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Knowledge is Power
Francis Bacon once stated, “knowledge is power” (PsychologyToday). To know and understand how something works, gives you power over those who do not understand. If you have knowledge of something, you not only know how it works, but have the ability to then discover how to change it. In this system in the United States of America, those who know the history and patterns also have the power to change it. Having the knowledge of the history that the colored people in this country never were designed to be in power then gives me the ability to understand that the system was designed this way. Rather than fighting the system that is in place as the previous generation did during the Civil Rights Movement, it is my proposition that we change the system.
The facts clearly state the system is not designed for minority people to excel. “Most Americans are not middle class but working class: 62 percent of Americans belong the working class” (Rieger, pg. 35). What Rieger did not mentioned was how many of these persons in the working class were of the minority in this country. The facts still stated that race matters. Rieger stated the statistic that “African American children who are born in the bottom quartile are nearly twice as likely to remain there as adults than are white children whose parents had identical incomes, and are four times less likely to attain the top quartile” (Rieger, pg. 43). Another alarming statistic was that “individuals and families at greatest risk for poverty are men with less than a college education, people of color (especially blacks and Hispanics), working families and families headed by women” (Rieger, pg. 45). To reinforce these statistics, Rieger stated that “In 2003, a person of col...
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...d be not beneficial for the issues pertaining to the power differentials found in our society. Ringer’s focus on broken relationships being mended is what almost transitioned my thoughts from changing the system, to changing individual’s mindsets. Jesus asked that we forgive those who have trespassed against us. Through the readings from James Cone’s, God was displayed a being who was angry with the oppressor. With this mindset of mending broken relationships, it appears more closely with Jesus’ request for us to forgive others. My conclusion is now stated to not only change the system, but also change our mindsets as Romans 12:2 stated “Don 't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God 's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Biblegateway).
Starting in the 1890s, southern states ratified literacy tests, poll taxes, elaborate registration systems, and in time, whites-only Democratic Party primaries to preclude black voters (White Only: Jim Crow in America, Separate is not Equal). These worked because some colored people did not have the opportunity to get an education, and/or didn’t have the money to pay the poll taxes. This took away the colored peoples civil rights because it took away their opportunity to have a say in what goes on in their country. It takes away their right to state their opinion on how the country is
...ing Black or White, or even being Hispanic or Asian. It’s about the fight for a greater and better tomorrow and for the type of future we want our kids to live in. You asked my opinion about race relations in the United States since King’s assassination strengthened or weakened his arguments on the necessity and value of civil disobedience? With the example, I think by now we know that the race relation in the U.S.A has strengthened the necessity and value of civil disobedience. Currently we live in the age of communication, I refer to the internet. Through this technology we can blog about our thoughts, problems and what on our mind without resorting to violence. We can also reach more people faster than ever before and we can talk directly with our legislature by e-mail. Now at days the government listens to the American people more than forty-three years ago.
...aiting for. We are the change that we seek. All in all, just like Oliver Brown and the NAACP , do not live life waiting for things to happen, take control of today and be the future of yet to come. If you live life in fear and accept what is handed to you, you can never succeed.
America has been described as a "melting pot"-- a land full of diversity. With that diversity comes a full range of income levels and statuses of its inhabitants, from the very, very rich to the destitute. Ronald Taylor's article entitled "African-American Youth: Their Social and Economic Status in the United States" focuses on the issue of polarization. Polarization occurs when an increase of the percentage of people in poverty coincides with an increase of the percentage of people with higher incomes. Fewer people are considered 'middle class', but are either rich or poor.
The reality of wage differences between men and women is that above all changes women continue to earn less than men. Countless arguments have promoted that wage inequality has changed and that everyone finally receives an equal amount of pay. “For women of color, the gap is largest of all: In 2006, black and Hispanic women earned 86 and 87 cents on the white man’s dollar, respectively,” (Mcswane 2). If a woman is lucky enough she will get an equal pay compared to a man doing the same job. But it is challenging for a woman of a minority background to achieve this. Not only are women paid less because of their sex, but also because of their race. There seems to be a mentality that because someone is a woman and a minority that they cannot do the same job as men or that women do not have the same education as the men, so employers do not have to pay them the same. “When the numbers are broken down by district, they 're pretty hard to ignore. Women in Texas are being utterly screwed financially, according to the data compiled by AAWU, with women earning anywhere from 66 percent of what men do in some districts, to the top end of things, which is about 89 percent,” (Leicht 4). The proof cannot be ignored. It i...
When affirmative action was first instituted, the majority of Americans supported its goal of moving the poorest members of minority groups to an improved position in society. Over time, however, affirmative action proponents have lost sight of this goal. Affirmative action programs have ceased to function as a rising tide designed to lift all boats and have instead become preoccupied with helping those near the top. Too little attention has been paid to helping those at the bottom, as a result, the lives of minorities living in poverty have become increasingly bleak. Today, our inner-cities more closely resemble a war zone in Bosnia than they do an American suburb, and conditions continue to deteriorate. This is wrong, an...
Minority groups are given different criteria to meet when applying to college. This is an attempt to compensate for the hardships many minority groups had to face in history. As examined by Hoover Institution’s Thomas Sowell this advantage benefits minority applicants from middle and upper class backgrounds. As a result of admissions using a zero sum game, which is where one person’s gain is another person’s loss, these preferences hurt some applicants who meet admission standards in unequal numbers (Sacks and Thiel). If this predilection were genuinely meant to redress disadvantages, it would not be given on the basis of ethnicity. Supporters of affirmative action claim that affirmative action advocates diversity. But if diversity were the goal, then
Alicia Ganza, her close friend Patrisse Cullors and another friend Opal Tometi used a simple slogan to convince people that they should act to change the system. Of course, most of us are on board with the new movement because we get it. We get it because we’ve seen the numbers and we’ve heard the stories. We all sat quietly together and watched the same film 13TH, a 2016 Netflix documentary that highlighted the current state of the mass incarceration of people of color in America. I am sure that after that film some of my fellow students still walked away unconvinced that there is a racial disparity and that statistics lie. I am with Alicia Garza when she says that it makes her angry especially when people try to deny any of this racial disparity is actually
The United States has a long, brutal history of social inequality, including but not limited to: racism, sexism, and classism dating all the way back to the European colonizers. When we look at America’s past, we start to notice horrendous instances of injustice and the early formations of modern day social stratification. A way to describe social stratification is “the creation of layers of a population who possess an unequal share of scarce resources” (Loder 2015). Since the resources are not equally distributed, there are some people who have a copious amount of resources and others who barely have enough to survive. Thus rendering social stratification as problematic, because it allows little room for those who were assigned to a lower
When looking back at our country during the civil rights movement, many people are appalled at how people of color were being mistreated and hated for so long. In our society, today, people like to pride themselves in not being racist and being accepting of all different races and cultures. Although people like to think that they are not racist and that our society is entering a “post-racial” phase, the truth is that we are all somewhat subconsciously racist and to think that we will ever become a post-racial society is unrealistic. People may not believe that white privilege is a real issue but the truth is that it is real and it is happening in our country more than ever. Sadly, race still plays a huge and important role on how you are treated and looked at in this country, there are still people in our society who treat others differently simply because of how they look and because of the color of their skin.
Throughout history, African Americans have encountered an overwhelming amount of obstacles for justice and equality. You can see instances of these obstacles especially during the 1800’s where there were various forms of segregation and racism such as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan terrorism, Jim- Crow laws, voting restrictions. These negative forces asserted by societal racism were present both pre and post slavery. Although blacks were often seen as being a core foundation for the creation of society and what it is today, they never were given credit for their work although forced. This was due to the various laws and social morals that were sustained for over 100 years throughout the United States. However, what the world didn’t know was that African Americans were a strong ethnic group and these oppressions and suffrage enabled African Americans for greatness. It forced African Americans to constantly have to explore alternative routes of intellectuality, autonomy and other opportunities to achieve the “American Dream” especially after the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments were passed after the Civil War.
Over the past four-hundred plus years, racism has plagued the history of American society. The idea that one person is inherently better than another because of the color of their skin has always been present from our founding to today. During the rise of the Civil Rights movement in the mid 1900’s, racism was repeatedly being dealt blows by those brave enough to stand up for the rights they felt belonged to citizens of all shapes and colors. One important event that led to progress for people of color was the desegregation of the schooling systems. From young girls walking into all-white schools to black men being selected to participate in different academies, the Civil Rights movement to desegregate schools was influential in how progress
Every generation faces new challenges and new problems to which we have progressed, conquered or simply just swept right under the rug. In today’s world we are increasingly facing numerous social problems, such as income disparity, unemployment, political instability amongst many others, but racism seems to have resurfaced in these past years. Although, the United States has come a long way in the issue of racism, it has never completely conquered it. Incidents such the shooting at Ferguson Missouri has raised an upheaval of protesters against the Country’s system that claims equal treatment and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race or gender. Incidents such as the one previously mentioned, clearly depicts that white-power continues
Most minorities are not presented with the equal opportunities. Socioeconomic status and race have a direct correlation; generally, minorities have lower socioeconomic backgrounds, so they are presented with fewer chances to succeed. This factor is commonly identified within the education system. Those individuals who live in inferior neighborhoods are given a mediocre education, which in turn makes it difficult to progress in society because they lack critical skills needed to obtain a decent job or succeed in higher educational institutions. The fact that the mindsets of people have not progressed since affirmative action was presented, also shows that there is a continued need to help disadvantaged individuals with
Nearly three centuries ago, black men and women from Africa were brought to America and put into slavery. They were treated more cruelly in the United States than in any other country that had practiced slavery. African Americans didn’t gain their freedom until after the Civil War, nearly one-hundred years later. Even though African Americans were freed and the constitution was amended to guarantee racial equality, they were still not treated the same as whites and were thought of as second class citizens. One man had the right idea on how to change America, Martin Luther King Jr. had the best philosophy for advancing civil rights, he preached nonviolence to express the need for change in America and he united both African Americans and whites together to fight for economic and social equality.