Advantages And Disadvantages Of Black People Vs White People

Alex Mears
Professor Owens
ENG1101
October 5, 2015
Black people vs White people
(False pretenses, discrimination, and inevitability) In modern society it is clear than African Americans are looked at as second class citizens. Even though “All men are created equal” under the 14th amendment, African Americans are still being discriminated against to this day. Being white in today’s society has almost as many advantages as being black has disadvantages. Does it make sense that a black child upon being born has already had his life predetermined? Not in a sense of religion, but in a sense of constantly having to ask himself, “Am I too black for this job?”, “Will this cop pull me over?”, “If I go to court for a traffic violation will I receive a higher punishment than a white person?”
Coined by W.E.B Du Bois, African American double consciousness is a product of an upbringing in slavery. W.E.B. Du Bois spoke of how he did not want to bring African culture to America or Americanize his African roots, he simply wanted to be able to find a sense of self.

African Americans, according to data from the Department of Education do indeed face harsher punishments in school. Statistics from over 70,000 schools show that African American students were over three and a half times more likely to be suspended or expelled than their Caucasian classmates. The Department of Education even referred to it as a “Student-to-Prison Pipeline” at one point. A study by the CRDC (Civil Rights Data Collection) showed that African American children accounted for 18% of preschool enrollment, 48% of those children received one or more in-school suspension. On the contrary, white students represented 48% of preschool enrollment and 26% of those children received in-school suspension more than once. With these children almost being forced out of school as early as kindergarten, one can only imagine what happens to them as