Martin Luther King Jr. once said. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” After all of the history the world has with slavery, and racism, all that we’ve gone through, and have come from it’s about time that we put our differences aside, and accept each other for what we are, and aren’t. "Racism is based on the belief that physical characteristics account for differences in character and ability, and that a particular race is superior to another." Racism has been going on since before anyone can remember whether it was owning a slave, killing another person just because of the color of his or her skin complexion, or making a racial joke about a classmate. Nobody is exactly identical to any other person. With that fact being stated, there is nothing to prove that one race can be superior to another. These facts being known, scientist have stopped studying racial differences all together, with the understanding that no person even of the same race is the same. Although these facts have been proved scientifically, racism still seems to be rising. In addition to these facts this paper will tell the history of racism, racial discrimination, and racial profiling.
First off , slavery arrived in America during the 16th century. Whereas the first African slaves to be sold in America (that was documented), had been in 1619. There were 20 of them transported to America on a Dutch ship. In 1777, the constitution of Vermont had banned slavery, and the owning of slaves. Also six years later in Massachusetts, they declared owning a slave was illegal while in state boundaries. Later on, in 1808 The U.S. got rid of slave importation, but despite the abolishment, illegal...
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...ing them.” Which means that discrimination is just a reminder of the slavery days, where white people still feel that they are above black people, simply because black people aren’t white. Well that is never going to change, colored people will never be white, and until everyone comes to terms with that, racism will continue to grow, and history will continue to repeat itself, but until racism is overcome all we can do is inform people in hopes to make a difference in this perfectly imperfect world.
Works cited
"This Martin Luther King Day, a New Look at Race." Christian Science Monitor 16 Jan. 2014: n. pag. SIRS Researcher. Web.”
“Staff, Proquest. At Issue: Racial Discrimination. N.p.: ProQuest LLC, 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .”
“Nelson, David Erik, ed. Racial Profiling. N.p.: Greenhaven, 2009. Print. Opposing Viewpoints Ser.”
“…Everybody jumped on him, and beat him senseless… Everybody was hitting him or kicking him. One guy was kicking at his spine. Another guy was hitting him on the side of his face… he was unconscious. He was bleeding. Everybody had blood on their forearms. We ran back up the hill laughing… He should have died… He lost so much blood he turned white. He got what he deserved…” (Ridgeway 167). The skinheads who were beating this man up had no reason to do so except for the fact that he was Mexican. Racism in this day and age is still as big of a problem as it was in the past, and as long as hate groups are still around to promote violence, society is never going to grow to love one another.
Racial discrimination is a pertinent issue in the United States. Although race relations may seem to have improved over the decades in actuality, it has evolved into a subtler form and now lurks in institutions. Sixty years ago racial discrimination was more overt, but now it has adapted to be more covert. Some argue that these events are isolated and that racism is a thing of the past (Mullainathan). Racial discrimination is negatively affecting the United States by creating a permanent underclass of citizens through institutional racism in business and politics, and creating a cancerous society by rewriting the racist history of America. Funding research into racial discrimination will help society clearly see the negative effects that racism
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
Turner, Billy. 1986. “Race and Peremptory Challenges During Voir Dire: Do Prosecution and Defense Agree?” Journal of Criminal Justice 14: 61-69.
Slavery in America traces back to 1619 when African slaves were chosen to come to North America. They landed in the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. The slaves were delivered and immediately put to work in the fields and crops such as tobacco. According to the website, History.com, “the European settlers in North American turned to slaves as a cheaper, more plentiful source of labor.” (History.com, 2014) From this point on, slavery began to spread throughout the American colonies. Though it is impossible to give accurate figures, some historians have estimated that 6 to 7 million slaves were imported to the New World during the 18th century alone, depriving the African continent of some of its healthiest and ablest men and women. (History.com, 2014)
A root problem in society is that Americans often seem to struggle to see the ways that racial historical legacy continues to influence life today. Most Americans remain blind to the interminable cycle of racial prejudices that affect nearly seventy percent of the nation’s population. It’s no secret that the underlying factor in slavery was race, or that thousands of immigrants were treated unfairly in the workforce during the Industrial Revolution because of nativist views. Discrimination is widely prevalent in the United States today, and the culture continues to perpetuate racial stereotypes in various forms. Take for example recent issues of racial profiling in Ferguson, Missouri and Staten Island. Ultimately, the resolve to create some universal truth from these racial biases is pivotal.
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
Society shapes racial inequality in the modern United States and Wayne Brekhus (2015) looks at how social marking is an element of culture in American society. When discussing race, people tend to talk about discrimination against marginalized communities (i.e. non-whites, females, homosexuals, etc.). They actively look at the marked category--those marginalized communities-- and the unmarked goes ignored. Berkhus believes that there are two possible reasons why these unmarked categories are avoided. Either the issue is psychological where individuals “deliberate[ly] disciplin[e] the mind to ignore the irrelevant” or it is sociological and is caused by the “deeply ingrained unconscious pattern of cultural or subcultural selective attention
Racism is a daily obstacle for some, but also serves as a falsified daily reminder that they are not as intelligent, as worthy, or as capable compared
The color line is prevalent today as it was during slavery times in America. The color line was noted in the founding of American when the Indians are called Red Men, and the Pilgrims were called White men. The Color Line defined again with the Africans who are called The Black man and slave owners called Master who is the white man. So what is the color line-“it is the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men” (Newman, 2005, para 10). Dubois spoke of the color line in the 20th century. However we are in the 21st century, and it is still prevalent in today's society (Dubois, 2006, para 1.).
With the privatization of land, some people became very wealthy, while others, the ones dispersed and dislocated by the privatization of land, were reduced to poverty. And those rich people started to use money to measure the value of all things. That wealth created a new sense of social identity identified as possessive individualism, with that idea came to believe of freedom of ownership of property which later develop the conception of owning other people as property.
According to research done by PBS in 2014 only 54% of African-Americans graduate from high school, compared to more than three-quarters of white and Asian students. Furthermore, according to the Sentencing Project based in Washington DC 1 in 3 african american men will go to jail in their lifetimes. It seems, that in America, African americans are least likely to succeeed.The answer lies in the discriminatory nature of the law enforcement system, and in the victim mentality many African-Americans have.
History has shown countless acts of racial discrimination against African Americans in every part of life. Racism and discrimination still exist and affects most African Americans. When it comes to education and employment, African Americans faced the most discrimination. They are even less likely to get a job and are less likely to attend a University. Affirmative action is a policy that allows favoritism to those that have suffered discrimination. Affirmative action is not a solution to racism yet, a much-needed relief for African Americans. It allows them the possibility of fighting discrimination.
Even in the 21st century economic and social disparities between racial ethnic groups still exist. It is indicated that Asian Americans get highest average annual earnings at about $57.500 per year when African Americans are with $30.000 per year. Due to these numbers we come up with conclusion that traditional career counselling theories are not an option for this population. Experts state that discrimination against African Americans is still common. Unconscious prejudices and stereotypes among employers are difficult to eradicate. In the United States of America there is so called “positive discrimination”, which encourages companies to hire ethnic minorities, while not imposing any compulsory quota. In fact, most Americans apply for a job
Ninety-eight percent of Americans feel there is a great amount of discrimination (“New National Poll Finds Discrimination Prevalent Is U.S.”). Since 2001, racial discrimination has become widely used today because of past experiences and automatic judgement. Individual races feel that they are discriminated against, and we,as Americans need to make them feel welcome and wanted.