Michla Winbush
Ms. Brooks
Composition I
November 13, 2014

In Langston Hughes' poem, “I, Too,” he addresses the insult of segregation, inequality, and prejudice. There are many specific ways that America as a whole suffers from these three broad categories. Historically, African Americans have suffered from inequality, prejudice, and the insult of segregation in almost every aspect of their lives. The matter of African Americans being treated unequally still exists in today's society. Although race should not be the determining factor in the upholding of one's rights are not equal to White Americans. Inequality within today's society can be demonstrated in different ways. Black Americans still suffer from unjust treatment through the judicial system, police brutality, and housing discrimination. The unjust treatment through the judicial system for Black Americans is very noticeable. For example, a white man can commit murder no matter what age and for whatever reason and can plead not guilty because of insanity, but a black man can murder someone in self-defense and can receive a sentence for life. Not saying that neither man is right nor does either man deserve a lighter sentence than the other, but it seems as though the black man gets a heavier sentence because of his race. The issue of a black man's rights not being upheld the same as a white man by the courts occurs everywhere. In this day in age, it is a very oppressive issue. Black Americans rights are the same as any other American, and they have worked very hard and went through many struggles to obtain those rights. Police brutality is another way that Black Americans suffer from unjust treatment. It's like the police is color blind because the only type of people that are being brutally beaten are Black Americans. It is beginning to get out of control. Unfortunately, these situations leave questions not addressed focusing on the racial aspect of the controversy while overlooking the public's general perception about the problem of police brutality in America. Statistics state that a black man is killed in the United States every 28 hours by police. This is an issue. These killings come on top of other forms of oppression black people face. Mass incarceration of non whites is one them. Even though African Americans use or sell drugs about the same rate as whites, they are more likely to be arrested for drugs than whites. Most black offenders that receive longer sentences are in prison for nonviolent drug offenses. Police brutality occurs multiple times daily across America. Black Americans also suffer from unjust treatment through housing rights, better known as housing discrimination. Housing discrimination is discrimination in which an individual or family is treated unequally when trying to buy, rent, lease, sell, or finance a home based on certain characteristics such as race, class, sex, religion, national origin, and familial status. This type of discrimination can lead up to housing