Black American Oppression in The United States

My research topic is about Black American oppression and the importance of treating everyone equally despite differences in the color of skin or race. I want this inequality to cease because our forefathers stated in the constitution that “all men are created equal” (Thomas Jefferson) and that no one should be discriminated based on their race. The majority of the world is not white, and we should all come together to respect our brothers and sisters.

Viola and Her Family

Viola Pearson told her personal stories about what her family went through during desegregation. In South Carolina, Viola’s family was treated unequally from white supremacists. The family was evicted from their house through financial ruin, terrorized by Ku Klux Klan, and had to walk 18 miles to school. No one would sell them provisions, so Viola had to make her family clothes. While segregation in schools and town was difficult, “There were no Hollywood endings after segregation was overturned either” (The Times Educational Supplement, 2004). The family’s viewpoint on desegregation was shattered because “It was disappointing, we thought we were moving forward. But we were right back to segregation” (The Times Educational Supplement, 2004).

Colorlines

According to the “Affirmative Action at the Crossroads: Race and the Future of Black Progress,” Thomas Sowell, a black conservative scholar stated, “American Slavery followed racial or color lines and that it was the ultimate factor in the transfer of wealth from one group to another” (Drake, pg.58, 2003) This means that in the beginning of history, ethnic groups were not seen for color.

Social Construction

There is discrimination against race because of the social construction and social action in America. The social organization views people differently based on their races and different backgrounds. Americans’ roles on race relations impact their children. White Americans are having dominance over blacks in today’s society.

Social construction in today’s world connects to races. Social organization is how they define the definers. Allowing people power to define the words white or black in what they think makes sense to them. White people in general view how young black Americans are more susceptible to having a bad education from what neighborhood they live in. (Needs citation!!) According to Teresa J. Guess in her journal, “The Social Construction of Whiteness: Racism by Intent, Racism by Consequence,” “Part of our commonsense knowledge about “race” and whiteness in America is that interaction between the “races” is generally perceived in terms in hierarchical relations between blacks and whites” (Guess, pg.657, 2006). Americans divide according to race and how they each define social construction.

Social Action

Social action existence of races does not look at the physical characteristics or differences. But how each race group socially recognizes the difference in other groups. Pierre van de Berghe argues, “it is not the presence of objective physical differences between groups that creates race, but the social recognition of such differences as socially significant or relevant” (Guess, pg.657, 2006). Everyone notices the physical features from each race.

Teaching about Race

Americans are teaching the new generations about race relations. Stanfield “defines racism as the generator of race-making” (Guess, pg.658, 2006). He says “that the significance of race-making in American nation-state building has been normative, not accidental, coincidental [nor] a contradiction between democratic ideals and human interests” (Guess, pg.658, 2006). This means in America people are intending to define what race is and implementing what racism is. This is teaching racism to the new generations explaining the purpose of what race is all about. People would give words negative meaning nicknames for race and religion. This causes negative stereotypes for certain races which implants racism ideologists to new generations.

Blacks Unemployment

The American population groups are rank in order according to race especially between blacks and whites. Whites are seemly dominating some areas in America over blacks and have more power of production. An example of this is in L.A. where black construction workers have tried to get a job at the construction site but as the employers see they are a different race, the job becomes unavailable. These black construction workers have the work, skills, and training. They are refusing to hire the blacks and seek outside hirers. Blacks in L.A. have an unemployment rate of 50%. This shows that discriminations still happens today.

Conclusion

In America there is still discriminating especially between the blacks and the whites. Social construction in today’s world is still going on. Races in social action recognizes unique physical appearance among ethnic groups. Americans are teaching the new generations about race relations. This is a ranking system among racism. I think Americans in today’s society should develop a world where there is no discrimination.