AhnieyahOwens

February5,2016
PrideOf2020
PennStateUniversity

IssuesThatNeedToBeSolved

WhenIgetintothecollegeofmychoice,Ihopetheychantmysuccessandnotthecolor
ofmyskin.Mysonwillnotreceiveaguninhishandwhenheis18,hewillreceivehishigh
schooldiploma.WhenIsendmysontothestoreIhopethatmysondoesn'tgetshotbytheone
wecalltheprotectorbecausehehashishoodon.AccordingtoAmericanProgressinthearticle
Thereisacrisisofyouthgunviolenceinthiscountry,therehasbeena17%increaseingun
violence.Didyouknowthatwestillhaveracisminschools?Weattendourdreamcollegebut
whenyougotoyourschool'spresidentandtellhimorherracialslursarebeingsaidtoyou,he
saysthatit'sjustajokeortheyarejustplaying.Orworsepeoplethatwecallprotectors,the
police,areshootingourownBlackmen.Ifsomebodyhadaguntoyourheadsomepolicemen
wouldgivethemthebulletstokillus.Theseproblemsaren'tbeingaddressedortakenseriously
byourgovernment.Nomatterhowmuchwescreamandshoutwearenotbeingheard.Soyou
askmeareweinasecondCivilRightsMovement?WeareinthesecondCivilRights
MovementbecauseyoungBlackmenownillegalguns,policebrutality,andracisminour
schools.

ThefirstreasonIthinkweareinthemiddleofasecondCivilRightsMovement
becauseofBlackmenowningillegalguns.Theexcusesthatouryoungmenmakeforhavinga
gunareIneedtobeprotected,Everyonehasone,andArealGstaysstrappedup.Thefact
thatweweepandcrywhenareyoungmenareshotbyotherracesbutwhenwespillouron
bloodonouronstreetitisokay.AccordingtotheBreitbartarticle5DevastatingFactsAbout

AhnieyahOwens
February5,2016
PrideOf2020
PennStateUniversity

BlackonBlackCrime,DOJstatisticsshowthatbetween19802013blackpeoplecommitted
52%ofhomicides.SoyoumightsayhowdoesthisrelatetoasecondCivilRights
Movement?Thefactouryoungmenneedaguntofeellikemenhaseverythingtodowithour
civilrightsmovement.Theyoungmanshouldfeellikeamanwhowantsadegree,workingtheir
waytocollege.Sowhatmustwedotochangethesestatisticswemusthaveastricterwayto
makesureouryoungmendon'thaveguns..Ifwescrutinizebackgroundchecksonpeoplewho
wanttopurchasegunswillreducethenumbersofhomicidesinourowncommunities.
ThesecondreasonIsayweareinthemiddleofasecondCivilRightMovement
becauseofpolicebrutality.Theonewecallthepolicehasbeenholdingaguntoourheadand
hasreloaded776times.Accordingtomintpressnews776peoplekilledbythepolicein2015
and161ofthemwereunarmed.PoliceBrutalityissomethingthatwetalkabout.Wemay
protestortalkabout,butnorealactionisbeingdone.Onlyofpolicemenhavebodiescamera.
Butoftheincidentswherethemanwasunarmedtheydidn'thaveanybodycameras.Sowhat
weneedtodoisdemandjusticesowemusthavebodycameras.Ifwehavebodycamerasthen
theamountofunarmedbeingkilledblackmenwillbereduced.Wehaveletourvoicesbeheard.
Soitistimetotaketheaction.Wemustdemandjusticeforouryoungyouth.

ThelastreasonwhyIsayweareinthemiddleofa2ndCivilRightsMovementis
becauseRacisminSchools.WhenwethinkofRacisminSchoolwethinkofthe1960sorwe
thinkoflearningaboutitonourChromebooksorTextbooks.Butitstillsgoesontodayand
nobodyknows.Nobodythinksofracisminaschoolismajor.Wethinkthatitisjustajokeor
that'showkidsplaybutit'sactuallyhappensinourUniversities.AccordingtoJhbetherehas

AhnieyahOwens
February5,2016
PrideOf2020
PennStateUniversity

beenmanyaccountsofracismintheschool.SuchasthearticlecalledUniversityofKansas
FacultyMemberPlacedonLeaveAfterAllegedlyUsingRacialSlurinClasswhere
Five
studentsfiledaracialdiscriminationcomplaintwiththeuniversitysOfficeofInstitutional
OpportunityandAccess.intheletter,thestudentswrote:Dr.Quenetteindicatedthatbecause
shehasnotexperiencedorwitnesseddiscrimination,itisnothappeningatKU.Sheaskedfor
moreevidence,andwasdismissiveofthemultipleexamplesprovided.Thesecomments
demonstratenotonlyanunwillingnesstoacceptevidencecontrarytoherownideasand
experiencesbutalsoexemplifythedismissalandquestioningofminoritystudentsexperiences
thathasreinforcedtheverystructuraldiscriminationtheyseektodestroybyspeakingup.
This
storyshowsthatracialslursarenotbeingtakenserious.Whatcouldwedotoimprove.Wemust
showthatourschoolsarenotaplaceforhate.Whenwehearracialslurswemusttakeastand.
WhatweneedtodotochangeRacisminschools.Racismcannotbestoppedbypointingfingers,
orbyphysicallyfightingitcanbestoppedbylove.Sowearethegenerationthatstopsracism.

InConclusionweareinthemiddleofa2ndCivilrightsmovementbecauseofpolice
brutality,racisminschool,andblackmenowningguns.Thesituationsthatwearefacingtoday
needtobebroughtup.Youngblackmenpossessingillegalgunsarewrongweneedolder
AfricanAmericanmentoshowouryoungmenthattheydon'tneedaguntobeaman.Wealso
needtohavebodycamerasoneverypolicemanwhite,black,hispanic,allpolice.Wealsomust
learnourrights

AhnieyahOwens
February5,2016
PrideOf2020
PennStateUniversity

whenweareapproachedweknowwhatofficerscanandcannotdo.Wemustalso
rememberthatourAfricanAmericanstudentsarefacingracismandmustbringthisdark
situationintoalightsotheseproblemscanbesolved.AsyoucanseeIamusingweinmy
sentences,Thisisbecauseittakesallofustogethertosolvetheseproblems.ThankYou.

AhnieyahOwens
February5,2016
PrideOf2020
PennStateUniversity