Wealth Divide Book Report

I think that little kids don’t know what racism is, but their parents are the ones that raise them the way they are, being racist. How can we tell when kids are being racist? Well because you see kids at school and they have their own little groups with their own race. Whites with whites, blacks with blacks, Latinos with Latinos, etc. A lot of little kids don’t like playing with kids of a different race, we see that in places like daycare or preschool.

Racism is a word that sparks a nerve in many individuals today. As hard as it is to believe, racism is still a big factor in what we as a society know as a unified America. Although, it is not as obvious as it was in the past, it still goes on, just in ways that are less noticeable. We ask the question, is the emphasis on a color-blind society an answer to racism. Ward Connerly claims it is a way to stop the segregation and make America a whole as it has been striving to be for the longest. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva believes color-blind racism is the new racial ideology and still brings about racial inequality. As the solution to the question progresses, we ask ourselves, will a

In William Domhoff’s article, Wealth, Income, and Power, he examines wealth distribution in the United States, specifically financial inequality. He concludes that the wealthiest 10% of the United States effectively owns America, and that this is due in large part to an increase in unequal distribution of wealth between 1983 and 2004. Domhoff also states that the unequal wealth distribution is due in large part to tax cuts for the wealthy and the defeat of labor unions. Most of Domhoff’s information is accurate and includes strong, valid arguments and statements. However, there is room for improvement when identifying the subject of what is causing the inequality.

A Critical Analysis of The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap

Color blind racism is an “ideology, which acquired cohesiveness and dominance in the late 1960s, explains contemporary racial inequality as the outcome of nonracial dynamics,” according to Bonilla-Silva

A popular notion says a child is born “color-blind” and remains color-blind until they reach adolescence. The problem with this concept is that people believe it to be a positive idea. However, it actually presents a damaging ideology – it suggests that race should not be a factor when trying to determine the type of person an individual is. I see it as an unsophisticated approach to view people because race is a vital part of our existence. Race is an attribute that makes individuals differ from one another, and the problem is not the differences in the colors of our skin. The problem is that we attempt to detach ourselves from the reality of being racially different. Racism will seem to inevitably exist, and in order to even try to end the malice, parents should begin teaching children about racism the right way.

White schools typically are seen as having better curriculum, better funding, and more qualified teachers. Also, one might assume that a white mother would be more prone to bigotry and to protest against the issue.

An article on MSNBC stated, “Two-Thirds of educators teaching grades K-12 reported that school children, colored children are scared and stressed out about their future if Donald Trump becomes president according to a recent Southern Poverty Law Center Survey.” Colored children were worried about their future if Donald Trump won presidency.

Even though her sample size was not representative of the whole population it was enough to determine that the main reason why black students are starting to do homeschool is because of racism. Many black parents describe the white teachers through negative commentary due to their children being discriminated. There are many white children who have grown up around stereotypes, just like Korinna in the book Behind The Bedroom Wall. They have been taught to stay away or “bully” black children. In the Washington Posts article, “Racism in schools is pushing more black families to homeschool their children” the text states, “Furthermore, the attitudes and actions of white teachers (who make up 85 percent of all public school teachers) were questioned by many of the African-American parents with whom I spoke. They consistently portrayed white teachers as overly critical, unresponsive, unqualified, insensitive, offensive, mean, hypocritical, and using double standards.” Parents of black students are noticing changes in their children’s behaviors. Research shows that many black students are coming home, crying, due to discrimination. This is the reason that black students are starting to be homeschooled. Further in to the article the text mentions, “Certainly, the parents I interviewed were very much aware of and concerned about the

Many are unaware of the effects that race has played in their lives over the years. Some may not understand its implications, but are very oblivious to it. Race can influence such things like attitude and behavior. Nowadays being white or black means something more than just a Crayola color. No longer are they just colors, they are races with their own rules and regulations. People of color have been inferior to the white race for centuries. In their own way Zora Neale Hurston shows this concept in her story “How it feels to be Colored Me” as does Richard Wright in his autobiographical sketch “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow”.

Another example of how home language or race has impacted children and families is in a classroom that shows in group bias. In group bias towards the groups in which people are members (Patterson & Bigler, 2006). What could happen in an instance such as this is as the children become more aware of societal norms that favor certain groups over others, they will often show a bias toward the socially privileged group (Winkler, 2009). A study showed that children of color as young as five years old show evidence of being aware of, and negatively impact by sterotypes about their racial group (Hirschfeld, 2008). This is evident in a classroom where the children start taking on the bias role of the teacher. In a classroom, children are questioning the skin color of another child. Instead of the teacher stopping to talk about how we are all the same, just different colors, the teacher ignores it. This silence will force children to come up with their own biases, prejudices and assumptions about races other than their own.

A jaw-dropping first chapter welcomes readers who have waited an entire year for Leora’s decision. As you may remember, The Alliance ended with Petersheim pressing a giant pause button—effectively creating a cliffhanger to top all cliffhangers. The Divide opens in that September moment, and then quickly fast forwards six months. Where, having established a new settlement in the mountains, the Mennonite community is buckling under the weight of the Montana’s winter. Amidst food shortages and illness, hope is waning.

In The Politics of the Rich and Poor Phillips claims that the policies implemented during President Regan’s 1980 and 1984 terms enlarged the gap between the rich and the poor in which the rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Phillips states “this book is about the redistribution of power and wealth during the 1980’s: who got it, who lost it and through what policies” (Phillips 1990). Phillips the uses the rest of the book the explain just that.

This year I had the pleasure of reading Napoleon Hill’s book entitled Think and Grow Rich, a book inspired by Andrew Carnegie that reveals how numerous pioneers of industry grew their wealth over time. Since reading this book, I have made a habit of setting clear, achievable goals and using visualization techniques and unwavering persistence to see these goals become reality. Other titles of books I have read this year for pleasure include: Cosmos by Carl Sagan, Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari, For the Love of Physics by Walter Lewin, Get Rich with Dividends by Marc Lichtenfeld, and Seven Elements that Changed the World: An Adventure of Ingenuity and Discovery by John

Wealth has affected american society and evermore has affect the fabric of families. Has the distribution of wealth gotten so out of control that the effect will reverberate for generations to come and as a society can we do something about it.