Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The Role of Race/Gender/Class/Stereotypes in the Media
Essays on american culture
The Role of Race/Gender/Class/Stereotypes in the Media
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Every day, race is discussed and criticized in news articles, magazines, television, and various other parts of the media. Although we seem to be past segregation, race is still a polarizing issue. Many people today still assert the idea that certain races are of a lower class or are to be feared, when people are nothing more than products of their own environments. If all minorities were given the same opportunities, these misconceptions and stereotypes would disappear. A post-racial America is not possible because the past of racism will continue to linger throughout generations, people are born as judgemental, and there will always be that one person whose ignorance outweighs all else. Many people argue that our past racial history is gone and that America is beginning to fulfill the concept of a post-racial America. For instances, there are no longer many major instances of African Americans being treated as a lower class as opposed to other skins. “The election of Obama proved, as nothing else could have, that it [racism] no longer does [exist]” (McWhorter). Barack Obama, our current president, is the first African American to be elected into office. However, people are still judgemental and bigoted towards other races and treat them with very little respect. You often hear Hispanic or Latino Americans being colloquially referred to as Mexicans. You also see people getting stopped and taken aside at airports to participate in supposedly random searches just because they are Muslim. Even the very same African Americans that we have been attempting to treat as equals for so long are still getting treated unfairly. “Only 14 percent of drug users are black, but blacks constitute 37 percent of those arrested for drug crimes...are... ... middle of paper ... ...ach of a post-humanitarian world. Works Cited Kuznia, Rob. "Racism in Schools: Unintentional But No Less Damaging - Pacific Standard: The Science of Society." Psmag.com, 2009. Web. 30 Jan 2014. . Mcwhorter, John. "Racism In America Is Over." Forbes, 2008. Web. 30 Jan 2014. . Reeves, Anne. "Post-racial America depends on our kids: Anne Reeves." The Patriot-News - PennLive.com, 2013. Web. 30 Jan 2014. . Whitehead, John. "OpEdNews Article: The Myth of a Post-Racial America." OpEdNews, 2013. Web. 30 Jan 2014. .
Rhodes, Deborah L. "Why looks are the last bastion of discrimination." Washington Post. 23 May 2010. The Washington Post. 26 Mar. 2014 .
Since the election of President Barrack Obama in 2008, many people have started to believe that America is beyond racial inequalities - this is not the reality. Rather, we, as a society, chose to see only what we want to see. Discrimination is still rampant in our nation. Michelle Alexander explains that since the Jim Crow laws were abolished, new forms of racial caste systems have taken their place. Our society and criminal justice system claim to be colorblind, but this is not the actuality. Michelle Alexander explains:
In today’s world, people would like to think that racism no longer exists, at least not in the way it use to exist in the past where the people could be lynched or beaten or arrested just for the color of their skin. Racism today are stereotypes based on a person’s skin color, for instance if that person is a Hispanic or a Latino they are probably an illegal immigrant or if they are African American with dark skin they probably have a criminal record. Many racist stereotypes are usually targeted to the African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos that live in the United States. Besides the stereotypes they are the slur words used against them as insults, such as using the N word or the word “black” for African
Wise, T. (2012). Dear white America: Letter to a new minority. San Francisco, CA: City
concerns racial equality in America. The myth of the “Melting Pot” is a farce within American society, which hinders Americans from facing societal equality issues at hand. Only when America decides to face the truth, that society is not equal, and delve into the reasons why such equality is a dream instead of reality. Will society be able to tackle suc...
We have a long history of racism in America that has been structured to favor White people. Structural racism can be defined as, “a system in which public policies, institutional practices, cultural representations, and other norms work in various, often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial group inequity. It identifies the dimensions of our history and culture that have allowed privileges associated with “whiteness” and disadvantages associated with “color” to endure and adapt over time”(Structural Racism, 2004,p. 11). Overt racism became illegal during The Civil Rights Movement that took place between 1954-1968 (Tuck, 2015). Although society seemed to be heading toward a more socially acceptable society, the movement enabled white people to blame the struggles black face as a character flaw. White people will believe that black people have a lot of problems because their culture is bad or they have bad values. The message they are reinforcing is that being black is inferior, and this is an example of structural racism operates. Structural racism is a system of forces that keeps people of color in a permanent second-class status, and it is the foundation of racism in our society. Society is structured in a way where the hierarchy of white people oppresses Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans, etc and has
Center for Study of Race, Politics, and Culture, prod. Angela Y. Davis at the University of Chicago- May 2013. YoutTube. YouTube, 1 May. 2014. Web. 10, May 2013.
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.
Wu, F. H. (2002). Yellow: race in america beyond black and white. New York: Basic
Much of America’s history has been saturated with situations dealing with race and the people associated with them. It is impossible to talk about the founding of America without looking at the invention of race. This is because race was intricately embedded in the foundation of America through the two part process of racialization. Through this a dichotomous race structure was developed and implemented. This was carried out mainly by the U.S. government, which used policies, social arrangements, and institutional patterns (class notes 10-6-10) to further embed race into American society. The government helped to increase white’s superiority. When the government could not do it all publicly they brought in the private sector. The public and private sector then joined forces to maintain the superiority of whites.
A post racial society is a society where racism and prejudice no longer exists. Barack Obama is the first African American to be the president of the United States. Some believe that since he was elected, there is no more racism and that we are now living in a post racial society. Although we have a black leader, racism still exists in many ways. While we have a black president, we are not living in post-racial America considering the existence of white privilege, the wage gap, and inequality in education.
...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.
Racial inequality is still a problem in America, but there are ways to fight against it.
The world has lived through generations of racism and racial profiling. After the days of Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Civil Rights Movement, the American people thought they had passed the days of hatred and discrimination. Although Americans think that they live in a non-racist society, minorities today still live in the chains of oppression and prejudice through sports, schools, and social media.
Will we ever let the past stay behind us and move forward? In today’s era, is it the peoples’ responsibility to defend the history of their race just because of the color of their skin? Based on the color of our skin, individuals will always be placed and categorized under a certain race. In the essay “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections” by Kwame Anthony Appiah, he tries to explains why race doesn’t exist and the only race in America is the human race. In “Social Identity and Group Solidarity” by Tommie Shelby, he discusses how in America, blacks are looked as one group even though are different cultures amongst Blacks. Even though in today’s world, people of all races get along just well with each other, but there are still signs of racism and discrimination that haunt us from the slavery era years ago as African Americans. People tend to easily find their identity because they base other people off of their race, ethnicity, living conditions, religion and more. Appiah and Shelby both connect on the idea of Cultural diversity dealing with “race” because Appiah argues whether that race actually exists and Shelby talks about black solidarity being separated and affected because of self-determination and equality.