Essay on Social Stratification in the African American Community

The preference that slave masters showed towards fair-skinned slaves throughout the years of slavery has had a profound and lasting impact on the perspectives, stances, and biases towards varying skin tones in the present day African American community. During slavery days, most lighter skinned slaves were the offspring of African slaves, and caucasian slave masters. Their lighter skin, looser hair curl patterns, and european features sometimes granted them access to better educations, better working conditions, better food, and more prominent positions in the slave hierarchy. These beneficial aspects of their lives invariably stemmed from their genetic ties to their owners; hence the reason why slave-owners were often partial to fairer skinned

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

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 social class ranking system was set in place by whites to bring divide among blacks. African Americans of high-ranking were seen as those whom lived in middle-class areas, and shared similar job titles as their white counterparts, while low-ranking African Americans were those whom lived in low-income neighborhoods, which were particularly seen as crime-infested and illiterate. Thus, the divide of African Americans began, higher-income blacks did not wish to displease their white counterparts, therefore kept silent about the inequalities and discrimination against the lower-income, hoping in return to maintain acceptance amongst whites.

Although I will never know what it is like to be an African American in today’s society, I do know how it feels to be a part of a group that is victimized. Everyone does. We all belong to somewhere, where other social groups feel the urge to be hostile or violent towards in order to make their point. Some examples include but aren’t limited to: various religions, political status, race, or sexual identity. As a female in today’s society, I have heard all the horror stories of rape, murder, and kidnapping that occurs just because we are female. These stories inflect alarm in my mind, whether it is going out alone, being around men, or attending a university. Hearing the news about the latest murder also causes some unease as a Catholic. For instance, in Oregon, a gunman walks into a college campus and singles out Christians. On announcing their religion, the assassin fired his weapon, killing nine people. Now, this was just one of many religions that were attacked. However, several others will become victims solely because they choose to believe in something different

In the article, “The Mulatto Advantage”, the author discusses the belief that light-skinned African-American slaves were treated better than dark-skinned Afri-can-American slaves in the antebellum Lower South. The proof that the author has that lighter-skinned african-americans were treated better is that they had a height ad-vantage over the dark-skinned, which leads to the conclusion that they were feed a lot better than the dark-skinned.

29). Donald Noel stated that there was three additional factors that contributed to development of ethnic stratification: ethnocentrism, competition for scarce societal resources, and an unequal distribution of power (Marger, 2012, p. 44). Ethnocentrism is the opinions of different intergroups and how they will judge each other based on their own culture. For an example that is used in the text book, white Anglo-Saxons in the United States favored people from southern and eastern Europeans (Italian and Polish) over African Americans, Mexican Americans, and American Indians (Marger, 2012, p. 44). Competition for scarce societal resources is when groups within the same area are striving for the same rare resources and it usually leads to conflict between the groups. With the Europeans who immigrated to the U.S., the brought a distinct set of skills which determined their jobs and how they furthered themselves. When Africans were force to come to the U.S., they were held back and were placed in submissive situations where they could not flourish (Marger, 2012, p. 45). The unequal distribution of power is the final part for the development of ethnic stratification and is basically when groups overpower others and there is no foundation for a

As an young African American in Seattle, Naturally I grew up in the African American Community, specifically in the Central District ( C.D). That Includes the very coveted territory of Capital Hill. Growing the C.D area was not what it is today, in fact it was very far from it. Even though there was, and is still violence, it was a community, and an up lifting on at that. Everyone would hang out at the community center, and for the most part everyone new everyone. At a young age I learned the meaning of community and family. Family is not always blood, and blood is not always thicker than water. I was once able to walk down the streets of where I grew up and recognize everything and almost everyone. I still have younger cousins going to high school down

He was an unarmed African-American male in a high percentage crime city, Los Angeles. An unarmed African-American who did do something to break many laws and even tempt the police into their actions, but it does not excuse the behavior portrayed by them. An unarmed African-American who did have too much to drink that night and he did have a past criminal record, but on what Earth does that justify the injuries he suffered from the beating? He was a man who did not deserve to get beaten just because he was an unarmed African-American. In America, we define justice as a particular treatment, when did justice become beating unarmed citizens? If police wanted more peace in the city, they would have to stop antagonizing these men to resist with

however, even though this accuracy can be true but some slaves speaking on the behalf of women actually worked inside of the house or in the field picking cotton depending on complexion of your skin and tone of your voice they judge them by their ascribed characteristics. “In his controversial study of black bourgeoisie, E. Franklin Frazier argues mulattoes, blacks with white progenitors, led a more privileged existence when compared with their “pure black” countered parts

I suppose the majority of society would have the illusion that segregation in the United States died with the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and Brown v Board of Education of Topeka in 1954. What most fail to realize is the profound, and devastating effect segregation continues to have on minorities, particularly the African American communities. Throughout the relative young history of the United States, the Caucasian race has deemed themselves as smarter than the Afro-American. According to a scientist by the name of Agassi, “blacks are not created equal”, and he claims that they’re not fit to live in the same society as whites. This research essay attempts to inform readers on some major systemic issues that are prevalent today. Segregation is the reason why there is so much inequality among black and white communities. Segregation causes inequality for minorities and blacks in particular, they are deprived of important goods and services that are not offered and distributed fairly (Anderson). The areas of these communities which are most affected by the deprivation of goods and services include the real estate market, the blocking of capital through denial of loans and mortgages, redlining, access to health services, the funding of schools within the community, and the lack of commercial growth directly leading to unemployment and other social issues. To understand how

The “whiter” the heritage a person could claim, the higher in status they could claim, conversely, darker features meant less

This chapter discusses the topic of class and stratification in the United States. Highlighting the impacts and importance of prestige, wealth and power in regards to social class. Social stratification is the order of social groups depending on what they have. Within social classes there is social mobility, intergenerational mobility and intergenerational mobility. Social mobility happens when people move from one social system to another. Intragenerational mobility is when social changes occur within an individual's lifetime. Intergenerational mobility is social changes from generation to generation of a family. An example of social stratisfaction is slavery, which is when individuals are owned by other individuals.

Stratification by definition is the categorization of people into socio-economic strata based upon their annual income and occupation. As stated in the textbook “Sociology; The Canadian Perspective” both income and occupation strongly correlate; as a lawyer and drug dealer might share similar levels of monetary success; the lawyer would be higher on the strata due to the legitimacy of his career. For people on the lower end of the strata, the “Lower class” and “Working Class” it becomes increasingly difficult to climb up to the higher classes. In most cases, we see people of color, especially those who grow up on the “lower end” of the strata have a harder time achieving success in today’s society. It poses the question of whether or not

Social stratification determines one’s education, peers, spouses, employment, and income. Social stratification also segregates the masses into two group. These groups are the majority and minority. This division plays a huge role in the life of the members of the society. The subjugation of minorities expresses the inequality between the majority and minority. The minorities are mostly placed in the lower classes because of the subjugation. The majority has higher benefits. There are a few exceptions to this rule called social mobility. The majority fall under branch known as WASP (White Anglo Saxons Protestants). Those who don’t fall under this title are consider the minority. They often have better schooling, higher chances of promotions, and higher incomes than the minorities. Minorities are often disadvantaged. Social stratification embedded institutional discrimination and bias into the institutions of contemporary United States of America. Overall, race and class, which are set up by the social stratification, affect our day-to-day