Racial Inequality

An achievement gap between White students and students of color has been documented consistently at all education levels. Racial inequality in education is a serious problem in the United States. The Educational Longitudinal Study carried out in 2002 examined the relationship between race and composite reading and math scores among Black and White students. A total of 8,315 tenth grade students were included in this analysis. The results showed a difference in test scores between Black and White students with Whites scoring higher than Blacks (Rowely & Wright, 2011).The findings from this study suggest that discrimination based on race as well as family factors outside the school setting contribute to this difference

Racial equality has been a major problem for hundreds of years. From the first slaves until today, African Americans have been through every stage of racial discrimination. This includes being treated like animals to being shot dead in the street because of the color of their skin. Although slavery was abolished in America in 1865, blacks and whites were and are still not equal until this day.

There are approximately 7 billion people in this world. Each person has a unique combination of traits such as skin tone, face shape, body type, eye color, hair color, and other characteristics. These traits vary due to genetics, environmental factors, and much more. An individual 's race is defined by their physical characteristics and how they differ among others. Race is not defined by the way an individual behaves or portrays themselfes; it is based strictly off of their physical traits. Since America was founded, race has played a significant role in the relations of the citizens in this country. For decades, different races have been stereotyped and been prejudice towards one another, without realizing how invalid their judgements are. Specifically, African Americans have been discriminated by caucasians in America since it’s founding. It began by the enslaving of African Americans, and today, the discrimination and inequality is more hidden in society. Although America has made significant progress in overcoming racial inequality in the country, many African Americans are still being subject to hardships that Caucasian Americans do not face, especially in regards to the justice system.

Since America’s beginning, race based barriers have mired the fulfillment of our shared principles and many of these barriers still persist today. The institutionalized inequalities are detrimental on an individual basis as well a societal basis. Racism does not only affect the individuals that are being oppressed but also how society functions as a whole. Racial inequalities have manifested in American society in ways that underlies a wide range of societal domains such as housing patterns, educational opportunities, healthcare inequality, and incarceration rates. Current events and experiences demonstrate moreover that racial inequality is still adamant in the American culture. Long after slavery, the Jim Crow Era, and the civil rights movement, racial inequality has taken distinctive forms which affect many people within a racially oppressed group. Racial segregation at large is embedded within a structural matrix that not only permeates in the American culture but in our private and public institutions. Disparities in the criminal justice system and housing patterns remain a key barrier to racial equality in America. In order to eradicate racial inequality, there needs to be policy solutions that place fundamental changes to a system with profound historical origins, one that structurally disadvantages minority groups.

Johnson, H. B. (2014). The American dream and the power of wealth: Choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity. Routledge.

The barriers that separate men have existed for centuries. Race, class, status, these are all ideas that have created a divide among humans. This divide creates competition and tension. Throughout the history of the legal system, justice has been used to validate slavery and other forms of racial inequality. Our system now has changed, but the basic concept has remained the same. According to one study, the judicial system was invented by whites to protect whites and keep people of color at bay (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2017, p1). This idea of preserving a one superior racial system resulted in a bias still existent today.

What is racial inequality? Racial inequality is discrepancies in the opportunities and treatment of people based solely on their race. Racial inequality is a serious issue that is often discussed in the American criminal justice system. Although racial discrimination is present in the criminal justice system, some people use the words inequality, discrimination, racism, and profiling loosely and do not understand how truly complex it is to prove that there actually is racial inequality present in the criminal justice system. Daniel P Mears, Joshua C. Cochran, and Andrea M. Lindsey article Offending and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Criminal Justice: A Conceptual Framework for Guiding Theory and Research and Informing Policy illustrates

In the United States, African American faced prejudice for hundreds of years. Even now, African American are still facing inequality. However, though these cruelties persist, according to Martin Luther King Jr. and Elie Wiesel, the past should not be forgotten.

Social inequality is a recurring problem throughout, not only the country, but the world. There are all kinds of inequalities throughout the world, and without any person or thing creating awarenesses this will induce more pandemonium. With that being said, in order to terminate racial inequality, people that are capable of bringing awareness to it need to start producing familiarity locally because it will suddenly erupt onto a more global impact. When analyzing how starting to bring awareness to social inequities and raise awareness at a local level can turn global and change the world, one who explores the specifics of racial discrimination can aware others about the dangers and results of this certain inequality. Politics, professional athletes protesting, and media discrimination are ways people have been making local awareness a global reality. In the end, with more and more awareness, more and more people will help end inequalities throughout the world.

The research into racial inequality has mostly focused on the disadvantages experienced by the oppressed group. As the field continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to examine the privileges experienced by Whites (Bonilla-Silva, 2006). But to effectively examine this, the White individual must accept the fact that White privilege and racism still very much exist in the United States and how it affects all aspects of our culture and institutions.

Racial Inequality is a subject that can be exposed easily yet the following journalists exposed the truth behind this reality such as racism/segregation, poverty and racial injustice. The following journalists attempted to bring about change in legislation so that something could be done about racial inequality.

This article speaks on several different aspects of race and ethnicity. It touches on the subject of

The Declaration of Independence states that all men are created equal, but many Americans say otherwise. Racial inequality is the discrimination against a certain group of people. The reasons can range from the color of a person to the religion they believe in. For the past years, racial inequality has been built into the lives of people. In the United States, the “American Dream” of freedom has been shattered by racial equality because of police brutality against Americans and the targeting of the Islamic faith.

Lately in the news there has been an uprising of racial tragic events. From globally seeing ISIS attack different countries and in America the sensitivity of racial inequality amongst Black Lives Matter. Recently this past month we have witnessed the saddening news of racial inequality in America. With Sterling and Castile, the two black men who were shot and killed by white police officers in separate scenes. Where their deaths sparked protests across the nation pressuring for America to have police reform(Nelson, USA Today, 2016). Or a black gunman who targeted white police officers during a Dallas protest. There has been an arising uproar in America for racial change and equality. This past Sunday on July 10 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana three officers were killed by Gavin Long.

Racial inequality is quite a hot topic in our society. Not everyone sees eye to eye, but racism is embedded into our very way of life. “Racism is the belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics” (ADL, 2017). Race wasn’t developed for the way people use to in modern society. Scientists used race to classify the differences between each type of group of individuals. Science played a crucial role in the development of racism. Whether people want to believe it or not, every person has either witnessed a form of racism or has been a victim. Most people don’t intentionally commit these actions, but the society that we live in indirectly degrades certain types of people, while the opposite race benefit. While there are many aspects that racial inequality affect, I believe that education is one of the biggest problems. Along with that, I believe there are major problems in the employment and income area that needs to be addressed. Health and residential segregation are also factors that play a role in racial inequality. On the bright side, we as a community of diverse and very unique people have made some strides in the name of equality for all. However, we have a long road ahead if we want to call the United States of America a land that is truly free.