Racism has been a problem in America for centuries. The idea of what racism is has varied over those times. The discussion will be involving racism, and comparing different cultures portraying as white. White can be considered skin color, or it could be considered who you have become. The different races will be reviewed, and how they compare to white people of America. Over 50 years the African American people in the United States had went through a long journey. The beginning of hope included Martin Luther Kings’ speech about black segregation, and humanity. That path had evolved other races to want rights, and be considered white. There are several issues over the last 50 years that has not let that happened. The first issue is; why does people of different racial groups have different racial problems? About 50 years prior after the civil rights movement occurred; why is there still economic struggle? The questions will be answered through reviewing the readings of the Kings Dream Report, Are Asian Americans Becoming White, Color Blind Racism, and how did Jews Become White Folk?
What race caused racism, and why is there still a problem? Does race have to do with who you are or who you are similar too? When one race causes problems with another race it can be labeled as racism. Is it racism or a racial conflict? What is race? Is race the ethnic background a person came from, or is it the ethnic background of who they have become? Racism is defined when a person of one race has a problem with another race. If a black person has a problem with a white person then it is considered racist. If a white person has a problem with another white person it is an argument. If a person’s biological race is different than another individual biological race that would mean they were of different race. If one of those people declared they were the same race as the other person because of means of living; would this be accurate. Does racism live within us because of the race we are considered to be, or is racism a personal battle that cannot be won?
Race in our country is still consider a problem that needs to end. Racism is not just about one particular race. The racism can occur with any race and ethnic background. The wider range of macro level racial formation is caused in today’s society by the media. Racial formation in society has grown because of the problems racial groups have had. Racism is looked at differently, and may be interpreted in a different way by a different racial group. What one racial group may think is being discriminative; the other group may think nothing of it. The perception racism may be different in nature than what one had expected. Racism is still a problem no matter how everyone looks at it. It is still occurring every day, and racial hate crimes do exist. This is proof that in this day and age race does matter in the country.
In the Kings Dream Report the author discusses the negativity with in the African Amirian groups compared to other racial groups including white people. The black people are looked down upon as a less fortunate than white people. The author portrays this information with statics to confirm that it is correct. Fifty years ago Martin Luther King spoke of his dream for segregation to stop, and people to get along. White society is deemed to continue to strive in the country as it did 50 years ago. Kings’ wishes have still yet to occur because African American still feel that they are treated differently than white people.
The black people feel that they are not given the proper rights and ethical standards that white people receive in the judicial system. Black people believe that they are treated poorly in regards to law enforcement, and prison. The white people have a better representation in the legal system, and the punishment for crime is different as well. The author points out the differences in the white and black groups in regards to discrimination and race in society.
A survey was taken by Pew Research in regards to racial change in the last 50 years. “The statistics showed the almost 50% of people thought that some change had been made in that time frame concerning racial issues” (Cohn, 2013). Another 50% thought there need a lot more change to occur for racial issues to disappear. Studies showed that education was more prominent in White Americans than Black Americans. Home ownership and finances also was more advanced in the white communities than in the black neighborhoods. These findings have not changed dramatically since Martin Luther King gave his speech. The numbers are lower for black people than whites for many areas of life. Successful white people rank higher, and have better benefits in the country than black people. This treatment of how segregation and racism effect the country has steadied with some improvements since then.
Black people suffer more economic issues than white people do today. The reasons could be because racism and segregation is still present. “The author points out that African Americans are less excited in a color blind community than Caucasian people are” (Cohn, 1). The reason is that black people still feel discriminated against in many ways. The author relates the hardship concerning finances, jobs, homes, and futures towards African American people. The hardship is due to the racism that the world still faces against them. If Kings’ speech has occurred then they may not have hardship.
“In the last 12 months approximately 40% of black people have had been discriminated against” (Cohn, 2). In the same amount of time about 20% of Mexican descents feel they had been discriminated against too. The rate for unemployment has also increased twice as much for African Americans than white people. The hardship for work has played a huge issue in the statistics for living.
When President Obama got elected the African American believed that racism and the poverty would change. The idea of having a black President had black people thinking positive for the future. They thought it would be a new beginning and the President could help solve their problems. It has been five years since President Obama got elected into the White House as President of the United States. “As those five years have passed African Americans are less optimistic that the President is going to fix anything that involved poverty and racism” (Cohn, 5). They have not seen the changes that they were hoping to have. It has disappointed them in many ways. The author relates black people in regards to racism, discrimination, and poverty, and white people are wealthy, higher class, and better educated. The reading relates racism towards black people. The two questions that are answer in this reading is important. The first question is answered in formatting how white people have more success in life than black people. The author discusses how much better economically white people are than black people. There is not much hope for black people overcoming economic problems. The change has not been significant since Martin Luther Kings’ speech.
Racial status was different many years ago. “People who were not white; were looked upon as biological different” (Brodkin, 57). The difference of white or not white has been an issue in the country for many years. In the story How did Jews Become White Folks; it discusses the meaning of white. The racial issue in American has been discussed as being African American people, but in this story the race problem is stemmed from Jewish and White people. There is a different racial outlook towards the types of people who are discriminated against in America. Each author relates race as a different racial group. Is race based on color, or ethnic background? The race in American has been apparent in all types of races at some point in time. The authors argue what race is racist, but there seems to not be one stereotype.
In the mid to late 1920’s Jewish people were labeled as another form of white people. The other form of white people indicated that they were a distant white heritage group of people who could not actually be considered white. In that era there was not much discussion about ethnicity or racial respect. People who were not white were not considered to be white. That is how race was recognized in that time. The author portrays how Jewish people were not actually considered to be White Americans because of their appearance and skin color.
Much of the Jewish people lived among other Jewish people. They helped one another and considered everyone family. They believed that they were Jewish, and that there cultural background was not a problem for them. The author relates Jewish families with the beliefs that they could do just as good as the white people. Their motto was that with the help of working hard, and getting a great education would bring the life they want. They did not believe they could or should count on others for their prosperity in life.
Racism against Jewish people had been intense for many years, and it was time that they showed everyone they could make it in the world. The hardship for Jewish people still continue in regards to jobs, and growth. Jewish people had congregated organizations that decided to be racist against other racial groups. The organizations would have a behavior of racism towards anyone who was not Jewish. They had felt discrimination and racism against them, and felt they should do the same.
In the 19th century there were was enormous problem in regards to anti-Semitisms. The racial problems were focused towards African Americans, Native Americans, Asian groups, and Hispanics. .Racism amongst race and ethnic groups had taken a huge expansion and was a problem in the country. “When the Red Scare occurred in the early 1900’s it caused a lot of hardship and economic suffering” Brodkin, 58). The Congress was pressured into stopping immigrants from coming into the United States. The immigrants were taking the jobs that Americans needed, and it was causing a racial issue. The American people were disgusted at the immigrants because they were to blame for the crisis and hardship.
The racism has not ended due to immigrants working in the United States. This problem has increase, and still causes economic problem for Americans. The author relates the Jewish community as white people in a since of productivity, and achievement in America. Jewish groups are not considered American in nationality, but are considered American or white because of the life they live, and the communities they live in. The type of lives they have made for themselves in American is similar to the lives of white people. The story details the Jewish racism in America, and that they consider themselves white. The reason is the lifestyle they have achieve for themselves. White people were considered educated and wealthy in sense. Jewish people were striving to accomplish that without anyone’s help but their own. There economic hardship will decrease the harder they work. Racism is a part of their history against most racial groups. It is still a problem in many Jewish communities. Those are the answers to the questions that came out of the reading.
Racism without Racists is a story based on the definition or racism. Racists are people who show racism towards a group of people. Americans do not want to admit they are racist, but the author portrays that they are. The example of people denying being racist against racial groups, but make a racist remark. This would consider the person a racist, because of the racial words that were directed toward another person. The author relates racism towards black people, and not against white people. “The white people seem to think that African Americans are the reason there is racial issues” (Bonilla-Silva, 65). The author explains that it is the African Americans who claim they are discriminated against, and they are mistreated. The black people should not dwell on the past, and put that energy towards being a hard worker.
Black people are always gripping that they are not treated correctly, and their rights are violated. The author wants the reader to see that it is not like that at all. The black people take things out of context, and therefore think everything has to be racist. In the story the author discusses how black people are to blame for poverty, and their life circumstances. If they would put effort into working and achieving their goals; then there would be less poverty and hardship in their life.
The answers from this reading are that racism will not end because of the racism in all of us. The reason there is economic hardship and racism is because of society in general. We cause our own problems, and not every problem is the same. Individuals cause our own problems and it could be towards a different race. The author relates to this in regards to racism.
On question that an author makes is; are Asian Americans becoming white? The story relates to Asian Americans have a label as white people due their American status. “Asians used to carry the label as Oriental; and in the 1960’s the label changed to Asian Americans” (Zhou, 30). In the reading Asians are considered white internally, and Asian on the outside. They act and live like white people in American, and want to be considered as such. Many Asians have been discriminated against after the war. Many Asians were considered immigrants, and were not treated ethically proper in society. Many Asians had come to America to have a better life, and leave poverty behind. The stereotype of Asian immigrants had come from Europe. The Americans treated the Asians in a discriminative way in that era.
Asians want to be considered an American citizen and not Asian American. They do not want to be considered a sub group of Americans. Asians have come a long way since the discrimination of Asian immigrants. The author portrays Asians as doing well in American, and want to have the same gratitude as white people do. Asians are not white by skin color, but are white internally because of their success in America.
Race in America is a problem that has no answer. The authors in the readings have compared why racism and economic hardship is still present after 50 years. The economic hardship and racism is brought on by every one of us in America. The perspective of racism towards each racial group has maintained the racial American problem. If one racial group puts blame on another racial group; there will always be racism. “In order for race to disappear; society needs to look at each other in a color blind way” (Omi, 57).
The answer to the questions seem to be different with each reading. Each racial group has problems with other racial groups. The problems can be unrelated, and are of different reasons. Some racial groups are considering themselves as white even though their biological race is of another. This can cause an issue within their biological race who do not agree with this. The authors all show how racism can affect racial groups, and that white can be considered by lifestyle and not a race. Racism is a problem with all racial groups, and racial labels. It is not going to get better unless all races can come together in agreement. The hardship that is faced ecumenical; has been an issue for many races of people. Until the world decides to get along; there will be hardship and racism in the world. There is no one solution.
In regards to racism in America; there is no one race that is affected. The racial groups that are guilty of racism and being racist is related to everyone. The authors discuss the different types of racism that has occurred between different groups. In order for the racism to stop there needs to be help from every racial group to do this. Without all racial groups coming together to end racism, it will not work successfully. Not every racial group will admit they are racist, and agree to stop blaming other racial groups for this issue.
It is important to find the answers to the two questions with these readings. The answers to these questions can reflect a solution to these issues. Racism is answered as a problem for every race, and it would take everyone to solve it. Different racial groups have different problems because of the problem itself. Not every problems’ issue is the same, and every racial groups is different. Therefore; if all racial groups had the same problem then racism would be easier to solve.
The economic hardship the author’s discuss is in regards to all of the racial groups. The hardship that still exists today is caused by racial stigma. The importance of finding this answer out may help in finding a solution to this epidemic. The economy is overall to blame, and lack of jobs has been an issue for all races of people.
Work Cited
Brodkin, K. "How Jews Became White Folks and what they say about race in america." Ch. 1. Rutgers NJ: Rudgers University Press, 2998. 56-71. Book.
Cohn, D'Vera. "King’s Dream Remains an Elusive Goal;." Peer Research Center 22 August 2013: 1-46. web.
E., Bonilla-Silva. "Racism Without Racists." Ch. 1, 2. Landham MD: Rowman and Littlefield , 2006. 1-298. book.
Michael Omi, Howard Winant. "Racial Formation In The United States From the 1960's to the 1990's." Boulder Calorado: Westview Press, 1994. 1-15. book.
Zhou, M. "Are Asian Americans Becoming White?" American Sociology Association. Berkley CA: Sage, 2004. 1-10. Book.
