Race and Class in Society

Race and Class in Society

Race and class are increasingly important in the world today; yet, few sources focus on the similarities of these issues at a regional or global level. Ideologies of race were used to justify colonialism, conquest and annihilation of non-European peoples, slavery, indentured labor, fascism and Nazism. Yet, a common impression among men and women of color is that race and class issues are unique to their own particular community. Still, it is only through awareness of how these issues affect different communities that a common bond and understanding can be developed across racial, ethnic, cultural and class barriers. Both governments and media present the image of an integrated, egalitarian society, which in reality contradicts racial discrimination, and class oppression that is exercised against various minority groups. In each `integrated' and `equal' society, racial and ethnic discrimination is directly related to economic and class issues. Since the period of merchant bankers and the British east India Company, modern capitalist forces have penetrated `developed' and `developing' societies by division and conquest. Capitalist countries and companies pursue profit motives by providing arms, money, patronage and privilege to leaders of some groups, on the one hand, while denying the vast majority of their land and resources, on the other. Each year new reports are published concerning individuals and their levels of income. If one was to look at a list of people ranked solely by yearly earnings in the entertainment industry, the list would surely be topped with such names as Oprah Winfrey, and Michael Jackson, as well as such sports figures as Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan. On the other hand, if...

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...man base. This transition is not likely to happen on a larger scale, but smaller movements are conceivable. Neither of the individuals interviewed spoke much about public policy, only Cleaver briefly about the Poor People' s Campaign. Here in lies the problem, revolutionaries and individuals of that sort have good intentions but never produce any results. Cleaver was a member of the Black Panther Group, an extremely controversial group of the sixties, yet they were squelched because they had no religious affiliation. Quincey Jones, on the other hand, is a survivor. He was raised in extreme poverty and encountered endless adversity in his life, yet he rose above the problem and is now very successful. Overall, your life is what you make of it, if you as an individual become consumed in why you cannot succeed because of your ethnicity or social class, you never will.