Dear Future President,

“There is something wrong with the policies, the priorities, and the purposes of our nation now.” Martin Luther King Jr.’s words still apply today, 48 years after he spoke them. Injustice against black people has been a problem for centuries and is still a concern today. The United States is a country of freedom, and for a person to be discriminated against simply because of their race is terrible. As our future president, I think you should work on uniting American citizens and stoping racial injustice.

To begin, black Americans face more economic injustice than white Americans. In cities of poverty, the residents are usually black. “Seven Chicago neighborhoods with the highest percentages of residents living in deep poverty (... $12,125 for a family of four) are predominantly black” (Theodore Johnson). Because of this, schools are shutting down. Because getting an education is essential for learning about the world. “Crain s Chicago business reported that the south side has lost 2,000 hospital beds in recent decade, has no trauma centers, and suffers excessively long ambulance response times” (Theodore Johnson). Gun violence is “shamefully high” so there should be trauma centers and quick ambulances (Theodore Johnson). In addition, the recent amount of police brutality, though going on for a long time, has become a huge problem. About 1 in 3 black people killed by the police were unarmed. “Blacks are 250% more likely than whites to feel scared or threatened by the police” (PR Newswire). The job of a policeman is not to threaten or scare a citizen in any way, it is to keep him/her safe. Lastly, Black Lives Matter is a protest against violence and racism towards black people. “Although White Americans believe they understand why Blacks participate in the movement, 64 percent of white Americans do not support the Black lives Matter movement” (PR Newswire). The movement is about equality among the races and in order for it to have an effect, there needs to be support from both races. The article also states that “the vast majority of whites think the movement encourages violence and suggests that black lives matter more.” However it is a peaceful protest and is allowed because of our First Amendment. The movement does not say the black people matter more; it is a protest for equality.

Ultimately, uniting this country and having all races accept each other as equals is a must. Judgement on something as superficial as skin color is very ignorant and uncivil. As our next president, this is an important issue that needs to be taken care of and it will not be easy. I wish you the best of luck in improving our country.

Sincerely,

Chancie W.