Diary of Systemic Injustices SHOWCASE: Racism in America

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As a college student, I am now completely responsible for taking care of myself, which involves going grocery shopping. A few weeks ago, I walked about half a mile south down High Street to Kroger with my roommate to pick up some more food for my dorm. As we were shopping, we noticed that a majority of the people shopping were black, with some college students mixed in. My roommate (who was born and raised near campus) told me that the area that we were in was more known as a “black neighborhood”, and that not only is Columbus diverse in the sense of social class, but also by race. She said that there were poor white neighborhoods, poor black neighborhoods, rich white neighborhoods, and rich black neighborhoods. This is how it had always been.

As we walked around, I realized that there were police officers scattered around the grocery store, all of whom were white. I noticed that as I went through the aisles, none of them blinked an eye, but they seemed to follow the black shoppers much more closely. As I was leaving the store with my groceries, none of the police officers seemed to notice me holding my groceries, but I watched as they followed the black people with their eyes, as if to imply that they were doing something wrong. Now, as a white person, I have not personally experienced poor treatment due to my race, but I have noticed it happen to others.

It hurts me to see that even in 2020, over 50 years after the Civil Rights movement, many in our society still see people as only a skin color, nothing more, nothing less. If things don’t start to change in our society, if those in positions of power or those who believe themselves to be superior to others based on their race don’t begin to see through the color of someone’s skin, where will we be in 10 years? 20? 50? This inequality and injustice that I experienced wasn’t violent, or even verbal, but to be in the position of one of those people being scanned by white police officers must be terrifying and hurtful, and this feeling should not be felt by anyone in our country.

After reflecting on this experience over 6 weeks later, I still am in disbelief. I am still wondering how, in 2020, people still think that they are superior to others due to their race. How can your skin tone, the amount of melanin present in your skin, cause you to belief that you are different from others? The police officers in this store did not use physical violence, or even verbal communication to degrade these black Americans. They instead used intimidation, dominance, and sheer presence to make those in the store feel uncomfortable.

This reminds me of the concept of the subaltern in Can the Subaltern Speak? by Spivak. When one asks this question, it is not to ask if they can literally form words. Rather, it is asking if others will truly hear them when they speak up for themselves. The answer, in today’s America, is sadly NO. Our country is unable to eliminate racial discrimination by opening its eyes enough to realize that we are all the same. We are all humans.

Currently, black people in America are being treated terribly, especially after the terrible loss of George Floyd earlier this year. However, we cannot even begin to assume that this is a new concept. Systemic racism has been present in our country and in the world for generation and will continue until people wake up and realize that they are no different from others, but it is a collective effort. The subaltern in our society today (at least in this example) is the black community of America, and they cannot, in fact, speak. While they can be heard by those willing to listen and to ignore the unfortunate presence of racism in our country, they cannot be heard by all- and therefore, not heard.

We need this to end. We need to band together, buckle up, and get going to end racism and discrimination in our country. It is already too late.

3 thoughts on “Diary of Systemic Injustices SHOWCASE: Racism in America”

  1. Thank you for the post, especially this is your own observation and experience. You did a great job to link the observations to what we learned from classes. Racism is always an issue in the United States starting from the colonial period due to slavery. In modern society, every human being should try their best to against racism and treat every one equally as the Constitution says.

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  2. Love the post and the inclusion of your own observations of racism. I recently went to this same grocery and had a similar experience. Seeing that I’m a black person I immediately recognized the presence of officers in the store. And just as you mentioned they make no contact but their presence make you uneasy. I also like your mention of systemic racism and how it has been around for generations. So the fact that there are people who ignore it or even don’t believe that systemic racism is real is beyond me. If you pay attention in the slightest these people would we it in action everyday.

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  3. Great post! Thank you for sharing your discovery, which is very valuable. I think this systemic injustice should first be recognized by more people, especially those who can affect the general public. This will make people aware of this injustice, rather than feel that it is the right form.

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