Systematic Racism is still alive in America

Bank Accused of Pushing Mortgage Deals on Blacks

This is the type of racism that's not as obvious as slurs or racial insults. However, it remains very damaging to minority communities and prevents them from "pulling themselves up by their bootstraps" like the conservatives say. Racism still exists, and this kind is especially ugly. It doesn't just hurt people's feelings, it takes money from them. It causes their kids to go without food. It gets them kicked out on the street without a place to live. It goes against everything the "American Dream" stands for, and yet it still continues today with very little attention paid to it by the mainstream media.

I don't want to hear any more conservatives (or anyone for that matter), harp at minorities about not asking for government handouts and all the other falsities they put forth in order to cover up for the systematic racism that holds people of color down in this country. Until there is a truly level playing field, which is probably decades or centuries off considering it has been less than 50 years (think about that) since people of color could even vote.

I think our inability to actually grapple with the true history of America leads to issues such as this. People act like the way things are today (which still aren't great if you really look at it, case in point) were how they always were. It's just not true. In this great capitalist mecca we live in, people of color weren't even allowed to build up CAPITAL through bigoted laws against land ownership, unequal access to jobs, etc. If you can't build capital in a capitalist country, how are you supposed to "pull yourself up by your bootstraps"? How are you supposed to get ahead in America when borrowing money to buy a house costs you $100,000 more than it would a white person with a similar credit profile?

Don't get me wrong, I think things are getting better, but just because things have improved since slavery or the Jim Crow era doesn't mean we can just stop and pat ourselves on the back and pretend like the problem is solved. This issue will never go away until everyone person in America, regardless of race, creed, sexuality or religion has the same basic rights and opportunities. Until then, the American Dream is just that, a dream.