Institutional Racism in the United States of America.

Michael Brown. Eric Garner. Tamir Rice. Kevin Mathews. Sandra Bland. Darrius Stewart. Freddie Gray. Alton Sterling. Philando Castile.

These names are just a statistic now, to end up forgotten or at very best used in a case study against the injustice of institutional racism that lies rampant within the United States of America. Hundreds more would add to this list, thousands have already been added by previous generations. Civil Rights heroes such as Martin Luther King and Malcolm X would die for the equality of black and minority rights in America, but even to this day, hundreds of innocent people are being gunned down, wrongly incarcerated, and made victims of by the very system that is supposed to govern and protect them.

The term ‘Institutional racism’ is used to define prejudice expressed in social and political institutions, like within our judicial system, our government, the media and of course the police. It occurs when a race or certain group is targeted and discriminated against based upon nothing but the colour of their skin. It is also the most unnoticed form of racism despite affecting millions of citizens every day. It cannot be outlawed by a legislation, or demanded by a lobby group, it is upheld by power and prejudice, and inherent within our systems and society.

The Stories.

Alton Sterling, a loving husband and proud father of four beautiful children would see a tragic face, as he was mercilessly and repeatedly shot at, while unarmed, restrained and completely harmless.

Philando Castille, while driving with both his girlfriend and young child would be shot four times, in his car by police without any reason whatsoever. The worst thing is, studies say that 95% of the time, police officers would not face any charges despite their being categoric video evidence of these heartless killings, by those sworn to protect them.

The Facts.

Out of the 102 murders by police, there were only 10 instances in which the police officer was charged with any crime. Only 2 of these deaths (Matthew Ajibade and Eric Harris) led to convictions of the officers involved.

So out of 100 recorded incidents, (there would be hundreds if not thousands of undocumented cases) only 2 of these officers were charged.

The most prominent issue is there is thousands of records and videos that show policemen can easily restrain culprits or suspected criminals without resorting to violence. Officers are trained to only use their guns as a last resort and most of the time arrest the offender even when they are armed with automatic weapon.

However, the majority of those scenarios, the assailant is white. It seems when the criminal is dark skinned, police authorities are more inclined to resort to lethal means of apprehension, compared to if the assailant was white in which they would do all in their power to ensure that the correct procedure was carried out meticulously.

The Legal System.

Institutional racism is more rampant within the judicial system. The APA report monitored minorities in the juvenile and prison system and came to some astounding conclusions. Black children are 18 times more likely to be trialled as adults compared to other ethnic groups and make up 60% of children in prison. Ethnic minorities stay up to 20% longer in prison compared to their white equivalents and black people in particular are 40% more likely to be sentenced to death compared to their white counterparts.

The juries may also be against you if you are a minority. Qualified black and minority jurors are illegally turned away more than 75% of the time during the jury selection process. As a result, more than a quarter of juries concerning death penalty cases of black and minority individuals have no black or minority jurors on them. The result? Lawyers in the US literally veto members of the jury depending on their race as it makes prosecuting the client easier. An abhorrent thought for what is supposed to be a fair, unbiased judicial system. How can there be justice for a minority when he looks around him to see a white judge, a white prosecutor, and an all-white jury. How can you call that justice?

There has been an ongoing polarising debate about the recent rejuvenation of the equality movement, arguably it never left. White supremacists and many Conservatives will argue that black people and minorities have equal rights, that black lives do matter and to move on. But in the United States black lives never mattered. They have been discriminated against since the Founding Fathers signed the declaration of independence almost 200 years ago. And they are still being discriminated now.

In the 1800’s, captured, stolen, enslaved and raped.

In the 1900’s, lynched from trees, and castrated.

In the 1920’s, thrown into the prisons and forced into ghettos.

In the 1940’s, they were sent to war. 20 years later they would send them to another one.

In the 1960’s, they beat them, hosed them, and charged at them when they marched for freedom.

In the 1970’s, they filibustered their legislation and gerrymandered their neighbourhoods.

In the 1980’s, they filled the streets with weapons, and the neighbourhoods with drugs.

And in the 2000’s, they shoot them in the streets, in their cars and in their houses.

Now, you tell me there still isn’t a problem.