Making strides in social justice

Social justice is a major issue around the world, and they are tons of social issues in many places important to many people. There are things that are unfair in the world that can be changed or may not, and people fight for what they believe is right. Peoples’ actions can really make a difference when it comes to social justice. Unfair things in the world include racism, treatment of the poor, and discrimination.

A good example of an injustice is the large number of times black and Latino people are stopped by officers in New York City and frisked, or searched. In 2011, about 685,000 people were stopped, and 87% percent of those people were black and Latino. Only 9% of the frisked people were white. This is racial profiling because officers are stopping people just because of their race and skin color, which is very unfair. Searching these people randomly is also unconstitutional because officers are only allowed to search people when they see a good reason. The police are just frisking them because they are black and Latino. There are people who are trying to fight against this unjust practice in NYC. The New York Civil Liberties Union and some people who were frisked unnecessarily took their case to court, and a judge agreed with their cause and demanded that unconstitutional frisking stop. The case is still going on, but all the attention to the issue has greatly reduced the amount of stops since 2011.

Another example of a social injustice is that many states in the U.S. prohibit same-sex marriage. It is not fair for some people to not be allowed to marry the people they love just because they are the same gender. There is no good reason to keep gays and lesbians from marriage. Many people are pushing forward and making strides towards legalizing gay marriage in many places. There are constant rallies, protests, and letters being written to state governments to push forward for gay rights. People are electing government officials who support gay marriage and others even take their cases to court to justify it. All these social actions have caused 15 states to allow same-sex marriage.

There are many things that are unjust in the world, and not much is being done about it. Many people are still discriminated against. But, when people push forward and take action, they can get their way and make a big difference for their cause.