Race in America - Why it still Matters One would not want to live a life if they knew their chances of reaching their goals, were almost certainly downsized or marginalized by their race. Well, sadly this is the case for Blacks in America. Blacks are often found to be, at the bottom of the American society. America is suppose to be “The land of the free, and the home of the brave,” allowing all citizens equal opportunity. However in a harsh reality it is not, but instead the land of the incapacitated, and home of the Whites. Looking back in time, America has always been a country of racial inequality that benefited Whites and demeaned any other race. Examples of racial inequality in our history consist of the American-Indian war, slavery, Jim Crow laws, and general discrimination. Thus the term “White Supremacy,” meaning Whites have dominance and are superior, came about. The feeling of Whites Supremacy is still felt in today’s society, and is one of many reason why race still matters. Even though the are many theories of why race still matters, it is important to realize 3 major reasons why that is so. In short, race matter because of the increased likelihood of minorities experiencing: poverty, racial profiling and Institutional racism. If the American dream is true, why is it that Black 's as a racial group seem incapable of achieving it? Growing up in a neighborhood that some may consider “The Ghetto” but to me is home, my family often found it hard to make ends
As a whole, minorities from all religions, races, and sexualities have reached numerous high points in life. These high points have resulted in the establishment and entitlement to minorities having the same rights as whites. However, the right of blacks as in being equal is always up for debate. Statistics show and prove that for every dollar a white household brings in, a black household only brings in 61 cents. Some people like to say that the white household is more skilled or has a higher education, however, this is not the case in most situations. These facts can be accurately traced back to the issue of discrimination against blacks. Most people agree that this type of discrimination is
In America’s history, each race has been portrayed as inferior or inferior, because of one’s skin color, or the beliefs of a culture. Oppression In early America varied in some ethnicities. Some races didn’t even have any civil liberties at all, they were not allowed to vote, not even allowed to become professionals. This was to keep everyone that was not of the superior race below them. Even though they are classified as U.S citizens. In most areas, the ruling race is the upper white class that runs the system, and have a disproportionate amount of power. In other areas, it may not be the white race, but it is still the race that makes up the majority. The majority, who makes the laws, and/or has money, are keys to dominate over the weaker minorities that don’t have the
Racial discrimination is the main and ongoing problem in the social life of Americans. When we look at the gap of incomes between White and African Americans, we can see the inequality between these two groups. In general, whites have more annual earnings than their black counterparts in America. Lori Ann Campbell and Robert L. Kaufman emphasized that the wealth determinants, which are the indicators of socio-economic status, have effected more on Whites than Blacks. And even when society is organized, there is still some disparities on account of race and ethnicity. (Campbell and Kaufman, 2006). And income disparities between African and White Americans have definitely effected the peace of the social life. According to Campell and
The truth about American society is not pretty, and the facts prove it. According to the United States census Bureau, blacks are twice as likely to be poor compared to other races, and eight times as likely to be imprisoned. Blacks are also three times more likely to be convicted of drug violations than whites. Only 75 percent of blacks have received post-high school education, compared to 85 percent of whites. Not surprisingly, blacks on average also make less money than whites. As of yet, black people have not been proven to possess any kind of genetic deficiency therefore, racially speaking, there must be something wrong with our society which makes it complicated and mostly unrealistic today for people with different ethnicities, race, or color to achieve the American Dream.
As a result of this individualistic ideology and confirmed by media, whites enjoy the comfort of not dealing with the “social burden of race.” Until whites can face the reality and openly discuss the imbalance between opportunities that whites and black have in American society, the injustice of segregated privileges will continue without any prevail.
Many white Americans are living with the fear that they didn't really deserve their success, and that maybe luck and privilege had more to do with it, than brains and hard work. There are numerous reasons for the widespread discrimination at all levels, but the main reason for the existence of discrimination is a privilege to certain groups of people, and widespread social prejudice towards certain groups of people. Differences between people have always existed, but they gain in importance only when are different importance given to certain differences, so it creates privileges. People who are privileged in one society are often not aware of their privilege. It is very easy to be oblivious to the privilege. The problem of discrimination
Johnson, H. B. (2014). The American dream and the power of wealth: Choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity. Routledge.
As it talks about racial inequality in chapter 10, the definition of racism is the belief that one race is supreme and all others are innately inferior. White people are actually at the top while the others (the minority groups) are at the bottom. Considering that the laws of the USA revolved around white men in the beginning of this country, it’s not surprising to see how little people are not aware that racism still exists. They claim that it’s the 21st century, slavery happened in the past and it should stay in the past where it belongs. No. We’re going to recognize what white people did to African Americans. We are going to see how white supremacy is ugly and not needed.
The American dream for years has been see known to be something that anybody can achieve with hard work through all obstacles. For most of Americans, especially minorities, this does not occur. The notion that working hard will get you somewhere with your merits does not face up to the statistics. But despite all these statistics, facts, and evidence, people, usually minority, aspose these talking points non-stop. Matter of fact, the average person has a little chance of mobility or stay in the same socioeconomic class. In my own personal life, I have yet to achieve the American dream. My own parents have are janitors and grew up in poverty. You can say that they themselves are clear example of the difficulty of achieving success solely on meritocracy. Now you might ask what is your definition of the American dream? For me, the American dream is about owning a home, having enough money to not struggle to buy food, clothing, and decent water for not only me but my wonderful family as
In America there are still several parts of our society that remain racially unequal including, the workforce, the wealth gap between minorities and whites, as well as incarceration rates and police behavior. The unemployment rates in America are relatively high and because of how hard it is to get a job, the employers prefer to hire someone that they feel more comfortable with, which typically aren’t minorities. The wealth gap between minorities and whites is continuing to grow as the years move on and because the wealth gap many people are starting to turn to criminalism. Because of the amount of people turning to criminalism, the incarceration rates of minorities is steadily increasing. Racial inequality in one section of our society can affect all of the other sections as well. It is a “snowball effect” of sorts. One small aspect of racial inequality can lead to another and another and so on and so forth until our whole society is unequal. Racial inequality has a negative impact on our society
In today’s world, the American still has barriers to overcome in the matter of racial equality. Whether it is being passed over for a promotion at the job or being underpaid, some people have to deal with unfair practice that would prevent someone of color or the opposite sex from having equal opportunity at the job. In 2004, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores Incorporation was a civil rights class-action suite that ruled in favor of the women who worked and did not received promotions, pay and certain job assignments. This proves that some corporations ignore the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which protects workers from discrimination based on sex, race, religion or national origin.
American society likes to believe that race relations in our country are no longer strained. We do not want to hear about the need for affirmative action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to appease our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive and well in the great U.S.A. It hides in the workplace, it subtly shows its ugly face in the media, and it affects the education of minority students nationwide. In the following excerpts from an interview with a middle class African American male, the reader will find strong evidence that race plays a major role in determining the type and quality of education a student receives.
Coupled with this information and this next quote from The Atlantic it is clear that police make a connection between African Americans and disorder. This is unreasonable because, as these statistics show, “Despite the racial disparity in stops, the Ferguson police department was more likely to find "contraband" on the white people they stopped and searched than on the black ones.” (Alexis Madrigal) In other words, blacks who are searched are less likely to be found with illegal substances compared to white people who are searched. The Ferguson police department officers are accusing African Americans without acceptable evidence. With that, we need to look at the way officers are being trained and how they react in certain scenarios and make dramatic changes to help put an end to this racist behavior. If courts let officers get away with these actions there is nothing stopping other police officers in other cities from doing the same. We know the statistics and they show a clearly biased task force and court system.
While complications of freedom, existence, “humanness,” agency, and citizenship because of race is not exclusive to African Americans, it does define a certain ideology that is present within the oppressive American system today. In many ways the “Black existential crisis” is still alive and well. Present day racism is in embedded legislature; Blacks are still disproportionately affected by laws that deprive them of the tools necessary to define their individual existence. Our nation has compounded this global issue by preserving a strict racial hierarchy: you are not American until you have assembled into the select values that we identify as American, and thus, we constantly exclude black people from this “assimilation.” America has only made superficial and prescriptive changes in racial equality, yet there are still glimmers of progress.
The American dream seems to be all people are taught while growing up, how America is the land of opportunity and if you truly want something you can get it. At some point during our childhood we all might have believed that the sky was our limit, when in reality it is far beyond our reach and wish it was that simple. For decades minorities have never been at the same pedestal as white americans, they are taught that if you want to make it in this world you need to work twice as hard to get half as far. The American dream now needs to be redefine where it takes in consideration how race can be an advantage and a disadvantage to others. Therefore making it impossible to survive. However, people choose to continue to believe that the American dream is accessible to all; when in fact there seems to be many obstacles one has to face when striving for the American dream for starters being a minority in a place where people are not as welcoming does have an impact towards reaching one’s goal. Poverty has affected education, thus making it unfair seeing one student is striving for their basic needs the other is risk free of all economical hardship, but are considered equally educated is cruel to see one’s struggles as an understatement. Now, if the American dreamer is a black man and is suffering from poverty he is more likely to fail vs. a privileged white man who knows nothing of these challenges.