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The effect of racism
Racial discrimination in the 20th century
The effect of racism
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In today 's society, discrimination tackles a wide range of structures, from gender inequality to the social class. Everyday people are looked down upon because of their skin or because they may have different beliefs. Racism has been something that has been going on, and has laws passed as a result of it. Despite the fact that laws have been passed due to racism, it still happens today. The generation today, is more open to various races, and as a result of that we have a black president. In any case, despite the fact that there are numerous types of discrimination, the general population that are discriminated against of their lower social class are being pointed out to and labeled a "disgrace" to society in some ways. People back then believed …show more content…
Blacks were made out to appear as though they were not equal to white, and got treated cruelly, and got the short end of the stick. White people made it clear that they were above the blacks and merited better, such as getting the opportunity to sit in the front of the bus, their own particular bathrooms, drinking fountains, and so on and better education, houses, even occupations. In Plessy versus Ferguson, Homer Plessy was arrested for sitting in a car on the train that was supposed to be for whites. The fact that Homer could easily pass for white because of his skin color, everything he had African American in him, which implied that he should sit in the "colored" area on the train. Homer declined to get up and sit in the colored area, and was arrested on the spot. He took it to court, and won the case and the "separate but equal" doctrine was made so it implemented over the blacks, so everybody knew that even though they were different, they were …show more content…
Blacks still aren 't treated as equals, along with numerous different races. Today, in our society, being African American and being somewhere at the wrong time could wind up going to jail, because "blacks" are placed in that type of category that they steal, kill, shoot, and cause chaos. Sometimes, it doesn 't seem to come across as racist to some people, jut like placing asian 's in the category, that they 're generally smart because that 's how Asians are. As much as we want to seem like we have control over this topic, racism is still a major issue today. Racism has been utilized as weapons and to cause harm, during numerous wars, some wars were even started because of the race, for example, Hitler started the war about the Jewish people. In spite of the fact that racism is still happening today, it has gone down and for the most part individuals are begun to acknowledge, that since you 're a different race, it doesn 't imply that you should be treated differently. The era today, is more open to various races, and
As a nation, we have made great strides at improving race relations, but this does not mean that racism is extinct. As was pointed out in the class lecture on the Civil Rights Movement, many things have improved, but the fight for civil rights should be continuing as there is still oppression in operation in our own State as was made clear on the issue of suppressing voter rights. Racism is not born into mankind, racism is taught. This shows that if hate can be taught, then love and respect for others can be taught also.
It would be ignorant to say racism does not exist till today. There is almost a complete 100 year difference between the reconstruction period and the Civil Rights Movement for equal rights to the Black society. While slavery took time to vanish in the south in those hundreds of years, segregation was pushed harshly, laws we 're enacted to prevent Blacks from having certain privileges that whites had. Segregation almost seemed to kick the Blacks out of the society we live together in. The Jim Crow laws had made efficient work in separating the Blacks from the Whites in society, and it took the Civil Rights movement in 1964 to finally bring more equality to the African-American society. However, the Ku Klux Klan and still other organizations had existed and continue to exist despite efforts to bring equality. There is a strong social equality for the Black population in America today, but because of hate organizations and discrimination still existing today, black lives are being lost through murder, and even in forms of police brutality. Take for example the L.A riots in 1992 from the beating of Rodney King, or going back to 1967 the Detroit riots which tore apart these cities. Today Black Lives Matter movements exist to crush out racism in society so people no longer have to live in fear, and it is an existing movement that I think will actually fade as generations in the future work to build up society, and racism will become a thing of a past. There is however, always going to be something that causes prejudices and hate in society if not directed to one group of people. Even today if racism disappears between blacks and whites, prejudice occurs between cultural people here in America. These problems exist mainly in America, and it is socially slowing us down from advancing as a
Blacks were treated unjustly due to the Jim Crow laws and the racial stigmas embedded into American society. Under these laws, whites and colored people were “separate but equal,” however this could not be further from the truth. Due to the extreme racism in the United States during this time period, especially in the South, many blacks were dehumanized by whites to ensure that they remained inferior to them. As a result of their suffering from the prejudice society of America, there was a national outcry to better the lives of colored people.
Throughout history, racism has been present. In biblical times, Cain was marked by God so that people would not kill him. The people treated him badly because of the mark though. In American colonial times, blacks were taken from their homes in Africa and sold as slaves in America. Then in 1865, the United States ratified the 13th amendment. It freed 4 million black slaves. Although the bonds of slavery were broken, blacks were still not equal. Local governments began trying to take away what few rights blacks had. They imposed poll taxes and grandfather clauses, laws that kept blacks whose grandfathers were slaves from voting. This kept African-Americans from electing their own representatives who...
For example, when slavery was ended and the slaves were emancipated, that did not end the connotation of racism in America. In order not to look like the slaves, the white farmers started to wear wool hats instead of their straw hats (107). This part in particular struck me as being exceptionally ridiculous. It is proof that the concept of racism was digging deeper and going much further than it had been even in the age of slavery. Now that the slaves were free, the American people came up with more excuses to discriminate against them. Jim Crow laws were put into place in the sixties, and they caused segregation and discrimination to become a common theme in America. African Americans could not attend school with the whites, nor could they live in neighborhoods or houses near the whites. This became another problem when social security came into play. According to the Social Security Board, “the number of Negroes to whom aid was granted… was low in proportion to the number who needed assistance” (178). Another atrocity of discrimination was associated with the housing segregation. The “redline” meant the “identifying of a neighborhood for unfavorable treatment” (182). The houses that were in the “redline” so to speak, went to people of a different race, such as the African Americans, or the Irish. Even today, African Americans are discriminated against in jobs. If they don’t want to work at backbreaking jobs, they are considered lazy, whereas they will be discriminated against and torn down if they do want the jobs
Racism has been an issue in society since the beginning of the idea of race itself. Though African-American slaves were emancipated after the Civil War in 1865, they are still continuously discriminated against for their skin color. For years, black Americans were not allowed to vote, sit in the front of public transportation vehicles, or eat and receive an education at the same establishments as white Americans. Eventually
Ferguson trial was a court case about a black man by the name of Homer Adolph Plessy. He was arrested for refusing to not ride in the ‘colored’ railway coach. Plessy had enough of the segregation so he decided to sit up in the white coach. However, it didn’t go well for him and he was arrested. On February 23, 1869, the Louisiana legislature passed a law prohibiting segregation on public transportation. The Government used the term ‘separate but equal’ as an excuse for not letting the blacks sit up with the whites. The supreme court case of Plessy v. Ferguson upheld a ‘separate but equal’ doctrine. “Laws permitting, and even requiring, their separation in places where they are liable to be brought into contract do not necessarily imply the inferiority of either race to the other. (Plessy v. Ferguson). So the blacks and white were now equal, but they couldn’t be together. The government said that the everything was equal when the school that the black children were in had old textbooks when the white school had new textbooks. The blacks and whites were separate but not so much
...till goes on today. The black community may have defeated segregation but they are still resented by many groups of people. The Ku Klux Klan still exist today and are allowed to have meetings even though there numbers have decreased. Middle-eastern people are grudged upon after the 9/11 incident and are victims of racism around the world. The problem with society is that racism will always exist and get passed down generations to generations. Causes are not quite known but it is a part of human nature.
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.
As time goes on, people have gone to great lengths to try to improve relations with blacks, and to fix the errors of the past. Laws have been made to try to give African Americans the same opportunities as whites, but as hard as people try, there is always going to be some ignorant people who will not obey these laws and make no efforts to be friends with them. If parents teach their children at young ages about racism, there might be a chance for the upcoming generations to live in a society where people are not judged by the color of their skin.
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
The impact that race had on individuals throughout American history is clear. The role race had on social and political relations were nothing but negative and struggled to make positive progression. Starting from the last 1800s, the recognition that, for example, blacks were unfairly treated and seen as unequal was newly acted upon. From the early years of being seen as just economically useful, the feelings of blacks were overlooked and almost irrelevant to the leaders of society. One of the first displays of action against this discrimination is shown in the Plessy v. Ferguson case. While being the victim of segregation in the south as a black man, Homer Plessy challenged the courts when he directly acted against the laws separating whites and blacks by being a passenger on a white-only train. The outcome, however, directly meant nothing, leading to the legalization of segregation laws stating that the separate but equal laws didn’t imply inferiority. The decision made in Plessy v. Ferguson was an immediate disaster for racial relations in the US, but you can only push people so far until they finally snap.
It is highly believed by individuals that discrimination in the U.S. has dramatically changed since the 1900s. Blacks were once discriminated against via Jim Crow laws. Today, black Americans have gained the right to eat at public lunch counters, vote, ride public buses, and attend public schools. While the...
After earning freedom from slavery, Blacks fought for more than one hundred years to be considered equals in society. That struggle reached its climax during the1960s, when the biggest gains in the area of civil rights were made. Up to that time blacks and whites remained separate and blacks were still treated as inferiors. Everything from water fountains to city parks was segregated. Signs that read, “whites only, no coloreds” were all too commonplace on the doors of stores and restaurants throughout the southern states. Blacks and whites went to different schools where black children would have classes in shabby classrooms with poor, secondhand supplies. These are just a few examples of some of the many racial discriminations which blacks once had to face in America prior to the 1960s. ...
Prejudice refers to one’s biased opinions and ideas of others, based on secondary information. Hence, the internalized ideas concerning the prejudiced members in society does not result from personal experiences, but information from third parties. Where prejudice is prevalent, the social relationships between the concerned individuals become strained and unmanageable. The existence of equality in society discourages the frequency of prejudice on racial grounds. The content of this discussion explores the concept of prejudice, as it relates to racial inequality and discrimination. The discussion features the Emmanuel AME Church shooting scenario, which characterizes racial discrimination and inequality. The discussion further examines the role