Adam Goodman Response: 10/29 In his book, The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, Glenn C. Loury avoids discussing racial discrimination, which we have often focused on in class. Instead, Loury chooses to focus on “racial stigma.” Loury claims this stigma, and the associations and stereotypes that are linked with it, appear to sustain systematic racial inequality in America. Unlike discrimination, The effects of racial stigma are more subtle and are deeply embedded in the historical narrative of the nation. As Loury notes, America is often said to be a “melting pot,” a land of immigrants where everyone’s culture contributes to the whole of society.…
I ask how America is becoming more unequal, if she wasn’t equal to begin with. The great Karl Max said “America has always been unequal to and that it’s based off of the philosophy of “Capitalism”, which is an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange for wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporation, especially as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth .So is America becoming more unequal the answer is yes? My next question is this a good or bad thing. I say it’s a bad thing because inequality is not fair at all. But then you have the people that say no to the issue because we have a black president, but I think that the dumbest answer I’ve ever heard. The fact that we have a black president doesn’t mean anything. It still doesn’t compensate for the lack of healthcare to the lower class or why they are raising taxes, or why racialism is still in effect, or politics. The world will and has always been divided based upon race. And that’s why I think this issue is important to me and my classmates.…
They are socially conditioned to think this way from an early age, just as men are socialized to be chauvinistic, women are socialized to be submissive, and transgender and homosexuals are socialized to be ashamed of their sexuality. Whites would like to believe that they have earned their place in society, but the truth of the matter is, they are privileged. White fragility becomes apparent when this is challenged. White people are reluctant to recognize the impact their race has on their lives and on the lives of all those around them. They have a tendency to believe that what they have accomplished in life is totally because of the person that they are, not because of the color of their skin. Whites never think of themselves as a race or group – they are the majority. Therefore, they never have to think about what it means to be “white.” The subject of race is most likely never a conversation in their household because it is not a term that they associate with. On the other hand, I am willing to bet that the subject of race at a person of color’s home, is a frequent conversation. When the issue of race and racism comes up, whites in general, do not want to talk about racism or want to be accused of being a racist. Some stay silent, some are defiant, and some just bury their heads in the sand and lack the racial stamina to deal with this very real issue out of fear or defensiveness. No one likes to be accused of anything negative, such as being called a racist, sexist, or prejudiced in any way, but the truth of the matter is, people only get defensive when the claim is true. So, deep down, white people must know that they are racist or white fragility would not exist. If you are born non-white, you have a race, you live in a segregated environment – schools, jobs, social images – and opportunities can be very limited because you are less privileged. You may feel like…
White Privilege is the privilege that is given to white skin or light skin people. They do not earn it, it is given to them due to their skin tone. White privilege is unfair for people of color, this is unfair by Caucasians getting better treatment, and this has been going on for generations. The majority of the time a person of color has the chance to earn privilege, a white person comes in and takes the chance the person of color had. People of color are told, they are considered “equal”, yet it is never shown as the old quote has been said before “actions speak louder than words”. The government has always said look past skin color and look at the individual’s personality, yet when shown in action there us hate shown based upon skin color.…
Great response Quinne! You have provided some interesting reflections on the idea of whiteness. Your statement “racism is a system of oppression” is extremely true. We live in a world where societal inequalities exist and where races are discriminated against, not treated fairly, and oppressed. In addition, there are also groups of people who are advantaged and receive benefits and privileges that are unearned and unfair. Wouldn’t life be great if we valued and respected people regardless of identities such as gender, race, age, religion, and nationality? In this dream world, everyone would have equitable access to resources and opportunities and would be able to live out their full potential. Sadly, this is the not the case resulting…
Segregation was a big limiting factor for African Americans. In 1877, Blacks were being further separated from Whites. At the end of the 19th century Jim Crow laws went into effect that segregated in parks, railroads, hospitals, and schools. Blacks were treated as less than Whites and even though many considered this against the 14th amendment, in Plessy V. Ferguson, it was considered constitutional. Even though Blacks were able to get an education, due to the Jim Crow laws Blacks and Whites were separated. Their education wasn’t as nice as White’s education, Blacks got out dated, raggedy textbooks, while Whites got new ones.…
In 1961 the Kennedy Administration put into effect Executive Order 10925 which ultimately became what is now known as Affirmative Action. The premise of this doctrine authorizes the hiring of minorities in an effort to ensure race and gender equality across the board. This decree is not solely applicable to the workforce; it is also in effect in the admittance of minority students in colleges and universities as well. Although its initial objective to ensure diversity and balance is admirable, it has now become quite controversial considering the need for “quotas” and diversity in lieu of qualified individuals (D’Souza, 1995).…
Racial disparities the US is clearly seen in many areas like education, healthcare, income, justice achievement, and many others. After analyzing diverse types of racial disparities, I saw that some causes of racial disparity are the same. For example, poverty is affecting people in every stage. If you are poor you cannot have access to good education, proper health quality, fair justice and so on. Another cause is unconscious bias, where people are acting racial unconsciously because this is what they think is normal, acceptable. Numerous statistics show how people act like racist one toward another. I also have seen many stereotypes regardless African-American people, and how those stereotypes influence their life. For instance, black convicts…
Race and inequality continue to affect quality education in America. These factors continue to represent a major problem in social stratum in both emerging and successful countries. Inspite of some work the government has done to eliminate prejudice for example, make the law strict against racism, some people still continue to spread racism. Racism continues in numerous countries, such as the United states. Race continue to affect the quality of education…
When we hear the word “America” we often think of independence, opportunity, and success. Equal opportunity can be defined as every individual granted a fair chance and should be treated the same. The opportunity should overlook religion, race, sex, ethnicity, etc. For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been studying the nature of inequality and how it’s had a negative impact on society. From the outside looking in, it seems as if America is the land of equal opportunity, however, that is not accurate. The United States is not the land of equal opportunity. People of different races have to fight daily for fair opportunities. Inequality affects the ability of people who wants to improve the standards of their lives and contribution to society.…
Racial inequality remains a daily and general fact of life still to this day. It happens in many different forms. Some basics, housing, (People of the same race will live only in community were other people of their same race and or wealth are just for comfort) credit markets, (Minorities will always have a harder time receiving credit because of the history of lack of wealth) employment (Employees tend to hire a white person over a minority and when handed a resume, a white name on a resume [John vs Jamal] would get looked at first,) education (because minorities tend to live in poor neighborhood the school lack resources and fund, thus leaves for poor education )and the criminal justice(minorities always look guilty in…
Simply put, a representative democracy is a system of government in which all eligible citizens vote on representatives to pass laws for them. As Americans, we elect a president and members of Congress, and also elect local and state officials. All of these elected officials supposedly listen to the populace and do what is best for the nation, state or jurisdiction as a whole. Is this real autotomy of choice? If so does the hypocritical platform that America was founded upon affect our present day lives? Voting officials into office to make decisions for us does not constitute real freedom or liberty of choice. Every decision made in contemporary American government is affected and altered by the way American freedom was developed.…
Racial disparities among African Americans aren’t the only problematic race in America. Latinos are also runner up in racial problems. US health racial disparities have been neglected despite the fact that Latino communities range from mixes of all different other races. This researched compared the mortality rate among Latin Americans and other races in the United States. Most Latin Americans are immigrants, so they are unable to receive the best health benefits if even any at all. Most of the disparity has come from mostly birth problems (i.e. low birth weight, maternal infections, and smoking.)Just like the Black race, “weathering” has been a high risk for Latinos. Psychological and environmental stressors cause a high risk of health problems.…
A world is made up of different elements: water, earth, and life. Elements that define human’s life; and evolution of humanity starts with these ingredients, ingredients that achieve peace in humanity. However, in present day, there is a large issue circulating around the globe and that is racial inequality. Alas, this particular issue has been present for an abundance amount of time; and the only difference between racial inequality in the past and in the present is slavery has been abolished in North America. Yet, there are a considerable number of people who are supporting racial equality in the United States. It might seem difficult, but it is a possible task to attain racial equality in the land of dreams.…
The United States is a country that prides itself on diversity and individualism. While these ideals are very much true, often times, the pursuit of happiness and the American Dream are harder to attain for people of color or those who don’t abide by “social norms”. American policies are set in place to keep heterosexual, white males in power thus institutionalizing patriarchal, heteronormative and eurocentristic values. The tendency to view all issues from this perspective prevents the voices and experiences of minorities from entering the discussion and instead further disenfranchises them. Likewise, history tends to gloss over the exclusion and oppression of these groups along with their contributions to our society, thus maintaining the…