Racism and racial inequalities have been in existence and can be dated as far back as the American colonization by the Great Britain. This was the time when slavery was at its peak and the rich people bought slaves of African origin and owned them as their property. The mistreatment and inequality was rampant as the masters regarded the black slaves as inferior and had no right to own anything since they were considered as property. The existence of inequalities based on race had brought a series of events including the civil war as well as the fight for civil rights in the 60s, and yet the concerns for the issue are still ongoing even in the modern world. This article highlights the milestones that could help to identify the history of racism and some of the events that were influenced by the existence of this social disparity. In particular, the paper highlights major events that could have been fueled by the existence of racial differences between the majority and the minority groups.
As the words states, racial inequality can be defined as the existing imbalances in representation and distribution of economic, resources and power on basis of racial perspective. The existence of these imbalances can be traced back in the time of American colonization when Africans were brought in America as slaves. This moment was characterized by the inhuman treatment of slaves where the slave-owners treated slaves as property or irrational beings incapable of managing themselves, while others had different ways of treating their slaves with reward and punishment being the main motivation strategy.
Even after the demolition of slavery after the civil war, racial inequalities prevailed in America with the free African Americans denied various opportunities. For instance, the Americans of African origin were denied citizenship and thus, they could not participate in any form of politics. Owning property was also a major problem whereby the Black Americans had no right to own land. As a result, they relied on the sharecropping program whereby they were rented a piece of land by the white Americans and as a result, they could pay with cheap labor and a portion of their harvest.
The existence of second-class citizenship characterized by racial segregation was also adamant even after the Civil War and the enactment of the 14th and 15th Amendments. The lynching process which was adopted by the European Americans as a way of punishing the Negroes who were caught “committing any form of offense” as well as the formation of groups such as the Ku Klux Klan can also be characterized as a strategy that was used to down grade African Americans as it targeted successful African Americans is one of the historic racial prejudice of all time. In addition, some of the regulations that were passed after the Civil war, such as the social security accepted home workers and Agriculturalists, the positions that were highly occupied by African Americans and Latinos, thus denying them a chance to enjoy retirements and medical benefits.
The existence of these racial imbalances attributed to the 1960s peaceful demonstrations and the struggle for equal rights, which subsequently led to the Amendment of the Civil Rights Act 1964. Before then, people of other races were not supposed to share facilities such as restaurants, public transport, schools and other basic public facilities with the European Americans. The prolonged existence of this segregation led to the mass protests in early 60s mostly by the students of African Americans and other minority groups who felt the need to give equal opportunities in sharing public facilities. Notable people including Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X among others diligently fought for equal rights for all the American citizens regardless of their color even to the extent of their assassinations. However, their efforts were rewarded by the willingness of the government to end segregation laws and the amendment of Civil Rights Act.
The use of strategies such as sit-ins, public rallies and the long march on Washington are among the protests strategies that were used to air the concerns on the existence of racial inequalities and discrimination in America. The subsequent result was the amendment of the Civil rights Act that abolished segregation on basis of race and instead, people had equal opportunities to share property. Other regulations that have been amended as a way of fighting racial prejudices includes the Equal employment opportunity Act, Voting Rights Act of 1965 and granting citizenship for the native Indians.
Racial prejudices have also been experienced in other parts of the world, with the worst case being the segregation and mass murder of non-Caucasians and Jew and other non-Caucasian races by Adolf Hitler in Germany prior to the onset of the Second World War. In his view, Jews, Gypsies and all other non-Caucasians were not to be part of his great empire which was to be comprised of the Aryan race. As a result, these minority groups were either killed by the Nazi mercenaries in the process of cleansing or secluded in segregated places.
Despite passing of several human rights that granted equal rights to all citizens in the U.S. it is evident that racism is still an existing problem. Several factors have characterized the existence of racism and judgments based on racial differences, especially in the criminal justice system and in evaluating the economic and social welfare between people of different races. It is worth to note that the level of racial discrimination fell significantly whereby the average representation to politics by the minority groups particularly the African Americans and the Latinos increased. Formal employment and the overall social and economic status also increased as the minority groups had a greater access for well-paying jobs, formal education and accessibility to bank loans to finance personal businesses.
However, there are notable instances that indicate that racial discrimination, though observed discreetly, is still rampant in most regions in the world. According to a report on a research conducted by Pager and Shepherd, people from African American and Latino origins are more likely to be suspects in case of a crime especially that involving violence. In addition, the report indicates that in case of a traffic search, it is more likely that the cars driven by an African American are at a higher chance of being searched as compared to those driven by whites.
The report on the racial representation in criminal justice system also indicates that the racial representation in prisons includes the overall rate of blacks and Latinos 3.4 percent as compared to only 0.4 percent of whites. Similarly, the chances of suspects of Whites being convicted and charged for felonies is lower than that of blacks, thus it is a 32 percent chance for an African American or a Latin American man spending a longer time in prison on charges of felonies as compared to 11 percent chances for Caucasian Americans. The existing perception that African American and Latino males are violent and that they are more likely to engage in violent crimes as well as drug trafficking has fueled this misconceived criminal profiling. As a result, it is more likely to arrest the wrong suspect on basis of their race in the 21st Century despite the fact that racial based prejudices had been abolished for a long time.
The social structure on the other hand, continues to be influenced by the sense of racial belonging. The prevalence of such measures can be attributed to the historical perceptions based on racial discriminations and inequalities. Despite having almost equal employment and economic status, a research has found that people are more likely to live in a neighborhood comprised of the people who share a common racial origin. Even in the modern world, there are neighborhoods consisting of whites only, blacks only among other minority groups. This trend was more prevalent in the mid-90s and it is likely that it will prevail.
Disparities based on racial ideologies have been in existence for a long time. Treating people differently on basis of their race has further promoted nepotism and unequal distribution of resources. Since the time of racial segregation and unequal opportunities to vote and own property, minority groups had perceived a feeling that they did not belong, thus fighting tirelessly for equal rights as well as working hard to redeem themselves to be worthy of all opportunities enjoyed by other majority races. Thus, ending racial inequality could only be achieved through developing an attitude of equality, where people need to learn to treat others equally as a fellow human being and not on a basis of their racial belonging.
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