1. Introduction

George Floyd, an African-American man, was killed by a white police officer on May 25, 2020. Floyd's "I can't breathe" cry directly exposed racism in the United States and caused an uproar in American society. The American "Foreign Policy" magazine commented that the Freud incident once again exposed the long-standing racial problems in the United States, as well as the abnormal poverty rate, unemployment rate and police brutality suffered by non-white people in the United States.

According to the Federal Reserve's "2020 Report on the Economic Status of American Households", in terms of household income, about 21% of white households have an annual income of less than $25,000, compared with 41% of African American households [1]. Comparatively, only 16% of African-American households can earn more than $100,000 annually, compared to 33% of white households. By the end of 2020, there were 4% fewer employed adults in the United States than there were in 2019, the data showed. Among 25-54 year old, 23 percent of African-Americans were fired in elementary school jobs, compared with just 14 percent of whites. African Americans experience a great deal of discrimination when applying for bank credit. And banks have a high probability of denying financial services such as credit cards and loans to African Americans. Additionally, approximately 41% of African-Americans will be denied a loan, compared to 19% of whites [1]. About racism, Rose researched the historical reason of racial discrimination [3]. Tim and Sharon thought racism is a moral issue [4] [5]. Margaret and Carolyn exposed the psychological and physical effects of racism, respectively [7] [8]. Lauren also found racism also exist in job market [9]. Joy wrote a report about racism in American schools [10]. About how to fix racism, Byron researched and provided eight solutions to fix problems [16].

This paper aims to describe the influence of racism on society and economic and find the possible ways of eliminating racial discrimination by feasible solutions.

2. Background of Racial Discrimination

Race is not just a person's skin color. However, racial discrimination has been ingrained in the American society and people's hearts for centuries [2]. It now serves as the foundation of American society. Because it is what white people want, the racist system is at the pinnacle of American human growth. Africans were ranked at the bottom of society because they were treated as slaves [2]. In 1607, they thought Jamestown was a mixed-race country when they first arrived. Therefore, the psychology of racial hatred began with the hatred of Native Americans (Indians). Data provided by U.S. Census projections indicate that in the next 50 years, whites will make up 50 percent of the population, and more than 80 percent of the population will be poor. In order to survive, the poor would prefer to go to places with enough jobs and money, so the first Congress passed a law that only white people who wanted to immigrate could become citizens. Since then, some people have gradually thought it was reasonable, and some politicians thought it was a good policy to improve society. After that, racism entered people's minds and changed the original culture.

3. Reason on Racial Discrimination

3.1. Historical Reasons

There are many reasons for racism in American history. America is an immigrant-heavy nation. In the United States, immigration is significant. With the discovery of new North American islands by Columbus in 1492, many white Europeans came here to develop new islands. However, they need more labor to take advantage of it. So colonists started kidnapping natives in Africa and selling them to North America and using them as slaves [3]. Because of this, some people now think that black people are inferior. By 1776, the African population of the Americas had grown to half a million, but most of them were not free, living like animals, working for their slave owners. At that time, the standard used to measure wealth was not the amount of money but the number of slaves. Then, in order to safeguard the rights of white people, Massachusetts legalized slavery in 1641. As a result, black people's place in society was further diminished, and attitudes around race were impacted. This state of inferiority of blacks to whites will then persist for generations to come [3].

3.2. Psychological Reasons

Not all racism stems from hatred, racism can stem from fear and anxiety. As we all know, fear is a primal emotion. All animals display these emotions when faced with threats. While fear in the most direct sense stems from things and people that can directly threaten one's life, it can also encompass a person's community and culture. Fear of others endangering one's national identity or way of life is a common theme throughout racism's historical development [4].

Racism can also be a product of ignorance. Those who speak racist language may not mean malicious harm. Sometimes they just want to slander or humiliate others through this behavior.

Fear and ignorance - these are the psychological roots that give rise to racism [4].

Unfair racial stereotypes are deeply embedded; it enables people treat others differently - in stores, on the street, etc. [5]. Most whites associate pictures of white people with positives and pictures of other skin tones with negatives [2]. People are willing to associate bad behavior with people with non-white skin. This causes this phenomenon to spread widely in society. If no one stops it, racial discrimination will not disappear.

3.3. Cultural Reasons

There are many diverse racial and national groups in America. Every race and country has its own distinct religion, set of values, and way of life. These are all part of culture. But when different cultures collide, there will be conflict, and society will conflict. So a new culture emerged, white supremacy. This culture believes that the culture of ethnic minorities is an obstacle to social development and progress [2]. Therefore, people who believe in the superiority of white people will think that American culture is superior to other cultures. This also leads to white people thinking that they are also superior to other races in all aspects of life.

4. Consequence of Racial Discrimination

4.1. Social Issues

The harm caused by racism is diverse, such as health problems, workplace problems, educational problems and economic problems. The consequences may exceed our expectations.

Health Problems. An examination of information from 293 studies presented in 333 papers found a connection between racism and both mental and physical health [6]. Racism can affect health in a number of ways. For example, reduced opportunities for employment, housing and education, reduced participation in healthy behaviors, and racially motivated violence resulting in physical harm [6]. Age, gender, religion, and degree of education did not mitigate the negative impacts of racism on health. As a result, these stresses from racism can lead to poor mental and overall health.

In the United States, numerous people claim that racism has ever affected their life, as well as the lives of their friends and relatives [7]. Parents who deny having experienced racism will have the worst memories in their children, and families who have acted on racism also show that their children have fewer behavioral problems in childhood [7].

Racism has a very negative effect on people's mental health. According to the New York State Office of Mental Health, encountering racism can cause unpleasant emotions such as despair, depression or suicidal thoughts, anxiety and caution, as well as a diminished sense of self-worth. Long-term effects of these negative emotions may extend beyond the psychological level, and physiology will progressively be impacted by psychological issues. The physical health of non-white persons is significantly impacted by various forms of racial discrimination and racism, according to a study in the Annual Review of Public Health. Non-white people are prone to fear and anxiety. Racism can influence a person's physical condition. For example, high blood pressure and heart disease. There is a lot of research on on how racial inequality affects sleep, as racism keeps victims from settling down [8].

Employment Problems. Racial discrimination influences still exist in the job market today. It makes it harder for people to find work than other fair-skinned people. According to Lee’s article [9], a man named Jose Zamora had trouble when he finds job because his name didn't sound like a white people name. So he changed the name to Joe Zamora, a whiter-sounding name that increased his chances of passing the interview [9]. Otherwise, employers prefer to hire white employees over black employees [8]. Therefore, it is difficult for someone with a name or something associated with a particular race (other than white) to gain recognition in the job market.

Educational Problems.

For Student. Today, 16 percent of U.S. public school students are not white, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Seven percent of non-white students attend school where 20 percent of teachers do not have basic teaching licenses and certifications. As a result, black students will have less access to teachers with work experience and basic credentials. In addition, non-white students have fewer opportunities to participate in advanced courses and fewer teaching hours, and non-white students are easy to be suspended than white students [10]. A student must have white skin if they want to lead other student organizations. If not, the instructor will assume that the students lack the ability to influence others [11]. All these problems are caused by different skin tones

For Teachers. Teachers have authority over students. Therefore, teachers deeply influence the future of students. If a teacher is racist, his job should be terminated immediately [12]. Otherwise, these teachers will influence the behavior of students. Students will then start learn some racist behavior and language without realizing it is wrong and use it in their life. Also, when non-white students make mistakes teachers with racism prefer to punish non-white students, rather than give them some suggestions to improve. In a racial environment, some students would confront their classmates with racial words and ridicule teachers' appearance [12]. School plays an important part in students' life, teacher with racial discrimination cannot be permitted to teach student.

4.2. Economical Issues

The most iconic sign of the persistence of racism is economic inequality between blacks and whites. For instance, the median income for white Americans is $48,500, compared to $31,000 for African Americans. The unemployment rate for young black adults is twice that of young white individuals. So for them, alcohol, drugs, crime and prison will take over their lives and replace their desire for a better life. It's all because of racism that increases the economic gap between white people and non-white people [13].

In terms of income, 90% of Americans earn an average of $29,840 a year, but according to the U.S. Census, 40% of individuals earn less than $20,000 a year. According to Demos and the Institute of Assets and Social Policy (IASP), the median for black and Latino households is $8,348 and $7,113, respectively, while the median for white households is $111,146 [14].

5. Solutions on Racial Discrimination

The United States has developed many policies and solutions to reduce this phenomenon. As can be seen from the graph below, the proportion of each category of white people who believed that black people were not clever or hardworking, as well as the proportion who believed that black people faced little to no discrimination. Thus, as shown in figure 1, the youngest whites (17-34) said blacks were lazy or unintelligent than the oldest (65+), yet they were still less likely to perceive discrimination against blacks [15]. Compared with whites aged 35 to 49, the youngest whites say blacks are slightly lazy. Since the high school dropout rate in the inner city is 47%, The U.S. government should set new rules to regulate the masses and invest more resources in educating students to properly face racism and eliminate it [16].

Source: @SeanMcElwee, ANES 2012

Figure 1: % of Whites Agreeing, by Age Cohort.

Otherwise, people can call for a fair and equal new constitutional convention [11]. Another solution is economic inclusion by the US government. The government should invest more on employment and medical [16]. This will provide more money for job creation and help ensure all voices are heard and widely heard.

6. Conclusion

This study describes the reason of racial discrimination and how it affects American society and its economic. First, America is a country of immigrants. In the past, black people were regarded as slaves. People would use the number of slaves to measure their wealth instead of money, which also led to the mentality of black people being inferior to white people. Second, each race and nation have its own religion, beliefs, way of life and values. But people who believe that white people are superior perceive American culture to be superior to other cultures, which leads people to treat others differently based on their race. In addition, not all racism stems from hatred, sometimes prejudice and subconscious, people are willing to associate bad behavior with people of other skin colors, rather than white people.

Racial discrimination will leave many problems on health, psychology, physiology, employment, education and economic parts. Under the influence of racism, non-white people have poor mental and overall health, are easy to get afraid, fearful and anxious and is hard to get chance to work. These features also lead to the income of non-white people is much lower than white people.

However, due to the limitation of data and research capabilities and conditions, this study can only base data that other resource provided, it cannot be guaranteed whether the data is exaggerated or distorted. In future research, it is still necessary to obtain more accurate data through a large number of investigations, and to explore and improve related indications.