One thing that stayed in my mind beyond leaving class from this past weak was the argument of whether racism will be eventually overcome. I think that it is very safe to say that racism is still definitely a problem in America currently. But will it always be a problem? The two arguments that I’ll discuss are the “Tragic Racial Flow and Durable Racism” argument, which says that racism is an enduring entity and will not be solved, and the “Triumph of Liberal Democracy and the American Creed” argument, which says that racism will be overcome. The former argument is based on the premise that America is set up as a racist place and will therefore primarily benefit those of European descent. The latter argument claims that the United States will eventually open up to the world and that there will be no group claim on the United States system.

I agree more with the Tragic Racial Flaw argument more than the Triumph of Liberal Democracy argument. However, I will say that anything is feasible in the broader timeline of humanity, but I don’t think that the two sides can be reconciled to the extent that Smith tries to reconcile them. I think that in the foreseeable future racism will endure. It is too ingrained in our systems to change anytime soon. One of the most potent signs that racism is going to be here for a long, long time is that the written law now says that all people should be treated equally and have equal rights, but this doesn’t play out in practice. Also, there are some written laws that don’t explicitly discriminate against black people, other minorities, and other socially disadvantaged groups, but they still affect them detrimentally in unfair proportions. For these reasons and others, I do not think that the significance of race is declining.