The American Disaster

For the past two years, the American government has been criticised following the death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, a black male who was killed by George Zimmerman, a white man. When you view the facts, many people would agree that Zimmerman is guilty of murder, however his acquittal caused controversy. The ‘Black Lives Matter‘ movement began soon after and has recently been more current in the news.

The shooting of Michael Brown took place on the 9th of August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Brown was shot by a white officer, Darren Wilson, who unsurprisingly was acquitted by a grand jury. This caused an uproar within the African-American community which led to protests in Ferguson. On the same note, another grand jury acquitted a white officer who killed Eric Garner, a black man, with what most Americans claimed was a choke hold.

These are only three men mentioned compared to the amount of black males in America who are murdered by the same people who are supposed to protect them. The question that has led to many debates is: ‘Is racism still alive in America?’. Despite the Civil Rights Movement, Rosa Parks and the bus boycott, Martin Luther King, Jr and his speech, and many other significant events that led to race equality in America, do the killings of these innocent black males prove legislation in America wasn’t made or altered to protect African-Americans? This is the question that has now been raised by many African-American people as well as other black people throughout the world.