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Essay on Freakonomics book
Freakonomics by stephen dubner online
The rise and fall of the kkk
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Recommended: Essay on Freakonomics book
In the beginning, before there was “Freakonomics” by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, I viewed economics as representative of how the stock-market was performing. Now after having this class I have been able to pull together the different aspects of our reading material from my economics class and I have realized economics is a complex system which has a number of perspectives that can be molded or construed into quite frankly any angle. One angle I have been enlightened about is why so many African-Americans live in a lower socioeconomic environment. In studying and communicating with others in this economics course I have been able to break down the chapters and see how each chapter adds another level of depth and understanding of what has altered the economy and our perceptions of the economy. The chapter about the KKK and realtors using the angle of control to abuse their ability to maximize their economic status by instilling fear in others is at the heart of many problems in society today (Levitt 55-85). As a …show more content…
Most likely this judgement has come from a place of jealously created by conventional wisdom (Levitt 88-114). Let’s really explore the place of origin. When we really look at why most drug dealers live in low income housing and oftentimes share that home with their birth parent(s), we can actually relate those economic conditions with the effects of the KKK (Levitt 88-114). When the KKK was established after our country had endured the civil war, which was largely fought because of the differences in opinion about slavery being right or wrong, the members of the KKK became an unbelievable determinant in the lives of African-Americans (Levitt 88-114). This particular group of our citizens was manipulated into being thankful for each day that they just had the essentials of life and terrorized into being grateful when their families remained alive and healthy (Levitt
Summary In chapter one of Freakonomics, the beginning portion of the chapter discusses information and the connection it shares with the Ku Klux Klan and real-estate agents. The Ku Klux Klan was founded right after the Civil War, in order to persecute and subdue the slaves that were newly freed. The popularity of the Klan increased in the early 20th century, around the time of World War I. In the late 19th century, the Klan had only discriminated, persecuted, and subdued Blacks, but in the 20th century they did these things to Blacks, Jews, and Gypsies.
One of the most critical observations about the state of our sociological health is observed by MacGillis of the Atlantic’s article entitled “The Original Underclass”. That is that the social breakdown of low-income whites began to reflect trends that African American’s were primary subjects of decades ago such as unemployment, and drug addiction.
Specifically, she found that members of the Black middle class still face income and wealth disadvantages, housing segregation, limited job opportunities, racial discrimination, family disruption, and crime victimization, among other social problems, at a higher rate than their White middle-class counterparts. As a result, Pattillo (2013) concluded that Black middle-class neighborhoods often “sit as a kind of buffer between core black poverty areas and whites” (p. 4). Otherwise put, the Black middle class are situated in a position between middle-class Whites and underclass Blacks, where they are not at parity with the former, and are only slightly better than the
At the turn of the Twentieth Century America is one generation removed from the civil war. For African Americans times are supposed to be improving following the Reconstruction of the south and the ratification of the 15th amendment. Except, in actuality life is still extremely tough for the vast majority of African Americans. Simultaneously, the birthing of the industrial revolution is taking place in America and a clear social divide in daily livelihood and economic prosperity is forming across the country. This time is known as the Gilded Age because as the metaphor emphasizes, only a thin layer of wealth and prosperity of America’s elite robber barons is masking the immense amount of impoverished American laborers. Among the vast majority
More than Just Race: Being Black and Poor in the Inner City (Issues of Our Time)
The Author transitions the past and present signatures of Jim Crow and the New Jim Crow with the suggestion that the New Jim Crow, by mass incarceration and racism as a whole, marginalizes and relegates Blacks to residential, educational and constitutionally endowed service to the Country. The final chapter of The New Jim Crow reviews the manner in which the Black community might respond to the racism that exists today. Some research implies that we in America have reached a point of attrition as to incarceration, and the positive effects outweigh the negative effects of marginalization and collateral damage to the community. By some research, the "War on Drugs" procreates poverty, joblessness, family breakdown, and crime.
Du Bois argues in this quote that “basic racial difference between human beings and had suffered not change,” meaning that racism is still a pressing issue. In this quote he essentially asks the questions, why wont the idea of racism die? Du Bois then links the persistence of racism to economic incentives when he states, “and clung to it… the modern African slave trade a tremendous economic structure and eventually the industrial revolution had been based on racial differences.” As illustrated in this quote, the link between economics and racial indifferences is one reason Du Bois offers as an explanation for why racism has been able persist even until today. The perpetuation of racism and racial difference is how society allocates status and wealth, while socialization maintains the idea of racism Du Bois argues
In the first section of Frazier’s Black Bourgeoisie, “The World of Reality”, Frazier introduces his discussion of the interplay of class and race. He outlines the historical roots of the social place of most African-Americans in the U.S.A. and that of the black middle class. Frazier asserts the inconsequential place of middle class African-Americans and their resulting inferiority complex. He depicts the black middle class as living in a “no man’s land” in the dominant white culture of America.
Though social problems affect a wide variety of people from all races, classes, and cultures; minorities, specifically African Americans, encounter social problems on a multi-dimensional basis. Poverty, employment rates, discrimination, and other social problems strike African Americans in such a way that it is nearly impossible to separate them; each individual has different background, socially and physically, that would determine in which order his or her social problems need to be solved. Impoverished blacks in the inner city may have difficulty finding or keeping jobs, while others may have jobs, but face troubles with work discrimination that prevent them from moving upward .Underemployment, workplace inequalities, and unbalanced medical attention are three closely related social problems that, if ameliorated together, could increase upward mobility, decrease poverty levels, and tighten the lifespan gaps for not only blacks, but also other minority groups. The purpose of this paper is to show what effects these three problems have for blacks.
When a child is growing up he is frequently asked what he is going to do for money when he gets older. The more this question is asked to them, the more they feel like they have to have money to be happy in life. After many tries of trying to make a stable life at a low paying job, a criminal life maybe more appealing to them at they may start living life under the gun. As stated by William Wilson in When Work Disappears, “Neighborhoods plagued by high levels of joblessness are more likely to experience low levels of social organization, they go hand in hand.” In Chicago for instance, in 1990 there was only one in three in the twelve ghetto communities that had held a job in a typical workweek of the year. When there are high rates of joblessness bigger problems surface such as violent crime, gang violence, and drug trafficking. (Wilson P356-362)
For decades since the arrival of African people to America, they had been treated as no more than as material resources and had been oppressed by white society. During their slavery they were to work until death and could not learn to read or write. The author of the Souls of Black Folk, W.E.B. Du Bois, described the struggles of newly freed slaves and the current view of society. Once blacks became free it seemed like they were worse off than when they were slaves. Now they were responsible for their own income, work, family, and lives. White society still did not let them prosper like a white man could, they were put into a system in which they were to abide by the rules of white society, a sort of semi-slavery as Du Bois described. Now trapped
...disparities between the two ethnic communities that can be traced back to the legacy of slavery and other forms of oppression that blacks have suffered.” Supporters of this view felt that educational achievement correlates more strongly with economic status than with any other single variable. Since the majority of the black community lags behind whites in income and wealth, the educational inequalities are caused by the economic inequalities. They believe that once the inequalities disappear, the educational disparities will as well. Many argue that this is not a viable argument. They point to other minority groups such as Asians, some of whom are financially worse off than blacks, and they excel in school . They felt that because the civil rights legislation removed all roadblocks back in the 60’s and 70’s something else must be contributing to the large gap.
... Blacks tend to forget that the War on Drugs has devastated other families in their communities and silenced families due to the fear of humiliation. The War on Drugs and drug policies have been useful tactics that have continued to disenfranchise black males and keep them isolated from society, allowing for upper class whites to continue to dominate society as they have for centuries. Though the term Jim Crow is not one that you see on a day-to-day basis to refer to the disenfranchisement of blacks in today’s society, it still exists and is full fledged. Targeting black people through the form of drugs allows for racial discrimination to occur without using the classification as a public basis.
African americans are widely viewed as uneducated and poor. This stereotype came about due to the staggering amount of poor african americans compared to white americans. People made the assumption that if the african americans were poor they were unable to obtain an education therefore they are also uneducated. Emily Badger from the Washington post states “The poverty that poor African Americans experience is often different from the poverty of poor whites. It 's more isolating and concentrated. It extends out the door of a family 's home and occupies the entire neighborhood around it, touching the streets, the schools, the grocery stores.” This statement arises the stereotype that if the people around an individual is poor, he or she is also poor. Multiple african american individuals such Martin Luther King, Barack Obama and Rosa Parks have fought to eliminate stereotypes and gain equality. Stereotypes have heavily affected the African American in a negative way for a long period of time but African Americans are recovering from a bad image and creating a new one. African Americans are widely viewed as poor compared to the whites due to the areas they live and the people around
First, racism still plays a big factor in today’s society as it did fifty years ago. Some might say that everyone has equal opportunity, but some people in America will never see that blacks and whites are equal. Humans have the tendency to judge what is on the outside before seeing who the person really is. The South is the main area where the darker colors mean there is less opportunity and lighter colors mean that there’s more. In today’s society the ability to attain the American Dream is heavily influenced by race. While it is still p...