Extent of the US Democracy for Civil War to Protect - Term Paper Example

To what extent does the United s have the democracy that Abraham Lincoln claims he fought the civil war toprotect? Introduction Abraham Lincoln is regarded as one of the best leaders America has ever had. He fought tirelessly to influence the way people thought about liberty in the Liberty in the 18th century. Research has shown that in the 1700s America was known for its slave trade. Slave trade was common in the South where the Whites, who regarded the Blacks as inferior, made the Black American’s to be their slaves. Studies reveal that during this period the Blacks worked for the Whites. Whites owned the Blacks. They had no liberty to do things on their own thus any violation of a White authority led to severe punishment. The coming into power of the American President, Abraham Lincoln, in the year 1860 also had a great part to play in the insurgence of the American civil war. It is however, sad to note that the democracy fought for in the civil war did not bore much, as there exists segregation and racial wage gap, racial segregation in the labor market, segregation in the us military, racial wage gaps between the whites and the people of color, minority groups suffer a higher unemployment Rate, and the intra-racial wage gap in the United States (Global Credit Portal). Segregation and the Racial Wage Gap Segregation and the racial wage gap in the US has been one of the ugly faces of the subtle and myriad ways through which discrimination into the post civil rights act of 1964 still remains within the society. These two inequality avenues have been historical and some people across the racial presupposed that their race/ ethnicity determine the kind of career that they will take. History is ripe with open school discrimination cases that condemned some people of color to either dropping out of school or taking a different career line altogether. At present, the white major holds the American top jobs in the labor market. Worthy of note is the over representation of women of color in the service industry while the total percentage constituent of the American labor force is so slim of the overall number of the minorities (National Committee on Pay Equity para 1). Partly, inequality in education and ethnic balkanization that cultivated prejudices have created stereotypes that only certain racial group can satisfactorily perform certain jobs. Racial Segregation in the Labor Market One of the peculiar characteristic of the American labor market is its racial stratification. People of color have tended to occupy the lower cadre of the jobs compared to the whites and the Asian Americans. There are so many factors to attest to this scenario. Good education at the beginning probably raises the probabilities of one taking a diploma or a degree and subsequently securing post graduate training that leads to lucrative career, unfortunately American education system has seen more people of color being suspended from school. Unequal representation of the minority in some of the American schools is such a broad pathway to discrimination in jobs. A case in point is Stuyvesant High in Manhattan. Out of the school’s population of 3295 nearly two decades back noted (Santos para 4). Asians constituted 72.5%, while the whites were the majority at 79%, Hispanics and blacks had 40% and 32% respectively. Stuyvesant is one of the eight specialized high schools in New York according to (Santos, para7). The specialized schools admit students based on high score merit. Going as per the troubling statistics, would it be wise to conclude that people of color are academically inferior to other races? The answer would be no. why should there be such big disparity in number in the specialized school. The school’s maximum entry examination score is 800 but that has been revised downward to 560 currently so earning a place in a school where high score is the only evaluation criteria has been viewed as an honor to Stuyvesant students. Noted (Santos para 7) most of the students who would wish to get into the specialized high schools in New York take a special admission exam. The smaller number of blacks in Stuyvesant and probably in such other schools in New York is not a question of the minority being inferior academically to their white counterparts. It is due to what Santos (para 9) describes as open discrimination in the system that has driven the minority to the periphery of these schools. If a school bears direct influence on the kind of job that one takes after schooling then the minority are not the candidates of those best jobs depending on the demographics of the specialized schools. Perhaps, this is a pointer as to why not so many people of coloreds are not in the top tier jobs in some of the American premier companies (Global Credit Portal). The labor department wanted to make it a condition companies to employ about employ up to 7% of their labor from the disabled population noted (Trottman para 2). Unfortunately, the companies have protested, meaning that if they become successful in thwarting the plan then the masses of people irrespective of their race but disabled will still find it hard getting a job. According to the Center for Law and Economic Justice (Para 4) 26.1% of poor people in the year 2008 had a form of disability. This means that the minorities with disability suffer a double tragedy relegating them to absolute poverty. People who are working in the service industry are also facing discrimination according to (Weber para 1). She noted that jobs like the customer service attending in the hotels or retail shop attending have inflexible timetables that leave such employees with no time to plan on their own schedules. (Weber para 4) also said that it is often difficult solving occurrences like sickness for such workers because they are required in the work place almost all time. Again, the mother hood wage penalty is discriminatory since it lowers the mothers wage by 5%. Majority of the minority groups are in the blue-collar work where service industry is included, this means that they are the majority of the people who are being discriminated at the bottom tier. Segregation in the US Military The US fought the World War I and II with a racially segregated army according to (McKeeby para 1). It took Harry Truman’s 1948 executive order 9981 to declare equality for all the races serving in the US army. Earlier days of black men in service of a country they love were marked with segregationist policies. The black soldiers were not -*/allowed in the combat units until the 1944-1945. Unfortunately the black heroes of the World War II were still racially abused in parts of the slave holding southern parts of the US noted (McKeeby para 9). While indeed, times of the battle in the field proved they might and skills of the colored soldiers, the white population could not in their totality accept that the blacks had profoundly shown that they were equally sharing the weight in building the American dream (Global Credit Portal). Racial Wage Gaps between the Whites and the People of Color Few months to the 2008 general elections in the US, the senate voted to remove the wage discrimination but support votes from the democrats fell short by 8 of the 60 votes required to pass such a bill. Named after Lilly Ledbetter who fought for fairy pay but never won the case, the bill would have been a milestone in correcting the wage disparity in America. According to (Ferraro, para 6) the average women wage in the US is nearly 23% less men’s wage. Painfully, the minority receive far less than even the 23% argued (Ferarro para 6). The Republicans opposed the bill noting that it would open the floodgates of court `1E3Minority Groups Suffer a Higher Unemployment Rate At a black caucus dinner late 2011, president Obama told the blacks to rise from the cocoon of complaining and look for opportunities than waiting to be fed on a silver spoon. Assumingly, the president was reacting to criticisms from some of the black leaders that he has been conceding too much ground to the republicans (Smith para 1). Unemployment rates among the blacks is almost twice the national rate of 8.3% noted Smith (para 2). These are further indicators of gloomy numeric for the black race who are part of the minority groups in the US. With this rate, it means many of the black people cannot pay for their basic needs compared to the whites or the Asians who comparatively occupy top jobs. Racial and ethnic minorities are particularly living in deep poverty according to the National Center for Law and Economic Justice (para 2). The center further note that the minority families that are headed by a single mother are particularly too vulnerable to suffering deep poverty in the US today (para 2). In the year 2010, non Hispanic whites represented 9.9% of those who lived in poverty while 4.3% of that number lived in deep poverty National Center for Law and Economic Justice ( para 3). In the same year Hispanics and blacks represented 26.6% and 27.4% respectively of the people who lived in poverty in America National Center for Law and Economic Justice ( para 4). The blacks represent 12.6% and Hispanics 16.3% of the general US population but they are ironically too poor compared to other races mostly the Asian Americans and the whites. The same statistics indicated that women were the majority of poor people, their number exceeding that of poor men by four million in the year 2010 (America National Center for Law and Economic Justice para 4). The Intra-Racial Wage Gap among the Blacks There has been the existence of wage gap differences between the races with the whites having the largest disparity. Cornell (para 6) noted that the disparity has been the main cause of inequality in wealth holdings between men and women. Coincidentally, women of color suffer a double tragedy for not only being women but also for being women of color according to Cornell (para 10). Women of color argued Cornell (para 10) only gets a penny for every dollar that men of color have while their wealth share in every dollar held by a white man is just a fraction. With their penny or fractional sharing in black and white men’s wealth respectively, attention should be shifted towards ameliorating the situation of the smaller ethnic groups. The good news to American women of all races is that the wage gap that has existed for a long time between men and women is slowly diminishing. Some economic pundits have postulated that perhaps men have been hit hard by the economic recession than the women in the US (Leonhardt para 2). Their wage median in a week’s period hit 82.8% in 2010 between March to June (Cuchon para 2). In the same period, black women posed an impressive increase of 8.8% in the median wage weekly against a 4.4% fall in the wages for the men of color. Although the recession might have played a role in many men losing jobs in the industries, women in the US are increasingly gaining ground on the wage gap between them and that of men. This figures though impressive they should not be confused with widening gap of wages between the races in general. Conclusion Interracial and intra-racial wage gaps have contribute the widening gaps in wealth holdings in the US condemning the country’s promise of liberty and equality to all the races. Nevertheless, a sudden change in reversing these trends is a futile and an elusive dream. Gains will only be realized if the American labor market goes back to the virtue of civility that united the county in the post civil movement period. Every American should change their attitudes and stop the old stereotype that some jobs are only meant to be done by some people. Equality in education is a fundamental step towards eradicating wage disparity. Works Cited Cauchon, Dennis. Gender pay gap is smallest on record. 2010. Accessed November 21, 2014 Connell, Tula. Big Wage Gap Between Men & Women; Women of Color Suffer Most. 2010. Accessed November 21, 2014 Ferraro, Thomas. “Republicans block pay discrimination bill.” Reuters, Wed Apr 23, 2008. Accessed November 21, 2014 Global Credit Portal. “Economic Research: How Increasing Income Inequality Is Dampening U.S. Economic Growth, And Possible Ways To Change The Tide.” Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC, August 5, 2014. Accessed November 21, 2014 Leonhardt, David. Income Inequality. 2011. Accessed November 21, 2014 McKeeby, David. End of U.S. Military Segregation Set Stage for Rights Movement: African Americans’ record of military service linked to equality struggle. 2008. Accessed November 21, 2014 < http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2008/February/20080225120859liameruoy0.9820215.html> National Center for Law and Economic Justice. Poverty in the United States: A Snapshot. 2010. Accessed November 21, 2014 < http://www.nclej.org/poverty-in-the-us.php> Santos, Fernanda. To Be Black at Stuyvesant High. 2012. Accessed November 21, 2014 < http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/education/black-at-stuyvesant-high-one-girls-experience.html?scp=5&sq=racial%20discimination&st=cse> Smith, Mark, S. Obama tells blacks to stop complaining and fight. 2011. Accessed November 21, 2014< http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/9864040> Trottman, Melanie. U.S. Pushes Target for Hiring the Disabled. 2012. Accessed November 21, 2014 Weber, David. End of U.S. Military Segregation Set Stage for Rights Movement: African Americans’ record of military service linked to equality struggle. 2008. Accessed November 21, 2014 < http://www.america.gov/st/diversity-english/2008/February/20080225120859liameruoy0.9820215.html#ixzz1odQFnlHq> Weber, Lauren. Workplace Discrimination for Caregivers: A Reality. 2012. Accessed November 21, 2014< http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2012/02/16/workplace-discrimination-for-caregivers-a-reality/?KEYWORDS=wage+discrimination> Read More