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Chase Henzel

Mrs.Palcko

English 112

9 May 2017

Racial Tension in the United States

Have you have been treated differently just because the color of your skin? In North

America today there are people being mistreated and discriminated against because the color of

there skin. African Americans are a perfect example of the racial discrimination in the United

States. For instance, there is a clear wage gap between black and white works. Also, police

officers are shooting and killing unarmed African Americans. As a result of this there are riots

and protests around the country. The racial tension in the US involves, the black and white wage

gap, police shootings and brutality, and the effect of riots and protests.

There is a clear wage gap between black and white workers in United States. In the

workplace a black worker can have the same productivity then a white worker and will get paid

less. According to Economic Policy Institute,...racial wage gaps are worse today than in 1979.

For example, in 2015 a black man's hourly wage was 22% less than that of a white worker doing

the same job. In 1979 the percentage was only 16.9% which is still a lot but much less than

22%.Additionally, six out of ten workers have admitted to being discriminated against by their

employer. That just proves that the racial discrimination is on the rise in the United States today.

There has clearly been a rise in police shootings and brutality in recent years. Specifically

involved in these altercations, are white officers and African Americans. All around the country

there are fatal police shootings, but in some cases these shootings are very contersal. For

example, one of these control shootings was when Keith Lamont Scott was fatally shot by police
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in Charlotte, North Carolina. It happened when the police were serving a warrant for a different

man on the complex when they saw Keith. The officers saw him get out of his car and thought he

had a gun when he then was fatally shot and killed at the age of 43 years old. Soon after the

incident, the body-cam footage of the fatal shooting was released and the public.

The public saw the truth after the body-cam footage was released about what had truly

happened. They saw that he did nothing wrong and they took it as yet another form of racial

targeting by a white officer. Protests lasted over two weeks and some even turning violent.

Protesters threw rocks at police, injuring 16 officers, (Holly Yan). They had impressive

numbers at some of these protests. At one point, a major interstate was shut down as protesters

set a fire and vandalized police cars, (Holly Yan). Police with riot shields and tear gas would

have to come in and try and have them stand down. Eventually, they did start to subside because

the officer was put on trial for the death of Keith Lamont Scott. In the end, the officer was

charged with the death of Keith, but that still can not bring a father and a loving husband back.

It is clear how this racial discrimination is affecting our country today. African

Americans are being mistreated in the workplace and being paid less because the color of there

skin. There are fatal shooting of African Americans happening around the country by white

officers. As a result there are riots and protests separating our country.People always say America

is the country of equal rights and opportunity. But it is clear that African americans are still being

mistreated today in our society. Those are just a few of the points that are contributing to the

racial tension in the United States today.

Works Cited
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Black-White wage gaps expand with rising wage inequality. Economic Policy Institute,

www.epi.org/publication/black-white-wage-gaps-expand-with-rising-wage-inequality/. Accessed

23 May 2017.

Holly Yan, Black-White wage gaps larger today than in 1979 due primarily to

discrimination. Full Employment Caucus, 1 Nov. 2016, fullemploymentcaucus-

conyers.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/black-white-wage-gaps-larger-today-than-in-

1979-due-primarily-to. Accessed 23 May 2017.

Shoichet, Catherine E. Keith Lamont Scott: What we know about man shot by Charlotte

police. CNN, Cable News Network, 23 Sept. 2016, www.cnn.com/2016/09/22/us/keith-lamont-

scott/. Accessed 17 May 2017.