Segregation in the College Student Center Essay

This week’s readings focused on a topics associated with the white population of America. Some of these topics included the privileges white individuals are often unknowingly accustomed to (McIntosh,1) as well as the lack of responsibility and motivation many whites feel when it comes to eliminating racism. This is a social problem because it constructs biases that often times negatively affect the interactions between whites and individuals of color. This potentially leads to many issues including racism, hate crimes, and the unequal treatment races.

Narrator: In the 1950s and 60s, racial segregation was still prevalent in the United States and Australia. There were many people, including government bodies, who wanted to solve this problem of racism and desegregate the American society. On the 17th of May 1954, the US Supreme Court decided that segregation in America’s public schools was ‘unconstitutional’. So, the US government decided to enrol 9 black American teenagers in the Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. 5 years later, another African American, James Meredith, decided to enrol in the University Ole Miss in Mississippi. He was twice denied admission, but he filed a law suit against them, with the case eventually settling in 1962. His enrolment received severe backlash,

William and his father had to wait to get water because they ran into two racist white men who grabbed William’s father. William was young when this happened; for he was only a child. The races were combined; black and white, at this popular spring William and his father liked to go to get water. The two had been waiting in the line for about thirty minutes already. The two white men forced them to wait to get water to show their racial superiority over blacks and told them to wait until everyone was gone to get their water. William’s father tried to leave, but they commanded them to remain. The reason that the white men caused them to wait was that the two white men who grabbed William’s dad were in no doubt, discriminating against people

In today’s time, the United States of America have drifted off its course of trying to reach a utopia. Social problems are rising for many people of color and non-color people. The problems have been illuminated in politics, education, employment, and social media. Problems such as discrimination of a certain group of people, and economic hardship are the most common issues. Reflecting back on America’s history, America has had a long history of white versus black ever since the slavery era, which took place during the time of the civil war. Ever since then, the United States have striven and persevere to change its society ethics. But, America is now slowly shifting back to a world where white supremacy and people of color are immensely separated

White supremacy, white separatism, and white nationalism are all a collection of racial philosophies, and a succession of coinciding political movements (King, 2015). Historically, white supremacy dominated public culture, intellectual existence, and political domination. Appallingly, white supremacy continues to infiltrate a significant amount of today’s racial conflicts. Today, the remnants of white supremacy supporters

Don’t think it stops there, fast forward about 100 years later to the Civil Rights Movement. Southern states created the Jim Crow laws prohibiting blacks from using the same bathrooms, schools, busses and even theatres as white people. They were by no means equal. This led to many protests, such as the march on Washington on August 28th 1963, where Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Soon after, President John F. Kennedy passed The Civil Rights Act of 1964, banning segregation and racial discrimination in the work place and in education. Following this, came the Voting Rights Act of 1965, allowing black men and women the right to vote. Clearly, throughout history, Americans have struggled with racism, and it’s not over (“Civil Rights Movement,” 2017).

The explicit oppression, and societal disadvantages experienced by racial and ethnic minorities in the United States are those that are a product of past racism and discriminatory practices based on prejudice towards the collective minority groups. Although many of the explicit discriminatory practices based on race are frowned upon in the U.S. today, that does not suggest that they do not still exist. The racism of contemporary times has only shifted form and is used against minorities in the form of institutionalized and societal racist practices. The maintenance as well as protection of the white supremacy is the key driver behind past and contemporary forms of racism and discrimination. In Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of

The great nation of America is one of the most racially diverse countries in the world today. Practically all races in America can trace their roots from different parts of the country. From the African-American to the Korean- Americans, and the Hispanic to the Irish people, all these represent the different faces of American people. However, the co-existence of these different races has not been smooth sailing. They have experienced racial discrimination, mostly from white Americans, who felt threatened by the increasing influx of the ‘foreigners’ in America.

In order to create change in these prejudices and misconceptions, initially, the educational system of this country must begin to show the struggles and reality of minority groups’ experiences. If a person observed the average class in America, ranging from elementary school to high school, they can see that classrooms do not explicitly discuss racial issues. Not only will classrooms not talk about current events, but they often discourage the talk of modern events. I have been told several times in various classrooms that I was not allowed to continue to discuss current events. Classrooms do not allow children to understand the issues or protests or struggles black people are facing today. If children do not hear or experience what it is

Racism has been a problem in the U.S, for a long time now. It dates back to the time when Native Americans were attacked, relocated and forcibly assimilated into the European culture. However, many people relate more to the African slave trade that occurred a few centuries ago. At the time, the prevalent notion was that Caucasians were superior to other races. Unfortunately, this ideology still persists in the present day American society.

In 1948, a black American, George McLaurin, was accepted to the University of Oklahoma but treated with much disrespect. He sat in a desk roped off from the others in class, he ate lunch by himself, and he studied in a separate library. This is just one of the many things that occurred during the time of ‘separate but equal’. Due to the poor conditions in black schools under ‘separate but equal’, the main argument of the NAACP attorneys cases was to end segregation in schools, leading to the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision to integrate black and white public schools.

By the late 1930's, the words “Jim Crow” were affiliated with racial segregation, so strict that they were reinforced under the law. “Nearly all aspects of everyday life were governed by Jim Crow laws, as whites and blacks were forced to use separate water fountains, parks, and bathrooms” (Desmond and Emirbayer 2016, 69). This also made it subsequently illegal for these two racial groups to attend the same schools. These laws were supported with the full weight of the Supreme Court in the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, which ruled that racial segregation was constitutional, because African American and white facilities were seen to be separate yet also equal. This could not be farther from the truth, however, in regards to the educational system. Although the Civil Rights Act

     On May 17, 1954 the United States Supreme Court struck down the separate but equal doctrine in American public schools (Willoughby 40). The Constitution of the United States of America, Amendment XVI states that:

America has been viewed by many countries as the land of freedom, prosperity, and opportunity. We have been seen as the “melting pot” of the world where everyone, no matter what their race, can coexist in harmony. This statement, however, can be contradicted in many ways regarding the mistreatment of other races by caucasians, in the past as well as the present. Many people view America as a free country for all, but some people still face oppression, especially African Americans, even in today’s modern society. This can obviously be demonstrated in our history; which is corrupted with slavery, segregation, and white supremacy. Our country was literally built by whites, and for whites, on the breaking backs of African Americans, who were the driving labor force for the developing nation. Slavery was the fuel for the burning fire that is racism. Former slaves then struggled for civil rights and equality, as well as safety, which is even neglected today. Often, many white people overlook racism as a mistake that’s well in the past, when in reality it is still a harmful, oppressive idea that harms and discriminates against many black’s careers, families, and lifestyle. Media today is painted red with the blood of innocent African Americans killed by racist authorities. This causes our country to not be viewed as a whole, but a segregated body still rampant with discrimination. But first, to understand the present, we must look at the past.

At UC-Berkeley, the course description for "Politics and Poetics" (Fall Course 2002) stated that "conservative thinkers are encouraged to seek other sections." (SAF 1). Though the instructor later apologized for the description, this is the sort of encouragement conservative-minded students are greeted with many times during their college experience. It is said that in class, students are taught that their country -- and Western culture in general -- is tainted by racism, sexism, and oppression (Stearn 2).