Race Matters: Social Injustice Affecting African Americans

America is a nation “from many, one” as stated in our country’s original motto. We pride ourselves on the granted equal opportunity and freedom afforded to each citizen. But are these premises held true and adequately carried out? My answer is a resounding no! Our country’s intricate history provides us with the foundation that explains why and how discrimination has infiltrated and given the upper hand to the white race that has dominated the American society, while suppressing races of color. Dating back to the discovery of the new world we know as the contemporary United States, the African American race has been segregated and mistreated as exemplified through

Race, racism, and the American legal system grew up together. Racism and racially exclusive practices in elite law schools have more politically significant consequences than racism in public accommodations like restaurants. The construction of race and racist hierarchy was used as a political tool by white elites to justify the exploitation of human beings and land, while simultaneously asserting the rhetorical principles of freedom, democracy, and equality under the law. When the Constitution was written 40% of the 55 delegates were white men that were slave owners. Those that weren’t, profited from the slave driven economy. In the preamble “We the People”, whites were only people. The United States has only been a free county for the past four decades. Over the course of U.S. history, whites as a group have been unjustly enriched by an economic, political, and legal system of their own crafting. Today, African Americans and other Americans of color are racialized “others” and are not fully included in “We the People.” Until the late twentieth century, African Americans and other Americans of color had virtually no role (apart from a brief Reconstruction era) in making significant state and federal laws. Out of the 110 Justices that served on the Supreme Court, only two were Black. Recent studies have shown that only 2% of important legal officials in major state and federal courts are black. Whites in state and federal governments, have shaped and controlled the major

The issue of race has always had a distinct influence throughout human history. The United States is no exception to the complexities surrounding race and social understanding and it has its own unique history of racial inequity, discrimination and other heinous atrocities. While the civil rights era helped defeat a lot of the most visible forms of racial impediments. The seemingly invisible forms of racial discrimination, like institutional racism is still a major problem in society. “Unlike in the pre–civil rights era, when racial prejudice and discrimination were overt and widespread, today discrimination is less readily identifiable, posing problems for social scientific conceptualization and measurement”. (Pager, 2008)

Race — as a social construct, a pseudo-biological concept, and an identifying demographic — has undeniably been ubiquitous in the history of human otherness. In particular, the ascribing of racial identities to a group, or “racialization”, has played a vital role in the conception and development of minority groups. This phenomenon continues to shape ideas about race and ethnicity, albeit in less dramatic ways than in the antebellum South. Nevertheless, people blinded by privilege claim that they are “colorblind” or that society has moved into a “post-racial” paradigm. It is, therefore, especially relevant to examine processes of racialization that have defined and maintained the social concept of race throughout history. A prominent historical instance of racialization that influenced modern-day race identity is the objectification and commoditization of black people in Southern slave markets of the antebellum era. As a consequence of the chattel principle, which defined a slave’s existence as property of a slaveholder, Black Americans’ identities were permanently altered by those who used their positions of power to subjugate and dehumanize them, either deliberately or tacitly. Specifically through association between race and physical or mental ability, and false medicalization of issues in slave populations, slave traders, slaveholders, and others who endorsed chattel slavery perpetuated the racialization of black slaves.

As slavery was abolished in 1865 the problems still continued, laws were not enforced enough, and society started to create their own laws, and organizations such as the Black Codes, the Jim Crow Laws, and the Ku Klux Klan, which segregated and made every single person who was not white feel like an underdog, African Americans were segregated and blamed for many crimes, public lynchings to which people brought their children, and family to watch, the line of human decency was far gone, being black always meant danger, “I 'm black, I don’t have to do anything for ‘em to get me. The first white finger they point at me, I’m a goner...They own everything. They choke you off the face of the earth… They kill you before you die” (Wright, 325). No doubt things have changed since the late 1800’s, the involvement of African Americans in the everyday life of America makes them feel represented, from President Truman’s decision to integrate any person of color in the military in 1948, to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960’s, but there is still so much hatred towards black people, and so much injustice, the United States claims to have a Justice that is blind, yet a study in CNN shows that Black men are more likely to be wrongly convicted, once again a failed system, where problems like racism are scarcely addressed because of fear

African Americans for years have a long history of being treated unfairly and disgracefully by the people who founded this Country. The White Americans that live in the United States have always denied freedom and equality towards African Americans because of society treating them as slaves and property in the early years of the Country’s origin. From being slaves and treated as property, to being terrorized and lynched by the KKK, African Americans emerged with an organization to end all of any forms of violence, unfairness, and discrimination towards them. The Historical actions and people in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored people has achieved the objective to ensure the political, educational, social and economic

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” (“Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes”). In perhaps, one of the most famous speeches of humanity, Martin Luther King, Jr’s. “I Have A Dream” speech had one main point; that all deserve to be equal. Unfortunately, King’s dream hasn’t been reached yet, and African-Americans are still discriminated against and judged unfairly. According to the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, racial discrimination is the act of treating someone differently or unfairly because of race (“Race/Color Discrimination”). Martin Luther King Jr. believed that all people should be treated the same regardless of ethnicity. Therefore, American society should care about racial discrimination because the rate of African-Americans in jail is much higher than whites, innocent African-Americans have been killed by police without reason, and African-Americans are often profiled by the police.

The classification and demoralization of races has been the cause of serious tension for centuries. Some Americans choose to stay ignorant to the injustice occurring around them while others take those issues and blow them way out of proportion. In a world that will always classify people by their race, a common ground needs to be found between the two extremes so that Americans may be able to live together comfortably. Throughout American history many minority groups have felt the wrath and harshness of racism but one group has dealt with the longest lasting and most severe form- the African Americans. Racism in past and present America has aided in the creation of a culture that is filled with

Racial inequality is regrettably imbedded in the history of the United States. Americans like to think of the American colonies as the start or founding of the quest for freedom, initially, the ending of religious oppression and later political and economic liberty. Yet, from the start, the fabric of American society was equally founded on brutal forms of supremacy, inequality and oppression which involved the absolute denial of freedom for slaves. This is one of the great paradoxes of American history – how could the ideals of equality and freedom coexist with slavery? We live with the ramifications of that paradox even today and effects how all Americans live and thrive in the United States.

America has, in modern times, come to be considered a shining beacon of Western democracy, a pillar of human rights justice, and a global model for a constitution-based government. The American government itself created this stellar image, and has completely bought into the notion of its supremacy in matters pertaining to democracy and human rights protection, as evinced by the self-applauding rhetoric of politicians and the media, accompanied by the vehement defamation of the governments of other nations. American citizens themselves, seem to subscribe to these sentiments, believing their beloved country to be “the land of the free, and the home of the brave”. This characterization of American society is, at best, only applicable to its recent history, given its sordid past of slavery, Jim Crow, xenophobic policies, and mass marginalization of minorities, all completely antithetical to the notions of freedom and bravery. At worst, this depiction is a grossly romanticized version of even its modern-day activities, given the problems of mass incarceration, residential segregation and police brutality against minorities. A salient theme among a distressingly significant number of America’s problem is the issue of race. Systemic biases against specific races seem to feature prevalently in problematic public policy. The African-American population, particularly, always seem to be on the receiving end of the brunt of policies with racial elements. Among the plethora of policies

We are in a generation where individuals have experienced and remember when racism and discrimination was an immense element that held people back in society. Race has always been a social construction in the United States, created in the minds of Americans and manifested through interactions but yet remains as a false determination of a human being. When we think back to earlier times many immigrants came over because of the “American Dream,” an idea that every citizen can have equal opportunities to achieve and live successful lives. The United States was the lighthouse of opportunities for a pursuit of freedoms, financial security, education, and jobs. Even to this day we are told we can be anything our heart desires with an appropriate education and a strong work ethic to match it. Yet there is a different outlook for African Americans depicted by the saying: “As a black person in white America, you’ve got to work twice as hard to get half as far” (DeSante 342).

My maternal grandfather immigrated to the US from India in 1971 in search of more opportunities and a better life for him and his growing family. He chose to start his new life in the booming automobile capital of Detroit. He had hoped settling in Detroit coupled with his engineering degree would bring a job. He did not foresee the racism and discrimination he would face in the US nor the struggle he would face to get equal treatment.

Social injustices against African American women in the workplace is a very important topic that needs to be expressed and taken seriously because even though society says women are equal today they are not. Black women were paid 63% of what non- Hispanic men were paid in 2016. Along with pay gap, African American women also face prejudicial discrimination. African American women encounter prejudicial racial attitudes and other noxious stimuli during everyday workplace interactions with Caucasians. In a study done in Arkansas, “77% of the nurses’ aides reported a high level of discriminatory language and behavior on the part of both management and patients” Compared to employed men, employed women are more likely to work in support positions

As was demonstrated in the episode “Hope” from the TV show Blackish, race is very much still relevant today as it was 50 years ago. As the family sat around the living room, the evening news brought up a court case in which a white officer accused of using excessive force against a black suspect was declared to have been acting within his authority and was not to be punished. One of them mistakes the case for another because they were similar cases in regards of a white office using excessive force on a black suspect. Afterwards, they kept bringing up

The history of America has been shaped powerfully over the years by racial inequality and race. Most Americans believe that the freedom fighters in establishing of their country were motivated by their thirst for religious liberty, freedom, economic and political independence. However, it was established in terms of oppression, inequality, and domination, leading to the slaves’ denial of freedom. Therefore, this makes it to be the greatest inconsistency in the country’s history. It’s impossible for the country to put into action the idea of freedom and equality into action since we still experience these inconsistencies even today. This brings out the concept of racism in America today. Racism is the people’s perception of people from a particular race or class. Racial prejudice tends to illuminate the people’s attitude towards this particular race of people while racial discrimination is putting these ideas into action that are developed as a result of prejudice (Blee and Burke 2-8).