Systemic Racism

Black Americans are more likely than white Americans to get shot by police, to contract COVID-19 and to be incarcerated. Anger at a lack of racial equality boiled over after the killing of George Floyd, an African American, at the hands of Minneapolis police in May, igniting possibly the largest civil rights protests in U.S. history. The national conversation that followed Floyd's killing has focused on what many activists call systemic racism and what should be done about it. More than 150 years after slavery's abolition, Black Americans still lag in many common measures of opportunity and prosperity, including income, homeownership, education and health care. Democrats, including presidential nominee Joe Biden, want substantial changes in police practices and more government investment in housing and education. But President Trump and many Republicans say the nation has made considerable progress on achieving equality and that the best way to help Black Americans is to strengthen the economy and lower unemployment. They see the Black Lives Matter movement as divisive.