Arguments Against Racial Injustice

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Estefani Vazquez Professor James English 50 November 24, 2013 Racial Justice Is it right to judge others; to think that you are better than other people because of your race? Racial injustice has been going on for many centuries. Racial injustice affected many people. During 1960s, Martin Luther king Jr., an American civil rights leader, went to Birmingham to resolve the issues that was taking place. King fought against injustice in non-violent ways by advocating the rights of African-Americans. Conversely, Brent Staples, psychologist and columnist, accepts the fact that racial injustice is taking place and lets injustice take over him but does nothing to change it. Both King and Staples are authors from different eras who were…show more content…
This kind of harm inflicted by racial injustice can be psychological because it can mess with the victims, making them feel like they are nothing based on how they are treated. This can damage ones self-identity. King states “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly (204).” King fights to sop this suffering even if it’s not from his community, because he believes that we are all equal and “tied” together. Human beings can only take in so much before they break down. These individuals are the ones who suffer more while yet, end up hurting themselves more. Staples was stereotyped as a violent person because he was African- American and fit the ratio profile. Nonetheless he was completely the opposite besides being African-American. Staples was a graduate student at University of Chicago, and received a doctorate in psychology. Staples expresses his pain by asserting, “I was surprised, embarrassed, and dismayed all at once. Being perceived as hazardous is a danger to itself (384).” He felt he had to change himself and change his looks so he wouldn’t be perceived as a violent person. Staples expresses that “I now take precautions to make myself less threatening (386).” Staples wanted to distance himself of an ugly projection. To be conformed in this society he has to change who he is. Staples victimizes himself because he couldn’t take it…show more content…
While Staples didn’t experience segregation firsthand, he was being stereotyped by non-colored people. Staples justifies here “Over the years, I learned to smother the rage I felt at so often being taken for a criminal (386).” As you can see he advocated a form of violence of stereotypes towards himself. He allows violence to be inflicted in himself. King advocated nonviolent resistance in the face of discrimination and violence. King fights to stop injustice by using nonviolence. He protests and makes speeches to stop the racial discrimination. King says “We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.
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