Caracci, UST 202, Section 504 1
Racial Discrimination in Cleveland
Luciana Caracci
Cleveland: The African American Experience, UST 202 Section 504
Caracci, UST 202, Section 504 2
Abstract
In Cleveland Ohio, racial discrimination has been a problem ever since African
American’s started living here. It’s bad enough that the black community of Cleveland
has most of them living in poverty, struggling to get by on a day to day basis. Racism
definitely makes their lives harder as they try to stay strong each day. In this paper,
readers will begin with defining the primary social issues. In this case, it would be racial
discrimination in Cleveland, Ohio. Next, readers will learn about segregation in Cleveland.
In Cleveland, over 50% of the population is made up of African Americans. Just over ⅓
of the population is white. Readers will learn the negative outcomes of segregation before
they move on to racism itself, focused on Cleveland specifically. There will be points of
the Cleveland police force executing racism and discrimination towards black people.
Finally, readers will learn about the Cleveland police force and some of the cases that
have been published about them. The cases are focused on white police officer targeting
black people. At the end will be a summary of what they’ve just read and a closing.
Caracci, UST 202, Section 504 3
Primary Social Issues
Racial discrimination has always been a problem all over the world. In Cleveland,
Ohio,
racial discrimination has been taken to a whole new level. The city of Cleveland has a
population of over 50% African American. Considering most of the city of Cleveland
consists of blacks, the racism and discrimination levels are bound to be higher. Over the
years, the amount of racial discrimination has bounced up and down. When will racial
discriminaiton finally come to an end?
Segregation in Cleveland
Cleveland’s population is made up of over 50% African American people. There’s a
little
section in Cleveland, known as “Little Italy” where a bunch of Italian’s live. Most
places are known for having segregation amongst their people and where they live.
People would view
Little Italy as a “cute and sweet” little area, and go there quite often to eat in
restaurants or shops.
Yet people are often terrified or hesitant to move anywhere near a house holding African
American people. Most people use rude and derogatory terms when talking to or about
African American’s. They relate things such as break-ins and thefts to just those of
colored skin. The racism in Cleveland is quite high and uncalled for. Whether it’s
robbing a person or someone’s windshield is smashed in, all eyes will automatically turn
towards the blacks in the room.
Caracci, UST 202, Section 504 4
In Cleveland, being alive is truly harder if you’re an African American than if
you’re
white. Many of the areas in which black people live and are segregated to have worse
opportunities for healthcare. Their choices are either very poor options or even worse,
nothing at all. “Low birth weight and preterm birth are risk factors for infant mortality,
which disproportionately impacts black babies,” (Warren, News 5 Cleveland). It was also
stated in the article that there are 15.6 deaths per 1,000 live black babies, while there
are only 2.5 deaths per 1,000 live white babies. That is almost 8 times the amount of
deaths. That’s just focusing on the babies.
Certain areas can lead to poor health outcomes. Highly segregated black areas are
known to bring poor health outcomes. News 5 Cleveland reported that many African
