Racial Issues In Big Cities
Racial issues are an important part of any city in America today. America is a racially diverse country but still seems to have many problems as far as racial equality, race relations, and encouraging diversity. My community is in, what I think, is a fairly unique situation in terms of race. According to the census and other sources I found on the internet, the population of Fulton NY is 95.9% white. This seems to be quite different from many places in this country today. The city of Syracuse is only about thirty minutes away and the numbers there tell a very different story. In Syracuse the white population only makes up 62.4% of the people there with African Americans making up 25%. This difference hopefully helps you understand why my town is different than many others. In my community, most people look like I do as far as skin color and the like. I tend to have little contact with anyone I would consider a minority. I would say I interact with a non white person maybe once or twice a week. There are of course differences in appearance even when people are of the same race. It’s really hard to say how
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different people in my community are from one another because they are all generally the same in terms of appearance. We have many people of Italian descent or Polish descent who are just as different as someone who is of Japanese descent. Because of the color of our skin though, it is hard to tell which is which. If I expand my “community” outward to include the city of Syracuse, I would be telling a different story. From what I have experienced, it almost seems like the number of white and non white people in the city are fairly equal. I notice a lot more African Americans in the larger city than I do here in Fulton. It seems to me that most everyone in my community treats one another the same. People are generally friendly regardless of race from what I have noticed. The few African American people I have interacted with or just seen around town are treated no different than others in my experience. As far as community leaders go, I have never seen anyone in a position of power treat anyone differently because of their race, religion, etc. I have heard some inappropriate racial remarks periodically in reference to people of middle eastern descent but those occasions are fairly rare and really only seem to come from average citizens who are a little more ignorant than most. In Syracuse, there have been issues with officers of the law or other people with power being accused of being motivated by race when they act. These are not events that I have seen firsthand so I am hesitant to call them the truth. These are just things I have heard or seen because of the local media. The media in my area seems to represent my race very well. Most of the reporters or news anchors I see are good looking white people who seem to always be discussing something about the rebuilding of some historic site, school board meetings, or other events that only seem to pertain to a certain segment of the population. I have noticed that the local media always seems to be writing or reporting on stories that only upper middle class white people would really be interested in. You may be asking yourself why I would say that. Well, Fulton NY has a very low average income per family (33,000) as does Syracuse (25,000). I find it hard to believe that these people are really all that interested in attending a charity banquet in the city or something. It’s hard to come up with specific examples of what I mean as far as the media being biased in its reporting, but I think you understand what I mean. The leadership in my community is probably much the same as it is anywhere else. It tends to be a lot of old white people who are in charge in various parts of the local government, schools, etc. It’s hard to say where they stand as far as racial issues because other races are represented so poorly where I live. Since a majority of the town’s population is white, racial issues are very rarely addressed. Come to think of it, I have never heard of any minority group requesting more attention to their needs or a better representation of their interests since I have lived in this area. However, the story changes when you look at more urban areas like Syracuse. There are sections of the city where it seems that only African Americans live. In my experience these tend to be older areas of the city that have been neglected a lot more than the wealthier parts. I know that there are many people who are unhappy with this trend and are trying to find a way to reverse it. Having people of other races in positions of power might solve this problem I think. When it comes to the inequities mentioned above, I think the simplest solution is to get everyone on an even playing field so to speak.
Revitalizing certain areas of Fulton and Syracuse would probably lead to better relations between people in general. There are many buildings in both the small town of Fulton and the large city of Syracuse that are in need of repair and happen to be where minorities reside. If I could, I would also change how the media works around this area. Every time a crime is reported, it seems like it is an African American who has perpetrated it. I feel that this slant makes people more afraid of one another and makes getting along harder. This is actually a problem that I believe the country as a whole has when it comes to race. There always seems to be a minority responsible for committing crimes in communities across the
country. Many of the topics of the text that dealt with racial issues were about African Americans and Hispanic Americans. These are the two major minority groups in my community so they were the most familiar to me. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, due to some of the inequities of the cities of Fulton and Syracuse, it seems like there is more crime in the areas occupied by minority groups. This is magnified by the media and sometimes blown out of proportion. The majority of African and Hispanic Americans in this area are model citizens. They contribute to the community, the churches, and the workforce. There are some who are delinquent, but there are just as many, if not more, that are white Americans. It is the same story here as it is in larger cities, just not on as grand a scale. In conclusion, Fulton New York is a fairly small, quiet city, home to a mostly white population. The few minorities are regarded as a part of the community, not treated any differently. In my opinion, the media is the major fault of our area. They portray lower middle class citizens, especially minorities, as criminals, all while promoting functions and ideas that benefit the upper middle class white citizens. It is the same story in Syracuse but on a much larger scale. The minorities of Central New York would do good to stand up against these prejudices caused by the media. City Data. 2008. On Board LLC. 13 July 2008 <http://www.city-data.com/city/Fulton-New-York.html>.
City Data. 2008. On Board LLC. 13 July 2008 <http://www.city-data.com/city/Syracuse-New-York.html>.
Shaefer, R. T. (2006). Racial and Ethnic Groups (10th ed.). Prentice-Hall
different people in my community are from one another because they are all generally the same in terms of appearance. We have many people of Italian descent or Polish descent who are just as different as someone who is of Japanese descent. Because of the color of our skin though, it is hard to tell which is which. If I expand my “community” outward to include the city of Syracuse, I would be telling a different story. From what I have experienced, it almost seems like the number of white and non white people in the city are fairly equal. I notice a lot more African Americans in the larger city than I do here in Fulton. It seems to me that most everyone in my community treats one another the same. People are generally friendly regardless of race from what I have noticed. The few African American people I have interacted with or just seen around town are treated no different than others in my experience. As far as community leaders go, I have never seen anyone in a position of power treat anyone differently because of their race, religion, etc. I have heard some inappropriate racial remarks periodically in reference to people of middle eastern descent but those occasions are fairly rare and really only seem to come from average citizens who are a little more ignorant than most. In Syracuse, there have been issues with officers of the law or other people with power being accused of being motivated by race when they act. These are not events that I have seen firsthand so I am hesitant to call them the truth. These are just things I have heard or seen because of the local media. The media in my area seems to represent my race very well. Most of the reporters or news anchors I see are good looking white people who seem to always be discussing something about the rebuilding of some historic site, school board meetings, or other events that only seem to pertain to a certain segment of the population. I have noticed that the local media always seems to be writing or reporting on stories that only upper middle class white people would really be interested in. You may be asking yourself why I would say that. Well, Fulton NY has a very low average income per family (33,000) as does Syracuse (25,000). I find it hard to believe that these people are really all that interested in attending a charity banquet in the city or something. It’s hard to come up with specific examples of what I mean as far as the media being biased in its reporting, but I think you understand what I mean. The leadership in my community is probably much the same as it is anywhere else. It tends to be a lot of old white people who are in charge in various parts of the local government, schools, etc. It’s hard to say where they stand as far as racial issues because other races are represented so poorly where I live. Since a majority of the town’s population is white, racial issues are very rarely addressed. Come to think of it, I have never heard of any minority group requesting more attention to their needs or a better representation of their interests since I have lived in this area. However, the story changes when you look at more urban areas like Syracuse. There are sections of the city where it seems that only African Americans live. In my experience these tend to be older areas of the city that have been neglected a lot more than the wealthier parts. I know that there are many people who are unhappy with this trend and are trying to find a way to reverse it. Having people of other races in positions of power might solve this problem I think. When it comes to the inequities mentioned above, I think the simplest solution is to get everyone on an even playing field so to speak.
Revitalizing certain areas of Fulton and Syracuse would probably lead to better relations between people in general. There are many buildings in both the small town of Fulton and the large city of Syracuse that are in need of repair and happen to be where minorities reside. If I could, I would also change how the media works around this area. Every time a crime is reported, it seems like it is an African American who has perpetrated it. I feel that this slant makes people more afraid of one another and makes getting along harder. This is actually a problem that I believe the country as a whole has when it comes to race. There always seems to be a minority responsible for committing crimes in communities across the
country. Many of the topics of the text that dealt with racial issues were about African Americans and Hispanic Americans. These are the two major minority groups in my community so they were the most familiar to me. As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, due to some of the inequities of the cities of Fulton and Syracuse, it seems like there is more crime in the areas occupied by minority groups. This is magnified by the media and sometimes blown out of proportion. The majority of African and Hispanic Americans in this area are model citizens. They contribute to the community, the churches, and the workforce. There are some who are delinquent, but there are just as many, if not more, that are white Americans. It is the same story here as it is in larger cities, just not on as grand a scale. In conclusion, Fulton New York is a fairly small, quiet city, home to a mostly white population. The few minorities are regarded as a part of the community, not treated any differently. In my opinion, the media is the major fault of our area. They portray lower middle class citizens, especially minorities, as criminals, all while promoting functions and ideas that benefit the upper middle class white citizens. It is the same story in Syracuse but on a much larger scale. The minorities of Central New York would do good to stand up against these prejudices caused by the media. City Data. 2008. On Board LLC. 13 July 2008 <http://www.city-data.com/city/Fulton-New-York.html>.
City Data. 2008. On Board LLC. 13 July 2008 <http://www.city-data.com/city/Syracuse-New-York.html>.
Shaefer, R. T. (2006). Racial and Ethnic Groups (10th ed.). Prentice-Hall