For my third entry for my Diary of Systemic Injustices, I am going to talk about a social injustice regarding race. This specific incident is the one that really opened my eyes to racism. I remember watching the trial, feeling sick to my stomach at just 13 years old. I feel like this was a tremendous turning point in our country, and people began to really realize the inequality that was at hand. The case I am talking about is the shooting death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin.

 (Picture of Trayvon Martin that went viral and was used to bring awareness to his death)

Trayvon Martin was fatally shot while walking home from the corner store by a man named George Zimmerman. Zimmerman was known around his community for trying to patrol like a neighborhood watch would, even though authority officials had told him plenty of times that he had no right to do so and that he needed to stop. According to police reports, every incident he ever called to report involved a black person. The night of the shooting, Zimmerman called the police to report somebody “suspicious” walking through his neighborhood. Seconds after the call, neighbors report hearing gunshots. Zimmerman claimed he thought Trayvon was armed and dangerous; he was a black male with his hood up, and had something in his hand that “resembled a weapon” to Zimmerman. This “weapon” was actually a bag of Skittles and an Arizona Iced Tea. 

(Photos of Trayvon’s actual purchases being used in court)

Zimmerman was initially charged with second degree murder, but was acquitted of all charges when he claimed self defense in court. This trial was viewed by millions, and the outcome caused an uproar all over the country. How can a grown man fatally shoot a 17 year old kid and get away with it? The sad reality is that this case was heavily influenced by Trayvon’s race. If he were to be a white kid walking down the street, Zimmerman would have most likely not even called the police or confronted him. Since the trial, Zimmerman has been reported to have made multiple jokes surrounding the incident, showing basically no remorse for ending the life of a 17 year old. He even auctioned off the gun he used to shoot Trayvon Martin. This was described as “a victory lap on a dead boy’s grave,”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/18/george-zimmerman-sells-gun-trayvon-martin

Something I can relate this back to from our class is the idea of a single story. It is pretty clear that George Zimmerman profiled Trayvon Martin because of his race. Because Trayvon was black, Zimmerman automatically assumed he was partaking in suspicious behavior when he was doing a completely normal task. In court, it has been said that Zimmerman’s lawyers tried to portray Trayvon as a “thug”, bringing up past school suspensions and use of marijuana, as if that somehow justifies his murder. Why are black people seen as more dangerous or threatening when doing things that every other race does? Because for racists in America, that is what they want black peoples “single story” to be. They’re nothing but trouble. Dangerous. Thugs. This is how many people in America truly think; which is terrifying. What is even more terrifying is seeing how embedded it is in our criminal justice system. Systemic racism is so embedded into every aspect of our society that it led to the court system failing this poor 17 year old kid. Zimmerman’s team wanted people to believe that Zimmerman genuinely feared for his life because of what a “bad kid” Trayvon was. And ultimately, the court believed him.

Work cited:

https://www.cnn.com/2012/04/23/justice/florida-zimmerman-timeline/index.html

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/11/george-zimmerman-trial-scary-black-man

https://www.cnn.com/2013/07/14/us/zimmerman-why-this-verdict/index.html

One systemic injustice that came to mind instantly when I read the description for the diary posts was the inequalities that are present in public school systems. More specifically, the unfair redlining of district boundaries. This practice is when the board that assigns district boarders purposely segregates the minority communities to be assigned to lower income schools with a “red line”. Redlining can also be from banks denying mortgages for certain areas. This unjust process is used by many school districts and provides many inequalities for the students and families. This injustice is systemic because it is truly embedded into the society and their people. The term stemmed from maps created during the New Deal that intentionally used the color red to indicate which urban neighborhoods were “hazardous,” which most often were the areas that had majority black or Hispanic residents. The nature of this inequality is stemmed in racism and cannot be ignored.

The lines are drawn based on many different factors, but one unjust factor is the income level of the homes in the area. One example of this start contrast is in the Old Town neighborhood of Chicago. The article states that, “at Lincoln Elementary School only 16% of the students at Lincoln come from low-income families, and over 80% are proficient in reading. The school shares an attendance zone boundary with Manierre Elementary school, where 99% of the students are low-income, and only 11% are proficient in reading. These two schools, so starkly different, serve the same neighborhood” (Deroche). This is only one example in one city, however, these similar statistics are found all over America because of redlining. (image below)

A source that I found particularly helpful and meaningful when doing research was a USA Today article about systemic racism in schools being at the root of many other problems. The link to the article is found here. There is a very powerful video at the beginning of the piece that I have embedded below because I strongly encourage everyone to watch it. It is a three minute narration of some very important points to make about the fight for racial equality in our country, specifically in schooling.

One connection to the inequality in public schools that I found relevant from our discussed texts thus far in the semester was to “Story of my Body” by Judith Ortiz Cofer. In the story, the speaker states that the hierarchy was “pretty white girl, pretty Jewish girl, pretty Puerto Rican girl, pretty black girl” (Cofer, 439). Although this example does not pertain to redlining, it still demonstrates an obvious inequality of race within a public school that should be abolished.

Works Consulted

Cofer, Judith Ortiz. “The Story of My Body.” True Women and Real Men.

Edwards, Kelly. “Redlining: How It Continues to Affect Education Today – Activism, Meet Impact: Novel Hand.” Activism, Meet Impact | Novel Hand, 17 June 2020, novelhand.com/redlinings-effect-on-education-today/.

Guastaferro, Lynette. “Why Racial Inequities in America’s Schools Are Rooted in Housing Policies of the Past.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 2 Nov. 2020, www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/11/02/how-redlining-still-hurts-black-latino-students-public-schools-column/6083342002/.

“Redlining: The Real Reason Our Schools Are Segregated.” Project Forever Free, 10 June 2020, projectforeverfree.org/redlining-the-real-reason-our-schools-are-segregated/.

“Systemic Racism Has Led to Education Disparities.” Temple Now | News.temple.edu, 3 Feb. 2021, news.temple.edu/news/2020-06-25/systemic-racism-has-led-education-disparities.

Race in Hollywood can be a large discussion within the overall world of film. In the Industry, Women of Color have fought hard to be recognized and taken seriously throughout silver screen history. Black women like Hattie McDaniel, Asian women like Anna May Wong, and Latinas like Rita Moreno have proven time and time again that recognition for acting in Hollywood is nothing more than an injustice. Women of Color are marginalized in film and cornered into being cast based on their race or excluded all together.

Hattie McDaniel is the first Black woman to be nominated and ultimately win an Oscar. Her role in the 1939 adaption of the book Gone with the Wind was her big break that fizzled out like soda. Prior to the film, the Motion Picture Production Code (Hays Code) was established. This code set out strict guidelines for films and the studios that made them. Being that the Civil Rights Movement had yet to occur, the Hays Code along with the power of Jim Crow in the South, limited representation of People of Color in film. Black actors were cast as the train porter and actresses were the maid (“…The Legacy”). At a segregated ceremony is Los Angeles Hattie McDaniel won an Oscar for her work in a supporting role. In her speech, she echoed a hope that this win would open doors for her and others. As we know, that did not exactly happen as she never escaped the Southern Mammy typecast (Abramovitch). Along with Black stereotypes, Asian women fell into the same familiar sense of Otherness on the Silver Screen.

Asian stories in film are just as rare as those of Black, Latin, or Indigenous ones. Asian women and the stories of their characters became mysterious, seductive, and exotic. They are cast as the seductive Geisha or the submissive housewife (“#Oscarssowhite”). The characters were something exotic rather than real. Similar to that of blackface, yellowface during the Golden Age of Hollywood was the studio system’s way to circumvent the Hays Code. White actresses were given makeup and had their eyes taped to resenble an East Asian woman. This was becvause if a white man was cast in the lead role, a white woman would have to play the love interest. Anna May Wong, arguably one of the best actresses of her time, was snubbed multiple times. She was not only snubbed by never getting an Oscar nomination for her work, but Asian roles that she could represent. A great example being 1937’s The Good Earth. After lobbying efforts, the main female lead was handed to German-American actress Luise Rainer; a role that would win her an Oscar that year (Desta). Although Anna May Wong was born and raised in Los Angeles, she was continually labeled as “Chinese.” Her roles were primarily of an exotic Oriental. This point is corroborated through “An Introduction to Asian American Identity” by Eunice Uhm in our section about Lisa Ko’s The Leavers. Uhm states that Asians are cast into a cycle of being seen as “perpetually foreign.” It is no secret that the Hays Code silenced and marginalized People of Color. The proof is in the films’ cellulose.

Women of Color, no matter how good their work, were and still are not recognized by organizations like the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Recent recognition for films like Black Panther (2018) and Parasite (2019) at the Oscars have begun to reignite the conversation on #Oscarssowhite, however, it took 72 years  of Oscar history for a Black woman to finally win an Oscar for a leading. Could there be a well-deserved change in this cycle? Only time will tell.

Works Cited

Abramovitch, Seth. “Oscar’s First Black Winner Accepted Her Honor in a Segregated ‘No Blacks’ Hotel in L.A.” The Hollywood Reporter, 2 Feb. 2021, www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/oscars-first-black-winner-accepted-774335.

Desta, Yohana, et al. “Hollywood: The True Story of Anna May Wong and The Good Earth.” Vanity Fair, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/05/hollywood-ryan-murphy-anna-may-wong.

Oscars. Hattie McDaniel Winning Best Supporting Actress. YouTube, YouTube, 27 Sept. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7t4pTNZshA.

“#OscarsSoWhite: From Anna May Wong to Awkwafina.” Be Kind Rewind, YouTube, 24 Mar. 2020, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mmcvgd8XF0.

“#OscarsSoWhite and The Legacy of Halle Berry.” Be Kind Rewind, YouTube, 18 Feb. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEberAZhZy4.

In China’s Xinjiang region, there is large systemic discrimination against a group called the Uighurs for their religion. Uighurs are Muslims mainly from the Xinjiang region, which is in the northwest region of China. Chinese officials have created detention camps for them. In the article cited, it states that (referring to the Uighurs), “Often, their only crime is being Muslim, human rights groups say, adding that many Uighurs have been labeled as extremists simply for practicing their religion.” At these camps, detainees are forced to pledge loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party, renounce Islam, and learn Mandarin. To cover the camp’s existence Chinese officials have been calling the names of the camps “vocational training centers” and “boarding schools.” Although, in 2019, documents were leaked exposing the true nature of the camps (Maizland).

Religious persecution is integrated into China’s practices. In 2017, Xinjiang passed a law prohibiting citizens from wearing veils and growing long beards and formally used training centers to rid extremism. The Chinese government has an expectation for its citizens to behave in a certain way, and if one’s values do not align with their ways, then persecution will occur (Maizland). Regarding the United States, former President Trump signed a law requiring punishment for those involved in the oppression. The US was the first country to declare that “China is committing crimes against humanity and genocide,” which allows the US and other countries to continue to impose sanctions on China. The United Kingdom and European Union are also playing a role alongside the US (Maizland).

Ethnic Uighurs take part in a protest march asking for the European Union to call upon China to respect human rights in the Chinese Xinjiang region and asking for the closure of “re-education center” where some Uighurs are detained, during a demonstration around the EU institutions in Brussels on April 27, 2018. (Photo by Emmanuel DUNAND / AFP)

Women are particularly disadvantaged in this crisis. They are abused physically and sexually and undergo forced sterilization. They are forced into marriages and into assimilating to the typical Chinese culture. In a recent news article, women that have been involved in the crisis share their stories. One woman recounts her experiences in a detention camp, which included weekly body checks, surveillance cameras in the restrooms, and receiving unidentified injections that made her menstrual periods stop (Mistreanu). The intersectionality of being both Uighur and a woman is like that of Marji in Persepolis. Since Marji was both a woman and an Iranian citizen that did not conform to the extremist Islamic government policies, she had unique challenges.

The video attached (from 0:25-2:00) gives a comprehensive overview of the crisis and the motives behind the Chinese government.

It is heartbreaking to hear about how a whole government is against a group of people simply for their religion. The Uighurs are constantly in fear for their life. Other countries have been playing an active role in the attempt to end the oppression. The crisis reminds me of the colonization of the British in Things Fall Apart. The British imposed their religion on the African people like the Chinese government is on the Uighur population.

Sources:

“China’s Uighur Crisis: When Muslims Are Abused, The World Turns A Blind Eye | Think | NBC News.” YouTube, YouTube, 12 Aug. 2019, www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVNRnW3NAmY.

Maizland, Lindsay. “China’s Repression of Uighurs in Xinjiang.” Council on Foreign Relations, Council on Foreign Relations, 19 Jan. 2021, 0700, www.cfr.org/backgrounder/chinas-repression-uighurs-xinjiang.

Mistreanu, Simina. “Uyghur Women Are China’s Victims-and Resistance.” Foreign Policy, WordPress VIP, 12 Mar. 2021, foreignpolicy.com/2021/03/12/uyghur-women-are-chinas-victims-and-resistance/.

With the current global pandemic shifting the education focus to online, a lot of inner-city schools with a lack of funding have been left in the dust. The resources that are necessary for an effective online learning environment are not held by the education system in many cities around the world, which only adds to the gap that already separated the factor that funding plays into the quality of education for students around the United States. There was already an abundance of problems that could be found within the education system that led to high drop-out rates and a lack of preparation for students that came out of poor school districts. This has perpetuated a cycle that is extremely difficult for many kids to escape, as it often leaves them searching to find low level work or even relying on crime as a result of the education system’s failures. The following infographic addresses the United States’ struggle with high dropout rates and the difficulties that follow for high-school dropouts.

Flexible solutions similar to the one suggested above are a great option for many students, as it allows them to work around possible obligations that may have lead them to drop-out. Only once there are drastic measures taken to improve the funding of these schools and improve the quality of education system as a whole will there be steps towards eliminating these issues. One example of a possible focus for change could be in the area of early childhood schooling, in which you can see a clear disparity of participation between income classes. The infographic below displays this gap, in addition to the possible benefits of placing more low-income children into early childhood education systems.

It is clear that their is an abundance of advantages to getting these kids into school as soon as possible. Although this will not completely solve the gap in education that continues throughout higher grades, this is a start and there is no better place to start than the start of the problem.  This pandemic needs to be a wake-up call because kids all around the country are falling even further behind than before. A constantly unequal education system has developed a recurring cycle of kids struggling to come out of poor communities while others from well-off districts continue to find success and go to college. There are possible routes for students from inner-cities to make it through the system and rise above it, but it is unquestionably more difficult for them compared to their peers whom they have to compete with to get into certain colleges.

Works Cited

“Early Childhood Inequality (Infographic).” Impact NW, 10 Aug. 2017, impactnw.org/news/early-childhood-inequality-infographic/.

Penn Foster Education Inc. Follow. “Combating the High School Dropout Crisis [Infographic].” SlideShare, 27 June 2014, www.slideshare.net/pennfosteradmin/combating-the-high-school-dropout-crisis.

During the fall semmester I began working at a hospital in downtown Columbus. As a nurses aid, I am caring directly for patients along with all other members of their healthcare team. After only working for a short period of time I noticed the lack of recourses available to those whose first language is not English.  This creates a communication barrier between not only the physician and the patient, but the entire health team and the patient. Hospitals are required to have contract interpreters that are usually called on the spot if a conversation is needed to be translated (Eldred 2018). For others, like those who use sign language, an interpreter is called upon and they are required to come to the hospital. The time it takes for them to arrive could be critical to the patients health if not taken seriously. Hospitals also lack translation when it comes to the television, information pamphlets, and menu’s. With that being said, if a patient can speak English but not read it, another barrier is created. These barriers need to be taken seriously since our nation does not only speak English.

As diversity in Columbus has steadily increased, our efforts to promote inclusion within the health care system has not. There is a large portion of our population that does not speak English “very well” . The graph from The Demographic Statistical Atlas below depicts the comparison between the percent of United States and the state of Ohio’s population who do not speak English in their homes.

With immigration increasing, the percentage of non-English speaking Americans is also bound to increase. With a lack of translators/recourses within a hospital the quality of care will decreases as well. It was documented that 97% of physicians see at least one patient who does not understand English (Eldred 2018). Mara Youdelman who is an attorney at the National Health Law Program says “The reality is, if you can’t communicate with a patient, you can’t provide care,” and I couldn’t agree with this statement more. It is important to me as current health care provider and aspiring physician to be able to care for all my patients equally. With that being said, it is important to acknowledge the injustice within our healthcare system immediately so going forward as Americans we can provide uniform healthcare for all civilians.

Works Cited

Eldred, Sheila Mulrooney. “With Scarce Access To Interpreters, Immigrants Struggle To Understand Doctors’ Orders.” NPR, NPR, 15 Aug. 2018, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2018/08/15/638913165/with-scarce-access-to-medical-interpreters-immigrant-patients-struggle-to-unders.

“Languages in Ohio (State).” The Demographic Statistical Atlas of the United States – Statistical Atlas, statisticalatlas.com/state/Ohio/Languages.

Peled, Yael. “Language Barriers and Epistemic Injustice in Healthcare Settings.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 9 May 2018, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/bioe.12435?casa_token=c3oPjyoMw14AAAAA:Ka1mKPWGl_pI7Gouqq3o_ONGvkELR9blkUvCRh-qq0XskdNq9XeqsMcawvBrBrVS0TMEBx0DDFg9RA.