The Consequences Of Ethnic Segregation In The United States

In the 1960’s, black and white individuals were not recognized as being equal. The two races were treated differently, and the African Americans did not enjoy the same freedoms as the whites. The African Americans never had a chance to speak their mind, voice their opinions, or enjoy the same luxuries that the white people attained. Through various actions/efforts like the lunch counter sit-ins, freedom rides, and bus boycotts, the black people confronted segregation face on and worked to achieve equality and freedom.

In Spite of the devastating history of segregation in the United States. A lot has changed in the past fifty years since segregation ended. The United States shifted from arresting African Americans for using “white only” facilities to integrated schools all over the country. Influential individuals such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr helped pave the way for African Americans to live as equals to along with their white counterparts in the United States of America.

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

I say that segregation is the action or state of setting someone or something apart from other people or things or being set apart. Many Americans don’t want to admit it, but I’ll say that segregation is still around, sometimes by design and sometimes by choice. According to a study last year, 43% of Latinos and 38% of blacks go to schools where less than 10% of their peers are white, but beyond that, we often fail to talk about how segregation impacts us personally. How it permeates not only many of our public and private institutions, but American culture at large easily talk about culture or social segregation an area that we have control over, via the restaurants we patronize, the bars we drink at and the places we worship. People who have studied race, spent months abroad in India or Africa, tasted the best fufu and mofongo, read Ralph Ellison, James Baldwin and Pablo Neruda, and who may even have black “friends” or lovers, still too often manage to have a community that doesn't reflect diversity in their broader city or

Equality was once a repulsive concept within America, today it seems to be a foregone conclusion. Indeed, we have made so many strides in the way that we view race that it seems a gross misstep every time that it needs to be addressed. Even our President, an African American who overcame tremendous odds to rise to the highest office does not have the answers to our issues with race, rather he calls on us all to “ask some tough questions about how we can permit so many of our children to languish in poverty, or attend dilapidated schools, or grow up without prospects for a job or for a career.” For most, these questions point to sources outside of themselves, but perhaps there a bit of introspection is the answer. Systematic segregation can

States, and thus, a few individuals having a place with these gatherings don 't recognize as

Society, as we know it today, consists of people who have evolved and developed mentally, culturally, geographically, and physiologically. Because people come from different walks of life, segregation has played a significant role in America. It is seemingly inescapable. The term segregation is known for its infamous history and the negative impact it has had on society. Due to its reputation, it is very uncommon that one studies the word in a positive way contrary to its negative connotation, to find that it has two sides, both pros and cons. Due to this fact, in this paper I will discuss the pros and cons that can be associated with segregation.

United States in the 1910s was a very different place than what it is today. One of the many ways that the US varied from its modern day counterpart is through racial segregation. Way back in the early 1900’s it wasn’t out of the ordinary to see a person of color be treated far harsher than someone that was white. This is the harsh reality that is our countries history. One of the many cases of the harsh treatment of someone that was African American during these times is Ota Benga. Ota Benga was a Mbuti pygmy that is known for being put in a cage and put on display in the Bronx Zoo in the early 1900s.

As an inhabitant of planet earth, I have watched the people grow and prosper and then fall back to old habits. Years ago, we were separated by race and even though we claim that time is over, it is not. Our country is a great example of segregation because we not only segregate by race, but by gender and sexual orientation as well. America was founded on preconceived expectations of gender and race leading to a segregation of consciousness that structures opinions around the injustices of stereotypes.

Race is invisible to white, because they don’t have to think about it. When white people are in poverty, they never think to consider their skin color as a factor to why they are. Whites are mostly oblivious to this happening in general, because it does not happen to them.

During the early 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama was considered to be one of the most racially divided cities in the United States despite the city's population of approximately 350,000 people and 60 percent being white and 40 percent being African Americans. Birmingham, Alabama’s law enforcement, firefighters, salesperson in department stores, school bus drivers, bank tellers, and cashiers had no employed African Americans. African Americans who were secretaries were not allowed to work for white professionals. Many jobs available for African Americans consisted of manual labor in factories, provided maid and yard services, or working in other African American neighborhoods. Jobs that had to lay off employees for whatever reasons would often lay

The redlining practices of the Federal Government established economic segregation in San Antonio. Denying minorities access to federally backed home loans put them at an economic disadvantage when it comes to accumulating wealth. This also creates a cycle of poverty and crime in those neighborhoods.

Segregation: [seg-ri-gey-shuh n] the institutional separation of an ethnic, racial, religious, or other minority group from the dominant majority. In the south a lot people worked hard to keep the jim crow laws - even though it was illegal. Segregation was a big problem in the south, especially Georgia, but Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault were about to desegregate the University of Georgia. Technically that should not have been a problem, seeing that segregation and Jim Crow laws were illegal, but while trying to be successful and earn an education they had endured horrible things. They were attacked both physically and mentally, yet they stayed defending their right to be there and learn. Most people have seen or heard the quote “Why fit in when you were born to stand out” (Dr. Seuss), and that exactly what Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault did.

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.

What ethnic group do you belong to? Per dictionary.com the definition of an ethnic group is; pertaining to or characteristic of a people, especially a group (ethnic group) sharing a common and distinctive culture, religion, language, or the like. According to the CIA website, there is an estimate of seventy-five different ethnic groups, living in the United States. Thus, if one lives in the United States, there is a high confidence level that an ancestor immigrated to the United States. Ever since the founding of the United States in 1776, and even before then, immigrants from around the world have been attracted to this country. For well over two centuries, people have flocked under this nation’s protective wings as opportunists, sojourners, missionaries, refugees, and even illegal aliens. With the Statue of Liberty greeting Europeans entering Ellis Island, and The Golden Gate Bridge greeting Chinese and other Asians into San Francisco, the U.S. has long since been a refuge of the world, with opportunities abounding and freedom for all. Over time, millions around the world have found emigrating to the U.S. as the only alternative to starvation, death, or a life full of hardship and suffering. With thousands from nations spanning the globe, America has become a mosaic of people, culture, and hope. Chinese Americans were such an ethnic group which immigrated to the United States.