System Injustice Showcase
While keeping track of systemic injustice in my life over the past few weeks, one of the most interesting things that I’ve observed was how it was discussed during the vice presidential debate. The debate was obviously between Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris, and with issues such as police brutality and systemic racism being hot topics in America it was inevitable that the two would clash over it. While it was a debate, and as such the majority of their opinions would eventually tie back to defending either President Trump’s or former Vice President Biden’s opinions on the issue, we still managed to learn their opposing thoughts on the issue. For example, when the moderator asked Vice President Pence about the killing of Breonna Taylor at the hands of the police, a killing which many have argued exposes the systemic injustice in the police system, Vice President Pence claimed that he didn’t believe systemic racism exists within the USA and claimed that justice was done after the trial regarding her death concluded. Senator Harris, on the other hand, disagreed completely and argued that justice wasn’t done, saying “Her family deserves justice, her life was taken unjustifiably and tragically violent.”. This discussion was reflective of the views that have been displayed by the opposing sides for months. The Trump-Pence side has often expressed their sympathy for victims such as Breonna Taylor but denied that there exists a systemic problem within the police. However, the Biden-Harris team has often kept the issue at the forefront and argued that changes must be made. I thought this was extremely important because at the date of writing this the presidential election is only in 10 days. Systemic injustice is clearly a problem within the United States and with the opposing sides of the election having made their thoughts on their issue clear, it’s become even more important for Americans to vote. By voting, we have the ability to express our views and make the change we want to see within our country. It’s important that we make our voices heard and make it clear that there is a pattern of racism in this country that must be stopped by the highest power in the land. This instance would fall under the racial category of our class discussions.
Links that give more background on the topic are: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/10/07/pence-haris-spar-over-systemic-racism-breonna-taylor-vp-debate/5919398002/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/pence-systemic-racism/
I think you bring up a great point as you contrast the current administrations views on systemic racism with the views of the potential Biden administration. There is a clear disconnect in understanding between the two administrations that goes without saying, is incredibly scary for our country moving forward. I also want to acknowledge a similar experience that Vice president Biden and President Trump had. When asked a similar question the president told the “proud boys” a neo-nazi origination in the United States to “Stand back and stand by.” In contrast Biden acknowledges that their is systemic injustice in the United States and even began to lay out a plan for how we can tackle this issue in our country.
I completely agree with this post, as the presence of racial issues in politics has been shocking me for awhile now. It seems unreal that a leader in our nation could ignore the facts and encourage the disbelief of systemic injustice of blacks people in our country, when our people are dying. It’s impossible to have everyone on the same page, and to get everyone to understand this concept, but having a leader display these kinds of beliefs is saddening for our country as a whole. Thank you for sharing and great post!
I love that you brought this up. I also wrote one of my DSI about this debate, and I completely agree with you. There is so much room in these debates to look for injustice and hypocrisy, and you picked a great example. While there is possibly room for movement on the impact or causation of systemic racism in our country (which I do not agree with, but I will keep an open mind), I wholeheartedly believe that there is no possible way to deny the presence of systemic injustice/racism in our country. We need to put a stop to this!!!
Even though I am not in the US right now, I worry about the election because American administrations set the tone of global attitudes and actions toward a lot of issues. I believe the systemic racism is around the world and America shall be the first to lead the change of this injustice. Great post and I am definitely by your side.
I believe that this systemic injustice should first be recognized and acknowledged, not deceived in vague form and discourse by those leaders. This is a very dereliction of duty on the part of the leaders. They don’t think the public really know the truth about things, but they choose to cheat, which makes them lose their trust.