Since the dawn of time, war has been fought to achieve peace, but more specifically peace with foreign nations. While heroic men and women lay down their lives for such a noble cause, domestic peace is threatened every day. Bigots, racists, and sexists all contribute to the ever-constant violence within our borders. Too many people live in fear: fear of predatory men, fear of embracing themselves, fear of what others would do to them because of their race or religion. The United States is supposed to be a land of freedom and opportunity, for all of its citizens to have access to, as outlined by both the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. Additionally, America was founded on the idea that all men are created equal. However, through …show more content…
An article from the Odyssey reads, “The systematic oppression that is extremely prevalent in American society today seems to be almost fully directed towards the black community, only creating a wider gap between the government and them” (Yeltchev). Oppression creeps into the smallest aspects of life, from day-to-day harassment to a rejected job or college application. *Undeniable traces of systematic oppression have been discovered, from the Jim Crow laws in 1877 to police brutality throughout the 60’s, persisting to this day. In his famous “I Have A Dream” speech, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. referenced systematic oppression as follows: “There are those of you who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality” (King). *While the frequency of Police Brutality may have drastically decreased since this speech was given, systematic oppression and racism towards African Americans still lingers and shapes the decisions of too many citizens. Modern racial prejudice is dismissed by bigots, inoculating Americans against what sense of injustice they might have (Gergi). However, “This has not solved the problems of inequality and prejudice, but merely disguised them… To address such problems of racial discrimination, Americans must first know and accept the continuing depth of prejudice in American society”
Martin Luther King Jr’s Dream has said to have been fulfilled. However, others claim that the dream has only been taken at face value, thus, misunderstood. In John McWhorter’s article, “Black People Should Stop Expecting White America to ‘Wake Up’ to Racism,” he refers to past and recent events to establish the difference between society’s fantasy and the misinterpreted Dream of Dr. King.
Andrea Smith’s “Heteropatriarchy and the Three Pillars of White Supremacy” introduces an alternative framework for the organization of women and people of color (Smith 67). Such framework is non-singular, contrasting the previous which have proven to be limiting to these groups (Smith 67). Through the discussion of the three pillars which are separate, but interrelated and heteropatriarchy within society Smith provides a helpful starting point for organizers to break from systems of oppression and ultimately deconstruct White supremacy (Smith 73).
People commonly believe that property values decline when blacks or non-white move into a neighborhood. However, the real reason why property values decline is because of whites moving away and taking their resources with them. White homebuyers fear that property values will decline rapidly when nonwhite residents begin moving into a neighborhood. What they do not take into consideration is that the nonwhite residents may be their socioeconomic equals. Instead, they focus on race—they categorize individuals into socioeconomic classes on the basis of race. When whites or well-intentioned residents move away, businesses and jobs soon follow suit, thus, creating improvised neighborhoods.
In the world today, racism and discrimination is one of the major issues being faced with. Racism has existed throughout the world for centuries and has been the primary reasons for wars, conflicts, and other human calamities all over the planet. It has been a part of America since the European colonization of North America beginning in the 17th century. Many people are not aware of how much racism still exist in our schools, workforces, and anywhere else that social lives are occurring. It started from slavery in America to caste partiality in India, down to the Holocaust in Europe during World War II.
A quote from Martin Luther King Jr. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most renowned public speakers and advocate for equal rights of African Americans. Despite the story Black Boy, by Richard Wright, taking place several years before Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, there is a prevalent discrimination in both time periods. In the beginning of the novel Black Boy, Richard maintained a facade, or superficial appearance, that blacks were equal to whites. But later, Richard would soon begin understanding the brutalities people of his skin color would face primarily through Jim Crow laws, which extinguished his false sense of equality for blacks and whites. As a young boy, Richard was deprived of a loving and supporting family, despite his effort and “hunger” for such a family. But as Richard grew up he had more freedom and began to come in touch with the real world. Now Richard had acquired a “hunger” for new understanding and knowledge of the real world, and tried to apply this knowledge to the past, present, and future.
While both race and gender have very real societal and, in some instances, personal consequences which enables both to be categorized as real neither race nor gender is more real than the other. Both of them faced and still face overt and covert discrimination, and both of them are built upon a mountain of logical fallacies that are able to ultimately be reduced down to societal standards and obligations forced upon them by the dominant group. Since they are also both deeply embedded in our culture they have become integrated into our sense of who we, as humans, are and in our perceptions of other people and situations.
2) Utilizing Glasberg and Shannon, Chapter 1 Introduction, and the works of Karl Marx explain to the reader the structures of oppression, in reference to power, politics and the state? Utilize the concepts of patriarch, racism and heteronormativity.
Why does racism continue to take place in the United States today? According to the sociology textbook Our Social World, minority groups are ones that differ from the dominant group, which is why they have less power, fewer privileges, and are discriminated against. The textbook also explains how there are numerous ways for dominant and minority groups to interact. Genocide is the killing of the minority group by the dominant group, while pluralism is the complete opposite whereas different ethnic or racial groups accept one another’s beliefs and values, and manage to respect each other. Multiple strategies to cope with prejudice, discrimination, and racism are used by minority groups to deal with their statuses: passing (blending in with dominant groups), acceptance, avoidance, and aggression. In America, racism against minority groups has improved, but is nowhere near ending. To determine people’s opinions on racism and why it exists, I
Racism can take on many forms that plague the brain with irrationality that affects an individual’s thoughts and actions. Racism can be a physical form, through an external action, or can branch off into unethical thoughts. This is more known to be a discriminative thought, judging a person based on impressions. This social problem can also be ignored by the oblivious persons of the crowd. Many individuals speak out about how racial tension is long gone and forever forgotten ever since the first African-American was elected to be president in 2008, but this can be evidently proven false. Racial tension is still here to target the minorities in the forms of affirmative action and Ferguson conflicts.
Imagine being discriminated against because of a preference or something that is unable to be changed. What would that feel like? Discrimination is happening all around the world, with all different kinds of people. People can be discriminated against by all types of things, such as age, sex, race, religion, sexuality, height, etc. I believe that discrimination is becoming a bigger cause in other countries as the United States (US) and that it should be addressed more than it is being. There are many types of discrimination going on throughout various places but, the three main ones happening are sexuality discrimination, race discrimination, and religious discrimination. The biggest one accruing right now is sexuality discrimination.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s argumentative essay "The Ways of Meeting Oppression" examines the various ways that the oppressed may cope in the face of oppression, and analyzes their efficacy. King begins by explaining two common, but inherently ineffective and dangerous ways of facing oppression. One being compliance with the unchanging treatment in society, and the other being violent and hateful protest. King states that to do nothing is to side with the oppressor and to incite violence is to stoop to immoral behavior. He explains the flaws in both of these approaches, and instead offers a third resolution; peaceful resistance to oppression.
One must consider the nature of oppression and how it is present within social work. The nature of oppression infiltrates all aspects of life. Social work theorist, defines oppression as “relations that divide people into dominant or superior groups and subordinate or inferior ones. These relations of domination consist of the systematic devaluing of the attributes and contributions of those deemed inferior, and their exclusion from the social resources available to those in the dominant group”. When humans experience a perceived threat to their personal identities and lack the ability to maintain and affirm a unique identity, they exclude others by contrasting themselves against a constructed, and inferior, identity of the other. To better
“Oppression, to divide and conquer is your goal. Oppression, I swear hatred is your home. Oppression, you mean only harm.” -Ben Harper
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Continuum., People respond to fear through either fight or flight, opposition or consent, rebellion or conformity. In George Orwell’s 1984, we see how fear, if used by the government to exercise its power, can enforce consent, even in individuals whose initial instinct is to fight for freedom, truth, and justice. Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to notice when a government begins to use tactics as such because, after all, using fear as a tool for power can only be truly effective if people don’t notice it’s happening.
Prejudice and discrimination have both been prevalent throughout human history. Prejudice deals with the inflexible and irrational attitudes and opinions that are held by others of one group against those of another. Discrimination on the other hand refers to the behaviors directed against another group. Prejudiced individuals have preconceived beliefs about groups of people or cultural practices. There are both positive and negative forms of prejudice, however, the negative form of prejudice leads to discrimination. Individuals that practice discrimination do so to protect opportunities for themselves, by denying access to those whom they believe do not deserve the same treatment as everyone else. An example of discrimination based on prejudice involves the Jews. “Biased sentiments and negative stereotypes of Jews have been a part of Western tradition for centuries and, in fact, have been stronger and more vicious in Europe than in the United States. For nearly two millennia, European Jews have been chastised and persecuted as the “killers of Christ” and stereotyped as materialistic moneylenders and crafty business owners (Healey, p.65). The prejudice against these groups led to the discrimination against them.