Since the beginning of our countries history there has been inequality between races. It started out with slavery, became segregation, and today according to the United States constitution all men and women black or white are given the same rights and treatment under the law. However, we have seen countless examples of this being proven false. Whether it be the undeniable police brutality which we continue to see on the news more and more frequently each night, and the incredibly disproportionate number of African Americans who are currently imprisoned today. Or we could choose to look at our current political leaders. It wasn’t until 2008 that we had our first African American president. We still do not have an even close to proportionate ratio of black to white police officers in most police stations or United States government positions. This is largely due to the double standards for African Americans and the racism that is so deeply ingrained into our society and our brains that we often times don’t even realize we are being racist. Stokely Carmichael’s speech Black Power which was written and delivered to a mostly white audience in 1969 and delves into the problems created by the double standard for African Americans during that time period. This same double standard can be seen prominently in our modern day political system.

The New York Amsterdam News article “Racial double standards—And what has happened to the GOP?” by Christina Greer the article is incredibly interesting and talks about the double standard for African Americans in United States politics. Greer emphasizes that everything is different for President Obama as a result of his race. I agree with this completely. In an example Pardes uses she challenges her readers to imagine if President Obama had run for the presidency as a twice divorced man who is married to a woman twenty-four years younger and has five children by three different women. Greer also brings up family drama from other politicians as well and notes how this would not fly for the Obama family. Greer additionally explains that she is in no way bashing divorce or children out of wedlock, but only attempting to convey the clear double standard for the two races in the United States political system. The article is incredibly biased and anti-republican and Greer even goes on to call the GOP “a culmination of Republican chickens coming home to roost”. While do understand that the article does have apparent bias; Greer sheds a light on a very important issue which is plaguing the United States to this date and many of her claims are incredibly valid and apparent. In addition, Greer an African American woman herself is appalled by the fact that Donald Trump has offended such a large portion of the population for example; Blacks, Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, and women. She does not understand how Trump could have said such highly offensive things to so many groups yet still possesses such a large following. She points out that this alone is a reflection on the American public.

Along the same lines, Carmichael addresses the reputation of the Black Panther political party and how they are not treated in the same ways as their opposing white party. Carmichael explains that each political party chooses an emblem to represent themselves and that this particular group happen to have chose a panther because they symbolize strength and dignity. The organization’s real name is the Lowndes County Freedom Organization, however, this is never what they are referred to as. He goes on to explain that there is another group, the Alabama Democratic Party, and they are constantly referred to by their real name. Carmichael elaborates pointing out that they would never be called the White Cock Party after their emblem. This is the first instance in which the double standard can be seen. The white political party is referred to by their proper name while the African American political party is not. 

I grew up at a fairly liberal school in New York and have always been taught that the Black Panthers were a political party who fought for racial equality. While that may be the case in my school, I have heard of the party’s history being taught in different ways in many different schools. For example, a “violent protest group” or the “black KKK”. These explainations are highly offensive to the political party themselves and people who continue to fight for equality generations later, yet they are still taught in schools and by parents all over America. The topic of double standards is one which is often overlooked, but when we pay attention closely, the differences in treatment among races is evident. 

In correlation, in Carmichael’s speech he highlights the double standard for African Americans in terms of nonviolence. He notes that when there is black on black or white on white conflict nonviolence is never brought up. Adding that even whites being violent towards blacks is not even looked down on, “White people beat up black people every day --- Don’t anybody talk about nonviolence” (Carmichael 13). This is an incredibly important idea to pay attention to. Carmichael goes onto say, “But as soon as black people start to move, the double standard comes into being” (Carmichael 13). Carmichael continues by explaining that African American’s feel as though they cannot defend themselves because they are then automatically labeled as violent criminals yet they are attacked all of the time with the whites who attack them facing no real consequences. This puts them in a nearly impossible position with little to do to even defend themselves. 

The justice system in the United States is comparably as flawed today as it was when Carmichaels speech was written nearly fifty years ago. According to an article “Beyond Crime and Punishment: Prisons and Inequality” written by Bruce Western and Becky Pettit, “By 1999, fewer than one percent of working-age white men were behind bars, compared to 7.5 percent of working-age black men” (Western and Pettit 2). They go on to explain, “Figures for young black unskilled men are especially striking: 41 percent of all black male high school dropouts aged 22-30 were in prison or jail at midyear in 1999” (Western and Pettit 2).  We know that African Americans aren’t prone to committing more crimes from birth, so we can conclude that this large difference probably stems from two main places. This probably comes from the circumstances they are born into, “45.8 percent of young black children (under age 6) live in poverty, compared to 14.5 percent of white children.”(website). 

Moreover, while we have come a pretty far from where our country started in terms of racial equality, we still have a very long way to go. There is an institutional racism so deeply ingrained into our society that the double standards often occur and no one even realizes what is happening deep down. It is almost impossible for us to understand another races problems that they struggle with and many of us never will as a result of white privelage. This racism is harmful not only to the African American community but the white community as well(elaborate on why).
