Essay On Culture And Ethnic Studies

Ideas of racism have a long history in the United States, perhaps stretching back to the early civilizations. However, it has gained much significance for its fundamental effects on human relations in recent centuries. The nature of racism portrayed in the history of American immigration is manifested through the description of the various categories of American population regarding their physical differences. As such, racist perspectives invite principles that cause natural and inevitable differential treatments to members drawn from different ethnic compositions. The nature of racism incorporates beliefs, behavior or attitudes that favor a particular group over the other. In the ancient US, for instance, minority group such as African American and Asian Americans were seen to be inferior. Thus, justification of exploitation and domination were practiced over them.
As a result of immigration, US has one of the most diverse and unique cultures. Ethnicity offers a wide range of cultural affiliations. The bases of distinction for ethnic groups include language, national origin, culture, and religion. In the US for example, people are still affiliated along racial dimensions like Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Asian Americans, White Ethnic Americans and so on. For example, White Ethnic Americans are one group which is easily identified by religion as the most key factor in the American society, especially during their entrance.
More like racism, the nature of discrimination manifests behaviors or actions against groups considered to be inferior. Prejudice and discrimination were substantially used in the history of American immigration as a tool for exercising dominance and control of access to rewards over minority groups. Asians, for instance, are among the groups that suffered most among those who voluntarily immigrated to the American society. They were neither enslaved nor faced any genocidal measures but were targets of physical and social abuse. On the other hand, in regards to wealth, blacks were less likely than their white counterparts to own property or wealth.
The system of ethnic inequality is created by hierarchical rankings of various ethnic groups, and subsequent rewards are offered to their members following those hierarchies. Just like no any society provides equitable distribution of its valued resources, nature of ethnicity is often used as a means of determining such distributions. As a matter of fact, the proportion of blacks wealth owners is much fewer compared to white wealth holders.
Whereas top hierarchical groups, during the early days of serious practice of ethnicity in the US, compounded and maintained their power and dominance over lowly ranked ethnic groups, the present US society has seen considerable change in both resource distribution and political dominance. The embracement of positive ideology or belief system has been used to legitimate and rationalize subordination and dominance unlike in the early days when they were negatively used to create an ethnic imbalance. For instance, the rise in political gains by African Americans in the last four or so decades is an indication of how things have changed over time.
There has also been a decline in ethnicity in considerations to the White Ethnic Americans which appears not to be a factor politically, socially and economically especially to those who identify with them. Again, Before the 1960s, that is, before the emergence of Civil Rights Movements, discrimination, especially against Africans was legally enforced by the state, both at local, state and federal government levels. Presently, prescribed discrimination paved way for more de facto forms ranging from institutional arrangements, housing patterns and demographic trends but not as measures of direct anti-blacks. However, in spite of the fight that is being put on race and ethnicity in the American society today, racism is still prevalent in all its forms.