Ayush Agarwal Period 8 - EOCB Race

The main issue connecting all four sources is the racist history and founding of the United States,

and how one can draw a clear line between events from the 18th and 19th centuries and the racial

disparities still present today such as the bias criminal justice system, police brutality, economic

discrimination by financial institutions, and the racial wealth gap. The sources talk about how the US was

founded on white supremacy, and how founding documents coveted equality for all while at the same

time legitimizing slavery and segregation. The sources examine the differences between different terms

such as prejudice, discrimination, and racism, and how people often conflate them, which can lead to

the systemic racism in all of America’s institutions being understated. Finally, the sources discuss major

periods in American history where people of color have been oppressed, what each period entailed, and

what elements of the status quo are biased against people of color.

Source A is a speech in Philadelphia by Barack Obama, who was not only the 44th president but

was also a constitutional law professor at the University of Chicago for many years, meaning he has the

experience to discuss elements of the Constitution. That proves the credibility of this source. Obama

describes the Constitution as a living document, one that was ratified in 1789 but not yet complete as it

did not fulfill the promises of the Declaration of Independence to create a society where all men are

created equal. Instead, Obama says it took the work of mass movements throughout the centuries to

come for the Constitution to at least progress towards that goal. Independent of the source, this is a

theme that is evident throughout history, which is that the only time the government takes action on

making a more equal society is when millions of people go out in the streets and protest for that

equality. This was seen with the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the Civil Rights Movement and the

March on Washington. Noam Chomsky has written about this phenomenon, saying the only way to force

the government to change oppressive structures is when the people say they have had enough, which is

why political activism is one of the most powerful forces in politics today. This relates to race because
Obama is saying that the Declaration established all men are equal, but it took centuries of protests,

assembling, and mass movements to even make progress on that goal.

Source B is an article by Robin Diangelo about the difficulties many white people have

acknowledging racism, slavery, and other oppressive structures their ancestors have used to establish a

system of white supremacy. One concept that Diangelo makes clear is that white supremacy emerged as

a result of slavery, that it was a justification to create unequal institutions that killed, tortured, and

enslaved people of color. Diangelo also cites another author, Ibram Kendi, who explains that those who

benefited from the unequal institutions created propaganda and stereotypes on why black people are

inferior to white people, such as depicting black men as criminals and rapists to turn those that

acknowledge these stereotypes as reality against people of color. Finally, Diangelo tackles misinformation

about the differences between the three terms of racism, prejudice, and discrimination, showing how

the three act together to create systemic racism. Diangelo describes prejudice as an assumption or

thought about someone made solely off of their sex, race, or ethnicity. Discrimination, according to

Diangelo, is when that prejudice is weaponized. For example, telling someone that they cannot use a

good or a service because of the prejudices against them is the basis on which the era of Jim Crow and

segregation rested. Finally, racism is when these prejudices and discrimination are backed by the actors

that are supposed to be the most neutral on this issue, the government and the legal system, making this

discrimination systemic. This relates to the theme connecting the sources because these different

assumptions are being made and these systems are codified solely because one race believes that the

color of their skin makes them superior to another race.

Source D is an article from Bryan Stevenson that essentially splits the history of the US into four

periods, all of which have weaponized racism against people of color to dehumanize them solely based

on the color of their skin, their race. The first period is slavery, where human beings were treated as

property, given values like they were everyday goods one buys and sells on markets, raped by white male
slaveowners, and beaten for protesting against an injustice system. This relates to the theme of race

because in 1619, when the first twenty or so slaves arrived in Virginia, the story of America began as a

nation that decreased the value of human life to a possession simply because of one’s race. The second

period is one of violence, where white supremacist groups lynched, burned, and terrorized black people

and communities of color. This relates to race because after the Civil War, white southerners still

believed that a black person was inferior to them, so they grouped together and decided to use violence

to make a very clear statement on how they felt about people of color. The third period does not harm a

black person’s physical health as much as it does their mental health, by making them feel as if they are

inferior to white people by making them use different water fountains, attend different schools, and get

on different buses. This relates to race because black people were denied private services and goods and

forced to have different public amenities solely because of their skin color. Finally, the fourth period is

one that is still continuing today, where black people are rounded up in mass numbers and sent to jail on

the dog whistle concept of maintaining law and order. This relates to race because black people are

viewed as a threat to societal stability so their lives are ruined as they go into incarceration, where they

have no way to improve themselves and contribute to society.

Overall, the issue of race is prevalent throughout the sources, and can be used to make the

argument that this is the America that black people know, a country where one is scared to go out of

their house, onto the streets, because a police officer, those who are supposed to protect communities,

could kill or arrest them. A country where one is denied loans to raise a farm and make enough money to

put food on the child for their children because they are black. A country which punishes a black person

to a greater extent when a white person has committed a similar crime. There is no doubt that racism

and white supremacy run deep in America’s institutions, and system reform to mitigate those issues and

give people of color an equal shot at life, to “live the American Dream” is necessary from a moral,

ethical, and truly patriotic perspective.