Even in the 21st century, the problems of race, class, gender, and ethnicity did not disappear from the terrains of the U.S. The country holds tragic experiences in the history regarding the unequal dissemination of power that led to the catastrophic outcomes, including the slavery, economic downturns, and a failure to establish equal and sound social relationship in the community. While the liberalist principles prevail in the current political and social frameworks, there are a lot of inequalities existing in the American society, where the representatives of non-Caucasian ethnicity tend to be poorer, women still earn less than men for the same amount of work, and there is a strict difference between the representatives of the lower and upper class with this gap increasing every year. The vision towards these problems varies from expert to expert, yet it is essential to resolve the issues of inequality as soon as possible to avoid the future disasters.
The situation in Perry, Iowa does not differ from the other places in the Midwest, as it is considered that this region is known for its high rate of racial, ethnicity, and gender discrimination (Census Scope). The results from the survey conducted by Census Scope, the Midwest tends to be the most racially segregated area in the country (Census Scope). Therefore, the current research argues that the attitude to the racial and ethnical minorities as well as to women in Perry, Iowa remains inadequate due to the attempts of the former and present capitalists to segregate the state’s population and impose deficient socio-ethical paradigm in the region.
The perception of polyculturalism has always been a problem for the American society, despite the fact that the country’s population has always been diverse. According to Vijay Prashad, the vision of polycultural layout of the country is incorrect, as experts usually emphasize the attribution of all individuals to human beings, which is not right for the scholar (Prashad 69). Prashad implies that individuals are born as people, but in order to attain the attributes of human nature, they have to work on their issues of inequality (Prashad 69). A change in the perception of race and ethnicity can improve the relationship between different groups in the U.S. including Midwest. Historically, this region was not exposed to as many racial minorities, as for example, the West, which could affect the high inequality rate in the region. Also, the rural layout of the region as well as the political preferences of the population in Midwest serves as the main basis for the inequalities in terms of gender, race, class, and ethnicity.
When identifying the situation in Perry, Iowa, Deborah Fink on her own experience showed that it is critical. According to Fink’s work, the workers in the plant that she analyzed were recruited among the racial minorities or disadvantaged Caucasians, like former inmates or ex-military, who were in the minority (Fink 10). If taking into account that the racial and ethnic minorities are scarce in the Midwest and in Perry in particular, it reveals that the attitude towards the representatives of non-Caucasians relies on prejudice and non-acceptance. It reflects the principles embedded in the Midwest and according to Fink’s work, the entire attitude to class, ethnicity, and gender is encapsulated not only in the political framework of the region, but even in the guidelines provided to the younger population. According to Fink, children and adolescents were more likely to articulate the principles of strict class divisions comparing to the adults (Fink 168). It implies that in future, the current generation will continue to apply irrelevant and dangerous perception of the ethnicity, gender, and class.
This approach is benefiting for the politicians and official decision-makers, which will obtain easy-ruled and inadequately educated population that will not question the actions of the ruling elite. Colonialist view characteristic for the U.S. culture in general tends to be the remnant of the past, which is obsolete in the modern days primarily due to the pervasiveness of globalization and technological advancement. At the same time, the opposition to the colonialism may be conducted only with the help of united efforts and only due to the reconceptualization of the perception of ethnicity, gender, and race. Prashad emphasized that “anticolonialism in the entire oppressed world threw down a severe challenge to colonial puissance, whether through countless acts of disorganized resistance or through the sporadic organizations of anticolonialism” (Prashad 37). In Perry and in the Midwest in general such efforts will be quite problematic, as the entire region is guided by the principles of segregation and unequal dissemination of power. In colonialist point of view, power plays essential role. It usually relates to the Darwinist principles of survival of the fittest, which in the view of colonialism is the majority.
The perception of gender in Perry, according to Fink, is also inadequate, as the owners of the companies try to preserve the old system of values and tend to respond to the new requirements of maintaining equal conditions for both men and women only by the artificial measures (Fink 112). It emphasizes not only the lack of desire to create equal conditions, but the misconception about the good of the population, the company, and the region in general. A failure to recognize the equality is rooted in the old and irrelevant ideology that is not practical any more. While the first experiences of the colonialist were connected to the necessity of survival due to the absent infrastructure and difficult conditions, which dictated the attitude to newcomers and women, nowadays there are no reasons for the same patterns today. Yet at some point, the perverted vision of polyculturalism remained almost untouched in the Midwest. Technically, the ethnical and racial minorities as well as women do not threat to overpower the Caucasian male majority of the region due to quantity and inefficient approach to gender relationship. However, the current situation remains economically profitable for the owners of the companies in Perry, as it is possible to exploit cheap labor and do not care about provision of the adequate working conditions for the employees.
Fink supports the same explanation of the current situation in Perry by claiming that despite the fact that raising salaries for the packing job pressures the farmers, they do not agree to increase them for their workers (Fink 165). The author claims that one of the factors contributing to the unequal conditions is the rural layout of the region, and Perry in particular, as she claims that in Iowa there is a general antipathy to unionism (Fink 165). In this case, rural factor plays important role, as it points to the remote situation of the region and the inability of its inhabitants to embrace new paradigms of behavior, experience, and perception of the relationship in the society. However, the entire situation seems to be quite surreal taking into account the level of economic and technological development of the modern U.S., where the inability to expose to the ideas of polyculturalism seems to be artificial.
Overall, both Fink and Prashad argue that the misconception and the roots of inequality are encapsulated in the American colonialist culture that was not destroyed in the Midwest. It will be difficult to change the attitude of the future generations, as they are exposed to the same prejudice as the previous ones. The case of Perry represents a vicious circle evident in the entire region which is caused by the resistance to change of the population and especially the representatives of power. At the same time, the socio-economic benefits that dictate this situation are enjoyed only by the few representatives of the power, where the majority of citizens still suffer from the inadequacies of such approach. It is possible to eliminate the damaging factors causing the problem, by changing the region’s demographics, improving the education in the region, and taking care about the rural regions in the country.
Works Cited
Census Scope. Segregation: Neighborhood Exposure by Race. 2000. Web. 14 May 2016.
Fink, Deborah. Cutting into the Meatpacking Line: Workers and Change in the Rural Midwest. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1998. Print
Prashad, Vijay. Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting: Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity. Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2001. Print
