Reference no: EM133647011

Question: Racism and Institutional racism exist in the United States. For the entirety of U.S. history - race, racism, ethnicity and xenophobia have played a role in daily American political life to one degree or another. One cannot read a mainstream news publication without race existing somewhere, somehow on a daily basis. It is a variable that cannot be denied nor ignored. And because it has in fact been ignored as it relates to government and social policies that perpetuate racism, we currently see the result in full force throughout the country. When I teach political science courses, I ask students which is more important, freedom or equality? Inevitably, students say freedom as it has been ingrained in them through our civil liberties, our liberal rather than social democracy, and our sense of individualism. But Black Americans have never been free like white Americans. They are not free to walk down the street unmolested by police or by other threats to their individual rights as are white Americans. To ignore this historical and contemporary reality is pure denial. The United States has never emphasized equality as it has freedom. And until we as a people do, we will never be honest