Conclusion
Until the society overcomes the wealth gap, it cannot be termed as color-blind. A color- blind society has practices that are subtle, nonracial and apparently institutional. The four frames of supporting color- blind racism include cultural racism, naturalization, abstract liberalism and minimization of racism. Cultural racism describes the cultural, racial inequality. Racial inequalities result from the stereotypical behavior among the minorities.
Naturalization goes ahead to explain inequality as the cause of occurrences that arise naturally. On the other hand, abstract liberalism is based on the ideas such as individualism, equal opportunities, and choice. Finally, racism minimization attempts to reduce the race factor as the main influence that affects life chances of most minorities. It also reduces the situations that would pose as a discrimination to the hypersensitivity of race as a topic.
Affirmative action has turned out to need strengthening, in as much as it gets protected. The reflection of all the inequalities in the US societies is the wealth gap. The inequality, however, can be permanently closed. Doing so would require ending racism that would rise as the third American Revolution. In the past quarter century, there has been a huge gap in the wealth among the white Americans and the African- Americans in the United States. The difference is because of the economic policies and racial discrimination favoring the affluent (Shapiro, 2004). Compared to their African- American counterparts, typical white families tend to be five times more affluent.
There are more opportunities and fewer challenges for moderate income families in case they are white families unlike for African- American families. Equal opportunities among United States citizens would be that those with that opportunity will exhibit great achievements. The achievements may be in terms of jobs, income, household income and home ownership. Tax systems get perceived as being geared by the administrators to the advantage of those that are better off. The more wealth and income people have, the lower the taxation rates.
The question on how the working- class whites did sprint far ahead has raised several answers. The progress by the whites was not through family savings or individual enterprises. It was through government policies. Despite the steps made by African- Americans, like having well-paying jobs, having businesses and even owning homes, discrimination will always have the Blacks playing catch up (Coontz, 1992).
Low unemployment levels among blacks would indicate a strong economy and the possibility of both African- Americans and whites sharing the American dream. The reason very few African- Americans have accumulated stocks and real estate is historical racism. Racism forms the bedrock of a given society and exists deep in segregation and slavery. All the assets that African- American forefathers acquired, never escape disposal arising from poverty. Home ownership was not easy to gain especially because of the real estate industry redlining. It took a long time before the adoption of the national housing laws that were fair. Before then, mortgage financing was unavailable. Despite there being a conducive economic age, the wealth gap still goes beyond its confinements. The gap continues to widen because, as a group; blacks start far behind the whites.
Since the wealth gap is absent among babies, environmental factors would then be attributed to the gap. The blacks should be like their offspring who do not need better nutrition than the whites’, neither do they require more stimulation at their homes. Despite blacks facing barriers in different life avenues such as job markets, it is not totally racial. Some companies may even desperately hire blacks and promote them, even if it would be in the event of escaping prosecution.
All that said, being an African- American has some hidden cost which unless the society turns out to be color blind will live to undermine the blacks. Lack of fixed assets leads the list of the hidden costs, decency in the schools attended and household income that would be the joy of any child growing up. The lack the household income and not getting the best education would influence the black children growing up and, as a result, widen the wealth gap further.
Demonstrating the diverse and unique circumstances faced by whites and blacks in the social life would be an appropriate way to understand the differences in race, despite the wealth. Uses of wealth to perpetuate inequality should be an area of exploration. Notably, family inheritance and the ongoing racial discrimination in vital areas such as homeownership do reverse gains made on jobs and in schools. Racial inequality would, thus be made worse.
Why are whites more prosperous than African- Americans? Why do many black African- Americans languish in jail? Why do the African- American children perform poorly in school? The above questions, if raised to members of both races, would have different answers. Most of the members of the two different races would tend to disagree with one another. The epidemic ailing black America is racism. Black conservatives may be of the idea that it is no longer a concern. The lack of concern may be due to the increased life expectancy among African- Americans (Stiglitz, 2012). The claim by these conservatives that racism is no longer the main obstacle may be true. It would have the African- Americans concentrate more on their self- improvement.
References
Coontz, S. (1992). The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Shapiro, T. M. (2004). The Hidden Cost of Being African American: How Wealth Perpetuates Inequality. New York: Oxford University Press.
Stiglitz, J. E. (2012). The Price of Inequality: How today’s Divided Society Endangers Our Future. New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
