African American Corrupts

Is it racism or economics which hinders many African American communities from progressing economically in the 21st Century? This research proposal will address this question by examining the social and psychological impact caused by racism and the economic impact it’s had on the African American community. This proposal will further investigate whether the emotional scars of slavery continue to hamper African American progress or if racism is actually the cause.

In Thomas Shapiro’s “The Hidden Cost of Being African American”, Shapiro goes in depth on how wealth in America is disproportionately dispersed between different nationalities. Mainly between Caucasians and African Americans. Shapiro has helped paint the image of wealth inequality and has shown how this is even more staggering than the wage gap between African Americans and Caucasians. Some of the theories he indirectly uses in his book and that I will be exemplifying are generational wealth and support systems, education, and the idea of how poverty only begets more poverty.

The wage gap is not new. In 1947, 68% of black household earned less than $10,000 annually, the number earning more than $30,000 was so small as to be negligible. The economic situation for blacks continued to be hard, and the percentage of black households earning more than $30,000 did not rise above 10% until after 1964. The causes of this very low income were the Jim Crow laws. (Robinson 431) In the 1940’s every African-American in the U.S. suffered economically, as well as in other ways, because of the Jim Crow laws. This puts them in a cycle of poverty, which is very hard to break, especially because of lingering racism.

“Nothing could be more insulting to me than the concept of civil rights. It means perpetual second-class citizenship for me and my kind” stated by James Meredith, a civil rights activist. The civil rights movement was all about gaining rights, but in the end African Americans barely gained the right to vote. The civil rights movement was a failure because African Americans still face inequality in housing, education, and jobs. The United States is all about equality when it comes to race, gender, home country, and religion, but blacks continue to suffer through poverty.

In response to young people or rather more so young African Americans, who are eligible to vote. Many of them decided that they will not vote in this upcoming election, due to their disatisfaction with the presidential candidates. However according to New York Times writer Charles M. Blow this simple minded voting protest is rather “problematic and potentially self-destructive.” Many of the young African who are irritated with the police shootings feel that they should not vote, because of the corruption within their community. Blow in return to this stated “These judgeships alone could cast a long shadow.”

The lack of opportunity provided to African Americans and other minority demographics to enjoy the plunder of the post-war economy, including better education and housing, exposes the shortcoming of what we now remember as one of the most prosperous times in American history. Because of the prevalence of systematic racism towards African Americans, through the lack of equal treatment and opportunity, many African Americans could not enjoy a similar quality of life to white

For the past 30 years the “gap” in income received by the rich and the lower class has continuously continued to increase, showing no signs of decrease anytime soon. This gap has mostly affected the middle class, which is made up of mostly African Americans and Hispanics, making America less determined to correct such an issue. Given the circumstances African American’s are the focus of this issue due to the fact they make up majority of the middle class. It is known that modern racism exist within today’s society in various ways, one of which happen to be within the economy. For decades the economy has had its downfalls, however, it’s been facing an issue that it has been hiding from the rest of the nation. The gap that everyone speaks has

Unjust enrichment is defined as “circumstances that give rise to the obligation of restitution, that is, receiving and retention of property, money, or benefits which in justice and equality belong together” (11). Black American’s were subjected and forced to work so that the wealth would continue to grow amongst the white population. President Abraham Lincoln suggested in his Second Inaugural Address in 1865 that the war was caused by the greed and wealth of the white Americans. White American’s taken all of the wealth and prospered as much as possible which led the black Americans to poverty and oppression that is still seen today. Unjust impoverishment is a way to “describe the conditions of those who suffer such oppression” (11). Since the poverty and oppression that was created by white Americans, black Americans sill struggle today. For instance, “Black full- time male workers earn less per week than white full- time male workers, in most of the country’s major occupational groups” (18). Unjust impoverishment is continuously seen in today’s society not only through the wage gap but in housing and education as well. Many white Americans have succeeded through unjust enrichment not realizing they have created unjust impoverishment that is still visible in today’s

According to Hall, the mass media creates and defines issues of public concern and interest through audience positioning (Barker 271) and according to Nielsen ranking, “Scandal” is the highest rated scripted drama among African-Americans, with a demographic of 18-49 (Vega). The episode which aired on March 5, 2015, had 9.57 million US viewers rating (Scandal, season 4). Scandal is created by a black woman, Shonda Rhimes, inspired by a black woman, Judy Smith, and has a black woman as its star, Kerry Washington (Scandal). And according to Hall, to the degree that the audience share cultural codes with producer or encoders, they will decode meaning within the same framework (Barker 271).

What is more commonly seen is a disparity between blacks of different classes, building a stronger division even among themselves(PR, 3). The power of wealth, and lack thereof, cannot be underestimated. Saying equality is nearing when the wage gaps between upper and lower class blacks are so steep it is as if the two classes live in different worlds altogether. Racism and colorism are both extensions of the greater classism that dominates and spawns these forms of discrimination. If racial inequality was born of the desire for expansion and greed, then it can be safe to say that buying into the same system and rising to combat racism through it is a futile

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

That being said, their economic gap, compared to the dominant group is too wide, leading the false assumption that the leading group is better than others. Simply, when there is a lack of economic opportunities it is common that the level of delinquency and poverty goes up. For example, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center study, in 2010, all black men were six times as likely as all white men to be incarcerated in federal, state and local jails. Statistically, the study already mentioned, support the misconception that Afro-American people are delinquents. On the other hand, Brent Staples in his essay “Just Walk On By: A Black Man Ponders His Power to Alter Public Space” relates his experience as Afro-American when he was confused several times by a burglar and another journalist who by mistake was incarcerated letting us know how harmful can be an idea. When we establish these fixed stereotypes, we are categorizing a whole group of people based on the behavior of some and negating them the opportunity of changing these false beliefs. For example, not all Mexicans are corrupted or drug dealers and not all Spanish native speakers are Mexicans. That is why, these inherit ideas from society influence our relationship with others, and in order to be assertive we must abandon these preconceived and

Uneven distribution of wealth is also a major problem, causing poverty among black people. It is suggested that due to racial segregation and a controlled political environment by white people, black people usually find it difficult to assimilate themselves into the labor force and civil society (Ducan, 1999). In the U.S., per capita income of the whites is almost five times more than that of the blacks, which clearly illustrates the serious problem of a widening wealth gap between these twodifferent racial groups. The findings from Mean Racial Wealth Gap across 181 U.S. Metropolitan Statistical Areas shows that the standard deviation of wage between the blacks and the whites is the highest in among comparison toof different racial groups such as Latinos and white people and Asians and white people., Iit clearly points out that the most severe wealth gap exists between black and white people. However, upward mobility is restricted for the black blacks as they face racial discrimination in the process of hiring and firing. Only about half of working-age black men are employed, compared to two-thirds of white men, but even if black menpeople are employed, they are usually engaged in low-paid jobs so that they can barely affordsupport their daily expenses. It is likely that black people are being exploited in the labor

In the United States, the poor are becoming poorer while the rich are becoming richer. This it nothing new, however it has been brought to light more recently due to the upcoming presidential election as well as the accessibility of this type of information. Although wealth inequality and poor distribution of wealth is an issue, marginalized communities such as the Black community are disproportionately affected by the wealth gap due to institutionalized racism in the USA. The continuation of discriminatory policies and lack of understanding creates a cyclic environment where Black people are not able to gain as much economic freedom and prosperity while groups in power blame them for “not working hard enough” or “taking handouts.” It is

From the start of history, America was centralized with white dominance, while black slaves were excluded from the freedom, liberty, and happiness that the white colonists preserve for themselves. Black slaves were never given the opportunity to a proper education because white Americans feared that the more slaves learn to think for themselves, the higher the chance of a revolt and uprisings; which would’ve threatened the structure of white’s society. Even in modern-day world, there are still countries and even in some parts of America, that hesitate to give a proper education to the minorities and underprivileged. The wealthy have many dimes to spare because they are able to afford to go to school and earn the knowledge on how to invest and take advantages of poor labor. However, the common-class and less fortunates can scarcely support