Argument: In the article, “The Case for reparations,” Ta-Nehisi argues that racism is embedded in the American society and has left a dysfunctional relationship between races.
Argument: In the film, Hate Crimes in the Heartland, Rachel Lyon argues that
Topic sentence: Both Coates and Lydon explore discrimination acts in the past to showcase how past events have influenced social division present in communities today.
However, Lydon takes a different approach by comparing two major past and present hate crimes to point out the influence that past racism has had on society relations today. She begins by telling the story of Tulsa in April 2012, when two white males drove through an African American neighborhood, shooting blacks at random.
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As a result, they killed three people and left two others critically injured. Lydon’s film uses this to demonstrate that racism still exists in Tulsa. By stating this she sets the tone of the importance of hate crimes that took place long ago. With this intention, Lydon goes on to explain all the hate crimes associated with the Tulsa Race Riot. Images are shown of blacks being lynched to show the pain and suffering of African Americans during the riot. In doing this the video explains that Tulsa remains in a state of shock and never recovered from the riot. In other words, Lydon uses these two stories to demonstrate how racial divide exists in Tulsa because the issues of the race riot were never addressed. Topic sentence: While Coates describes multiple in stories of the lives of different colored people Both Coates and Lyon agree that Americans fail to accept the racial wrong doings of the past, which contributes to the damaging society we have today.
As Coates states, “An America that looks away is ignoring not just the sins of the past but the sins of the present and the certain sins of the future.” he highlights the fact that when society chooses to ignore the discrimination of the past they choose to overlook the racial problems occurring today. Similar to Coates, Lydon’s film makes a similar argument when they explain that the biggest problem today is that individuals do not want to admit that a problem exists. This emphasizes their point that racism is embedded in our society because we choose to not take action against it. Moreover, Lydon and Coates reveal that the cause of our racial divide comes from a community's inability to face the reality of race issues within society. In addition, both Coates and Lydon …show more content…
explain Conversely, Coates and Lyon offer different approaches to how this problem could be solved.
To start, Coates takes a more specific approach to fixing the division in our society by preaching the idea of reparations. For instance, he states, “And so we must imagine a new country. Reparations-by which I mean the full acceptance of our collective biography and its consequences is the price we must pay to see ourselves squarely.” Coates argues that reparations could help heal our racial divide by allowing societies to accept responsibilities of the mistakes of the past. Moreover, he believes that reparations indicate a society taking lead to reconcile racial relationships based the facts of history. To further emphasize his point, Coates showcases an example of what reparations could do for our society by referring to the case between the Nazi’s and the Jews. He gives examples of how reparations benefitted Israel’s community as he states, “The bank of Israel attributed 15 percent of this growth, along with 45,000 jobs, to investments made with reparations money. But Segev argues that the impact went far beyond that. Reparations ‘had indisputable psychological and political importance,’ he writes.” Coates uses this example to emphasize his point that reparations are needed to store the racial issues that separate
communities. While in Lyon’s film, the solution is discussed by explaining the importance of communication between individuals. Rather than choosing to discuss a specific solution, Lydon’s film explains that the first step to fixing the problem is being honest and talking about racial division. By doing this Lyon states that communities need to make the problem known in order for it to be fixed. In addition, she indicates that communication is the key to tending the broken relationships that lay within societies. Lydon further enhances this importance by stating multiple times in the film that the scars of the past will always remain until they are addressed. For instance, the film gives examples stating that some blacks still can not look at a white person in the face to this day. This showcases how people are still bruised on the occurrences that have taken place in the past. Moreover, Lydon’s films emphasize the notion that communication leads to understanding the basic humanity of everybody. Ultimately, Lyon’s film aims to encourage individuals that communities can heal by talking.
The article “The Case for Reparations” is a point of view that Ta-nehisi Coates looks into the life of Clyde Ross and what he went through in the African American society. Arranging reparations based off of what Clyde Ross lived through and experienced from the time he was a young child to his later adult years. Providing life facts and events comparing them to today and seeking out to present his reparations. Clyde ross explain that we are still living bound down as blacks to the white supremacy and in a new era of racism .Concluding the article the fact that it’s been far too long to live the way we are and it is time for a change to finally be made.
Temporary inequality exists as a means of “improving” a subordinate to the level of a dominant. After the period of inequality is over, the two view each other as equals. The other form of inequality, permanent inequality, exists solely because of an ascription of inferiority to a subordinate that is inherent and unchangeable. Unlike temporary inequality, there is no possibility of improvement for the subordinate; they are, in the eyes of the dominant, inferior and impossible to “fix.” The dominants, who view themselves naturally superior to the subordinates, begin to take advantage of the subordinates. “Out of the total range of human possibilities, the activities most highly valued in any particular culture will tend to be enclosed within the domain of the dominant group; less valued functions are relegated to the subordinates” (Rothenberg, 112). Moreover, the subordinates, who by this point are under the total control of the dominant group, may begin to internalize the value of the dominants. “[Subordinates’] incapacities are ascribed to innate defects or deficiencies of mind or body…More importantly, subordinates themselves can come to find it difficult to believe in their own ability” (112). This theory of domination and subordination are clearly mirrored in race relations in the United States. Whites, who are the dominant group, make all of the fallacious errors involved in race-based thinking; they are prone to, like Miller describes, hoarding superior roles in society and practicing systematic cruelty towards the subordinates due to their sincere belief that the subordinates are inherently incapable of rising to the level of the dominant. This internalized belief on the part of the dominants, that the subordinates
Despite the passing of the Civil Rights Act and Affirmative Action, racism evolved from the blatant discrimination of the 1960s like segregation, to the slightly more passive racism of the 1990s such as unfair arrests/jail time (Taylor). Curtis’ writes three decades after the aforementioned progress and yet, looking back on the 90s, there is an alarming amount of similarities between the two.
For as long as I can remember, racial injustice has been the topic of discussion amongst the American nation. A nation commercializing itself as being free and having equality for all, however, one questions how this is true when every other day on the news we hear about the injustices and discriminations of one race over another. Eula Biss published an essay called “White Debt” which unveils her thoughts on discrimination and what she believes white Americans owe, the debt they owe, to a dark past that essentially provided what is out there today. Ta-Nehisi Coates published “Between the World and Me,” offering his perspective about “the Dream” that Americans want, the fear that he faced being black growing up and that black bodies are what
Ta-Nehisi Coates, author of the article “The Case for Reparations” presents a powerful argument for reparations to black African American for a long time of horrendous injustice as slavery plus discrimination, violence, hosing policies, family incomes, hard work, education, and more took a place in black African American’s lives. He argues that paying such a right arrears is not only a matter of justice; however, it is important for American people to express how they treated black African Americans.
From beginning to end the reader is bombarded with all kinds of racism and discrimination described in horrific detail by the author. His move from Virginia to Indiana opened a door to endless threats of violence and ridicule directed towards him because of his racial background. For example, Williams encountered a form of racism known as modern racism as a student at Garfield Elementary School. He was up to win an academic achievement prize, yet had no way of actually winning the award because ?The prize did not go to Negroes. Just like in Louisville, there were things and places for whites only? (Williams, 126). This form of prejudice is known as modern racism because the prejudice surfaces in a subtle, safe and socially acceptable way that is easy to rationalize.
Racism is against equality, divides unions and promotes stratification. The differences that humans have created between race are some of the causes of America's division. From thousands of years ago, racial injustice has meant oppression for Hispanics, Asians, and blacks primarily. Although racism is not as visible nowadays, it still exists, but it is more subtle, which means that sometimes it is difficult to identify an action that has a discriminatory purpose. In the article “The Great White Way” by Debra J. Dickerson, she presents the impact that race has in America, and emphasizes the real purpose of having the “whiteness” status. Similarly, in the letter to his teenage son called “Between The World And Me” written by Ta-nehisi Coates,
Shelby, T. (2002) “Is Racism in the Heart?” In G. L. Bowie, M. W. Michaels, and R. C. Solomon (Eds.), Twenty Questions: An Introduction to Philosophy (479-483). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
In “The Case for Reparations,” Ta-Nehisi Coates sets out a powerful argument for reparations to blacks for having to thrive through horrific inequity, including slavery, Jim Crowism, Northern violence and racist housing policies. By erecting a slave society, America erected the economic foundation for its great experiment in democracy. And Reparations would mean a revolution of the American consciousness, reconciling of our self-image as the great democratizer with the facts of our history. Paying such a moral debt is such a great matter of justice served rightfully to those who were suppressed from the fundamental roles, white supremacy played in American history.
After all these years, racism and prejudices are still present in our society. It seems as though there is not a day that goes by without seeing a story about a racially fueled crime or act of discrimination on the news. As much as people would like to believe that racism no longer exist and that stereotyping and racial profiling do not happen on a daily basis, the truth of the matter is that these prejudices are still very existent today. In the 2004 movie Crash, the lives of several Los Angeles citizens intertwine when faced with racism, stereotyping and crime.
Imagine you’re young, and alone. If your family was taken from you and suffered horribly for your freedom, would you want to be repaid in some form? In the article “The Case for Reparations” Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses a great deal of information about reparations, and if they should be given. Reparations are when a person or people make amends for the wrong they have done. Ta-Nehisi believes that from two hundred years of slavery, ninety years of Jim Crow laws, sixty years of separate but equal, and thirty five years of racist housing policy, that America is shackled. Only if we face the compounding moral debt can America be free. Until we face the reality of what happened together, we will always be bound by the lies that have been told.
Connections can be drawn between the mistreatment of two racial minorities centuries ago, because they went through similar struggles then and today. This is important to remember, because then the origins of white supremacy and institutional racism can be analyzed. Plus, as the quote from George Santaya goes, those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat
Racism (n): the prejudice that members of one race are intrinsically superior to members of other race (Wordnet search, 1), a controversial topic in today’s society, a subject that many people try to sweep under the rug, but yet a detrimental problem that has been present in America since the colonial era. Will this dilemma come to a halt? Can all Americans see each other as equals despite their skin color and nationality; and what role has it played in past generations versus today’s generations and how will it affect our future? Has this on going way of thinking gotten better or worse? These are questions raised when many think about the subject; especially members of American ethnic groups and backgrounds, because most have dealt with racial discrimination in their life time.
In this paper I will argue that America should pay reparations to black communities that have suffered most from institutionalized racism. My view is not that reparations should be paid via checks mailed by the federal government, of an undeterminable sum, to families that are most eligible, but rather, through changes in policy. These policies would tackle racial inequality at it most obvious sources, the wage gap, the mistreatment of black Americans by our criminal justice system, quality of education, and the disparity in housing between black and white Americans.
...So the question still remains, has American society really come that far in race relations and where do we go from here? Martin Espada answers the question by illustrating the intense level of racism experienced by a minority living in modern society. The civil rights movement did make positive changes for the African-American community on various different political and social levels. However, racism needs to be broken down to its smallest components, which are the individuals who support and teach racist attitudes. The family itself is the basic unity of society. Therefore, the only way racism will be completely eliminated on a social level is if it is stopped on the individual level. Treating racism as a social phenomenon will provide short-term solutions, but will not treat the virus of hatred perpetuating its continued existence in our society today.