Class, Race and Social Injustice in Today’s Society

How relevant are the topics of race, social injustice, and class in today’s society? It seems as though today’s society hasn’t changed much from that of past generations in terms of these three things. With the changing times you would expect other people’s thinking and way of life to change too, but instead the way it is presented and shown in society is changed. Class, race, and social injustice are very relevant in today’s society from public perception, government regulations, and gun violence.

Public perception over certain communities ensures that some people are held to different standards which is unfair and unjust. Since some areas are reportedly more violent and in the “ghetto” police are more frequently deployed to patrol the area. We see this parallel with the book as well in the protagonist neighborhood. They supposedly live in “the bad side of town” according to others which lead to the police being there more frequently. Furthermore, the public perception of black men, like Francis and Michael, is that they are more threatening or dangerous. We know this is true because of how often black men are reportedly stopped by policemen and women for no other reason the colour of their skin. Similarly we see how this is illustrated by the book. It explicitly tells the reader that as Michael and Francis age they become more prone to getting into encounters with the police. Lastly expectations for black kids coming from the lower class are lessened. This seems to be believed even by the Michael when he says “I peered with Francis into a newspaper to read a headline about the latest terror and caught in the glass the reflection of our own face”. This prejudice is especially held against black kids. We see in the book how Michael and Francis are put into general classes by teachers and are perceived as thieves by shopkeepers. Public perception seems to also leak into government regulations and how they govern certain areas and people.

Government regulations don’t seem to help some races and classes of people as it does for others. Firstly, the government is run in a way where some people make low incomes in places that have a high cost of living. For example, saskatchewan has a minimum wage of $11.32 but an average of $925 for rent alone. This undermines the lower class living situation and puts people such as Michael in the book a hard time making ends meet. In the book Michael works at EasyBuy where he gets paid minimum wage and his employer tries getting people to work for under that too to make more profits for the store. Secondly, government programs that have been put in place such as welfare are not only being cut back on, but entirely removed for hundred of thousands of people in the United States as stated by the Washington Post. This is also indicated in the book with Michael’s mom. Although it is known that Michael’s mom doesn’t work, the book never shows her receiving any type of support from the government. Lastly, government regulations allow some things to be excused due to vague laws. It is constantly reported that adults get shot by police as “self defence” when most often there was no real threat. This seems to be most prominent amongst black males. This is illustrated in the climax of the book where Francis, Michael’s older brother, is shot by policemen for no reason. Simply because Francis said “don't touch him”, he was shot. Gun violence had taken the life of a young innocent black kid for little to no reason.

Gun violence is something that has taken the lives of people who don’t deserve to die, whether it be through ignorance, or fear. Accidental gun violence is a real thing amongst kids. “Gangs” that have guns due to the availability might shoot the wrong person during “gang fights”. This is exactly what happened to the little girl in the book who was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The girl ended up being a victim of a misfired shot. Secondly, guns are widely available in places such as the United States. With some simple identification any citizen can get a gun for self defence. This leads to kids growing up in households with guns that they can easily take from their parents. This is most likely how the kids in the book got the gun in the first place leading to the death of the little girl. Finally, policemen are the most common suspects of gun violence especially towards black men. Simply because the colour of their skin black men are suppressed and sometimes shot for the slightest of incorporation. As previously stated this is how Francis died and why Francis and Michael were constantly stopped by policemen as they aged. When cops first arrived before shooting Francis they would say to Francis and friends to “Stand back near the wall, all of you. You know the drill”. This explicitly states that they have been in a situation like these multiple times by cops abusing their power. To conclude, gun violence is something that has affected people whether it was accidental or purposeful.

All in all, class, race, and social injustice are real things even in today’s society. Through public perception, government regulations, and gun violence these factors are still prevalent today. Public perception based on race is something that pollutes the minds of everyone including does being affected into believing a narrative. Government regulations are loose ended and lower certain people’s way of life. Lastly, gun violence has taken the lives of innocents which is socially unjust. These factors prove that the time gap between the time set in the book and today aren’t too different when it comes to class, race, and social injustice.