America As A Post-Racial Society Essay

Humans define race by how they conceive and categorize different social realities. Thus, race is often referred to as a social construct. The differences in skin color and facial characteristics have led most of society to classify humans into groups instead of individuals. These constructs affect us all, and they often result in situations where majority racial groups cause undue suffering to those that are part of the minority. The understanding of race as a social construct is best illustrated by the examination of racial issues within our own culture, specifically those that have plagued the history of the United States.

When I survey the landscape in black America, it does not take long for me to recognize the massive impression of a vehement struggle of a collective group of people to simply keep their head above water. The problem in the black community is that it is where every ill of this nation is felt first. It is the place in which much of the economic devastation is felt and absorbed in order to relieve some of the pressure off of this nation’s more affluent citizens.

Just fifty years ago, America was a society of segregation and racism. The dictionary defines racism as “the belief that a particular race is superior to another.” Although it is clear times have changed, racism is still seen in modern american society. It’s also clear that relationships between African Americans and whites are generally better than they were in the forties and fifties. Today, it is rare to witness a black man walk down the street and step off the sidewalk to let a white man walk by, or to see a black man sitting on a different section of the bus or train because a white man told him he has too. But superiority of races is still happening. A lot of this has the do with the ignorance of others. Passed down generation to

Equality was once a repulsive concept within America, today it seems to be a foregone conclusion. Indeed, we have made so many strides in the way that we view race that it seems a gross misstep every time that it needs to be addressed. Even our President, an African American who overcame tremendous odds to rise to the highest office does not have the answers to our issues with race, rather he calls on us all to “ask some tough questions about how we can permit so many of our children to languish in poverty, or attend dilapidated schools, or grow up without prospects for a job or for a career.” For most, these questions point to sources outside of themselves, but perhaps there a bit of introspection is the answer. Systematic segregation can

In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.

Throughout the history of the country, America has been considered a fairly racist union. From the workplaces to the society, as an Asian, I felt there's a strong barrier between white and black people, although I felt a little bit of racial among us. In this essay, I will talk about the major racial issue of this country through out my experiences.

American society likes to believe that race relations in our country are no longer strained. We do not want to hear about the need for affirmative action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to appease our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive and well in the great U.S.A. It hides in the workplace, it subtly shows its ugly face in the media, and it affects the education of minority students nationwide. In the following excerpts from an interview with a middle class African American male, the reader will find strong evidence that race plays a major role in determining the type and quality of education a student receives.

Post racial America is a term to describe The United States in present time to which discussions about race and racism have been deemed no longer relevant to current social dynamics. Post racial America is an ideology that is now engrained into our modern generation consciousness, ever since the election of Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States of America. If Obama presidency implies that racism does not exist anymore, why do black people still feel that their most basic human rights are still not being acknowledged? What would be the need for an activist movement such as #BlackLivesMatter? For example the #BlackLivesMatter movement started after the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012 and then when George Zimmerman, was acquitted

America has made drastic improvements in racial relations and equality since the Civil Rights Movement. Segregation is dead and African-Americans are on a level playing field with all races in the pursuit of a successful, productive, and happy life. Restaurants and bathrooms are available to blacks and whites to use, African-Americans are more likely to receive higher education, and the workforce has become an equal playing field for all races. African-Americans are beginning to fill high level and intermediate level jobs decreasing the amount of blacks living at or under the poverty line. Blacks occupying these jobs are a direct result of more blacks pursuing a higher education and qualifying themselves for these jobs. As a society we have

"The legacy of past racism directed at blacks in the United States is more like a bacillus that we have failed to destroy, a live germ that not only continues to make some of us ill but retains the capacity to generate new strains of a disease for which we have no certain cure." - Stanford Historian George Frederickson.

Post-racial is an adjective that denotes or relates to a period of society in which racial prejudice and discrimination no longer exist. Many believe this is a term applicable to the current state of America. The popularity of this term in correlation to American society blew up when the 44th president of America, Barak Obama, was elected in 2008 making him the first African American president in this country. This was a revolutionary election in history which gave hope and a newfound perspective for many young African Americans who have been searching to see a role model resembling their own skin color and for old African Americans who survived the unjust prejudices inflicted by governmental law only decades ago. Martin Luther King’s great dream for his children to be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the character of their person was finally granted, and America has finally overcome all racial issues. Everyone could finally rejoice and walk the country truly free knowing race could no longer hold any obstacle or boundary for the people of America, right? Unfortunately, that idea is far from the truth. This idea that America is now a post racial society has even been denounced by Obama himself in a commencement ceremony at Howard University. The president states that his election did not create a post racial society, though he does note it is important to note and respect progress ("Remarks by the President at Howard University

Race relations are an ever prominent issue in American society. Controversies focusing around race are a commonly seen smeared across the front page of the newspaper or headlining on the evening news. The opposition is usually between a minority group and "The Man," a colloquialism used by many Blacks to refer to the overwhelming power stemming from white racist tendencies. This racial tension can sometimes can cause the oppressed to band together against the oppressor. Many times, the most prevalent link is between the African American community and the Latino community. Here we find two groups of people with very similar lifestyles who find camaraderie between themselves when dealing

a pen because it was safer than a gun. This was a valuable lesson I've

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

The Internet, social media, and the emergence of terrorist groups in America; what do these three have in common? The mere fact that they are some America’s daily trends of the modern era. Being a child of the millennial age, I strongly feel as if no one has experienced racial tension in America as much as my fellow millennials and I. We see it in news headlines all over, the Internet, and hear about it during our daily commutes. All asking one question; what's your opinion on this racial inequality? Since we are the land of the free, the opinion of the public is highly valued, as well as diverse. Recently, the diversity has become more than just the simple opinions of the people; it's become the issue of racial tension. A tension so deep that it has accounted for many physical altercations, uproars, and unfortunate deaths within the country. How do you put into this detrimental norm of society you ask? Here's what I think.