Racial Tension In America Essay

“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

One example of the racial problems that are happing in current times is the amount of racial profiling that is going around in the United States. Racial profiling involves the action of law enforcement officials base on race, ethnicity, or national origins; rather than individual behavior or specific information about the alleged criminal activity. The majority of the racial profiling incidents occur in traffic stops, neighborhood patrolling and airport screenings. Officials usually target African Americans, Hispanics, and here recently Muslims due to the 9/11 terrorist attack (Rodriguez, 2103). In other words, it’s when the police, government, or people with higher power single out a person because of their race, interrogate them and sometimes harm them. An incident that happened in 2011 regarding racial profiling was the shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, who was simply out to buy snacks at a local convince store in Sanford, Florida. Martin was shot by a civilian neighborhood watch coordinator who shot him because he assumed he was a trouble maker due to the fact he was black (Rodriguez, 2013), which is also an example of a hate crime. Additionally, racial segregation in schools is another factor in the racial issues in America today. Charts show that the government funds primarily white majority schools with better education, than schools that have majority nonwhite students. As Gary Orfield states, “The first step to fixing the problem with segregation in the schooling system is to recognize and demand changes in the racial conditions outside the schools” (Orfield, 2008). With the rise of racial injustice displayed in the American government system, it’s hard not to question what’s in store for the

This book review was on the book of Race Riot: Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919. It was a long-term study done by William M. Tuttle, Jr. Its objective was to make a comprehensive documentation of the events of 1919 in Chicago. The book dealt with all aspects and perspectives of the event. The author’s objective was to leave no stone uncovered. That every aspect would be talked about in detail. Some important aspects that he arose throughout the book are going to be the focal point of this book review.

“E Pluribus Unum”, “Out of Many, One”; Originally used to suggest that out of many colonies or states shall emerge a single unified nation, but over the years it has become the melting pot of the many people, races, religions, cultures and ancestries that have come together to form a unified whole, and even though America prides itself on being this melting pot racism is still alive and well today. America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, the country that calls to so many; calling to them with the promise of freedom and prosperity, to live their lives as they see fit. As stated in the National Anthem, America is "the land of the free and the home of the brave." America is the country where dreams can come true. So if America has

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.

When most people in America think about racism and where it started, they might think of the days of the Middle Passage when people from Africa were brought over on slave ships. They might also think of Colonial America when blacks were being separated from their families and sold to the highest bidder. However, racism started hundreds if not thousands of years before that time of Colonial America. To think of a possible solution for racism in 2015 is honestly very hard. Coming from the point of view of a natural born Jamaican female, and with the racial tensions in America coming from Colonial times, it is hard to come up with a solution. With the eruption of more publicized racial problems within at least the last two decades from Rodney

Nearly one year after the 2016 election, the populace of America remains divided on many issues. In no better way can this divide by illustrated than the issue of race relations. In this paper, I will thoroughly discuss the current split between races in America, how it continues to encompass the national discussion today, and what factors relating to this topic exacerbate the painful divisions between Americans.

Racial segregation and tension have existed in the United States of America since the country was first discovered by the Spanish in the 1400s. From the genesis of the colonization of the “new world,” as it was called, the Native American people were treated as an inferior species by the European settlers. Over the course of time, in an act justified by the flawed concept of “Manifest Destiny,” these indigenous people were forcibly removed from their land. Since then, in issues such as the shameful practice of slavery, voting rights, and general segregation, racism has continued to infiltrate the social dynamic of our country. This dilemma still persists today. It is evidenced in scenarios such as the current tension between the African American population and police officers and the general racial profiling that is present in all socioeconomic groups. The question is: How can we as a society accept our differences while at the same time view each other as equals, thus eradicating this mindset of dissention and hostility between the races? What can I do personally to, at the very least, improve the situation in my circle of influence?

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In 1492 Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue. Everyone knows the story of Christopher Columbus; they are taught it in grade school if not before then. When he landed in America by accident, he had no idea that he would be creating the world's largest Melting Pot. This "melting pot" provided means for a new country, made from a mixture of many cultures and beliefs, thus creating a new country with a new and ever-changing culture. One complication with a Melting Pot is that you cannot put people of different race and ethnicity together without conflict.

"The legacy of past racism directed at blacks in the United States is more like a bacillus that we have failed to destroy, a live germ that not only continues to make some of us ill but retains the capacity to generate new strains of a disease for which we have no certain cure." - Stanford Historian George Frederickson.

Race relations are an ever prominent issue in American society. Controversies focusing around race are a commonly seen smeared across the front page of the newspaper or headlining on the evening news. The opposition is usually between a minority group and "The Man," a colloquialism used by many Blacks to refer to the overwhelming power stemming from white racist tendencies. This racial tension can sometimes can cause the oppressed to band together against the oppressor. Many times, the most prevalent link is between the African American community and the Latino community. Here we find two groups of people with very similar lifestyles who find camaraderie between themselves when dealing

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For many years now the people in power or “whites” have passed laws so that other racial groups are kept at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These racial group that are kept at the bottom become racialized and oppressed therefore they become unequal to the people that are at the top of this hierarchy. The racial groups that are kept at the bottom vary from the Native-Americans to the Mexican-Americans and obviously the African-Americans. In this essay I will be comparing how the racialization process has been similar and different between these racial groups. I will also define race and racialization. Furthermore, I will explain how class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship has impacted the racialization process within these groups.

In the United States and internationally, there is a multitude of indicators that the racial environment is changing. Environmental pollution and racism are connected in more ways than one. The world is unconsciously aware of environmental intolerances, yet continues to expose the poor and minorities to physical hazards. Furthermore, sociologist continue to study “whether racial disparities are largely a function of socioeconomic disparities or whether other factors associated with race are also related to the distribution of environmental hazards” (Mohai and Saha 2007: 345). Many of these factors include economic positions, health disparities, social and political affairs, as well as racial inequalities.