Racism In The 21st Century And How It Affects You

Does Racism Affect You?, Is racism an issue in your life?

A black student in Central Louisiana at Jena High School asked school administrators for permission to sit under a tree called the "white tree." School administrators quickly said that the student could sit under whatever tree he pleased. The student then sat under the "white tree." The following day, three nooses, in the schools colors were found hanging from the true. THIS WAS IN SEPTEMBER OF 2006!

The White Tree at Jena High School

Three white students were determined to be responsible for the nooses. The principal planned to expel the students, however a white superintendent stepped in and punished the three student's with a three day suspension terming the incident as an "adolescent prank."

Noose On The White Tree at Jena High School.

Of Course, racial tensions continued to increase and in December of 2006, six black students were arrested after a fight during which a white student was beaten. The white student suffered multiple bruises and a concussion. The six black students were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy. The boys are now facing up tot 100 years in prison without parole.

The Story of Genarlow Wilson

Genarlow Wilson sits in prison despite being a good son, a good athlete and high school student with a 3.2 GPA. He never had any criminal trouble. On the day he was to sit for the SAT, at seventeen years old, his life changed forever. He was arrested. In Douglas County he was accused of inappropriate sexual acts at a News Year’s Eve party. A jury acquitted him of the allegation of Rape but convicted him of Aggravated Child Molestation for a voluntary act of oral sex with another teenager. He was 17 and black, and she was 15 and white.

Genarlow Wilson Senior Portrait.

Along with the label “child molester” which will require him throughout his life to be on a sexual offender registry, Genarlow received a sentence of eleven years — a mandatory 10 years in prison and 1 year on probation.

On July 1, 2007, the new Romeo and Juliet law went into effect in Georgia for any other teen that engages in consensual sexual acts. That change in the law means that no teen prosecuted for consensual oral sex could receive more than a 12 months sentence or be required to register as a sex offender.

Had this law been in effect when Genarlow Wilson was arrested, or had been done after the Marcus Dixon case, Genarlow would not now be in jail.

Genarlow's case recently went back to court and the court ordered Genarlow to be released, however the white District Attorney filed an appeal to keep Genarlow Wilson in jail where he remains pending finality.

Genarlow has been incarcerated since February 25, 2005.

Commentary

I do not find stories like this shocking in this day and age, however we must as a society continue to make changes to eradicate racism. After all it's been only fifty years since public schools were integrated, therefore, how can we think that racism no longer exists.

Racism is still alive and prevalent in America. As a young, educated black man, I do my part to change stereotypes and opinions about blacks and minorities. All my life, I have been with elite and educated people, most of which were white. Frequently these people told me that "I was not really black", or that "I was whiter than them."

The comments only disappointed me because they did not fully realize what they were saying. In effect what they were saying was that black people are not intelligent, eloquent and articulate speakers. They did not realize that they were further perpetuating stereotypes that continue to persist. I definitely would call them racist, however it is very stereotypical and bigoted.

My friends ask me all the time also whether I believe racism exists and the answer as stated above is yes. The playing fields are not level and will probably never be. In the race of life, white people have a 200 year head start, therefore only through assistance can blacks catch up. After all, who do you think is going to be the next CEO of the Ford Motor Company and Budweiser? My bet is on Henry Ford IV and Augustus A. Busch IV, great, great grandsons of the founders.