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Mrs. Rowe

English 1010: 2A

5 November 2020

Response to “The Problem is White Supremacy”

White supremacy has been going on for a very long time now, for decades. White

supremacy doesn’t get talked about much and we tend to shy away from bringing up the topic or

so much gets left out about it when we do talk about it. People think that it doesn't exist, but it is

still intact till this day. For example, a friend of mine told me that her cousin went to an

interview with a high degree in education and a white person did the same thing but with no

education, the white person got the job no questions asked, and that was because her cousin

wasn’t looked as a potential employee but as a color.The real question is, what can we do to

eliminate white supremacy or at least stop it from growing?. The fact that white supremacy is

still a prevalent issue is enough proof that we do not live in a past racial society.

Smith writes in her essay, “The Problem is White Supremacy,” (published 30 June 2020

in The boston global) about white supremacy and how it affects the community especially the

black community. She states that “you can’t change the culture of the police if you can’t change

the culture of the culture” Although Smith has a good idea of what white supremacy is and what

it does to the community, she doesn’t really go into deep depth of how or what we can do to

eliminate or decrease white supremacy. She seems to be really passionate about this topic and it

sounds like she put a lot of effort into writing this, but it really is not the solution to the

“problem”. The United States is socially and politically unsustainable due to the racial barriers
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created by white supremacists. “The reason America’s pattern of racial terrorism keeps repeating

is because the system of white supremacy that spawns the terrorism remains intact.”

Reading this essay I was intrigued to see someone write an essay on a widely known but

yet not talked about topic. The essay was very interesting, the author's voice, style and tone were

intriguing. The author’s writing was informative and very executive. When reading Smith’s

essay, I came across a sentence of her basically saying that people of color are being treated

poorly, and were expected “to risk their lives at low wage jobs to make life comfortable for

everyone else”. I agree solely with this statement because I do believe that people of color are

working twice as hard to get the same job as non colored people and looked at not as a color but

a person. It’s just how the world is right now.

Although Smith’s statement on jobs and color can connect to almost all people, she

shows a tendency of just looking at the problem but not looking for a solution to the problem.

She comes close to an idea of “what if” we could do something, but never comes to a solid idea

to actually do something. She doesn’t urge people to take a stand against white supremacy which

is something she should have done. She believes that also doesn’t really go in depth as to an

answer to a question a reader might have when reading her essay, questions like why does white

supremacy still exist?.

In conclusion Smith’s writing is very interesting and it is so intriguing that one way or

another we can relate to the essay. She in a way leaves the question for us to figure out the

answer. The essay gives the reader a personal perspective into a part of life one doesn't think of.

Reading Smith’s essay one might find a couple of beneficial information.