Trepagnier's Analysis

Racism exists in America before early 1965 through late 1970 and continues to exist. Glenn Omatsu author of “The Four Prisons and the Movements of Liberation” describes the history of the struggle of racism as if it was a roller coaster ride for neoconservative Asian Americans with so many changes all throughout that social movement. Omatsu mentions Japans who overcame racism with political activism. Activists are good political examples from the past through history by creating a social movement with activism and individuals who fight for all equal rights. Asian Americans made a path through history to end racism through political activism that initially led to a better life for everyone during the 1980’s. Omatsu describes the struggle, “… racism lies in the realm of attitudes and “culture” and not institutions of power.” Omatsu makes the point of Asian Americans overcame racism through the way they were brought up. “ he believes

Yes racism and racial segregation has declined but when we face the facts, it is still there. “Today, segregation is due to a legacy of racism as well as present-day practices rather than the result of race-neutral individual choices or people’s desire to “live with their own kind.”(Jeff Dowd;2011;1) But how did racism and racial segregation decrease?

Growing up in the United States, racism is an issue one cannot help but hear about at one point or another. Racial inequality and discrimination is a topic that comes up every February with Black History Month, and is often talked about in high school history classes around the country. But that is what it is considered to the majority of people: history. Most students are taught that, while there are still and will always be individual cases of racial discrimination and racism, nationally the problem ended with the Civil Rights Act of 1964. People of color, however, will often tell you differently. At least that is what they told Tim Wise,

In Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, Alexander explains how racism in the U.S. has been “redesigned” in order to be written off as nearly nonexistent (Alexander, 2). Alexander goes on to

     Two hundred and twenty-five years ago, Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. The words he wrote were, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness (Jefferson 685). “…created equal…,” those are very powerful words. Equality, meaning being the same, on the same level, no one higher or lower than the other, but can we honestly say that racism is no longer prevalent in our country? Of course not, the recent incidents, such as Rodney King, James Byrd, Abner Louima, and Amadou Diallo, proves that. In an article entitled, “Racism Down But Not Out in the US Government Study Finds”, published on September 22, 2000, Assistant Secretary of State, Harold Koh reported to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, “America’s struggle to secure racial equality remains incomplete. The residual effects of slavery and institutionalized racism can still be seen in the lingering disparity between blacks and whites in income, levels of education, and health care and rates of incarceration in our nation’s prisons”. Koh too, mentioned the recent incidents that have happened saying that, “we have not yet met the challenge of creating a color-blind society” (Husain 1).

One common theme throughout the reading is that “…systemic racist attitudes and negative depictions of people of colour by whites persist” (Feagin & Elias, 2013, p. 937). The historical trajectory of research methods are deeply rooted with systemic forms of racism, which is reflected in literature that was published centuries ago and can still be found in current literature today. Some of the articles that were assigned reference opinions and other forms of literature that state that white Americans believe that race and racism are a thing of the past, while others continue

     I believe racism to be as apparent today if not more profound then in the past. A large portion of society believes that no man is still to this day denied any unalienable rights. I do not believe this statement to be true. We have adopted affirmative action programs and enforced strict equal opportunity employment laws to hinder discrimination. Although I believe it is still a very prevalent issue in today’s society. Despite laws, investigations and results show that twenty percent of African Americans interviewing for jobs were turned down due to the color of their skin (Omi and Winant 67-68). Indeed racism may be very subtle in most cases; it is not a thing of the past but rather a very serious problem in society that evolves

The history of the United States in regard to racism and discrimination is no secret. Children are taught about segregation, slavery, and the Civil Rights Movement like the events were purely in the past. In part the events were in the past; however, the results of said events are not. As Americans, we live in a nation with a rough history and, in order to keep growing together, we cannot forget what has happened. Granted, racism is not extinct, but it is most definitely not the norm it was 50 years ago. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exists in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else where social lives are occurring. According to Derrick Bell’s book, Faces at the Bottom of the Well, Bell uses fiction stories to show that racism still exist but has a different form. In American society, racism is still evident today in racial symbols, covert racism and affirmative action.

Race and racism continue to exist in our world, and with the assistance of white privilege it becomes increasingly difficult to find a solution. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s book, “Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?” provides an understanding of why race and racism continue to operate in our world. Tatum effectively answers the question she poses as the title of her book; moreover, I agree with her perception of Affirmative Action and the word racist, but I do not agree with the definition of racism in her book.

It has become common to live in an environment where people think white people are superior to people of color, or that there is only privilege for whites. Other factors that are causes to racism are, peer pressure, upbringing, stereotypes, personal experiences, and unfamiliarity. Many of these examples occur when we live a system that is constructed in a way that supports these beliefs. As far as institutional and individual racism, there is demographic data that explains the division society along the lines of white and people of color (Pearson, 53). In todays society we see many people being discriminated due to these factors, leading to poverty, poverty programs, and income maintenance (Pearson, 88). It is vey common in our society to be structured to follow institutional racism. Without personally having power or being culturally aware that they have power or that they are in a situation of privilege. The result in today society based on racism in America, most Americans naturally

In “Racism Without Racists,” written by Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Bonilla-Silva argues that racism in the United States is very much alive and well; however, it has taken on a new form he likes to call color-blind racism. Bonilla-Silva focuses his argument around the foundation, and definition of color-blind racism; this is a form of racism where “whites rationalize minorities’ contemporary status as the product of market dynamics, naturally occurring phenomena, and blacks’ imputed cultural limitations” (Bonilla-Silva 2). He explains that this ideology has grown since the 1960s, and furthers his argument by analyzing historical trends that support his claim. Not only does he compare and contrast the post-civil rights era, where blatant racist

These people are correct in a sense; loud and public acts of racism are no longer prevalent in the US as they were in the past. However, today racism is stealthy and unspoken, and often deftly covered up with fabricated cover stories to legitimize the discrimination. This new breed of racism is perhaps even more difficult to fight against than its more egregious past self; its subtlety allows its perpetuators to claim ignorance of any discrimination, and its lack of media attention lulls Americans into complacence and acceptance of the current system. Further disturbing is the prevalence of “covert racism”, also commonly called “subconscious racism”. Many white Americans may actively stereotype and discriminate against blacks without even being aware of their actions and thought processes (BlackYouthProject). This phenomenon is a sad consequence of being raised a subtly racist society which perpetuates discrimination, even if never openly. Many subconscious racists may also be unwittingly subscribing to “symbolic racism”. In J.H. Moore’s book Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, Henry Sears characterizes symbolic racism as the endorsement of four specific beliefs:

Racism is the belief that one race is superior or holds dominance over another because it fails to meet requirements set by that 'superior ' group. To think that racism has ceased to exist is naïve. Racism crops up in many places that you wouldn’t think twice about such as in our criminal justice system, the ads, billboards and television commercials we produce, as well as in the small exchanges or interactions that happen in our day to day lives. In March 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that in the federal system, “black offenders receive sentences that are 10% longer than white offenders for the same crimes”(USSC, 2010). Furthermore, “African Americans were two to three times more likely to be pulled over and searched [while driving], yet no more likely to be engaged in any criminal activity than white Americans.” (The Covenant, 2006). Blacks being selected more often and sentenced longer than whites for the same criminal acts is a very clear example of racism working in America within the last ten years.

One can say that life today is more pleasant than that of the 1950s. However, it is crucial to note that racism is far from eliminated in society. Although the major step of equal rights has been set, judgment of people based on the color of their skin still exists.

Racial and ethnic perceptions affect nearly everyone on this planet. These perceptions play a major role on the statuses of individuals associated with the labels. Native Americans are not an exception from this. For centuries they have been the victim of many racial stereotypes and this has greatly affected their status as American citizens. Currently they account for 1.2 percent of the U.S. population compared to whites who make up 62 percent of the population (Broman Review). This small percentage of the population is even more alarming when you analyze how white’s racial and ethnic perceptions of Native Americans made it so that they are greatly underrepresented in many social institutions. From education to employment Native Americans have for centuries been subject to harmful racial and ethnic perceptions.