An Analysis Of Mixed-Blood Stew By Richard Rodriguez

Dictionaries are not much help in understanding what is meant by the word. They usually define it as the belief that one's own ethnic stock is superior to others, or as the belief that culture and behavior are rooted in race. When Americans speak of racism they mean a great deal more than this. Nevertheless, the dictionary definition of racism is a clue to understanding what Americans do mean. A peculiarly American meaning derives from the current dogma that all ethnic stocks are equal.

Most people in US are either descendants of immigrants or immigrants and identification using one’s race is not essential because it makes individuals from other races uncomfortable. Multiculturalism in the US can be comforting to individuals from other countries because it makes it difficult for an individual to easily identify the cultural practices of the Native Americans. Americans should not be identified based on their race because of the barbaric acts associated with racism. Individuals born in America should not identify by race before the word “American” because of the implication of such mechanism of identification to the society. Identification of an individual based on their race promotes racism, which entails individuals from a particular race viewing their race as better compared to the others.

Are black people that different than white people? This is both a question and concern society focuses much attention on today, is there cultural assimilation in the United States or does the country still remain segregated? Realistically, America has a long way to come before saying it fully integrates both races equally. Donnell Alexander, author of “Cool Like Me” approaches the topic of the prejudices whites have of blacks, arguing that there exists no cultural integration and the United States is still separated. With many lucid examples using expressive tones and personal examples, he compares the coolness of himself to the coolness of other blacks and other cultures in order to get the reader to identify “cool” and relate it as a black quality and observe it in American culture as a style and a way of thinking.

Appiah argues that the only race in the United States is the Human Race. He states, that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race,” (Appiah 102) which means that culture defines the world that we live in and is the reason why our world is what it is today. Humans are rather being separated based off their cultural differences instead of racial because it affects their behavior in many ways. For example, culture influences the human mind because a child has to be ... ... middle of paper ... .... Sadly, America will always view blacks as one.

Malcolm X: His very name is a stab to the beliefs of the white supremacists of his time—"X" symbolizing "the rejection of ‘slave-names' and the absence of an inherited African name to take its place." Similarly, in his speech "The Ballot or the Bullet", Malcolm X denounces the actions of the white population, without any attempts to appeal to them; his approach to the civil rights issue is in complete opposition to the tactics of other civil rights leaders of his time, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Rather than trying to integrate the black community into the white, he focuses on the complete separation of them: he doesn't want the blacks to integrate into the white hotels, he wants blacks to own the hotels. He believed that the black population had to break the psychological, cultural, economic, and political dependency on their oppressors. By using tactical phrasing of his sentences that connects to his audience emotionally, Malcolm X attacks the tendency of African-Americans to identify with White America, and insists they identify instead with Africans, their ancestors; thus, he promotes his purpose: to instill a feeling of self-respect and self-help in his fellow African-Americans, which in turn is the stepping stone to the liberation of the Black people. Malcolm X begins breaking down the bridge between Black and White America at the beginning of the speech, phrasing his sentences in such a way as to convince his audience of the fact that your place of residence does not determine who you are, and therefore blacks shouldn't identify with White America.

For example, blacks are often seen as uneducated which, as in Williams’ case, can lead to unfair treatment. Racist people or organization can lead minorities to have the inability to experience the same job opportunities, education, and healthcare benefits among many other situations. In order to reform the treatment of people the racial caste system needs to be destroyed in the United States and throughout the world. It is time to realize that all humans are biologically equally; our variations are simply traits that define our genetics, not necessarily or backgrounds or morals.

In conclusion, the stop and frisk law is bringing negative attention to topics, which Americans have, tried smooth over for decades. It justifies racism, racial profiling, and creates a negative views of individuals. Race is sociopolitical; it is created and reinforced by social and institutional norms and practices (Castaneda and Zuniga, 2013). This is not a idea that needs attention paid to it, for person should be based on their achievements and personality, not by the racial profiling of another.

Whether classified within ... ... middle of paper ... ...of many concepts forwarded by academicians that inaccurately assesses identity development. Dr. Cross conceptualized theories are oversimplified, as they implicate all black Americans as unified in their upbringing; family structure; values systems, beliefs, economic status, level of education, and exposures to racial indifference; which is clearly inaccurate. Simplistic models of this sort exclude an individual’s experiential background, which provides important variables to consider when assessing one’s comprehension of what it means to be black. Further, Dr. Cross’ model failed to explicate a connection between identity and psychological functions. It is vitally important that we suspend these types conceptual theories that label and classify our experiences, and develop accurate psychological theories that encompasses all variables that makes us who we are.

Race vs. Social Class THESIS: Race differences in identity and social position were, and are, more important than class differences in American society. "Events in the nineteenth century made it abundantly and irrefutably clear that race as a concept sui generis superseded social class as the dominant mechanism of social division and stratification in North America." (Smedley 219) For many decades people have been using race as a way to classify humans into different social categories. Lower, Middle, and Upper classes were created to divide humans into appropriate categories using their individual lifestyles, financial income, residence, and occupation. People decided to ignore this classifying system and classify one another, simply by the color of their skin.

People should have been more open to the black people and their way of life sooner because of their unique culture. In a much larger scale picture, racism in America still exists and even though it isn’t as harsh as it was in the movie or the book, it still affects everyone. In today’s society, people still need to be accepting of one another and get over the fact that they are different.