Jennifer wrote:In my opinion for anyone in this day and age to say they are oppressed in America because of their race or ethnicity is rediculous. Everyone has the same opportunity if they choose to take it. I think that any group claiming to be oppressed because of ethnicity or race is trying to get special treatment. And that's wrong. No one from the white middle class is going into predominantly black or Hispanic schools to keep those children from learning. It's the attitude and culture that exists in many of those neighborhoods that are holding those children back from the opportunities that the rest of us have. There are also many whites living in poverty today not because of their race, but because of their parents attitude and beliefs. Almost every group that has ever come to this country was discriminated against at one time or another. But they all eventually assimilated. It's up to them to assimilate or not to. And if they choose to stay separate and complain about it, it's their own fault. The Amish choose to remain separate. But because of their strong work ethics and religious beliefs, they do just fine.
We can be thankful that overt racism has been significantly diminished in our society. (I don't think racism and similar forms of prejudice can ever be fully eradicated from any society this side of Christ's return. "Us" vs. "them" is an intrinsic feature of fallen human nature.) But racism often lurks in our sinful hearts beneath the surface, and there's good evidence that centuries of overt racism created a societal structure that continues to unfairly disadvantage some people. In
this article John Piper explains why this is only to be expected.
John Piper wrote:It would be inconceivable and utterly astonishing if there were no such thing as structural racism. In this world of sin and Satan and a decadent world system, it is incomprehensible that one sin would be privileged to escape systemic expression. This is true not only for statistical reasons, but for organic ones. Racism is the spoiled child of pride. And structural racism is the sturdy child of structural pride. They are organically connected. Pride gives birth to racism. Structural pride gives birth to structural racism.
Until relatively recently, intentional and systematic attempts to deny opportunities to racial minorities were widespread. It is to be expected that the consequences will persist. Similar effects are seen among white Americans who lacked opportunities for non-racial reasons. True, these obstacles can be overcome by making good choices. But people with a relative lack of opportunities often face increased temptation to make bad choices and more severe consequences for bad choices. For example, a person who is arrested and cannot afford to post bail is highly likely to be jailed until trial, as a consequence loosing his job and perhaps his home even if the legal penalty for his crime is only probation. A wealthier person arrested for the same crime can simply post bail, serve his probation, and move on with life.
One specific example of the ways in which some people are unjustly treated because of their race is in the racial disparities in the workings of the criminal justice system.
This article from Prison Fellowship details one of them.
According to the report, in the past five years New Jersey prosecutors asked judges to try 1,251 youth as adults. Of that number, 87.6 percent were black or Hispanic. Of the 1,251 requests, over half—692 to be exact—were granted by judges.
According to Laura Cohen, the director of the Criminal and Youth Justice Clinic at Rutgers Law School, Caucasian youth commit the same ‘waivable’ offenses as black youth, but prosecutors don’t send as many requests to judges for them.
She says: “Controlling for nature of offense, controlling for family background, controlling for educational history—all of the things that go into a prosecutor’s decision, there are still disparities, significant disparities, that cannot be explained by anything other than race.”
While there are safeguards in place to, at some level, protect youth (like housing juveniles in separate units) from older populations where they are often further tutored in criminal behavior, being tried as an adult means kids get saddled with “permanent, adult records and adult sentences.”
