Race and Ethnicity in America

863 Words2 Pages

Race and Ethnicity Since the country’s beginning, race, gender, and class have been very important factors in a person’s experience in the United States of America. The meaning of race, gender differences, and the separation of class have changed over United States history. For many Americans, their perceptions of class and race and the degree to which gender affect people’s lives, often depends on what their race, gender, and class are, too. There are differences between the reality of America, what is represented as American reality in media, and the perceived reality of America. Americans as well as those looking at America from an outside perspective may have questions and confusions regarding what the real connections are to race, class, and gender are in America. The paper tries to clarify and explore how these issues connect and play out in real life. One of the greatest exports of American culture is American media. American media is one of the most widely distributed and consumed cultural forms from the United States. This means that not only do Americans consume large quantities of their own media, but many other countries in the world consume American media, too. People in other countries will not interpret or understand the media in precisely the same ways that Americans will and do, nonetheless, many aspects of American culture and American reality are communicated to numerous viewers as part of the content in the media. The media is an important tool in the discussion of race, class, and gender in America. It takes a savvy viewer to discriminate between and understand what media accurately represents reality, what media does not, or which aspects of experience are fictionalized, and which elements ... ... middle of paper ... ... are factors that affect the experience a person will have living in America. Social class stands out as a variable that is especially important theoretically, and deserving of special attention for its potential impact in shaping citizens’ experiences and attitudes. These factors cannot be studied individually for there impact to be measure accurately. They will continue to be in the forefront of American society until more understanding is gained regarding the nature and extent of their connection. References: Omi, Michael . "In Living Color: Race and American Culture." Signs of life in the USA, 7th ed. Boston, MA: Sonia Maasik/Jack Solomon, 2012. . Print. Price, Angeline. "Working Class Whites." Signs of life in the USA, 7th ed. Boston, MA: Sonia Maasik/Jack Solomon, 2012. . Print. Fussell, Paul. Class. New York: Simon &Schuster, 1983. Print

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