My opinion of current state of race in America Learner Differences Week 2 Update 2 Theresa Schantz I do believe that at times I can be a very naïve person. I would like to believe that the state of race and ethnic relations in America is a minor problem. But as I come back to reality I realize that I am so off base. The fact of the matter is, that many Americans in general still struggle with the concept of equality. And the more that I investigate the topic, the more dumbfounded I am by the reality of the situation. So when I decided to look up some numbers on racial inequality in America, I came across a few interesting and quite sad facts:

• “1 in 1,000 Black men and boys can be expected to be killed by police at some point in their lifetime; that Black males are 2.5 times more likely to be killed by police than white males; and that dying at the hands of law enforcement is a leading cause of death among young Black men.”
• “Views about racial inequities are shown in the 2021 Best Countries report and rankings, an annual survey on global perceptions of countries. Of the 78 countries evaluated, the U.S. is seen as among the 10 worst countries for racial equality.”
• “(CNN)The nationwide protests following the death of a black man, George Floyd, at the hands of white police officers has once again shone a spotlight on the long-standing racial divide in the US. This, along with the coronavirus pandemic that has disproportionately killed black Americans, has drawn renewed attention to the persistent inequities in wealth, health and opportunity between blacks and whites despite economic prosperity of recent years. Those disparities exist because of a long history of policies that excluded and exploited black Americans, said Valerie Wilson, director of the program on race, ethnicity and the economy at the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning group. "Racial inequality has become so normalized in this society," she said. "It's what we expect to see. That's the way it's been for so long." “

Links to all of these sources are indicated below. I could have posted many more sad and concerning facts and statistics that deplorably haunt America today. We as a nation wear blinders when we think that racial inequality isn’t a major problem in America. One important way to work on overcoming this problem, is proper education, not just for the youth of our country, but for everyone who suffers with concepts of racial inequality.

https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/07/27/the-demographics-of-racial-inequality-in-the-united-states/

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2021-04-13/americas-struggle-to-overcome-racial-inequities

https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/03/politics/black-white-us-financial-inequality/index.html