Gallman 1

Race relations have always been a problem within the United States. It is a large part of

the history of America stemming even from its formation with the genocide of the Native

Americans. Non-people of color have caused the rift between them and people of color (POC)

due to their lack of giving credit and their lack of self-awareness surrounding their actions. In

summation, it deduces to their lack of appreciating cultures that do not fit their concepts or take

away from their needs. Non-POC does everything in their power to put themselves on top and

lack the senses to appreciate others and their contributions to society. They wish to push their

agenda in any way possible to continue pushing for what they see as being successful and not

having the capacity to allow others to be successful in their own cultures, despite being on stolen

land.

The beginning of American history starts with the stealing of land from the Native

Americans. The relationship between the Natives and the Europeans started with peace by

trading and peacefully sharing land until about the 17th century. This was the century in which

the new Americans decided they wanted the land to themselves and created the chaos that

Americans can still see in today's time. During this time, the new Americans began becoming

brutal and started killing the Native Americans and raged a war to gain the land they so

desperately craved. As written by Las Casas, "'[Columbus] was so eager to please the King that

he committed irreparable crimes against the Indians,'" (Zinn 6). Columbus turned his back on the

Native Americans to further the Spaniard agenda to please the King. He came searching for gold

and left a decimated community that was taken advantage of by men who were selfish enough to

do anything for money and/or glory for their country that they oppressed others. As said by

Bryan Stevenson, we used the idea that they were a different race to justify these killings and as

an excuse to not call it exactly what it truly was: a genocide. It is this same idea that causes racial
 Gallman 2

tensions seen today. Bryan Stevenson said, "And we used this narrative of racial difference to

justify the abuse, the exploitation, the destruction of these communities." While referring to the

Native Americans, he follows this statement with the continued talk surrounding the Black

community and how our society does the same thing to them, even from the time of slavery.

Slavery has always been a pertinent issue that the United States continues to ignore

despite the gravity of the situation and the impacts still seen today. This is primarily seen through

the continued praise that is given to the Confederate memorials still standing in many parts of

America. While there exists a push from many to remove these statues, sadly there is a push back

claiming that it is a crucial part of American history that deserves to be celebrated. Even though

they are right about it being a crucial part of American history, they view it as crucial for distinct

reasons than I do. As explained by Stephanie McCurry, "[t]he Confederates built an explicitly

white-supremacist, pro-slavery, and antidemocratic nation-state, dedicated to the principle that

all men are not created equal," (McCurry 1). This is the exact reason for the formation of the

Confederate states, but centuries of propaganda have prevented some from seeing this reason

anymore (McCurry 1). Even in some southern schools, students are taught that the main cause of

the war was for states' rights; however, as argued by several including that of Ty Seidule,

"[s]lavery was, by a wide margin, the single most important cause of the Civil War," (Seidule 1).

In short, the southern states were reluctant to give up their way of life despite meaning others

would have better treatment and lives in general. Many view the events of slavery including the

lynching and outright murder of many slaves, which were primarily African Americans, as acts

of terrorism as stated especially strongly by Bryan Stevenson. In his documentary, he

particularly discusses the issues of slavery including the lynching of black slaves for fun. In

watching the images flash across the screen, it is visibly apparent how little these men cared for
 Gallman 3

lives other than their own, and unfortunately, this is still exhibited today especially in that of

policing.

The biggest issue of racism experienced today is seen more so in policing than in any

other aspect. This is most shockingly seen in the rates of killing by police officers. As expressed

in Kelly Coryell's paper, black people are killed by police officers "at two and a half times the

rate of white people," (Coryell 402). Many of these killings have been compared to the time of

lynching which would occur, occasionally, with only an accusation of wrongdoing. Some of the

most recent famous cases include George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. Both instances of their

untimely deaths fell to the hands of police officers responding to a call of wrongdoing. However,

both cases were not handled properly and ended with the deaths of these black people. While that

is only two examples, many can give hundreds of cases where white people responded to

situations involving black people more violently than necessary. However, this problem stems

from something much deeper than simply disliking the person and their skin tone.

Stereotypes are something everyone has experienced whether realizing it or not; however,

Banaji and Greenwald have taken stereotypes to a deeper level to understand them better.

Through their research with implicit biases and the Implicit Associative Test (IAT), they have

discovered that not only do people possess harmful stereotypes against others, but some possess

them without even knowing it. They give credit to the formation of these stereotypes mainly to

that of culture. As they explicitly say, "the attitudes of the culture at large infiltrate us," (Banaji

and Greenwald 68). This means that despite what our conscious brain may think, it is likely that

the unconscious part of our brain believes what American society has told us since the

beginning: non-people of color are superior. However, while culture has changed the way we

perceive others, culture itself is changing and allowing younger generations to have fewer
 Gallman 4

implicit biases against other races. While this is scientifically proven through the IAT, it is also

seen in the actions of the younger against those of the older generations. In my experience, more

of the younger generations tend to be those advocating for social change and being those that call

for equal rights. I believe this is due to easier access for a place to voice social injustices such as

the George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery cases. After his death in February,

Arbery became the spark before George Floyd's fire. While those that shot Arbery were part of

the older generations, those that protested the killings of all three were part of my generation.

What is particularly interesting about this case leads me back to the mindbugs or stereotypes that

Banaji and Greenwald studied. They found that Black people were found to have the stereotype

of being aggressive or dangerous, which explains the negative reactions older generations have

towards them. Due to these implicit biases, many believe Black communities are dangerous

causing many to evaluate the history of Ahmaud Arbery after his death. Upon finding out he had

a minor charge for trespassing and thefts, many believed the killers had a right to protect their

neighborhood from the dangerous Black man. However, there was no evidence of this man doing

any wrong. As stated by Jason Vaughn, Arbery's high school coach, "'[r]unning was Maud's

meditation,'" (Barger 4). While there was an unknown criminal history, not giving the killers the

right to unlawfully take Arbery's life, there was a known history of him running within the

neighborhood. Little things such as this instance point out the pitfalls of non-people of color that

cause POC to feel threatened in their own homes on American soil.

Non-POC tend to hold onto their white privilege more than they care to admit; however,

this too can be attributed to culture. As explained by Peggy McIntosh, "I realized I had been

taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to

see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at an advantage," (McIntosh 100).
 Gallman 5

While American culture has been to put non-POC members at an advantage, many of these

people have not been able to see it themselves. They have a lack of self-awareness and assume

no one is special for having problems of their own. However, when these problems systemically

affect specific groups, it becomes a larger problem than simply being able to afford rent or

something of the sort. Most non-POC wish to avoid discussing the real reason that exists within

the system of America: themselves. Dating back, as discussed earlier, to the times of the Native

Americans and Slavery, racial relations between non-POC and POC have never been what they

should be, causing the continued issues seen today. If non-POC were able to face the actions of

their ancestors and make a promise to not do it again, much like the Germans when discussing

the Holocaust, and make a genuine effort for the betterment of American society, I believe these

tensions would slowly dissipate with more time.

Unfortunately, POC has been abused and cheated at every turn of American history. This

is because they do not appear to fit the standard that Americans have created, which is that of a

white successful male. When they see another race successful, they immediately become

suspicious because, whether they will admit it or not, they know there are measures in place to

prevent the success of other races to advance the white agenda in America. While this dates to

the beginning of American history, there is still a chance to right the wrong much as Germany

did and much like many ask non-POC in America to follow. Thankfully, some small steps have

been taken to move in the right direction, there is still much left to do. With time, I hope that

POC finally feel at home in their birthplace despite the history that brought them to this country.
 Gallman 6

Works Cited

Banaji, Mahzarin and Anthony Greenwald. Blindspot: Hidden Biases of Good People. Bantam

Books, 2013.

Barger, Jim. “Ahmaud Arbery Holds Us Accountable.” The Bitter Southern, May 14, 2020, pp.

1-17.

Coryell, Kelly. “All Words Matter: The Manipulation behind ‘All Lives Matter.’” They Say I

Say: The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 2021, pp. 397-407.

McCurry, Stephanie. “The Confederacy Was an Antidemocratic, Centralized State.” The

Atlantic, June 21, 2020, pp. 1-4.

McIntosh, Peggy. “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack.” Peace and Freedom

Magazine, 1989, pp. 10-12.

Seidule, Ty. Robert E. Lee and Me. NY: St. Martins Press, 2020, pp. 1-9.

Stevenson Bryan. True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality. Directed by Peter, George

and Teddy Kunhardt, HBO, 2019, https://mercer.kanopy.com/video/true-justice-bryan-

stevensons-fight-equality.

Zinn, Howard. ”Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress.” A People’s History of the United

States, Perennial Classics, 2003, pp. 1-22.