The lack of black individuals succeeding, compared to white individuals is to attracted by two main reasons as to why it is happening, one the world is living in an age of much diminished racism the lack of black success is due at least in part to their cultural dislike of intellectual success as linguist John McWhorter talks about or two racism is a constant problem and is showing no signs of successful outcome. Which is brought to light about by both Reverent Al Sharpton, and Ta-Nehisi Coates. America seems to be dealing with both of these topics due to the lack of interest, as well as the bigger problem of continuous racism. Some may argue, there is a lack of success in black individuals compared to a white individual having …show more content…
If it is not the derogatory term ‘acting white’ it is the lack of opportunities, compared to the opportunities a white individual is offered that puts a mild stress on the possibility of succeeding in something. It can be said a lot of black individuals are not granted or offered the same window opportunities as a white individual might be offered, due to their race. Reverend Al. Sharpton article ‘‘Racism & Bias – Can We Pause and Be Honest with Ourselves?’’ writes, ‘‘Though racism may be less blatant now in many cases, its existence is undeniable. If you don’t believe me, just listen to others and take a look at the state of our nation for yourself,’’ Sharpton is expressing his concerns about racism and how people tend to ignore bringing up the subject especially when it is needed to be brought up. Because if one does bring up the told and that person who brings light to the subject is a black individual then they are considered to be playing the race card, when it can simply be that they are wanting to express their concerns for themselves and every other black individual they know. Sharpton also states, “We are still living in largely segregated communities with inadequate schools and poor housing for minorities. Until Blacks and Latinos have the same opportunities afforded to others, we cannot falsely believe that we are somehow beyond racism,’’ black individuals are not only affected by a lack of poor schooling but as well as jobs, careers, housing, and many more not giving them enough space to be able to show some type of success in any way or form because they are stuck with opportunities which at times are not the very best, but are the only ones they are offered. In Coates article ‘‘The Case for
Growing up as an African-American you are always taught to be twice as good. Twice as good as the white people to receive the same treatment as them. I grew up hearing this same phrase constantly but never really understood exactly what it meant until I got old enough to actually see the kind of world we are living in. The author of the article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack” Peggy Mclntosh, took as step into shoes of black America and found that white privilege not only exist, but many whites are blind to it. She gives a clear argument about how white privilege is harmful to our society and how we can work together to fix this.
Although, Henry Louis Gates Jr. mentions that education is key to stopping segregation and being successful; he also says that African Americans feel inferior to “white” Americans. This makes them not have the motivation of succeeding, having an education, aspiring, and dreaming because they believe that this is only for “white” Americans and not blacks. In today’s world, anyone can strive for a better future no matter what race they are. At one point in the article Henry Louis Gates mentions that not everyone in any
In The Talk Canedy explains that she needs to teach her son how to act around the police. Things such as police brutality happen a lot more tech African American then it does to white people. A lot of white people tend to not understand the problems that African-American, Hispanics, Asians, and more go through on a daily basis. Learning from the Nicole Chung’s personal essay I was able to learn racism isn’t always clear. There are different forms of racism such as casual racism that people endorsed on an everyday basis that wait people might not even notice they are saying. This is just one great example of things that an African American man would need to learn that a white man wouldn’t. Not in all cases but frequently when you think of African-Americans you think of property. Although this is not a fair assumption this has a lot of the fact on life experiences. People with low social class and low income don’t forget to do things that people with high income get to do. This causes different races to have different life experiences. Another example can be college, certain races push college more heavily than others. Some families finally important in working straight out of high school well there’s find important in a college education. Depending on your race could depend on if you go to
Contrary to what many people may believe, African-Americans have a strong motivation towards achieving. From the parents to the children, there is a strong orientation for wanting to learn and get ahead. Research has shown that black children have educational and occupational aspirations that are often equal to, and sometimes higher, than white children (Stevenson et al. 1990; Winfield 1991b; Hill 1999). African-American paren...
...tion, and the economic status of a historically deprived people certainly won’t be an exception. As many successful black entrepreneurs have proven, it is very much possible for good businessmen to succeed greatly despite the opposition, and there is still plenty of room for success.
This power keeps the behavior of the oppressed well within the set guidelines of the oppressor (Freire, 2000, pg. 47). Critical Race Theory outlines this system of oppression as it relates to white and non-white races. By using the critical race theory coupled with the system of oppression described by Freire (2000), I propose that within the system of oppression, the oppressor must keep its own members in line with the prescribed guidelines by reinforcing the social norms from birth. Freire (2000) suggest that the interest of the oppressors lie in “changing the consciousness of the oppressed not the system” (pg.34). Identifying as white, therefore, starts at birth when members of the white class work to reinforce social norms that began with our founding fathers at Plymouth Rock. This long history of white privilege was taught to me and I continue to teach it to my children. As an educator of white affluent high school students, I believe we provide college and career counseling based on this white privilege system of oppression as well. Here, I journey even closer to unraveling the myth of white privilege as I encounter the intersection of an affluent white student choosing a career after high
A substantial amount of educational and psychological research has consistently demonstrated that African American students underperform academically relative to White students. For example, they tend to receive lower grades in school (e.g., Demo & Parker, 1987; Simmons, Brown, Bush, & Blyth, 1978), score lower on standardized tests of intellectual ability (e.g., Bachman, 1970; Herring, 1989; Reyes & Stanic, 1988; Simmons et al., 1978), drop out at higher rates (e.g., American Council on Education, 1990; Steele, 1992), and graduate from college with substantially lower grades than White students (e.g., Nettles, 1988). Such performance gaps can be attributed to any number of factors, such as socioeconomic status, academic preparation, and educational opportunities; however, Steele (1997) pointed out that even when background factors are held constant, subsequent achievement remains lower for minority students. Moreover, much research in this area has focused on how African American students’ lack of motivation and negative attitudes contribute to their inferior academic performance (Ogbu, 1990); yet many Black students often report high educational aspirations (Fordham, 1996; Fine, 1991; Ogbu, 1987, 1990; Hauser & Anderson, 1991), even higher than White students of comparable class background (MacLeod, 1995). What remains certain is the urgent need to explain what accounts for the persistent academic underachievement of Black students.
In the article White Silence, White Solidarity, the author is an Euro-American and an educator of multicultural education. What she thinks of multicultural education is a fiend that she criticizes as skirting around white racism, and celebrating the European ethnic immigrant experience. She thinks that white people of their common whiteness or the privileges gained from white racism and they fear losing material and psychological advantages when they screen out the color of people. She also states that white people learn to talk about race-related issues through several communication strategies. First, they equal racism with individual prejudice and personal ignorance, which allow them to assume every group is racist, and to avoid acknowledging the differences in power and privileges between whites and groups of color.
Racism has evolved a long way throughout the timeline, as time passes race still affects opportunity goals and the way students learn. In the article “Schools Need Black Males To Choose Teaching Careers” by Pittsburgh Post and in the video “Tale of Two Schools: Race And Education In Long Island” show a similar relationship/lifestyle between two characters but the differences in schools. In Fences by August Wilson, Cory a young African American male living in a time where race matters more than personality is still receiving the education he needs, but is not able to reach his goals become a football player due to his race. Race can have an negative effect on opportunity because lack of inspirations/role models and job opportunity.
Across the nation, millions of Americans of all races turn on the television or open a newspaper and are bombarded with images of well dressed, articulate, attractive black people advertising different products and representing respected companies. The population of black professionals in all arenas of work has risen to the point where seeing a black physician, attorney, or a college professor are becoming more a common sight. More and more black people are holding positions of respect and authority throughout America today, such as Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Condelezza Rice and many other prominent black executives. As a result of their apparent success, these black people are seen as role models for many Americans, despite their race. However, these groups of black people are exceptions to the rule and consist of only a tiny fraction of all black Americans. These black people in turn actually help to reinforce the inequality of black Americans by allowing Americans of other races to focus on their success. A common thought is, "They made it, why can't you do the same?" The direct and truthful answer to that question is Racism.
Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks” (71). All these objects listed by McIntosh are things I have access to and certainly take for granted. Due to a history of non-white racial oppression, which transformed into decades of racial discrimination that still lingers today, the white race has dominated our society in terms of resources and prosperity. The ideas of wealth, higher-level education and ambition to succeed are all traits commonly linked to people of the white race that collectively define privilege. The aspect of privilege can also produce disadvantages for people of the white race as well. In the book Promoting Diversity and Justice, the author D. Goodman notes that people of advantage groups develop a sense of superiority, which will sometimes lead them to wonder if, “their achievements were based on privilege or merit” (107). Along with a diminished sense of accomplishment, the cost ...
Because I am white, no one wonders if I am associated with terrorists or feels nervous and pulls their belongings closer if I am alone in an elevator with them. Going to school I always had a sense of safety. Having brought white privilege to my conscious awareness, it raised feelings of guilt and shame, because I was ignorant to my oppressiveness for so long. These feelings empowered me to identify various ways in which I can challenge the concept of white privilege in myself and others. On an individual level this can be done by increasing awareness of privilege, reducing feelings of guilt, accepting one’s own role in perpetuating racism. Do not assume that all differences are the same, acknowledge and validate everyone’s experience, avoid assumptions, listen with compassion, and create safety and room for everyone. Additional ways to challenge white privilege consist of exploring resources produced by or about other races, developing relationships with people across racial lines, positioning oneself in a context where they are the numerical minority, and/or exploring the field of whiteness
As cliché as it sounds, it is true that many African American students come from very harsh and poverty stricken environments. They tend to go to under resourced schools as well that do not provide the proper knowledge for them to further their education. And even worse, these schools tend to be segregated since they are usually in the harsher parts of a neighborhood. Sadly, it’s the segregated schools are one of the main reasons why black students decide not to go on to pursue a higher education. According to "The Way Out of the Black Poverty Cycle", a black student that attends an integrated suburban school is six times more likely to graduate compared to a segregated under resourced school. An African Americans family structure and the opinions of family members affects if their decision to further their education as well. Many African American children grow up un...
Black people are paid almost half of what white people are paid, which forces them to live in low income communities which tend to be unsafe, and also put their whole family in danger. Due to their low income, they might not be able to afford health care which causes them to “lose more work because of illness, have more carious teeth, lose more babies as a result of both miscarriage and infant death…” according to William Ryan from Blaming the Victim page 648. People who have low income due to the wage gap tend not to be able to afford college compared to white people, which hinders their future and their ability to succeed. In fact, on page 214 in Shades of Belonging: Latinos and Racial Identity, Sonia Tafoya states “Hispanics who identified themselves as white have higher levels of education and income and greater degrees of civic enfranchisement than those who pick some other race category.” This shows how minorities are mistreated in society unlike white people. In the end, it doesn’t matter what your abilities are because if you are not white you are not treated equally. “If you’re not white, you’re black,” (141 Sethi). Anyone who is not white in the United States are seen as inferior. If you’re not white, you 're not treated as an equal. Non-whites are judged based on their appearance and are made fun of due to their accents. Numerous non-whites are harassed and are told “you are in America, learn how to speak English!” When in fact, there is no official language of the United States. According to Sonia Shah in Asian American? on page 217, Asians are paid less in the workforce even when they have the same level of education as whites. Regardless of whether non-whites receive the same education level as whites, they are still not equal, not even in the work
Blacks look for jobs longer and sometimes more aggressively than whites do and they are 44% less likely to get hired for the job even when they are just as qualified. Today they have a law that jobs cannot discriminate on who to hire just because of their race or ethnicity, and even though that’s a law some jobs still discriminate, they just use a different reason for why they could not hire you. Other races have heard so many stereotypes and stories about African Americans and they also grew up being taught certain beliefs which become part of the economy.