A Definition Of Justice By Aristotle And The Star Spangled Banner

In recent years racial and socioeconomic differences have grown more prevalent in our society, and many wonder why. Growing up in Ethiopia, the concept of race was never popular or significant, as there was little to no racial diversity. Coming from a country where I did not even look at the color of my skin to a place where the only thing people saw was my color, astonished me. Living in the United States and learning about slavery in middle school, I thought of it as something that was long gone, something I would never have to worry about, but as I grew older I began to see the lingering shadows that remained. A petrified twelve-year-old me once asked my mother why we were moving to America and to that question she replied “America is the land of the free; the land of opportunities”. America did feel like an embodiment of her statement my first few years here but as time passed I began to see some clear differences in how society viewed me. I wondered, if this really was the so called “land of the free”, why are minorities incarcerated at a higher rate? And why are there such significant socioeconomic and educational gaps?

Racial disparities and inequality dates all the way back to slavery: when whites abused, raped, tortured and killed black people. “Slavery transformed America into an economic power; the exploitation of black people made the south the richest and most politically powerful region in the country” (ABS). Black people did not have any rights, instead they were forced

Despite beliefs to the contrary, the increasing disparity in real wealth between white and black Americans during the past half century shows that the economic system is unjust. Considering factors such as less intergenerational inheritance, higher unemployment and lower incomes serve as key components in economic disparity. Disparity can be viewed as a systematic design to keep a specific group of people continually oppressed through a mixture of inequality, injustice and power. When there is an inequality that is also an injustice (Wright, 2009).

We are living in the Progressive Era. It was supposed to be a time to create peace and prosperity that would hopefully spread across America. Yet, because this period was created by white, middle-class citizens (called Progressives), their means of reaching this point were not the most ethical nor intelligent - one of their tactics were to remove any and all power for African-Americans, ensuring the expansion of white authority. This was due to the fact that they were not the richest of people, yet their desire for peace persevered.

The Declaration of Independence states that “all men are created equal” was not entirely correct to the African Americans and the women. In 1865, the 13th amendment abolished slavery in the United States. The half of million African Americans were then given equality. The 13th amendment created progress in equality for the United States. Fifty five years later, the 19th amendment guaranteed all American women the right to vote. The women struggled for decades to change the rights and now it could be said that “all men and women are created equal.” Today, we have equal treatment for every American regardless of the individual’s race, color,

African Americans have been systematically discriminated against since the advent of slavery over 200 years ago and still continue to be oppressed. Slavery created the ideology that Whites were superior to African Americans, because slaves were seen as property and not as human beings (O’Connell 2012). Following this sentiment, African Americans were not allowed to receive an education, let alone learn how to read. These slaves were dependent on their slave owners for the total well being of themselves, as well as their families. This dependency has created a cycle of poverty that has spiraled into the 21st century, affecting heavily populated areas of minority communities. While there is poverty among all Americans, Black Americans suffer from poverty rates highly disproportionate to White Americans (O’Connell 2012).

The United States Declaration of Independence clearly stated, that, “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” As time went on, this statement had proven to be immensely inaccurate. All throughout American history, African Americans faced extreme levels of hatred, injustice, and discrimination because they didn’t acquire the pasty pale skin of the whites. As the 40’s turned into the 50’s, African Americas all across the United States became exhausted of the hatred and discrimination. Their exhaustion turned to great power as Africa Americans took action and began what is known as the Civil Rights Movement. This movement brought great acts of change and prosperity that forever impacted the United States.

They fought for their freedom, to not be slaves; they fought for their freedom to be an equal. But yet they are still paid lower and thought of as “problem people”. How is white privilege still seen today? White privileges are still happening today in our non-segregated era, we are thought to be equal but there are still imbalances with our social and economical ways. In this paper, I will discuss how white privilege was seen in the past history, and in the present with social and economical ways.

Throughout the years, race has been a major problem in multiple countries, especially our own. While reading through the articles provided for this assignment, there was one underlying issue in them all, white vs. black. What made black people so different from us? What made them so unwanted and why were most of them slaves rather than white people. It seems that the reasoning that most African American people were put up as slaves, or servants was because of their ranking on the financial ladder. They were put into the position they were in because they were so low in poverty that they really had no other choice. People of color weren’t allowed to vote, much less own land, or even do something of great meaning then.

However, the first Americans dehumanized people of color in more ways beyond such disgustingly violent treatment. In the case of Black Americans, white law makers implemented harsh legislation that prohibited Black Americans from receiving even a basic education and accumulating wealth (qtd. in Laci Green). Thus, institutional racism is the prohibition from advancement in virtually all aspects of society. At the same time, White Americans prospered academically, economically, and socially. Fast forward through 249 years of being considered anywhere from non-human subspecies to three-fifths of a human, and 94 more years of racial segregation, Black Americans in particular were left behind in the racial arms race. Thus, White American privilege stems from the nearly 350-year head start in White American social

As mentioned in the lecture, Plato’s Republic makes you ponder as to what is the correct meaning of justice. Cephalus, a rich elder who is well-respected, describes justice with the Hesiodic conception: living up to your requirements and being truthful. Socrates denies the definition with the example of borrowing weapons from a friend, then he turns into a madman, requesting his weapons back. Everyone knows that the weapons should not be returned for the sake of people’s life. He declares that is not justice, that is, “telling the truth, and returning what you have been given.” Celaphus’s son, Polemarchus, brings a new description of justice: helping out friends and hurting our enemies, which Socrates dismisses it. He declares that our own

America is a country of great diversity. There are individuals of numerous colors, creeds, religions and ethnic backgrounds. Although these groups have rich histories and prideful backgrounds, they are seen by many as of a lower class. A lot of those abhorrent folks maintain powerful seats in the United States Government, carrying their disdain for non-white males. They don’t believe any other demographic should keep a voice in the country, where oppression begins to occur. The systematic mistreatment and exploitation of one group or category of people by another (Prof. Butler-Sweet, 1/19 IDP Lecture) affects myriads of people to this day. The powerful assembly of oppressors will often be to define the targets as inferior. For example, Bill

The American dream in 1776 supported the idea that all men are created equal. However, African Americans were not included in this idea. In a segregated society, African Americans received insufficient treatment, politically, financially, or otherwise. Despite the similar anatomy, dark skin color was considered the defining factor of a person, dictating the right to vote, quality of living, and educational value, and often resulted in meeting darker aspects of society, such as xenophobia and hate crimes. Before the American Civil Rights movement began its ascent, social activists began to notice the depravity of the social system they followed. They began to take action against these expectancies

Today many people believe that we have obtained racial equality. However there are multiple reasons and statistics that contradict those arguments . For decades African Americans has been deprived of basic rights, “If America had racial equality in education and jobs, African Americans would have two million more high school degrees…(Raines)”. There are many drastic racial gaps from education to owning property. Throughout America’s history blacks have been limited, when it comes to education, property, and other things. If people truly believe that after four hundred years of enslavement and limited rights, can be fixed within one generation they are wrong. The African American community has faced

Several of today’s inequalities come from the past. In the film, “500 years,” the crippling reality of the past is carried on the future. Slavery put countless African-Americans under the ownership of white people. They were whipped, beaten, raped, abused, mistreated, and the list goes one. From generation to generation, these inequalities have travelled. Though many like to believe that we are all treated equal, this is unfortunately far from the truth.