Most people perceive race as only the color of ones skin; many people do not consider that being racial is not really about how a person looks but in essence it is about the how the society views different races and the opportunities and privileges associated with each race. Race is normally about the eyes, hair or even skin color.
Despite the illusion about racial characteristics, the condition is very real. The values associated with each race have been in existence throughout history. It is not really a personal matter but a political and economic vice as everyone desires to be in a position where they are highly privileged. Throughout history, it has been proved that the ultimate beneficial race was being white.
Most times we claim that stereotypes do not matter but that does not restrict us from actually finding out what these stereotypes are and memorizing by heart. It can thus be said that we seek to know what we claim as not important. Any normal person attributes physical characteristics to race. They perceive ones character as stemming from their physical makeup. The truth, however, is that the individuals living in the world of today have no subspecies or even biological make up difference. Our culture leads us to think that we understand a person’s race by mere looks. This has been proven not to be the case; although biology is not a determinant of race, it is still real in our daily lives.
The most common argument is that being white is superior to being Latino, Asian or Black. The privileges accrued to white people supersede those for other races. Race does not have meaning unless there is public policy or social meaning. The markers of race such as skin color or any other physical attribute cannot be important if not backed. Private actions must be similar to personal traits to elicit their priority in society. In this regard, we identify that it is not the physical outlook that makes up race but the opportunities and chances that are attributed to having a certain race in the society. A closer look portrays that even institutions are creating and enforcing racial inequality in society. As immigrants come to America, they experience the true nature of racialism drawn from slavery and the conquest of Native Americans.
Most people are born into this society which is already racial with no clear way on how to fit in and adopt to its ways. From the twenty first century, millions of immigrants trooped in America. There were growing debates on how these immigrants would manage to integrate with the native society. The Social Scientists and lawmakers never agreed on the new state of hierarchy with the new entrants. The immigrants came to source for better living conditions and to better the lives of their families; they also needed to be free.
Between eighteen eighty and nineteen ninety, the majority of immigrants were from southern and Eastern Europe. The hope for better lives is not a reality for immigrants. They are forced to work hard, for long hours in jobs which are dangerous and poorly paid. The other races, apart from White are also subjected to the same conditions. As industrialization continued to progress, so did slum dwellings. This further went to increase the class differences caused by races and promote tension. The white people lived in far better houses as compared to the other races. In America, a majority of mine and factory workers were immigrants; they constituted about fifty eight percent by the year nineteen ten.
The workers were in great demand. They were, however, also viewed as lazy, promiscuous and stupid; most people saw this as racial criticism. In these times, scientific positions took effect concerning racial differences; as more immigrants were forced to endure hard conditions, it was described as a biological outcome of one’s race.
A person’s racial background determined which on which side of the divide they were placed; it was a matter of life and death. Times changed to result in people being executed on account of their race. In the year 1890 to 1920, a total of two thousand five hundred African-Americans were lynched in the south and Leo Frank who was a Jew was taken from jail and hanged for allegedly killing a white girl.
In 1915, a new phrase came into being that people could melt in the pot and thereafter become Americans. At the same time, the inferior races were not considered fit to become Americans and thus could not mix with others in the pot. Only whites were allowed citizenship in America at that time. It was the whites who had the good jobs, sat in juries, and could be elected in public office; all privileges were accorded to them.
A person who was white was not just racially given priority but also a determining factor of citizenship. One could only gain citizenship through naturalization if they were white or black. The court was tasked with the responsibility of determining who was white or black. Marriages between whites and other races were prohibited and association was limited. This was in a way confusing since each region had its own description of the terms white and black. In Virginia, a Black person was to have one out of sixteen African ancestries; in Florida, it was one who had one out of eight African ancestries. In Alabama, anyone who had black ancestry was described as black. Anyone could change their race so long as it fit the laws in their state. It was about political power; having the mandate to give people the race that authority described.
This power existed in American courts in 1909. In the same year, Armenians who were normally Asiatic were declared White. The other Asiatic Races were not declared White and the question begging was which criterion was used to give them the title and yet deny the others.
Takao Ozawa petitioned in nineteen twenty two for naturalization as it was impossible to own land or to lease land if one was not an American; they were not protected in American law. The period one had been a resident in the country did not matter. It was argued that race should not be a priority to attain citizenship and the main focus should be one’s belief.
The name was not important if one did not have the right character expected from an American; it was an individual’s personality that determined whether they were American or not. Despite doing everything right, Ozawa was told that he was Mongolian and not white. Thind Bhagat Singh from the Indian race was Caucasian and therefore he petitioned that he was white. He made an argument based on scientific evidence. The court disagreed on the basis that the white race cannot be subjectively determined through science. It was to be what the common man said it was.
The court made it public that it gave citizenship based on persons who they felt would politically fit in the white community. The Thind case led to many South Asians being stripped of their citizenship, subsequently they lost their property and all that they had with them.
Whiteness was exclusive and a privilege of opportunity. Those opportunities were inaccessible to those who were non-whites. Many unions locked them in jobs which were low paying and they could not own the mortgage homes. Most average persons could have access to the homes at low interest rates; the outskirts of many cities saw new homes springing up. Financial institutions allocated millions to the project to enable the Americans to own homes. The purchase of homes in that period was the American dream of many people. FHA underwriters had given warning that owning of homes by minority people would reduce the rating of real estate.
Those who wanted to buy homes could not get homes from the originally white neighborhoods. Those who were non-white were not to be integrated with the whites. They were viewed as economically unstable and socially undesirable. If a non-white person was allowed to own a home in such an all white estate it would lead to the homes not being approved.
The housing market completely left out the blacks. A utopia was created for the white communities to live in which was highly unrealistic. Another program of urban renewal led to many of non-white homes being destroyed and never rebuilt. Those who moved into the predominantly white neighborhoods saw their houses decline in value and more non-whites moving in. Generations have passed of non-whites who have led very low net worth today in comparison to people of white races; this is based not on other factors but the inequality in race.
The video gives a step by step analysis of the racial structure in America today. It elaborates the historical racism effects which have led to some of the occurrences in the world today. It dispels the norms people normally have about race and gives the viewer an understanding of the core factors that led to racism. Although one sees clearly why the white was predominantly given priority, it fails to give the statistics of the many non-whites who are crossing bridges and going beyond limitations of their race to reach their goals. The video ends with a notion that racism is still persistent in all its norms which is not the reality today.
