Racial Inequality and Racial Ethnic Differences Cannot be Eradicated in the US - Admission/Application Essay Example

Racial Inequality and Racial Ethnic Differences Cannot be Eradicated in the US Introduction The issue of racial inequality and profiling has been a thorn in the flesh of society in the US for as long as anyone can remember. The US has always taken pride in being the melting pot of world cultures and so different races, ethnicities and cultures all live in it. However, even though the co-existence has been fairly harmonious to the extent that there has not been a full scale ethnic cleansing or civil war based on these differences; there have always been underlying tensions. However, the true basis of inequality lies in differences in economic power and lifestyles of people of different races and ethnic groups brought about by historical imbalances in opportunities imposed on each of them by the authorities (Gans 12). This paper sets out to highlight these existing tensions and analyze the possibility of them coming to and end in the long term; if ever. Evidence of Racial Inequality and Ethnic Differences The term race here refers to a social category of persons labeled and regarded as similar due to some common traits, including skin color, hair texture and shape of the eyes. This categorization brings out such groups as African Americans, Jews, Indians, Arabs, Orientals and Whites. Anyone who belongs to a given category is regarded as having certain cultural traits and behavior patters associated with that category (ICPSR). Ethnic groups means individuals who share the same lineage, language and unique cultural traits among themselves. Generally speaking, these are smaller than racial groups although in some cases like that of the Chinese, they are made up of more than 1 billion people. An ethnic group can constitute a race sometimes especially if it is large like the Jewish community (ICPSR). By and large, most stereotypes are based on generalizations, where the behavior of one individual; usually of the worst type; is attributed to the whole racial group. As a result such stereotypes as blacks are violent and criminal, Chinese are cunning and business cheats, Jews are thrifty and out rightly mean, and Arabs are terrorist conspirators; find free social expression. The problem with these stereotypes is that some people tend to believe them lock, stock and barrel; and thus subject others to subhuman treatment based on them. The United States is no exception to this situation. In fact since it has arguably all the races on earth represented in it, the incidences of discrimination and differences based on race and ethnicity are quite frequent. Numerous examples abound of individuals who have been insulted, assaulted, maltreated, displaced or even killed based on race or ethnic differences. The most prominent example is that of the arrest of Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr outside home in Cambridge, Harvard when he was arrested for breaking and entering in his own home. The fact that he identified himself to a police officer as a Harvard Professor and produced identification as proof did not stop the police officer and his colleagues from arresting him and frog marching him in handcuffs to their station. He was subsequently held for four hours at the station. This incident caused an uproar in the US, especially from black rights pressure groups. Ironically, Gates is the Harvard Professor who has spent most of his life researching and writing on issues of racial discrimination in the US. This particular incident brought him face to face with the situations he has always highlighted in his illustrious and expansive work. The Roots of Inequality In his book The War Against the Poor (41-42) sociologist Herbert J. Gans outlines some of the roots of inequality. He criticizes the concept of the “culture of poverty” promulgated by some scholars as an explanation of the occurrence of poverty amongst individuals living in certain localities. The scholars blame certain communities for being poor as a result of their own attitudes and beliefs towards such things as work and lifestyles. Gant instead exposes the state authorities as the perpetuators of poverty by pursuing policies that favor certain communities against others while hiding under such pretenses as the culture of poverty. Such state sanctioned inequalities include provision of quality education, development of infrastructure and availing of credit for development. These have always been lopsided with persons in poor neighborhoods always getting the short end of the stick. In his 1972 publication The Positive Functions of Poverty (72-74) he identifies certain benefits that the rich derive from poverty. These benefits include cheap labor, reduced competition for positions and resources, and manipulation of the poor to do the bidding of the rich by exploiting their ignorance of law and lack of important information. As a result of this lopsided allocation of resources, certain communities are labeled as lazy, rebellious and even violent when they struggle to survive (Gans, The War, 48). Eventually, this leads to inequalities that result in racial profiling and discrimination. Henry Louis Gates concurs with Gans on the roots of inequality. He points out in African American National Biography that the reason Blacks in America are less likely than the rest of the population to receive a bachelors degree is that higher education is mainly associated with high income groups (102). Most Blacks on average earn less than their white colleagues even when they work at the same level. Moreover, they tend to start in a lower position at work than the whites. For this reason Blacks tend to grow up in average income areas with little access to the extra amenities needed to perform well in education. Even when they do perform well, they tend to take longer to uplift their status in life due to the inequalities at the work place. They therefore remain trapped in a vicious circle of poverty. Another area that helps to perpetuate inequality is the media and movie industry (Gates, In search, 72). Though there have been vast improvements in media coverage of events concerning people of different nationalities, undertones of discriminative coverage still remain. The bias in new coverage stems from like-minded, journalists who view the world in a single-minded way that greatly influences the way they cover news events. In the 1980s for instance, most black neighborhoods were portrayed in the news a crime infested and gun violent. Events that supported this general stereotype were more likely to make it to the day’s news than those that do not. Movies were no less discriminative in the allocation of roles with more blacks making it as the support crew than the main intelligent decision making characters. Though this trend reduced with time, it took an event of momentous significance like Barrack Obama’s election to office to really change attitudes of the majority about blacks, including those of the blacks themselves (Gates, In Search, 96). Conversely, both writers however agree on one thing; that racial inequalities and ethnic differences in the US are not as bad today as they were in the past. Due to constant pressure from human rights organizations and demonstrations by minority groups several things have changed. The Irish and Italian Americans who were once seen as minorities different from the overall white community, have now been integrated into the mainstream whites. There have been more educational opportunities for Blacks, Hispanics and Asians through affirmative action that has seen more of them being sponsored to go for higher education. In addition, disparities in employment in which people at the same level are paid differently have been mainly harmonized. Finally, discrimination in terms of which neighborhoods to live in has been eradicated; such that it is more a matter of choice and affordability than discrimination that decide where one lives. (Gates, In Search, 107; Gans, The Positive, 116). These are all positive indicators that racialism and ethnicity differences are on the decline. Conclusion Though there is hope; stemming form the numerous changes put in place by different congress legislations and presidential declarations over the years; that racism and ethnic differences are on the decrease, it will take some time before they are completely wiped out. This is due to the fact that it has been well over 40 years since the human rights crusades started in earnest in the US yet there are still elements of discrimination. However, modern trends tend to concur with Gans (The War, 129) that one day racial inequalities will be a thing of the past. Works Cited Gans, Herbert J. The War Against the Poor . Michigan: Ann Arbor. 1995. Gans, Herbert J. The Positive Functions of Poverty. Michigan: Ann Arbor. 1972. Gates, Henry L. African American National Biography. Oxford University Press. 2008. Gates, Henry L. In Search of Our Roots. New York: Crown Publishers. 2009. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). “Attitudes about Racial Discrimination and Racial Inequality in the US: A Data-Driven Learning Guide.” Michigan: Ann Arbor. Retrieved on 20th December, 2009 from: Read More