The Great White Way Summary

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,

he talks about what life was like for blacks and all the extra efforts they had to make to fit in this society. Dickerson and Coates present arguments that explain how race influences whether or not one obtains privileges in America, and also they present historical events that show racial injustices to support their claims. In contrast, Dickerson secures that if you were neither black nor Asian or Hispanic, you could become white (52), while Coates argues that people are raised in the belief of being white, ignoring the true reality (550).
First, both Dickerson and Coates argue that the division of races is due to the organization of society and to decide whether privileges are obtained or not.

For Dickerson if you were considered as non white, your privileges would be diminished, therefore, she argues that race is an arbitrary system for establishing hierarchy and privilege (51). People may not see it clearly, but there is no other purpose of focusing in one’s race. She uses black people as an example of having unequal opportunities. As she mentions in the article, Social Security program at first excluded black people, for she argues that it was an intentional racist program. They were not able to have a Social Security number, and the reason could be that it would be easier to put them away from “whites”. And this is just one example of how people were discriminated back on the days. In the same way, Coates also recalls that the only purpose of separate people between races is to organize a society, so this one can be favorable for those who considered themselves as “whites”. “The process of naming “the people” has never been a matter of genealogy and physiognomy so much as one of hierarchy” (Coates 551). All of the deal about the color of someone’s skin, the language, body traits was only to impose power and privileges. Racism goes beyond someone’s color or culture, and it is not the idea of being literally “white”, but of being

accepted.
Therefore, Dickerson and Coates believe in the racial injustice for black people, and they present various examples to prove it.

Back on those days, there were black veterans, who were fighting and giving out their blood for their country. They were doing the same duties as whites veterans did, but blacks did not get the same benefits. Their education, mortgage, and housing benefits lagged behind the benefits of ‘whites’ (Dickerson 53). There is no better example for racial injustice than this one that is about these heroes who didn’t get what they deserved, for a society which prioritize people based on their havings. Likewise, Coates presents another example of racial injustice for black people. It was a black man that was selling cigarettes and polices shot him, or like he states “sell cigarettes without the proper authority and your body can be destroyed” (553). He was just earning his bread, there was no reason for a policeman shoots him like he was a criminal. If instead of being a black man would be a “white” man, the police would probably have more consideration. The fact of being part of a minority, it is an automatic signal that this person will be treated as he has a lower

value.
Also, Dickerson and Coates have some disagreements about the idea of being ‘white’. Dickerson argues that “if you were neither black nor Asian nor Hispanic, you could become white (52). Basically, what she is saying is that you could become ‘white,’ if you act as one. It means that you have to take advantages of the minorities, leave your customs, and support the idea of americanization. It is an idea that is based on superiority, and where the dominants are the primarily ones who receive benefits. However, Coates argues that people are raised believing that they are truly ‘white,’ while the truth is that the whiteness is just a status (550). Being ‘white’ was to act with violence, and people think they were more than the minorities. The truth is that they were controlled by the society, so they could follow the norms which benefit the dominants. If ‘whites’ behave the way society wants, it will be easier to control them, and the power they get from ‘whites’ will be used to manipulate the minorities.
To sum up, both Dickerson and Coates have similar thoughts about the idea of superiority and racial injustice, but they disagree about the idea of being ‘white.’ “The Great White Way” and “Between The World And Me” contain several examples of what it was like for minorities to live back on those days. Even though, these readings are referring to the past racial injustice, it does not mean that it is gone. Since many heroes fought for the equality in America, many of Americans who did not receive benefits or they couldn’t deserve those right in the past, now they are part of the society. It is our job to keep fighting to eliminate stratification and superiority.