Blacks And Whites example essay topic

The Struggle of Equality for Blacks in the 21st Century On December 29, 2004, Richard Blakey was applying for a job interview at the very prestigious Public Relations firm, Ketchum, in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. He was the only black man applying for the job. Little did he know that he had no chance of getting the job no matter how qualified he was for the position because he was a black man and his counterparts were white. He went into the interview and gave it everything that he had. The executive director told him that his skills were extraordinary and he was very impressed. Richard left Ketchum with a smile on his face knowing that he made an impression and will be getting a call in about a week.

Three weeks passed and Richard finally received a phone call from the Ketchum organization, and the same executive director that gave him the interview told him that he had not received the job. When Richard asked him why, the executive director stated that he was too dark for the public relations firm, and that the job was given to a white man. Richard hung up the phone and began to cry. Have you ever encountered racism? If your answer is no, you " re either very lucky or very naive. Chances are, you have.

Perhaps you " ve never seen someone being denied a job because of the color of their skin, but chances are, you remember the Rodney King beating and the O.J. Simpson trial, or you " ve heard someone comment that black men are better basketball players than their white teammates or that they are more likely to be on welfare than white people are. If so, then you " ve encountered racism. According to The Random House College Dictionary, Racism, or Racialism, is defined as "the theory or idea that there is a causal link between inherited physical traits and certain traits of personality, intellect, or culture and, combined with it, the notion that some races are inherently superior to others". It is found in many forms, and it has profoundly shaped our history as Americans. Most often in our culture, when racism is mentioned, it refers to the relationship between white people, which make up the majority, and black people, which compose a sizable minority It seems to me, that after all the years of struggling for equality blacks should no longer have to fight for what they want in America, but that is not true. Blacks are still fighting for things that are given to white people, Why?

Because we are living in White America and nothing comes easy for blacks they have to work for everything they get. Black people had to "fight" for their right to equality. The struggle started back in the 1950's when a baptist preacher, by the name of, Dr. Martin Luther King became the leader of the Civil Rights Movement. He believed that peaceful protest was the way forward and he was absolutely right. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ensured black people the right to vote, equal protection under the law, desegregation without regard to race, and the right not to be discriminated against in public places or jobs.

Affirmative Action laws were passed to make up for past inequalities and to ensure that African Americans would be included in appropriate proportions to many businesses and schools. Soon white opposition gave way to a new, more tolerant attitude, one in which racism and prejudice were disdained by society. It's 2005. As a nation, we " ve witnessed countless racist atrocities over the years. Slaves were separated from their families and beaten for resisting their masters. Mobs of rioting white people ran through black neighborhoods and indiscriminately killed innocent people.

Men in white hooded robes strung up and gutted other men for nothing more than having black skin. But then in the 1960's, the Civil Rights movement gave black people the same rights as white people had. Now it's a new millennium, and racism is a thing of the past. Now, we " re all one big happy family in this melting pot called America. Right?

Do you think racism is gone? Granted, it is not as obvious as it once was. Now, racism shows up much more differently. People don't openly admit to being racist or having racist attitudes, mostly because it is no longer socially acceptable to be racist. However, racism still rears its ugly head, mostly in the inequalities that still exist between blacks and whites. Although blacks are no longer regularly enslaved, lynched, or segregated from whites, inequalities in employment, economic status, and education still exist between blacks and whites - always favoring whites.

"For example, ever since the Civil Rights Movement began, the unemployment rate for blacks has been more than twice what it has been for whites. Much fewer blacks than whites finish high school (56% vs. 75%). Homicide has become the #1 cause of death in 15 to 44-year-old black men, and 75% of all blacks live in cities - 56% of them in inner city areas. And, not surprisingly, whites make up 90-98% of all physicians, lawyers, managers, engineers, accountants, stock brokers, sales managers, bank officials, dentists, judges, college professors, and social scientists, while blacks and other minorities account for 25-55% of all servants, laundry and garment workers, and cleaners. If racism is truly gone, and we were one big happy family, these trends would not be happening. Yet inequities such as these happen every day".

(Figures Taken From Journal of Health and the African American Family) We have made progress over the years. The injustices that come from racism are much less now than a century ago, or even a few decades ago. Where does racism come from? Racism comes from many different places.

It is learned through socialization - that is, through the actions and feedback we get from our parents, our peers, and the media. If someone we trust or respect acts in a negative way towards a black person, we are likely to pick up on that sentiment - particularly when we are very young. It is also learned through personal experience. If a white person is offended in some way by a black person, the white person might come to associate that negative behavior with the most obvious difference between the two people - the color of their skin. Stereotypes, too, play a significant role in racism. Everyone is aware of stereotypes, through the influence of the media and many other things.

If someone tells a "blonde" joke, you immediately know that the blonde in the joke is not going to be very intelligent regardless of how intelligent you think blonde's are in real life. If a comedic movie portrays a black man, often he is in his late teens or early twenties, poor, brash and disrespectful, and into drugs. Though many blondes are not dumb and few blacks are young, poor drug dealers, they have been stigmatized with these stereotypes. And even though most of us do not believe that these stereotypes are true, we are nevertheless of what these stereotypes are, and they can sometimes subconsciously influence our judgment of people. The facts can also lead us to form racist attitudes. As African-American social psychologist James M. Jones observed in Prejudice and Racism, "African Americans are more likely to live in poverty than whites (33% vs. 12%), more likely to live in urban settings (65% vs. 48%), and more likely to be unmarried mothers or fathers (49% vs. 19%).

If you meet Joseph, a 17-year-old African American, and you assume that he comes from a poor urban environment and has fathered at least one child, statistically, you are more probably correct than if you made the same assumptions about Heathcliff, a white 17-year-old". (141) However, Joseph may be an affluent pre-med student with no children at all. Knowing the statistics doesn't tell you a thing about Joseph as an individual. Nevertheless, many people see statistics such as these and infer that most or all blacks must fit this negative profile. Racism, though, is a complex issue.

It isn't just about whites having negative beliefs about black people, or vice versa; it is also about people favoring members of their own group". Psychologists point out that there is an in-group / out -group dimension to racism. It can come not only from negative out-group bias, or having negative feelings towards members of another race, but also from positive in-group bias, or having positive feelings towards members of your own race". (171) In other words, a racist could be a racist because he hates blacks. But he could also be a racist not because he has anything against black people, but because he simply likes whites better. Because racism is such a multifaceted issue, it is not always easy to see.

However, it has not gone away since the Civil Rights Movement; it is simply much more hidden now than in the past. But when we look closely, we find that it is still a driving force in our society, keeping blacks and whites from sharing true equality. Clearly, we have come a long way. But how far do we have left to go?

Just how close are we now to achieving the equality between the black minority and the white majority that so many people have fought for over the years? "Freedom. Equality. Praise the Lord, and pass the ammunition. Praise America, and lynch a nigger. This country was born in revolution against tyranny and oppression while black people were at that very moment being tyrannically oppressed".

(15) As African-American social psychologist James M. Jones pointed out, America was founded as a land of freedom and opportunity, if you were white. In one of our country's greatest ironies, though, this freedom and opportunity was not to be found if you happened to be black. For a black man or woman, America was a land of oppression and hatred, where to be the wrong race was to be treated as something less than human. Is there anything that we as a nation can do or that government can do to combat the situation. Will we ever be able to treat people with equality no matter what color they are? No, because the government is also racist.

The Democratic Party has always been the party known for protecting the rights of blacks. Republicans, on the other hand, have been known as a "racist party with a racist strategy". Government is divided. Political Power is used to make and enforce laws and resolve disputes.

"White elite's use political power to reproduce racism and extend it on the one hand, and to physically smash any attempt at racial progress on the other". (240) Between the justice system and vigilantes, racism has the violence it needs to contain its victims. But, like the media, politicians' rhetoric and campaigns keep the racist sea favorable for the justice system's fish to do their work. David Duke's 1991 campaign for the Louisiana governorship was such a campaign. He used his platform to spread all the usual myths: of the black welfare queen and her high birth rate, of the affirmative action monster denying whites jobs rightfully theirs, that the Klan and the NAACP were the same, and more simply, that blacks were closer to the jungle. Duke won 55% of the white vote with his campaign.

But Duke is just an extreme example of something that is part of the political system. George Bush's 1988 presidential campaign made a symbol of Willie Horton, a black criminal. Clinton approved the execution of a black mentally ill (he'd lobotomized himself trying to commit suicide) prisoner in the midst of the 1992 presidential campaign. These politicians traffic in racism because they think it will get them votes, and it does. But their campaigns and misinformation also help create the context, frame the issues, and set the terms of debate.

Hate groups flower when overtly racist politicians are in power. They did in the 1910's under Woodrow Wilson and they did again in the 1980's under Reagan (James Loewen talks about this in 'Lies My Teacher Told Me'). 'The government cheats African-Americans out of their Social Security payments; routinely harasses them for DB (Driving While Black); and disproportionately arrests them for drug crimes,' said Steve Das bach, the party's national chairman. 'In other words, government policies keep black Americans poor, afraid, and in jail,' he said. 'That's why the government -- at the federal, state, and local levels -- is the worst friend that black Americans ever had. ' 'Freedom would be a better friend for African-Americans than government,' he said.

'Government likes to masquerade as the friend of minorities. But the more power government gets, the more damage it can do to America's minority communities. ' Being democratic gives all people an equal chance to prove themselves in life. One thing I have learned about democracy is that is important to be open and not to think in the same mind set.

Rules are meant to be broken. I have always thought that part of being democratic means making room for new ideals and theories that make society function better as a whole and in the end be more capable in handling problems in society. With all this in mind, freedom is in the hands of the individual and it is their choice what to do with it. Racism is something that I have to deal with everyday being an African American woman, and it is depressing that the government and everything around America is still discriminating even after all these years. Once I get into office I hope that I will be the one to make a dramatic change to government dealing with the issues of racism. It may not be as prevalent as it was years ago but it is still around and there are things that can be done but someone needs to step up and take on the battle, and hopefully one day Caputo, Richard K. Gender and Race: Employment Opportunity and the American Economy, Families in Society.

Apr 95, volume 76, issue 4, p 239, 9 p, 2 charts. Connelly, Ward. Chronicles of Higher Education: Moving Beyond Racial Preferences. 3/4/05, volume 51, issue 26, pb 13, 2 p. Okazawa-Ray.

Margo, Journal of Health. Economic, Social, and Racial Justice: The Survival of the African American Family. Social Policy, 1997, volume 9. Issue 1, p 15, 7 p. The Libertarian Party Press Release. Blacks are the biggest victims of racist government policies, say libertarians.

1994-2003. web John. Journal of Human Rights. Paying for the Past? The Movement for African Americans. June 2004, volume 3, issue 2, p 171, 17 p. Wilson.

In Prejudice and Racism, The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, Underclass, and Public Policy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1997. From "Racism: It Is Always There" by Elizabeth Martinez Smith. From Prejudice and Racism, 2nd ed., 1997, by James M. Jones. web ID = 2286 web will be me.