism in our country. I mean I myself do not judge people based on skin color or have any preconceived judgements of people. And to be honest I like to keep to myself, and can care less to worry about things I have no control over and do not directly affect me. I know racism is wrong, and I hate it with a passion. Judging people based on what they look like is so base and is beyond me. It contradicts the human being ability to reason in every way, shape, and form. And this entire time, I have been contributing to this systemic racism present in this country by being ill informed and not trying to do something about it. Inaction weighs just as heavily on an issue as action.

          The main thing I learned from the reading and documentary is the method in which oppression was occurring, as well as who specifically the oppressors are. Basically it began as slavery, changed to Jim Crow laws and violent lynchings, segregation, and in the modern era economical oppression and most importantly imprisonment. The ends do not necessarily change, but the means do. Another thing I became aware of was the location of where this was occurring. For the most part I always believed the majority of the racist feelings were occurring in the south and the rest of the country was this sort of safe haven/escape from it all. But this is furthest from the truth. In the reading by Coates, he tells of a man named Clyde Ross who escaped the messy situation he had in Mississippi to a supposed safe haven in Chicago. There he was the recipient of a sort of economical oppression in which he, and many others like him, overpaid for a house that was purchased at a lower price and if they were financially responsible for anything that happened to the house. If they missed a payment they lost the house. Him and others like him decided to do something about it and to fight back. This situation is a great example to show a different kind of oppression, but not necessarily a lighter or heavier kind.

          One of the biggest topics discussed in the documentary is the imprisonment of black men in this country. The number of people in general increased in number every 5-10 years starting around the 70's. This would continue to increase and in 2014 there was over 2 million people incarcerated. Many factors contributed to this starting all the way back to the civil rights movement. If local authorities did not want you protesting they would attack you and throw you in jail. One of the main causes of this imprisonment is the action of the national government specifically the presidents starting with Nixon that shifted the focus on a Law and Order mentality and a war on drugs. This made possession of even tiny amounts of harmless drugs punishable with long prison sentences. The worst part came when President Clinton started the mandatory minimum program and the 3 strikes program. This was crippling and an obvious attempt to incarcerate large numbers of people for long periods of time. And even if they got out of prison, voting became difficult, as well getting a job, and receiving welfare. The system was targeting a specific group of people, namely African American, and a large number of those incarcerated were just suspected of a crime and were innocent, or the crimes were just petty ones and did not warrant long sentences. The American prison system had become a business and focused on profits rather than rehabilitation.

        So you ask yourself who is to blame for all of this and you realize almost all of Americans are,at least those that vote (or at the very least can vote). This issue cannot be placed on Republicans or Democrats, it transcends parties. Neither has attempted to do anything, or at least gave 100% effort into doing so. The only way this system can change is if people, who in this specific form of government and economic system control everything, take charge. Start being informed on what is going on. Pay attention to local events, state events, and then national events ("events" include elections). Start from the ground up and make a difference in your community. Because I guarantee you if we change who takes office beginning with mayors then governors then senators and then ultimately presidents the elected officials will have to change the restrictive bars the government has on people of color. Now in the age of technology we can instantly communicate and see everything and nobody is above reproach. This allows a sort of unity the citizens of America can have like never before in which we can now stand with our fellow HUMAN BEINGS (not just fellow citizens) when they are wrongly treated and discriminated against. We must try to do the one thing that has rarely been done before in America's brief history, unify 100% against racism. From there, we can only go up.