Racial Discrimination History

Racial discrimination has been a controversial topic throughout US history. It is clear that the social construction of race influences access to valuable resources in society, as well as categorizing people into a certain “class” which allows for minimal movement in this so-called social stratification system. Many believe that racism arose from inequalities dating back to the 1600’s. Some believe that the only way to solve the issue is through reparations; however, others think reparations will only threaten America’s pride and nationalism. In order to check the controversy surrounding reparations, we can look at the separate views held by Ta-Nehisi Coates and Kevin B Williamson. Ta-Neshi Coates explains that we should acknowledge slavery

Dating back to the first era of race relations, the Slavery Era, share cropping, black codes, and the stigma surrounding genetic inferiority of the “Negro” race allowed for sharecroppers ‘“wages treated as the landlord’s slush fund.” This meant that the whites and landlords had total control of the black’s wages. Once the Slavery Era was over, however, land was not given back to the blacks. It was instead given to whites. In some instances, the land that was once someone’s personal property was later turned into country clubs and baseball fields. Coate’s explains this dilemma by stating “the case for reparations rests on a really, really simple notion, what you have taken should be given back.” Further, in the late 19th/early 20th century of the Jim Crow Era of race relations, blacks migrated to industrialized places in the north to escape oppression in the south. However, once the blacks reached the northern industrialized areas, they were faced with hardships such as work and housing discrimination. Through the Functionalist Perspective we see that during this era, people believed that they couldn’t change the working system because society’s functional needs. People believed blacks were not equipped to do anything besides picking cotton, and that changing their roles would disrupt function within society. In “The Case against Reparations,” Williamson notes, however, that even if racism hadn’t existed when they moved, “it is likely that economic development will tend to proceed along broad racial channels” because people engage in social-sorting behavior naturally. On the other side of this argument, though, Coates notes that blacks are discriminated against and that Williamson is pointing to the social construction of race and disregarding that the reasons behind