Racial Segregation And The Civil Rights Era Essay

A few examples of everyday racism are un-called for discrimination and individuals feeling as though they have to constantly be on guard because they are seen as “different” to others. Structural racism is seen time and time again in places of low-income. There is less access to high quality food, transportation, and reliable jobs. The government sees these

Throughout American history, relationships between racial and ethnic groups have been marked by antagonism, inequality, and violence. In today’s complex and fast-paced society, historians, social theorists and anthropologists have been known to devote significant amounts of time examining and interrogating not only the interior climate of the institutions that shape human behavior and personalities, but also relations between race and culture. It is difficult to tolerate the notion; America has won its victory over racism. Even though many maintain America is a “color blind nation,” racism and racial conflict remain to be prevalent in the social fabric of American institutions. As a result, one may question if issues and challenges

This being despite constant growing evidence that race really does matter in the post-civil rights age, effective solutions are in short supply and as the authors talk about "mutual obligations." The authors brought up a nice analysis of American race inequality, focusing on the rise of white supremacy and the continuation of white privilege despite the removal of direct institutionalized segregation. Solving current racial problems seems nearly impossible because it requires addressing largely unseen forces of indirect institutional

of life. However, a major issue which arises with this increasing diversity is race, a topic which

The definition of the term “American character”, in general, was in fact plagued during the 1950s. Instead of the believable “picture perfect” definition that American character was portrayed to be, it was really constructed of major struggles between different races. In particular, the significant struggles between blacks and whites. The 1950s was a crucial decade of change for African Americans. The results of the battle for nine African American children to attend Central High School (Little Rock, Arkansas) in 1957 promoted social advance for the permanent desegregation of public school systems. However, even with this nationally recognized social advance, the concept of “American character” varied between blacks and whites due to

Just fifty years ago, America was a society of segregation and racism. The dictionary defines racism as “the belief that a particular race is superior to another.” Although it is clear times have changed, racism is still seen in modern american society. It’s also clear that relationships between African Americans and whites are generally better than they were in the forties and fifties. Today, it is rare to witness a black man walk down the street and step off the sidewalk to let a white man walk by, or to see a black man sitting on a different section of the bus or train because a white man told him he has too. But superiority of races is still happening. A lot of this has the do with the ignorance of others. Passed down generation to

You’re trapped, in a room with no doors or windows, and the walls are closing in on you. Drowning endlessly in raging waves of faceless racism and never-­ending segregation. This is the everyday life of ‘racial minorities’ in the United States of America. Suffering at the hands of government figures, employment grillers, educational systems, law enforcement officers, and medical practices; this, is Institutional Racism. I wanted to discover the extent of which Institutional Racism exists, how Institutional Racism affects people of colour, and what the government is doing to prevent Institutional Racism. This is what I found.

Taking into consideration my early childhood, youth and adolescence, I could say that I was surrounded by people, who were friendly and shared common cultural values. However, with the hindsight at my whole life, I could say why the sense of institutional racism touches me so deeply. I was raised by my mother and my grandmother, both of whom could not read and write. Thus, for the illiterate people there were no chances to have higher status in the society. The only way to survive for them was hard physical work. Institutional racism, as a form of oppression, is more consequential and involves policies and acts that affect a large number of people. Life of my family is only one example of its impact. Even though, a lot of time has passed since then, the most recent incidents with Rodney King, Trayvon Martin and George Zimmer, illustrate how a black man continues to be viewed as a menace to society in America (Blumenfeld, 2010).

Institutional racism on the other hand is far broader in context and more complex. It refers to the ways in which racism has infiltrated into social institutions which govern, discriminate and oppress various groups within that society based on their race (McConnochie et al, 1988). These institutions within our societies, such as schools and healthcare services, use racism in a systematic manner which favours one group over all the others. Although racism as a notion is the same for both individual and institutional purposes, the consequences of the two are vastly different. Sociologists have argued that in the recent years racism has shifted from excluding groups on a biological basis, to more of a cultural basis of difference (Giddens, 2001; Van Krieken et al, 2010).

Protest against injustice is deeply rooted in the African American experience. The origins of the civil rights movement date much further back than the 1954 Supreme Court ruling on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka which said, "separate but equal" schools violated the Constitution. From the earliest slave revolts in this country over 400 years ago, African Americans strove to gain full participation in every aspect of political, economic and social life in the United States.

Have we asked ourselfs how prejudice and discrimination has elevated so much throughout this new century & how it affects people of color up to this day? Every day in current society many individulas try destroying a person or group of color to simple self justify an issue. Vincent Parrillo professor of Sociology argues behavioral prejudice amongst colored people and the possible causes of prejudice on the article, “Causes of Prejudice”, published in 2004. Michelle Alexander a graduate from Stanford law of school states diverse arguments based on the struggle colored or minor groups of people with problems face during their lifes, in her, “The Jim Crow”, publication,

Forty-seven years ago the Civil Rights Act was passed to end racial discrimination in America. And later on the 24th Amendment to poll taxes, then the Voting Rights Act to allow every man to vote and not be discriminated against. Black Power, the Nation of Islam, and the Southern Christian Leadership conference were just some of the groups that tried to end segregation and promote the African American race. Although these groups did help end it, it still exists in today’s world and many studies have been done to prove it in the past couple of years.

Although our culture is said to be completely removed from the idea of racial discrimination, this sense of inequality can be seen occurring behind the scenes within our society. Within the subtopic of race, several areas including our current culture, social psychology and the current format of our social institutions allow for the production and often the reproduction of racial discrimination in our day and age. Throughout this course, the various readings and class lectures have been very beneficial when examining the impact that racial discrimination and inequality has on our society. In this paper, I will delve into the subtopic of race and ethnicity and expound on how it is greatly influenced by our culture, social psychology, and social institutions around us today.

Whether you believe it or not, racial discrimination is not a controversial matter of the past and has a profound impact on society. Nowadays we still inherit unconsciously misconceptions and prejudices that happen to be unnoticed in our day by day. Consequently, in order to raise awareness upon the connotation of this matter, we must educate people on behalf of assertiveness and comprehension. Therefore, it is remarkably important to acknowledge: the negative impact of racial discrimination on the individual and society, the necessity of derogating misconceptions and the values of cultural diversity.

Since the end of the segregation with the Civil Rights Movement, many believed that racism in the United States had come to an end. However, there are still many instances where racial inequality still occurs, and this is especially prevalent in the workplace. Although this sort of discrimination is illegal, individuals cannot always be prosecuted for this crime because it often happens in subtle manners that are not easy to prove. Regardless, every person, no matter the color of their skin, has the inherent right to be treated with fairness and equality, especially when dealing with matters in the corporate world.