Omi And Winant Racial Identity Analysis

“We use the term racial formation to refer to the process by which social, economic and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories, and by which they are in turn shaped by racial meanings.” (Omi and Winant 14) Through observing certain events in the economy, politics, and society, we can understand the unwanted ascribing of racial identities to the minorities that led to their unfair treatment and discrimination. The underlying factors that led to this utilization of racial formation were a scarcity of jobs, political policies to maintain power, and racial division through class differences.

Therefore, I’m going to justify this information I have acquainted you with.First thing, you need to know is that I’m not against anyone I’m neither racist or bias.I was born in a city of diversity which is called New York City. However, the things I’m about to tell you may be uncomfortable or maybe even interesting.Digging deep into America’s seventeen trillion dollar economy and you’ll find fractures beneath the surface.The spoils are split unevenly between men and women, old and young. But, one of the most massive disparities is only skin deep.Everything you own houses, stocks, and cars are your wealth. According to “Blacks still far behind whites in wealth and income” by Tanzina Vega, In 2011 the wealth of the median white household was over $110,000. African American on average was 17 times less just over $6,314.” Housing has a lot to do with this massive separation.For the average American, their home is the most valuable

Racial Formation in the United States by Michael Omi and Howard Winant made me readjust my understanding of race by definition and consider it as a new phenomenon. Through, Omi and Winant fulfilled their purpose of providing an account of how concepts of race are created and transformed, how they become the focus of political conflict, and how they shape and permeate both identities and institutions. I always considered race to be physical characteristic by the complexion of ones’ skin tone and the physical attributes, such as bone structure, hair texture, and facial form. I knew race to be a segregating factor, however I never considered the meaning of race as concept or signification of identity that refers to different types of human bodies, to the perceived corporal and phenotypic makers of difference and the meanings and social practices that are ascribed to these differences, in which in turn create the oppressing dominations of racialization, racial profiling, and racism. (p.111). Again connecting themes from the previous readings, my westernized influences are in a direct correlation to how to the idea of how I see race and the template it has set for the rather automatic patterns of inequalities, marginalization, and difference. I never realized how ubiquitous and evolving race is within the United States.

Assets such as inheritance can , in essence, be used to build up more assets such as real estate. Therefore this racial wealth gap will continue to broaden until the assets of minorities begins to equalize with that of Whites.

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.

Race and gender are two facets that inherently dominate individuals everyday lives. A person’s social environment, work environment, and educational environment is congruent to their race and gender. From birth, it has been set up that everyone is assigned to a label. A pink or blue blanket is swaddled around a newborn child and a box is checked signifying that child’s place in society. These two actions ultimately define how a child is to be viewed and treated. As children grow into young adults they either decide to stick with their original assignment, while others decide to deviate from it. These individuals deviation results in many of them being viewed harshly and looked down upon because they strayed from their social norms. This constant cycle of being classified and labeled from birth is the social institution of gender and race. These social institutions aid in the inequality that is present in society, and race and gender are shaped by this. However, if these social institutions were removed, race and gender could dissipate. This is due to the fact that race and gender are not real, but are socially constructed concepts used to organize the power, or dominance, within our society to one social group over the other groups.

In Anderson and Collins’, chapter on “Why race, class, and gender still maters” encourage readers to think about the world in their framework of race, class, and gender. They argued that even though society has change and there is a wide range of diversity; race, class and gender still matters. Anderson and Collins stated, “Race, class, and gender matter because they remain the foundation for system of power and inequality that, despite our nation’s diversity, continue to be among the most significant social facts of peoples lives.” (Anderson and Collins, 2010) When I was a little girl, I never knew that people were classified in to groups such as race, class, gender. I knew there were people that had a different color of skin than

When Affirmative Action was White written by Ira Katznelson he addresses how throughout history whites and blacks had a extreme gap between them. He demonstrates conclusively that the gap of wealth between black and white americans result not simply from slavery but by benefits for white while excluding blacks over time.

The equitable wealth disproportion between African Americans and Whites is still on the rise. Researchers have identified systematic barriers affecting the ability for African Americans to accumulate wealth. In addition, researchers indicate several possible factors such as, less intergenerational inheritance, higher unemployment and lower incomes (Desilver, D, 2013). Impoverished generations have been unable to escape their restricted economic condition. Whites have gained an economic opportunity for every unfavorable condition that has impeded African Americans economic opportunity over time forging grounds for economic disparity. Because of unfavorable conditions due to the effects of slavery, generations of African Americans have had to bear racism and inequality. According to Pew Research the median household income of a family of three in 2011 was $39, 760 for African Americans in whereas White American Family median household income is $67, 175 a household income difference of $27, 000 (Morin, R

For example, African Americans often faced racism in a past society that passed laws that prevent them from living their lives. They were not able to obtain a high paying salary or a well-respected job. Obviously, they were not as wealthy as white people. Overtime, the value of what each family owns (wealth) adds up with the new generations. In the end, white people had more financial securities than those of non-whites like African Americans.

Racial discrimination is the main and ongoing problem in the social life of Americans. When we look at the gap of incomes between White and African Americans, we can see the inequality between these two groups. In general, whites have more annual earnings than their black counterparts in America. Lori Ann Campbell and Robert L. Kaufman emphasized that the wealth determinants, which are the indicators of socio-economic status, have effected more on Whites than Blacks. And even when society is organized, there is still some disparities on account of race and ethnicity. (Campbell and Kaufman, 2006). And income disparities between African and White Americans have definitely effected the peace of the social life. According to Campell and

America’s history illuminates an exploitation of racial hierarchy. From 1492 to the present moment, white elite have worked to establish and support an undisguised system of privilege on the basis of race. In her essay “Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference,” Audre Lorde describes the lions of this food chain:

There are a few reasons why home value rises a lot more for whites than African-Americans on the grounds that whites are significantly more ready to give family monetary help, bigger in advance installments by white property holders lower interest rates and loaning expenses. As anyone might expect, increments in pay are a noteworthy wellspring of riches amassing for some US families. However,income picks up for whites and African-Americans have an altogether different effect on riches. At the individual riches medians, each dollar increment in normal wage over the 25-year study period included $5.19 riches for white families, while the same salary increase just included 69 pennies of riches for African American families. Most Americans inherit next to nothing or no cash at all. in view of college a normal

Ho provides the example of the American housing market to prove that even markets that are considered “neutral” like the housing market actually favor some market participants (white men in particular) over others (people of color). She calls markets “elite white racial fraternities,” highlighting the extent to which opportunities are limited to certain groups of people (Ho 2018, 150). Ho posits that housing opportunities heavily favored white men because of “massive federal subsidies” and loans that were “offered only to white men across class backgrounds” effectively “created a majority middle-class founded in whiteness” (Ho 2018, 149). Systemic racism throughout private and public sectors have excluded certain groups from the middle-class, and now certain members of the middle-class have less social mobility. Such systemic racism is not only difficult to fix but also keeps certain groups down and propagates wealth inequality. If, for example, an African-American cannot get a loan to buy a home, he or she has a lower chance of building wealth compared to a white person who could get a loan. As Ho elucidates, “cultural norms… ensured that the “economic” principle of supply and demand in housing was in fact centrally structured by race” (149). Thus, wealth inequality is not only growing between the richest and the poorest but among white people and people of color. As wealth

History in a sum is supposed to be correlation to past events. However, seen trending to this day even some of our most popular African American figures believe that our race creates a preconception alone. Obama and Bill Cosby both pivotal African Americans believe that “African Americans, would struggle less if they exercised better judgement and assumed greater personal responsibility”(Strippling). This meaning through preconceptions about the African American race and the involvement in issues the dividing factor within minorities and majorities is pertaining to race along with wealth. This thought process by both highly credible African Americans are based upon a certain race and the individual relationship with wealth, arguing that wealth