With the unrest that our nation is facing, it is easy to see that discrimination is alive and well in 2017. The national anthem protests are only one of many events that highlight the issues that are still at hand. In both the South Side and Social Inequality in a Global Age both authors bring up examples of social stratification that have laced society in both the past and the present.
I always understood that everyone was ranked, black, white, or brown; your color always gave a first impression. Coming from a small rural town, the South Side really opened my eyes to the discrimination that lies in cities (more specifically -Chicago). The main thing that came to my attention when reading about the housing discrimination was the city’s lack of effort to listen to the (minority) population they were trying to help. The CHA did what they thought would work and as Moore showed, these projects failed more times than not. To say that you want to help is noble, but to neglect the wishes of the people gets you nowhere. Some of the residents Moore interviewed had enjoyed living in the high-rises because they felt a strong sense of community, yet to kick them out and demolish the building and begin ‘Plan B’ shows no respect for the opinions of the residents. To me, the whole feeling of the CHA was one of “they cannot help themselves, therefore they do not know what they want and we must decide for them”. Yet the people did know what they wanted. Robert Taylor even did extensive research and found that “low rises with grassy areas” were the best way to help the impoverished. Yet at the end of the day their opinions weren’t accounted for and this loss of power in the decision making shows their stratified position.
When it comes to stratification by ethnicity, chapter 5 shows how the United States has pretty much cycled through each newcomer as an “outsider”. Irish Americans used to be considered lesser because they were stereotyped as aggressive and unambitious. These people had the same fair white skin as their neighbors, yet were considered equals to blacks (who were considered inferior) (pg 125). However, the Irish solved this problem by “becoming white” by losing their traditional dialect and dressing like their
It appears to be that the discussion of race and class in America has become amplified, especially in the last couple of years. For many, it is a touchy subject that hits close to home. With the presence of social media and news that feeds off of racial tension in America, the issues are polarizing and difficult to productively discuss. America’s handling of race and class relations is generally not something to be proud of, and there exists a long history of issues with race. It is clear that there is a lack of understanding and empathy of what others experience toward those who are oppressed. So often it is too easy to dismiss another human’s experiences as reality if one has had no prior encounter with the same challenges. Race is easy to sweep under the rug, but we must address the problem, and it is not a one size fits all solution. It is a problem that has been years in the making and continues to have an enormous impact on our human capital from an economic standpoint. And most of the time, there is a correlation between race and class.
Today racial inequality is ongoing whether you are aware of it or not. We have come a long way from segregated seats to public transportation. The issue of race and race relations has really scarred the history of this nation and has been a constant reminder of the horrors people endured as a result of race relations in this country. The ideas from both of the readings explain how black Americans faced hatred and violence because they were viewed as less then. The writings also include how each leader is trying to change the world’s view of
In order to support his opinion, the author uses historical references to the enormous impact of racial inequality on African American lives. Additionally, Desmond names a set of historical data and rates of the poor African Americans in cities to enhance the reader’s understanding of this complex situation. African Americans were also more likely to get the apartment with broken furniture, windows, and other facilities that confirmed the existence of racial inequality (Desmond, 2016, p.249). To reassert his position, Desmond provides offensive statistics that millions of people are evicted from American homes, and most of them are African American (Desmond, 2016, p.293). As a matter of fact, the author proves that housing discrimination based on race is the primary cause of
Throughout the history of the United States, multitudes of social issues arise, fall, and repeat. In the modern day United States, many social issues are currently at hand including abortion, gender pay differences, the minimum wage, gun violence, police brutality, and seemingly excessive college tuition raises, to name a few. One issue that has been brought back to light within the last few years is racism. Many different headlines, buzzwords, and slogans shoot through media outlets including “Systematic Racism” (Bandler, 2016), “Black Lives Matter” (Black Lives Matter, n.d.), “Institutional Racism” (Michaelson, 2015), the list goes on. Many millennials and middle-aged workers are crying out in support and against these claims, calling this a social problem in an effort to show abnormality in the status quo (Davis-Sowers, 2016), as this condition has negative attributes related to individuals or the world that they live in (Leon-Guerrero).
As the colonies in the South flourished and the wealthy class became an apparent part in society, the evidence of inequality grew. Inequality was present in religion, labor, and everyday society. This inequality affected the South for and the rest of the North American continent, shaping society and the way of life for many years to come.
This article is the testimony of Gary Orfield who in 1996 testified as a witness for the Caldwell branch of the NAACP. Back in 1980 Orfield was appointed by the Court to create a report on housing and housing policies and practices. Specifically in St. Louis, Missouri, public resources and powers were used to promote segregation. The local government used federal funding to only build subsided housing in segregated areas. The local government also denied its ability to build subsided housing in other places besides the city. For the majority of his testimony Orfield talked about how school segregation affects housing. Orfield argued that schools were being used as tools in housing marketing. As a result, White families would choose to live
Oppression and discrimination has plagued our society since early times. As a collective society one would think that over time oppression and discrimination would turn into acceptance and equality. Conversely, our society has taken sluggish steps towards diversity, acceptance and equality. Our society is focused on labeling people and putting them into limiting boxes. Oppression occurs across various groups of people based on gender, sex, race, religion, and disability. Members of these diverse groups are discriminated among work places, schools, and other places. Work places and schools promote diversity and non-discrimination, however little seems to be practiced. Oppression across generation leaves damaging consequences hindering society in the growth towards a more accepting environment.
You may think that discrimination and inequality doesn’t exist today just in history but your wrong. The conflict still exists today, people are being treated unfairly in multiple ways it can range from pay gaps between women and men or black people getting killed on the street everyday because they are “black”. These people were basically killed for being born a girl or being born black, dying for being born. Is this what we want to be “American”.
Discrimination is nothing new to our society or is it something that should be taken lightly and for many decades our Nation has endured many conflicts that have tested the will of Americans over the decades and it is evident that as we have become more diverse so too has our workforce. Although, we are in the twenty first century the goal is to understand why prejudice and discrimination is still so prevalent and how we can do better while trying to bring together our different backgrounds, skills, and experiences still has proven to be an issue that minorities are constantly fighting as they struggle to find there place in society. Through an array of well-educated researchers showing how diversity is nothing new to our society, but if we are to continue to grow and move forward we must be able to understand that with diversification we can foster a strong and inclusive economy that is built to last and nurture a nation that will continue to lead the world as standard setter.
Introduction: I have learned a multitude of concepts during this quarter that will linger with me for years to come, the two that resonate the most, for me, are classism and racism. Classism and Racism are the two most prominent “ISM’S” due to their relationship and how they intermingle disparities and biases of being poor and a minority. Although I knew of the issues taking place in my own community, I would not allow myself to absorb the magnitude of this travesty. After watching the American winter, the disparities became clearer than I had dreamt.
Martin Luther King Jr.’s failed housing campaign and the Bronzeville Project exhibit this disjointedness through black middle class Chicagoans ignoring the socioeconomic class divisions within Bronzeville by using institutionalized racial barriers as a conduit to produce a narrative of collective discriminatory practices faced by all blacks preventing social and financial equity for the race. However, these
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.
Most colored people have it hard in the first place, but to top it off, access to sufficient housing is unfair. In Chicago, the city is ranked in the top ten of residential segregation for housing. Despite the Fair Housing Act of 1968, this is still occurring.
Although our culture is said to be completely removed from the idea of racial discrimination, this sense of inequality can be seen occurring behind the scenes within our society. Within the subtopic of race, several areas including our current culture, social psychology and the current format of our social institutions allow for the production and often the reproduction of racial discrimination in our day and age. Throughout this course, the various readings and class lectures have been very beneficial when examining the impact that racial discrimination and inequality has on our society. In this paper, I will delve into the subtopic of race and ethnicity and expound on how it is greatly influenced by our culture, social psychology, and social institutions around us today.