Introduction
The US racial hierarchal system used to only demarcate the white/black color line. However, as more and more racially diverse populations migrate to the United States, the racial hierarchal system in the US adapts new ways to emphasize racial differences between whites and “others”. Guenther, Pendaz and Makene’s research about the intersections of identity of Eastern African immigrants and its impact on their racial status in the US present how racism in the United States continue to persist and grow to accommodate more and more ways to assert whites and degrade non-whites. Furthermore, the paper explores personal encounters and feelings of confusion of Eastern African immigrants as they navigate the US racial hierarchy and its effects on how they present their identities as foreign-born Africans.
The struggle of Eastern African immigrants
Guenther, Pendaz and Makene’s research explains the many ways in which Eastern African immigrants both adapt and deviate their identities in order to move upward the racial status specifically in order to differentiate themselves from African Americans. Most Eastern African immigrants are unaware of the importance of race in the US and they struggle to socialize themselves with this American culture of racism. They become aware of the racial strata dominating the American society and adopt ways to make their status higher than their racial counterparts – African Americans. Some Eastern African immigrants express proudly their religion as it different from African Americans and capitalize on them being foreign-born in order to receive better treatment from white Americans and to move away from racial stereotypes commonly used against African Americans.
All their efforts to make their lives more bearable and to have better opportunities in America come to halt after the 9/11 attack as both white Americans and African Americans begin to associate Eastern Africans with Arab Muslims just by virtue of their physical appearances and religion. It is brought to light that Eastern African immigrants experience twice as much marginalization and discrimination because of their race and their religion. The research paper makes clear the intersectional and simultaneity of racism and its impact on the lives of those who experience inequalities because of it.
The US racial hierarchal system’s oppression
There is no doubt that racism abrasively and dominantly exists in America. Racial discrimination and religion marginalization persist unwaveringly among America’s citizens be it white, African American, Latino/a, or Asian and it seems that as more and more people from different races enter the US, they become accustomed and learned with the system of racial discrimination. This paper is just another proof of how large the impact of racial discrimination affects people’s lives in America and how this continues to rust America’s image to the global community.
“Race is not a master status that eclipses other differences, but is defined and understood based on other inequalities.” (Guenther, Pendaz & Makene, 2011). In America, one is identified as belonging to a certain race by which type of discrimination they experience asserting that in order for a race to be legitimized, it has to undergo social ostracization. It is incredibly ironic how America, a melting pot of different races and ethnicities, is also an incinerator for acceptance of the differences of the people living in it. It is hard to swallow how much a person must alter his self in order to feel safe in this country. Eastern African immigrants have fled their homes in order to have a more secure life in America and they are jilted by how much they are not safe here.
What America needs is total acceptance, and not “hands-off tolerance” like what is happening in United Kingdom with their Muslim immigrants (Blunt, 2011). Tolerance gives way for racism. You can tolerate something and not accept it. We need a fuller understanding of our differences as people and learn to accept them in order to make living together comfortable and possible for everyone.
References
Guenther, K.M, Pendaz, S., & Makene, F.S. (2011). The impact of intersecting dimensions of inequality and identity on the racial status of Eastern African immigrants. Sociological Forum, 26 (1), 98-120
Blunt, C. (2011, February 9). “The Push and Pull of Multiculturalism in Western States.” Sociology Lens. Retrieved from http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/2011/02/09/the-push-and-pull-of-multiculturalism-in-western-states/
