The Importance Of Racial Inequality

There are approximately 7 billion people in this world. Each person has a unique combination of traits such as skin tone, face shape, body type, eye color, hair color, and other characteristics. These traits vary due to genetics, environmental factors, and much more. An individual 's race is defined by their physical characteristics and how they differ among others. Race is not defined by the way an individual behaves or portrays themselfes; it is based strictly off of their physical traits. Since America was founded, race has played a significant role in the relations of the citizens in this country. For decades, different races have been stereotyped and been prejudice towards one another, without realizing how invalid their judgements are. Specifically, African Americans have been discriminated by caucasians in America since it’s founding. It began by the enslaving of African Americans, and today, the discrimination and inequality is more hidden in society. Although America has made significant progress in overcoming racial inequality in the country, many African Americans are still being subject to hardships that Caucasian Americans do not face, especially in regards to the justice system.

Johnson, H. B. (2014). The American dream and the power of wealth: Choosing schools and inheriting inequality in the land of opportunity. Routledge.

At the time I was 20 years old. Being underage I had of course bought liquor through someone older, and back then, due to the hurdles it took to obtain decent alcohol even a pack of Corona was regarded as a great drink. It was the kind of days where every party was a remake of the film Project X and you never knew who or what you would end up with at the end of the night. Needless to say, we were all young back then and saw the world as our oyster; it was up to us to pry it open with our own hands. As Wiz Khalifa put it, we were young, wild, and free. Looking back, it never crossed our minds that at the end of the night we would be a lot older, controlled, and oppressed.

The barriers that separate men have existed for centuries. Race, class, status, these are all ideas that have created a divide among humans. This divide creates competition and tension. Throughout the history of the legal system, justice has been used to validate slavery and other forms of racial inequality. Our system now has changed, but the basic concept has remained the same. According to one study, the judicial system was invented by whites to protect whites and keep people of color at bay (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2017, p1). This idea of preserving a one superior racial system resulted in a bias still existent today.

What is racial inequality? Racial inequality is discrepancies in the opportunities and treatment of people based solely on their race. Racial inequality is a serious issue that is often discussed in the American criminal justice system. Although racial discrimination is present in the criminal justice system, some people use the words inequality, discrimination, racism, and profiling loosely and do not understand how truly complex it is to prove that there actually is racial inequality present in the criminal justice system. Daniel P Mears, Joshua C. Cochran, and Andrea M. Lindsey article Offending and Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Criminal Justice: A Conceptual Framework for Guiding Theory and Research and Informing Policy illustrates

In America there are still several parts of our society that remain racially unequal including, the workforce, the wealth gap between minorities and whites, as well as incarceration rates and police behavior. The unemployment rates in America are relatively high and because of how hard it is to get a job, the employers prefer to hire someone that they feel more comfortable with, which typically aren’t minorities. The wealth gap between minorities and whites is continuing to grow as the years move on and because the wealth gap many people are starting to turn to criminalism. Because of the amount of people turning to criminalism, the incarceration rates of minorities is steadily increasing. Racial inequality in one section of our society can affect all of the other sections as well. It is a “snowball effect” of sorts. One small aspect of racial inequality can lead to another and another and so on and so forth until our whole society is unequal. Racial inequality has a negative impact on our society

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” President Obama, then senator Obama, declared these words at a speech to supporters in 2008. If we are ‘the ones that we’ve been waiting for’, why aren’t things changing? Why is there still racism? Why is there still discrimination? These are crucial questions that I anticipate will remain unanswered forever. After Barack Obama secured enough electoral votes during the 2008 Presidential election, Obama became the first African-American president in the history of the United States. On January 20, 2009 Obama was officially sworn into office, commencing an extremely instrumental part of American history becoming the first black male as president. Unfortunately, still to this day many people cannot wrap their heads around the fact that slavery was abolished in the middle 1800s but yet there is still significant amounts of racial inequality and discrimination. Although it might seem far-fetched, we have the power to end racism. Despite our prejudice and disregard, racism can be significantly impacted and possibly even terminated with unity, partnership and cooperation amongst the people. Still to this day people of color are often faced with various disadvantages that can severely impact their quality of life, disadvantages such as poverty, education, and financial decisions.

Racial injustices and inequality have been in place in various areas of operation within the society. The existence of the notion that a given race is more superior to another has been the main source of the constant injustices across different communities. The inequality and racial injustices within the societies are deeply rooted which it makes difficult to develop policies and strategies that can have a significant impact if the past events and actions are anything to buy. Thus, the increasing inequality across the United States is based on wealth and social status where racial consideration is key in many societies. Even though there have been efforts to ensure that there is better engagement among different races within the country, there are no significant steps that have been made as the inequality among races keeps increasing.

One would not want to live a life if they knew their chances of reaching their goals, were almost certainly downsized or marginalized by their race. Well, sadly this is the case for Blacks in America. Blacks are often found to be, at the bottom of the American society. America is suppose to be “The land of the free, and the home of the brave,” allowing all citizens equal opportunity. However in a harsh reality it is not, but instead the land of the incapacitated, and home of the Whites. Looking back in time, America has always been a country of racial inequality that benefited Whites and demeaned any other race. Examples of racial inequality in our history consist of the American-Indian war, slavery, Jim Crow laws, and general discrimination. Thus the term “White Supremacy,” meaning Whites have dominance and are superior, came about. The feeling of Whites Supremacy is still felt in today’s society, and is one of many reason why race still matters. Even though the are many theories of why race still matters, it is important to realize 3 major reasons why that is so. In short, race matter because of the increased likelihood of minorities experiencing: poverty, racial profiling and Institutional racism.

Something that I also found really interesting is how white people get offended by fact that color of people accused them of the inequality that we have in this country, for example some of the things they bring up is that “they didn’t ask to be white”, yet they still contribute to the idea of color blindness by refusing to see the reality that they will always have more power over a person of color regardless their education level or income. Whites will never understand the harsh reality of race in the U.S., Lopez makes a great point about this “ But beliefs in innate racial inequality could not be perceived as morally evil until they were first seen as factually wrong. This was impossible to imagine for persons steeped in the belief that

The research into racial inequality has mostly focused on the disadvantages experienced by the oppressed group. As the field continues to grow, it has become increasingly important to examine the privileges experienced by Whites (Bonilla-Silva, 2006). But to effectively examine this, the White individual must accept the fact that White privilege and racism still very much exist in the United States and how it affects all aspects of our culture and institutions.

America struggles with racial inequalities before even its independence in July 4 1776, during the years that transpired many racial issues began to arise as slavery was still in affect during the 18th and mid-19th century. After Lincoln assassination, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery throughout the entire United States and slavery became illegal. However, the racial differences between whites and blacks never ceased to exist up until this

Racial Inequality is a subject that can be exposed easily yet the following journalists exposed the truth behind this reality such as racism/segregation, poverty and racial injustice. The following journalists attempted to bring about change in legislation so that something could be done about racial inequality.

During the late 1950’s and early 1960’s black Americans felt the oppression of unequal civil rights. Although, 100 years prior Abraham Lincoln signed into effect the Emancipation Proclamation procuring their freedom; black Americans were hardly free. “Jim Crow” laws at the local and state levels barred them from classrooms and bathrooms, from theaters and train cars, from juries and legislature.” (Civil Rights Movement, History.ORG) Small steps were taken to secure black’s equality for a decade, but it was not until the emergence of “new, more militant movements, leaders and organizations” (History.ORG) that laws and amendments were set in place. Executive Order 9981 and Brown V. Board laid groundwork to ignite hope in change. Events like the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the “Little Rock Nine” and the sit-ins in North Carolina were events that jumpstarted the movement to March on Washington. Unfortunately, tragic events and the deaths of numerous sympathizers and leaders, echoed the unrest and disgust citizens felt about the inequality of black Americans. Black Americans obtained civil rights, but we must reflect on the struggles and

In 1968 and 1865 Lincoln and Kennedy were trying to persuade Americans that the country is better united. Throughout America’s history I believe that a common goal was to build relations among the diverse nation. I think that Lincoln and Kennedy wanted to make a change because they saw the difference and unfair circumstances. However there has not been a lot that has changed. I believe a lot of people want to get rid of racism but a lot of people haven’t made an honest effort to make change. However I also think that many people do not know how to acquire change. Recognizing racial injustice can help create various steps toward racial equality in America’s society. When we as a society speak explicitly about race, we will accept everything that make us different from one another.