Blue Dress, By Walter Mosley, The Treatment And Lifestyle Of Racial Minorities Essay

Reading the articles “From Beyond Outrage” by Robert B. Reich, and “A Tangle of Pathology to a Race-Fair America” by Alan Aja. Daniel Bustillo, William Darity Jr., and Darrick Hamilton, made me comprehend additional perspectives about class, ethnic groups, and education to our examination of success. Specifically, the way “A Tangle of Pathology to a Race-Fair America” explains its point of views, and the facts that it provides makes the reader fully understand how race has affected employment throughout the years. Black families were trapped in the Tangle of Pathology; representing how they had, and still continue to have, extremely low benefits and advantages compared to the whites. Race, class and education have a powerful connection, since

The period of the mid 30’s and 40’s during the Roosevelt presidency presented an evolution for minorities, the foundation for the civil rights movement was set during this era. The urgent necessities for Latinos, Blacks, and Native Americans came into focus for a government that was largely ignoring them previously. With the downfall of the economy, minorities were economically hit the worst. Many programs put in during Roosevelt’s administration never provided the same success for minorities that their white counterparts achieved. Still, FDR’s administration laid out multiple plans for minorities to achieve future success and equality. As new incentives with housing, industry, and civil rights tries to improve the lives’ of Latinos, Blacks, and Native Americans.

My race is Black, my ethnicity is African American and my culture (349) could be described as complicated. In applying these factors to my personal experiences I will refer to Matthew and Emirbayer’s “What is Racial Domination?” to explain the racial biases and discriminations that I have experienced from Arkansas to Los Angeles and ultimately Irvine. From the day of my birth my life and the opportunities presented or denied have been defined by racial domination and the Institutional racism of White Americans.

To begin, when the minority groups first started to cultivate in American society, one must examine the “condition of entry” for the minority groups. Condition of entry is a theory that refers to the metaphysical ideals revolving the initial appearance of the minorities in America, specifically economic and social positions in American society. What positions in the workforce and other economically influenced positions in society did these minorities receive? Were these positions voluntarily or a result of varying degrees of institutionalized racism? How did their presence affect the economy? These questions are all relevant when analyzing the historical entry of minorities into American society. Each ethnicities had drastically different interactions with America upon first arrival but had a similar strain of racism staining the history pages of

Many African Americans had moved north during the Great Migration to escape conditions in the south, but found that discrimination was still prevalent in northern cities. African Americans not only had difficulties finding jobs, but still felt the stigma of being black. Living within the time of legal discrimination, many African Americans soon realized that though they may have escaped the violence of the south, they still had to deal with the challenges and setbacks of being black in America. The Great Migration began in the 1910s and 1920s during World War I. The second wave of migration of Blacks to the north and west began in the 1940s during and after World War II (Alexander, 1998, p. 352). With the war going on, many black people found jobs due to the numerous openings of those fighting in the war. But once the war ended, white soldiers came back, finding blacks filling their jobs and wanting them back. Black men had particularly difficult times finding jobs; “they were the last to be hired or accepted in the unions and were the first to be let go during the Depression” (Dyer, 2001). Not only did the new immigrants face tension with whites over jobs, but also with Northern blacks, who believed that the migrants “threatened their social, economic and political security” (Tolnay 1997, p.1216).

One of the most important principles in American society is social and economic mobility, otherwise known in the USA as the American Dream. This principle states that if one works hard, they can make it to the top no matter where you start. Depiction of this ideal is very common, where someone starts at the very bottom of the socioeconomic totem pole, yet through hard work and perseverance, becomes highly successful. This principle was born out of American protestant ethic, where it is believed that hard work will earn you riches and vice versa that your riches and success is a tell of your work ethic. However, this depiction is not typical in American society, where only a small amount of those who compose the lowest earners become the highest earners. Many factors contribute to one’s prospects for upward mobility, such as parent income, education, and occupation. However, there appears to be one factor in particular that can prevent one from becoming successful, no matter how hard they work, that being their race. It is typically well known that there are certain societal disadvantages associated with being a race other than non-Hispanic White. This idea that your race can affect your future success very much countervails American protestant ethic, and proceeds to feed into the racist portrayal of minorities as "lazy" or "freeloaders". The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect that race has on one 's potential for upward socioeconomic mobility. As

In a recent survey by the University of Southern California nearly 75 percent of voter state that “relations between people of different races were “good” or “excellent” in their own neighborhoods” (Abrams). Yet these same participants agree that black men and woman face more discrimination than any other race. Though racial discrimination in California has mitigated considerably over the years it is still a major problem. The peak of racial tensions occurred early on in California’s past.

The reality is that historic, legal efforts long restricted the economic lives of minorities. Restricted the kind of work they could do. Restricted their membership in unions. Restricted their access to education and training. Restricted their opportunity in the private sector world of product sales and client services. Restrictions which most white Americans, if they are even aware of them, do not seem to understand the extent of, the persistence of, or the long-standing consequences of -- at all. And, of course, the economic

The assigned readings offered an engaging view of the new suburban life emerging in California during the postwar years of the 1940s and 1950s. During this time, California was becoming heavily populated and was experiencing an increased demand for housing. In Holy Land, D.J. Waldie discussed the rise of the suburbs in Southern California, the creation of tract housing and shopping centers, and the 1950s illusion that everyone could be middle class (Waldie, 4-85). As suburban areas were developing and emerging within Southern California, a neighborhood was challenging the conservative norm of the time by allowing racial diversity within the area. In What 's Good for Boyle Heights is Good for the Jews, George J. Sánchez 's tells the forgotten history of Boyle Heights, a suburb of Los Angeles, praised for being one of America 's first communities to embrace racial diversity. During a time of severe bigotry against African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Latino-Americas, Jewish residents of Boyle Heights were able to respect and accept minorities of color living within their community (Sánchez, 633-657). The postwar years in California demonstrated the extraordinary power the state had in developing suburbs and how a small district within the Los Angeles area was able to challenge the status quo on racial diversity.

In Joe Gutierrez’s essay “On the Job”, he highlights the racial divide that plagued life in Chicago, particularly in his workplace. As a white-passing Mexican who couldn’t speak Spanish, many times he found himself surrounded by racist rhetoric from both his white and Latino coworkers. However he never partook in these conversations, as he wasn’t raised by these ideologies. He gives a small anecdote from his childhood: “We were about eight years old, my brother, Vince and I, when we went to a public swimming pool in a park in East Chicago. We took a black kid with us.

Throughout its history, California has been seen as a place of great racial and ethnic diversity, a place that people would relocate to so that they may start over, or strike it rich, or better their health and their overall well-being. California during the twentieth century was not much different; the population grew at an extremely rapid pace, natural resources became scarce, and tensions between different classes and races began to become stronger and more intense. Government induced racial tensions along with the movement through the Progressive Era and various types of immigrant, social, and racial reforms along with the Civil Rights Movement have all culminated to create the diverse and still at some times tense racial make-up for which California is known; California is made up of a variety of people, for the purposes of this paper, the discussion will focus on Mexican-Americans, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Anglo-Americans all living in California throughout the twentieth century. Discrimination is not always based on a person’s racial make-up, factors such as gender, economic status, class and other social concerns as well as race play an important role in the discrimination of different groups of people. What this paper will argue is that the discussion of discrimination cannot be debated unless all of these factors are present when concerning the history of California and the

For many years now the people in power or “whites” have passed laws so that other racial groups are kept at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These racial group that are kept at the bottom become racialized and oppressed therefore they become unequal to the people that are at the top of this hierarchy. The racial groups that are kept at the bottom vary from the Native-Americans to the Mexican-Americans and obviously the African-Americans. In this essay I will be comparing how the racialization process has been similar and different between these racial groups. I will also define race and racialization. Furthermore, I will explain how class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship has impacted the racialization process within these groups.

The Kaiser Aluminum plant in Louisiana was discriminating race, of course towards African Americans. This is evident by the fact that 40% of the local workforce was African American, but in Kaiser’s plant only 4% were black and even though the number of African Americans working for Kaiser was low, they were working in jobs that didn’t pay as well as the other jobs in Kaiser’s plants.

As many minorities seek to attain wealth and status in America they are strained to leave any cultural or traditional ways behind closed doors when they enter into the workplace. Many do this to avoid being excluded, and as an attempt to become more equal to other fellow work colleagues, also many feel that white "supremacy" still exists- even in a subtle way. Nonetheless, once one accomplishes such a difficult task, the obstacle of earning a substantial income to maintain a decent standard of living is still a grueling task. According to Professor Harris, a teacher of political science at San Jose State University, approximately 60% of jobs in America are obtained through personal relationships and associations. This notion demonstrates that because many non-minority groups own businesses, and they tend to hire relatives and the like -many minorities are often excluded from attaining the "better" position within a company, and because many minority families we not able to leave a legacy for their family members to carry on, many minorities often miss out on opportunities to also be able to create a legacy that can continue to thrive- and the cycle continues.

In the post-Civil War era multiple minority groups like Chinese immigrants, African Americans and Mexican immigrants endured discrimination that limited their opportunities. However, minority groups took different forms of action and resisted such obstructions. Chinese immigrants refused to register with the federal government as a response to the Geary Act and to avoid deportation. African Americans opposed the violence and segregation in the South by migrating north through the Great Migration. Additionally, Mexican immigrants resisted oppressive immigration measures and settled in the United States. This essay will analyze how these minority groups proceeded to resist the barriers that were implemented due to institutional and individual racism.