Racial Bias In America

Economic benefits are at the center of white privilege. Dating back to slavery, the majority of labor was provided by African Americans from which both the North and the South benefited and is one of the founding source of economy. Yet, African Americans and other minorities still struggle to get their slice of the American pie. Poor and working class whites strongly object to the idea of white privilege, stating or pointing out what they consider the obvious, that not every white person has wealth and power. Other benefits enjoyed by white people, including one which W. E. B. DuBois called the "psychological wages of whiteness." (Williams, 2004) This refers to that age old membership in the privileged group, even for whites on the bottom rung, confers a social status and recognition which is denied to all but the most powerful members of oppressed groups. The history of racial oppression in American is not disputed. However, what is disputed is whether and to what extent, four hundred years of oppression continues to harm African Americans and other minorities and their life chances unjustly. Looking at the way benefits and damages are allocated in the U.S., for example wealth, income, equality of our court system, treatment from the police, access to colleges and universities we see white privilege. As a group, white people have more income, wealth, political representation, status, power, and social reinforces of their human dignity and self respect than any group in

Discrimination has afflicted the American society since its inception in 1776. The inferiority of the African American race – a notion embedded within the mindset of the white populace has difficult to eradicate – despite the efforts of civil rights activists and lawmakers alike. Many individuals are of the opinion that discrimination and racism no longer exist and that these issues have long since been resolved during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However such is not the case. Discrimination is a complex issue – one that encompasses many aspects of society. The impact of discrimination of the African American race is addressed from two diverse perspectives in the essays: “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King .

In the new proactive book, The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness, Michelle Alexander dives into the not so complicated racial issues that plague this country that we tend to ignore. In all of history, African Americans have had to constantly fight for their freedoms and the right to be considered a human being in this society. It’s very troubling looking back and seeing where we have failed people in this country. At the turn of the century, when people began to think that we had left our old ways behind, this book reminds us that we are wrong. Racism is still alive today in every way, just in different forms.

In America, people used to deal with racism daily in The Jim Crow South, the era of ‘Separate but equal.’ In the South, many people of African-American descent experienced racism seen never before. Since the 1960’s, Americans have tried, and tried again to fight for the rights of people, but it never seems like enough. People have long debated, and are still debating, about the issue of Jim Crow, and whether it still lives on today. The effects of The Jim Crow South today still negatively affecting African-Americans today in the south.

White people have a 65% higher per capita income than African Americans. This is why we must look at the causes of this racial bias and the effects. We cannot ignore the obvious disadvantages minorities face in America. When examining the ways that systemic racial bias affects the lives of Americans, it is important to first define what systemic racial bias actually is. For the purposes of this research paper, it is the tendency of racism to exist in a specified process. Throughout the past centuries, the presence of this bias changed significantly but not disappeared. In an age of media at every turn, the can influence so much and be so powerful. Unfortunately, one of the most apparent outlets of systemic racial bias is this proclaimed media, which tends to reflect and produce social perceptions of Americans and results in impacts on all Americans.

Inequality in today's america towards people of color is the result of a history of slavery in segregation in the united states. Michelle Alexander, a highly acclaimed civil rights lawyer and author of the book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” talks about racial hostility in

The United States of America has become a police state. Racism, in America, is not dead, but rather revived and practiced through the criminal justice system; blacks were the main targets of police brutality and patrols. The prison system has been manipulated to put people of color in jail, more than whites. Hispanics, now, are also becoming targets of the American policing system. How can America change its policing strategies to being more just and fair? The United States should stop making racially biased legislation and patrol all neighborhoods equally. The legal system should implement punishments that do not create more criminals, but rather help rehabilitate those who are deemed criminals.

“Oppression, you seek population control, Oppression, to divide and conquer is your goal, Oppression, I swear hatred is your home, Oppression, you mean me only harm.” (Harper). Oppression is a serious issue in our society today. Although it may be less serious than the past it is still a matter of importance, having to deal with sexism, religion and most importantly racial issues. Throughout the decades we have seen various ethnicities deal with racial oppressions. Many of the problems of the past still exist, and they may push the victims of the oppression beyond the emotional point of no return. A Hispanic male such as myself, can be the victim of several types of oppressions, including racial oppression.

As Anita Hill once stated, “We have a history of gender and racial bias in our court that continues to undermine the system. Excluding individuals based on race is antagonistic to the pursuit of justice.” RACISM- Another word for ignorance; another way of saying nature should have had only one type of flower or one species of animal. Racism is like looking at a box of crayons and not seeing all the colors. Racism is another word for fear- fear of the unknown. For many of us, those of diverse races and creeds are the great unknown. The simple question that begs asking is: why? What role does race truly play in the criminal justice system and is the system truly as colorblind as many individuals believe it to be? With this country’s shameful history of slavery, the Jim Crow Laws, and numerous other racially biased injustices, it seems likely race does, play a role in the countless facets in the United States (U.S) criminal justice system. Our system is clearly, not, color blind. Although a handful of naïve people remain oblivious to the racism ubiquitously occurring, negative attitudes toward people of color are, even now, prevalent in our courts. Not only is racism found in the corners of our streets, but also, it is found where we work, in schools our children attend, and, most significantly, in our justice system. It is about time for people to start examining the causes and begin looking for resolutions to this severe predicament. We – As America, have the ability to

“Racism still occupies the throne of our nation,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. pronounced just before his assassination. Almost fifty years later, we are still faced with the same unchanged threat that makes the words of Dr. King true. As individuals, communities, and a proud nation we have made an everlasting fingerprint for the children of our future, yet we lack the strength of acknowledgment to alter the course of racial discrimination and conquer prejudice. Has the formation of structural discrimination rooted itself too deeply into our subconscious that hope for rehabilitation seems unattainable? As a nation, we voted a man with a white mother from Kansas and a black father from Kenya as the first multiracial President of the United States. Racism has not been eradicated because of the racial background of President Barrack Obama and we have not accomplished victory because of his African decent because prejudice has been too deeply fixed within our society. Social circumstance and the insinuation of race continue to change over time, precisely because race has become a social construct that serves political ends. The prior and present leaders of our nation organize, generate, and endorse the laws and public policy that ensure racism continues to maintain itself against people of color. Our historically racist foundation, the rising effects of structural discrimination, and the view of modernized racism all actively participate in shaping our structural

In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Alexander explains how racism in the U.S. has been “redesigned” in order to be written off as nearly nonexistent (Alexander, 2). Alexander goes on to

Although we seem to see a new news story every day concerning racial bias and blatant racism, it is not a new issue. “We have been engaging in this conversation for as long as I can remember. Fighting this fight for centuries. Caught in a cycle of bias for as long as they can remember.” (Nichols) I believe all the adversity we are facing as a country today can be attributed to the attitudes of the early American settlers who laid the basis for our bias as a country. In fact, historians date racism in America as far back as the 1500’s with the beginning of the Middle Passage and our first look into racially profiling individuals for slavery.

ATTENTION: How is justice presented in our society? No one likes to be treated unjustly. No matter what your race may be or what gender you are; everyone should be treated fairly. For the world to have a moral society, people have to see each other without a sense of bias. When people base their opinions on one aspect of a person, they begin to judge them and look down on them. Justice can be apprehended when everyone is seen as equal and human, no matter what race or gender. The concept of stereotyping places a false impression on a group of people and makes others see them differently than who they are. If people would push back the assumptions that all people who have the same beliefs or ideas are exactly alike, everyone would be viewed

Over the winter, my dad wanted to visit some family members in Canada so my whole family decided to go together as a little vacation. At first, as we were going through the security checkpoint, we were laughing and messing around in Farsi, but all of a sudden we were stopped by a few security guards. They asked my father to step to the side so that they could do a random screening and my dad, although he gave no reason to be considered suspicious, agreed. However, this “random screening” began with the guards asking my dad where he was born, how long he’s lived in the United States, and what were his religious affiliations all the while looking at him as if they already knew he was dangerous without even allowing him to prove them wrong. As I was watching their exchange, I realized that society does not truly accept Middle Eastern people and their culture. Ever since the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, racial bias has become more prominent against Arabs and Muslims and as a born American citizen with a Middle Eastern heritage, this bias is very clear to me, especially since I do not appear to be from a country in the Middle East. When I am alone with my friends, I am treated as an everyday American, not even given a second glance. However, when I am with my dad or any of my aunts and uncles, we are constantly given wary looks, as if we might be hiding something. This brings me to my main question, What can be done in order to make society more accepting of people

Racial bias is still a very active issue in society today. This paper explores the understanding of racial bias in business hiring. This is critical because racial bias continually uniforms businesses in hiring decisions. The prevalence of racial bias in business hiring, potential interventions, and explanations of why this occurs will be explored. How prevalent is racial bias in business hiring today and how can it be mediated?