Social Issues In The 1960's Essay

Following many years of struggle, separation, and social injustice, the 1960s was a period of social and political revival. Particularly regarding racial equality, Congress ratified the Civil Right’s Act of 1964 which outlawed discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. With several prominent civil right’s activists present, such as the well-respected Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the bill on July 2, 1964. In theory, the new legislation would exterminate prejudice; however, fifty-two years later racism is still prevalent within the United States. Although Jim Crowe laws have since been abolished, today minorities are oppressed through other social constructs such as employment,
For example, during pregnancy high levels of stress may have adverse effects such as low birth weights in infants and delivery difficulties for the mother. According to CITE- SOURCES, “It has long been recognized that African-American infants are more than twice as likely as White infants to die in their first year of life.” While other biological elements contribute to this factor, the amount of stress placed upon African-American females also plays a major role in the increased death rates among black children. In a study conducted by Cheryl Woods-Giscombé and Marci Lobel, the two set out to investigate if there is any correlation between stress, gender, and race. African-American women were used as the population, and in their findings, it was concluded that race-related and gender-related stress made equal contributions to anxiety within the sample. Consistent with Wood- Giscombé and Lobel’s results, Collins notes “Chronic stress is a more prominent feature in the daily lives of African-American women than in the daily lives of White women.” CITE Consequently, it is also important to note that “African-American women experience a disproportionately high rate of stress-related health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, and adverse birth outcomes (Office on Women’s Health, 2006)” CITE In terms of health, racial
Board of Education that segregation of academic facilities was illegal, because of racial stratification minorities still do not have educational equality. For starters, when evaluating the administrative demographics, it is noted that minorities are misrepresented. Here, at the University of Georgia, a mere 12.8% of the staff identify themselves as black compared to 72% for their white counterparts. While the race of the staff does not predict the quality of education delivered, it does affect the way students are able to identify with and be understood by their professors. Another way racial inequality appears within education is the separation of students according to ability groups or “tracks.” According to Kao and Thompson, “Numerous studies have shown that poor children and racial and ethnic minorities are disproportionately placed in low-ability groups early in their educational careers and in non-college-bound groupings in junior high and high school (Joseph 1998, Slavin & Braddock 1993, Oakes 1985).” While this division may seem arbitrary, the effects of it are lasting as ““…blacks, and especially Hispanics and Native Americans, are significantly more likely than white or other minority students to drop out of school.”CITE Lastly, as a result of socioeconomic factors education has become more racially stratified. Because of poor funding often associated with urban,