African Americans trace their roots in the heart of West Africa. This ethnic group immigrated into the United States as a result of slave trade that existed in the late 18th Century between Africa, Europe and the Americas. Therefore, most African Americans came into the United States as slaves. The high demand of African American slaves from the African continent was motivated by three important factors. First of all, the high demand for African slaves was motivated by the fact that plantation farming in the United States demanded for workers to tend and cultivate the farms (Hughes, 2008, p.78). Second, African slaves were believed to be hardy enough to be able to endure the harsh environmental conditions in the United States. Third, African leaders were willing to sell their own people as slaves in exchange for goods from the West.
Drawing from the above background, it is clear that African Americans arrived in the United States not in their own will but were forced to. Therefore, they occupied the lowest position within the American social hierarchy. They were subjected to various forms of discrimination from their masters who occupied a higher hierarchical position compared to them. This paper seeks to explore the different forms of discrimination that the African American race has been subjected to in the United States over the years.
The first form of discrimination that the African American race has been subjected to is dual labor market. It is important to understand that the many years that the African Americans spent in the hands of their masters created a financial gap between them and their masters. Arguing from the dependency theory, the process of sealing the economic gap that was created during the years of slavery takes time since resources are not equally distributed in the United States. There is a large gap between the rich and the poor. A reasonable proportion of African Americans are poor. They do not have access to essential facets of life like quality education. The lack of quality education among African Americans has forced them to occupy low paying jobs thereby making it difficult for them to be able to free themselves from the vicious circle of poverty (McCoy, 1994, p.65). This notion that a large proportion of African Americans are poor and has been used against them in the job market in that some employer. This means that even to date, there still some elements of dual labor market discrimination though not directly.
The second form of discrimination that African Americans have been exposed to is environmental justice issues. The living conditions that most of the African Americans live in leave a lot to be desired. The quality of housing is low due to the fact that most of the African American society does not have enough resources to be able to afford quality housing. This means that the neighborhoods inhabited by African Americans are different from those occupied by rich populations in the United States. African American neighborhoods are more populated compared to the neighborhoods of rich populations. The presence of a higher population within African American exposes American Americans to incidences of insecurity. This is because when high populations share scarce resources, some people do not get enough and they therefore devise new ways of accessing more resources for themselves. Based on the anomie theory, crime is one of the ways in which people in society use to access resources that seem to be inaccessible to them due to their scarcity. In addition to insecurity within African American societies other races within the United States have often stereotyped African Americans with insecurity and drug abuse. This is the reason as to why some races are not welcoming to African Americans within their neighborhoods because they are concerned by the fact that African Americans are likely to increase insecurity within their neighborhoods.
The other form of discrimination that African Americans have been exposed to is the violation of the affirmative action. Before the American civil war, only white male were allowed to vote. African Americans were viewed as not having the capacity to make solid political decisions for their own. In fact, the confederates viewed them as being property and not human beings capable of reason. However, today African Americans are allowed to participate in democratic processes like voting. Though one might be convinced that discrimination against the minority like African Americans is a thing of the past, the fact remains that African ethnicity has been used a way to lock out talented African American leaders from political offices.
The fourth important form of discrimination within the African American culture is reverse discrimination. This means that discrimination is a two way process. It is not only whites towards black people but it also entails black people towards white people. Some portions of the African American cultural are not welcoming to other races that constitute the United States citizenry. This form of discrimination is a threat to national unity in that people embrace their ethnic identities more compared to a common national consciousness.
In conclusion, African Americans have been subject to different forms of discrimination within the United States. Some of the forms of discrimination include the creation of a dual labor market that subjects them to unskilled low paying jobs, environmental justice issues, and the disregard of the provisions of the affirmative action. Though these forms of discrimination exist within the American society today, I culturally identify myself with the United States mainstream culture because I believe that we are all equal as American citizens.
References
Hughes, L. (2008). African American history: four centuries of Black life.
Indiana: Indiana University Press.
McCoy, F. (1994, January). Rethinking the Cost of Discrimination. Black
Enterprise, 24(6), 54-69.
