Race: Ethnicities In The United States

I would like to focus my response to the reading in Gabbidon & Greene, Chapter 1, generally around the idea of social construction. Furthermore, I would like to specially provide responses to discussion questions number one and two as posed in the conclusion of chapter one. Discussion question number one asks to “Explain the origin of race and its implications for race and crime.” Discussion question number two asks “Do you believe there are distinct races?” I will also provide perspective on issues surrounding the term “minorities”.

Introduction: Race has always been a major topic in American history, and it continues to be today. People are constantly fighting about race, but why? Why and how did race become such a big part of the United States of America’s political, economic, and social culture? And why is does it cause so much sectional division within the United States? Race has been such a controversial and major topic that, in order to end racial problems, a war had to be fought, court cases had to be won, and laws had to be passed banning it. The topic can be traced back to beginning of America’s history as the colonies, and can be followed through past the Civil War.

The beginning of the idea of race lies in the long and complicated history of the United States and Western Europe. The people, the government, the cultures, the religions, the values and the different ideologies from different regions are the notions that have shaped the American understanding about race.

All men are created equal yet the glaring disparities between races and ethnicities say otherwise. The African American demographic of America has the lowest poverty rate and household income than all other races and ethnicities. The statistics about African American poverty are staggering in regards to more than just unemployment, food insecurity, and nutrition. In the 21st century, decades after the civil war and desegregation, and with such a diverse population, the poverty in our country still pertains to race and the color of our skin. The following paragraphs will explicate the various distinctions in socioeconomic statuses of the African American and white populations of America. It is not my intention to pit the white and black

Race relations in the United States have never been perfect, and with the inauguration of the country’s first black president, most people believed that race relations would improve. Then came Ferguson. Then came Baltimore. Then came the murder of more than 350 unarmed blacks by police officers in 2015. 35% of Americans are “worried a great deal” about racial relations in the United States―double what it was in 2014 (Norman). Since information and breaking news is so easy to share with people in this age, news of these killings spread much faster. These problems have been around forever, but the issue has never been broadcasted on the scale it is now. US citizens, and blacks, in particular, are upset with the current criminal justice system;

What is race? People are so used to the idea that it is something that is real, and exists in the world, but, in fact, race is a social construction that separates people by the color of their skin. Nowadays, some believe that with Barack Obama's election , the segregation by race is gone, and the United States became a «post-racial» society. African Americans are judged by the same laws as anyone else. The Declaration of Independence and 14th Amendment ensure that everyone is equal and the most basic rights concern all, so United States can be seen as a country without any type of segregation. However, there are still a lot of racial issues in every aspect of people's lives such as housing, economy, voting patterns or education. In 2008, Barack Obama gave a speech about the idea of «post-racial» America being unrealistic, «for race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society» ( 'Barack Obama election victory speech', 2008) . Nine years past, racial issue is still present and relevant in American society: current president Donald Trump was criticized by the United Nations for the failure to «reject and condemn the racist violent events and demonstrations» after the shooting in Charlottesville where a white nationalist opened fire on anti-racism protesters. Therefore, saying that people are in the new era of post-racial America, which implies that race has no significance in the country, would definitely be an exaggeration.

“Differentiated races are fixed either by nature or God. You cannot escape your racial classification (Weidman, 2006).” This is the fifth basic belief of ideology and instantly establishes a basis on why race has survived in the twentieth century. There will always be scientists, philosophers, doctors and historians examining the origins and the continuation of race. By examining their research we are able understand this color line and how it has impacted the twentieth century.

From the beginning of time , race has seem to be a topic of discussion. There has always been reoccurrences in history about race problems and skin tone issues. Many thought the Civil Rights era would bring a end to race issues in America but that was just a pseudo. By reading , Dreams from my Father , one can get the sense of the struggle for identity and finding a place of belonging. The United States can not escape the historical legacy that it has built over the years when dealing with race. Obama’s famous quote in the book proclaims , “My identity might begin with the fact of my race, but it didn’t, couldn’t, end there (Obama 111). This famous quote signifies Obama need to know more about him; he is proclaiming that although race and ethnicity is just a slight image of who you are , there are many externalities that influence ones identity and how they are formed as a person. Race is something that might always be apart of your identity , but just knowing your race isn’t critically thinking deep enough . One must search deep into their roots in order to understand their true indeitiy and where they belong in this tangled world. During this book, Obama searched sin Kenya for faith, hope , and inspiration through his African ancestry.

Built by immigrants across the globe, the United States has flourished tremendously for the past 100 years. But what we tend to overlook are the millions of unheard voices deep in the plains, those of the non-immigrants, the Native Americans. Rich in their culture and heritage, the Native Americans built a system, and co-existed with the environment, in which they hunted and gathered, and shared amongst one another. Their reign was long, and their territory plenty, but this would only last until the early 1490’s when Christopher Columbus would reached the Americas and instill a change and fear that would offset the balance for centuries. With weapons that surpassed that of the indians, they were soon overpowered, leading to years of oppression and division of the races.

Historically, America has been a nation that participates in discriminatory practices based on perceived race. European Americans have always considered themselves as a privilege group, therefore excluded from the discriminatory practice against other minorities. Mexicans, Filipinos, Blacks (African Americans) and Native Americans, were excluded from first class citizenship, and were and still are in some cases America’s victims of separatism. Americans of European descent fought to keep their status quo though eugenics, racial discrimination and unfair laws and practices. Therefore, many obstacles were put in place to disenfranchised minorities through strategically bigoted activities and politically orchestrated legislation. Some of these things included inequality in economics, living conditions, immigration repression, and demeaning treatment supported by white European Americans. All of these practices simply because of external features, or known background regardless of personal appearance.

Race is a sociopolitical construct “created and reinforced by social institutional norms and practices, as well as individual attitudes and behavior” (Castañeda & Zúñiga, 2013, p. 58), and unfortunately, race does matter in society (Williams, 2013). Historically, the sociopolitical construct of race was created by the early white settlers of the future United States of America in order to justify their dominance over people defined as racially different, and these racially different people were deemed as inferior (Castañeda & Zúñiga, 2013). Hence, racism is a set of principles and practices established to create advantages for white people, and the introduction of the sociopolitical construct of race in early American society created a systematic

States should try to copy what this within has been doing for the past 200 years. Having mixed races is good for the country because Ohio can teach other states to stop being prejudice to mixed people. This town can change history because in America, racism levels have not gone down since the 1990’s they have actually gone a quite a bit. Even when Abraham Lincoln removed enslaving people did not like to make mixed races in their family, but the Keiser’s and that is what makes their family amazing. If this town can have an effect on the country, there will be no need for there to be any kind of act of racism because all the races can mix and then no one can say anything hurtful or racist to the other. It is amazing that this town was able to

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

Even though these three people are from a different ethnicity they believe that an America and any person from a different ethnicity who lives in this country have the same rights and opportunities. Person one who is from Cambodia said, “In this country, I have the freedom to express myself”. Also, they stayed that their ethnicity does not affect their lives. They feel very good at what they are and their origin. Moreover, they said that this country is a multicultural society. There are people from different countries with different traditions, religions, and ideas around the U.S. The three interviewees have friends from different ethnicities. Person two said, “When I was living in the Los Angeles, I met people from Germany, el Salvador, and

Race and ethnicity are commonly used as synonyms for each other as we encounter many diverse individuals throughout the world. Sociologist on the other hand, find very distinct understandings to how these terms, while different, hold correlation to one another. Max Weber, a founding figure of sociology, was one of the first to define race and ethnicity. He stood with the idea of essentialism which presumes "that and individual 's identity depends on fundamental and innate characteristics that are deep-seated, inherited, and unchangeable." (Pearson, pg 241) As for ethnicity, Weber described it as subjective belief in relations to a groups common descent. While sociologist today may disagree with Weber 's theory, they do apply this idea of subjectivity and have correlated it to that of not only group definitions but of our own perceptions of biological similarity.