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Introduction: The Changing Face of Racism in America
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12760 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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3 / 1987 |
636 Words |
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Is racism on the rise in America? Are we about to be engulfed by a new wave of violence and hatred based on differences of color and race? Recent ugly events, like the death of a young black in Howard Beach, New York, and the stoning of civil rights marchers in Forsyth Country, Georgia, have triggered sharp reactions in the news media and among national leaders black and white.
Nearly 20 years ago, the Kerner Commission, formed to investigate the riots in major American cities during 1967, concluded that "our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white - separate and unequal." The commission called for a massive national commitment to action requiring "unprecedented levels of funding and performance" to attack the basic problems of the ghettos.
Today, two decades later, we ask ourselves: Is our nation still moving toward two separate but unequal societies, or tragically, have we already arrived there? In its annual report on "The State of Black America," the Urban League asserted that black Americans are "besieged" by economic depression and the "continued erosion of past gains." Benjamin Hooks, executive director of the NAACP, concurred and further placed much of the blame for violence directed at blacks on the Reagan administration, declaring that "there is a steady drumbeat...that somehow white males are being badly mistreated."
Other authorities reject these charges, pointing to the 6,500 black elected officials around the country, compared to only a few hundred in the 1950s. The earnings power of young black professional couples equals that of young white couples. Two black businessmen have been added to Forbes'
... (1992 of 3834 Characters)
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