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Anchorpiece
Anchorpiece
Chase Henzel
Mrs.Palcko
English 112
9 May 2017
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
Henzel 2
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
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
conyers.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/black-white-wage-gaps-larger-today-than-in-
Shoichet, Catherine E. Keith Lamont Scott: What we know about man shot by Charlotte