Racial inequality has always been an issue in this country. Lately these issues have been made clear to individuals who haven’t been paying attention to all the injustices and discrimination minorities face.

With the Black Lives Matter movement growing bigger than ever as of late and several headlines on racial injustices, I hope this article opens up the door to conversation. 

I have interviewed a few members of the junior and senior class at Abington High School regarding their thoughts on the issue of racial inequality. Katelyn McCarthy and Aaron Gravelle, who are both juniors, Randin LaRoque, who is a senior, and a student who wishes to remain anonymous were asked questions about racial inequality.

Andrade: Have you ever experienced racial inequality or witnessed it firsthand? 

• McCarthy: “Yes I have witnessed it before but generally everyday, it happens everywhere” 
• Anonymous: “Yes, I’ve been discriminated [against] many times in different circumstances, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I was at work, at school. But I think that it has built me to become stronger, but is still wrong.” 

Andrade: Do you believe that the law enforcement or justice system is fair to minorities? 

• LaRocque: “I’ve met some extremely nice police and seen some very compassionate people on shows such as LivePD and other body cam footage, but as we know from the media, there are some terrible people out there so there definitely are some officers who abuse their power, but the ratio between good and bad is really foggy.” 
• Gravelle: “Some are way more aggressive with minorities and the justice system is unfair.”

Andrade: Do you think that equality issues in our country and all around the world are discussed enough in class? 

• McCarthy: “No. We don’t discuss it enough. Racism is still everywhere daily. We need to do more.” 

Andrade: Do you believe that as a whole the Black, Asian, Latin or other communities get the credit they deserve for all they’ve done to shape this country into what it is? 

• Anonymous – “I believe that I personally can say Latinos have been portrayed poorly throughout history for the roles they have played. They have always been viewed as stealing Americans jobs, when they took the jobs that no American would and they put so much effort into it that they profited from it.” 
• LaRocque: “Some people get the praise they deserve but I feel most foreign people don’t get the recognition they should” 
• Gravelle: “Yes, but they deserve more recognition. Way more recognition.” 

Andrade: What can you do as an individual who isn’t involved with politics as a career to spread awareness and get your voice out there? 

• LaRocque: “It’s happened hundreds of times already with other people. We live in an extremely connected world and it’s relatively easy to spread a word.” 
• McCarthy: “Well, because we are young there’s nothing much we can do but post it on our social medias to get the word out and talk about it more with the people around us.” 

Racial inequality is a relevant topic that affects students and individuals all over the world. It especially affects the U.S. because there are many people of different ethnicities among the community.

I hope this conversation sparks some attention from those who have been neglectful of the issues or just don’t really understand all that’s happening.