Racial Inequality

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.

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.

As the only sociologist that has been chosen on the North American council I would like to address my main concern, which is that having one person voice the social inequalities for approximately 580 million people is not just. In my best attempt to be as fair and voice the major concerns that I feel are prevalent throughout North America, I chose racial inequality, educational inequality, and gender inequality. Before I further discuss these inequalities I would like to define social inequality to give the reader a clearer understanding, “Social inequality is the long term existence of significant differences in access to goods and services among social groups”, as quoted from our textbook.

All that would slowly start to change after Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation in 1863. Or did it? Even after the emancipation proclamation and the 13th Amendment blacks were still considered to be nothing but a slave and they did not deserve to be considered equal to whites. They were set free with nothing no money, no shelter, and most of them had no family due to being split up during the slave trading process. The whites began to start taking huge lost in the labor force and had to do something quick for the slaves were able to take full advantage of being free American citizens and possible even try and get revenge over the plantation owners.

Although African-Americans had technically been granted citizenship and voting rights when the 14th and 15th Amendments were passed in the late 1800s, they were still forced into subservient positions in society by white Americans who refused to acknowledge the former’s equal rights as citizens of the United States. They were bullied into not voting by Klansmen, forced to sit in segregated sections of restaurants and busses, and not given educational opportunities that equaled those of white students. This discrimination was especially prevalent in the deep south, where racist prejudices refused to die; the laws might have changed, but the people hadn’t.

America is known as “the land of the free”, but my question to you is, who is worthy of this privilege? For as long as I can remember, minorities in America as never received the same privilege as the so call founders of this great nation. Now America’s middle class, which consist of mainly Blacks and Hispanics are under invasion. This is what I call Racial and Ethnic Inequality. A race is defined as a person’s physical features, such as their hair, eye color, bone structure, and the icing on top of the cake a person’s skin color. Ethnic inequality is being bias, one-sided, or discriminating towards an ethnic group. For over 30 years, the fortune of the middle class black and Latinos households declined by 75 percent and 50 percent, in that exact order it was given. At the same time, white middle-class households fortune increased a bit. The middle white class had $116,800 in funds as to a disappointing $2,000 for Latinos and a stunted $1,700 for blacks. This wealth decline is unjust, not only that it is a threat to the middle-class American’s growth. I honestly must say I feel so sorry for the overall economic health. I recently came across a new report of the Institute for Policy Studies and Prosperity. The wealth gap between whites and other Ethnic groups are a big difference. In the new report of the Institute for Policy Studies and Prosperity, it shows that the white families with more wealth can buying a new home, starting their own businesses, and covering

The social construction of race changed due to the great number of immigrants coming to the U.S. Once they arrived they must identify as a certain race which is based on phenotype or ancestry. This concept is seen in the reading What is Racial Domination? by Matthew Desmond and Mustafa Emirbayer explains the effect phenotype has on an individual such as the color of their skin, eyes and also ancestry too. The social construction of race is related to the racial inequality because it determined if a person had rights or not. This idea is seen through the two supreme cases Ozawa and Thind. For the case of Ozawa for example, he used his own skin color and the idea that race should not matter but the beliefs they hold. He was denied citizenship

The adoption of the Fourteenth Amendment guaranteed all races citizenship and ‘equal protection of the laws’. This was the first civil rights act to recognize black’s inalienable rights, but inevitable led to racial discrimination in the following decades. A new rigid system of laws restricted blacks

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.

As our nation accepts a new president and the realities of politics in a post-Obama world, it is a perfect time to focus the conversation on economic progress and racism. In the past ten years, issues surrounding race and economics have contributed to America’s social classes being in direct competition with each other, while simultaneously causing America to address historical and contemporary racial inequalities that have been hidden in the past. (citation). The current political platform provides us with an opportunity to highlight racism and the economic injustices that have been place on African Americans and many other minorities. Racism is an ideology that is based on the principle that human beings can be subdivided and ranked into

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.

During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s black Americans felt the oppression of unequal civil rights. Although, 100 years prior Abraham Lincoln signed into effect the Emancipation Proclamation procuring their freedom; black Americans were hardly free. “Jim Crow” laws at the local and state levels barred them from classrooms and bathrooms, from theaters and train cars, from juries and legislature.” (Civil Rights Movement, History.ORG) Small steps were taken to secure black’s equality for a decade, but it was not until the emergence of “new, more militant movements, leaders and organizations” (History.ORG) that laws and amendments were set in place. Executive Order 9981 and Brown V. Board laid groundwork to ignite hope in change. Events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the “Little Rock Nine” and the sit-ins in North Carolina were events that jumpstarted the movement to March on Washington. Unfortunately, tragic events and the deaths of numerous sympathizers and leaders, echoed the unrest and disgust citizens felt about the inequality of black Americans. Black Americans obtained civil rights, but we must reflect on the struggles and

When we speak about race equality, we only think as far as black and white people, when it’s actually a lot more in depth than just the two. Racism is when a person or people of a certain color or origin feel as though they are better than another group of people, who are different than they are. Racism has been going on since time can date back. In this world, especially in the United States, we need race quality. According to different races, you’ll get different answers on the other races. Not all Caucasians are racist, not all African Americans are ignorant, and not all Muslims are terrorists, so on and so forth. With white law enforcements killing innocent black people, the new “Black Lives Matter” movement has started, the “white privileges”

Racism is defined as, “prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one’s own race is superior.”