An Argument Against the Denial of Systemic Racism.

Systemic Racism is real.
It is maintained in America through negligence and misinformation. Evidence of its existence is taken by many as random, disparate occurrences. The truth is that Racism in our country is not an isolated issue, Racism cannot be amputated, its elements are bred-in-bone, deep-rooted, it's Systemic. Despite plenty of accessible evidence, a shocking amount of people disregard it as irrelevant today, or flat-out deny it even exists.
If things are going to change we need to squash this line of thinking, misinformation can catch like a virus these days so it’s essential we fight it incessantly.

Residential Segregation can still be seen today.
If we examine history we can see undeniable evidence of the racism baked into modern America. Initially, residential segregation was created with explicitly racist intentions, after the fair housing act it could no longer be done expressly and legally, but it still exists in a slightly more subtle form. Modern Segregation is fed through a vicious cycle given momentum thanks to Jim Crow era laws. Disadvantaged children of color attend segregated schools because they exist in segregated neighborhoods, they receive far fewer educational and financial opportunities, and if they have their own children, they don’t have the resources to give their children greater opportunities.

Our government continues to disenfranchise people of color.
During the Jim Crow era, men of color could not vote. Although the right to vote has been secured for all American citizens, voter suppression has been continued through more insidious means.
Politicians will gerrymander to prevent certain people from receiving fair representation. Research shows voters of color report longer waiting times at polling locations, and their mail-in ballots are rejected at much higher rates than white voters. These are only a few examples of how our government underrepresents people of color, and they are verifiable factual statistics.

The Criminal Justice System is the most glaring evidence of all,
and yet some Americans argue that the statistics we have are simply a result of behavioral differences, and not of racial bias or larger systemic issues.
There is a plethora of credible research showing a clear statistical difference in the way people of color and white people are treated in the justice system. Your race plays a factor in almost every facet of the system.
A point often brought up by the deniers of systemic racism is that statistics also show that people of color are more likely to commit crimes than white people, what they fail to examine is why. If you look at history, and the countless examples of disenfranchisement and segregation of people of color in the modern day, this statistic will make complete sense. People who are stuck in poverty with no opportunity to escape it are of course more likely to commit crimes.

To “argue” for the existence of a concept that is easily verifiable with mountains of evidence is ridiculous.
Unfortunately, in the time we live in factual information is both at its most accessible and its least. The internet is oversaturated with information, any thought can be broadcast to a worldwide audience at the click of a button. It's an incredible feat of human engineering, but it also enables the rapid spread of both true and deluded information. It seems this concept reinforces the argument of nearly every political circle, one side claiming the other has been misguided with false information.
This means that people can convince themselves and others that factual information is simply propaganda designed to destroy their lifestyle.
An environment like this can hugely empower racists.
So yes, systemic racism is real. I argue this because it is an important thing to say. I find it very unlikely that someone who doesn’t believe in systemic racism would read a paper like this, or anything similar to this, and be convinced that they are backing the wrong corner.
And yet, it is still an incredibly important argument.
If we can overtake deluded information on the internet, we can take power away from racists and their misguided peers,
and we can begin to make change.

Works Cited

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