Racism Is Not Getting Worse

One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for some.

The racial struggle continues as the media continues to shed light on ongoing racism in the United States.

Racism, especially towards the African American community is nothing new, and much like renowned actor, Will Smith said in 2016, "Racism is not getting worse. It's getting filmed."

Now more than ever, the United States is being exposed to the brutality of racism and injustice because of the power everyday people hold in their hands. If you hold even the simplest camera phone in your hand, you have the capability of capturing everything-- the good, the bad, and the disgustingly racist.

Today, we are seeing peaceful protests turned into fully escalated riots and looting as a result of one of the countless acts of unnecessary police brutality towards an African American that ended in murder.

Why?

Simply put, people are fed up with feeling unsafe, unheard, and in the case of African Americans, flat out sick of dealing with people who love black culture far more than black people.

I spoke with Dr. Reut Cohen, a journalism professor at Glendale Community College and part-time instructor at CSUN, and asked her to weigh in on this sensitive subject, summarizing it from the journalistic perspective.

"Riots and looting, while a terrible circumstance, can stem from years of persecution when they’re related to a racial issue like the one being played out in Minneapolis. It’s the language of the unheard. It comes from years of persecution and systematic failure by the system. It comes from the fact that when someone kills a Black person, in order to get some semblance of justice, you need massive social media campaigns and pressure placed on legislators. It comes from the fact that the Dylan Roofs of society walk away unscathed for grisly, evil crimes, and a Black man can’t even run in his neighborhood without being bothered and hunted," Dr. Cohen said.

These awful, ongoing situations absolutely cannot be hidden any longer, thanks to smartphone accessibility and the ability to share via social media.

While tragic beyond words, these occurrences are finally being brought to the surface thanks to the power of media, and thus sparking the conversations we so desperately need in this country, and the world.

Likewise, media can also fuel extreme circumstances. Peaceful protests turned chaotic because protestors were tear-gassed, and felt threatened by the police who should have allowed protestors to exercise their rights and grief safely. Violence begets violence, but this did not occur everywhere.

In my conversation with Dr. Cohen, she highlighted this concept of media exacerbating these moments.

"In particular, media coverage of protests can backfire when media vans and reporters wait for a clickbait moment. In Los Angeles, protests that were relatively peaceful were called “dangerous” by ABC7. Eventually, they became mildly problematic but stayed relatively stable. The media seemed to look for the moment, for the clickbait, for the violence. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy," Dr. Cohen said.

Ultimately, this type of situation gives people license in their own minds to believe in the stereotypes about minorities, which makes matters worse because of a tremendous lack of understanding for what others are experiencing as well as reaffirming false stigmas about certain ethnic groups.

You may think the rioters are completely wrong, but maybe that is because you don’t know what it is like to be an unheard minority.

Once you fit that description, you may not agree with the tactics, but you understand what goes on in the minds of those who are frankly pissed off. Racism should have no place in the world, especially not a melting pot like the USA.

We need more equality, more balance, and conversations of genuine understanding among races, and the media coverage behind each story.

I for one would love to have a day without media fueling anger towards minorities for the sake of clickbait, and a day where no one gets threatened, assaulted and killed for the color of their skin.

Simply put, we have a long way to go.

Do better, America.