Book Critique: Racial Equality in America, by John Hope Franklin. This paper is developed to display a summary of "Racial Equality in America", by John Hope Franklin, and to make a critique of the book. The first part shows information about the author and the credentials that confirm him as an important spokesman for racial equality in America. Also, after the summary, I will try to give my humble vision on how to change the "obsession" of Americans regarding racism (adjective copied by me from Franklin).…
So one of the reasons I decided to start writing up this social justice 101 series is because of the word racism. In the dictionary, racism is defined as “Prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief.” However within social justice and sociological circles it is understood that that is not really how racism works, and that racism is a much more insidious and deep-rooted thing than that. What many people term “racism” (or reverse-racism) is extremely different from the sociological concept of racism, or what minorities experience as racism. Calling them by the same name is demeaning to the experience that minorities have of real racism.…
“The Struggle for Black Equality” by Harvard Sitkoff, summarizes the key elements in the fight for the civil rights of African Americans from 1954-1980. The book was set up in chronological order, each chapter embodying the new step to gain equality. The first chapter is titled “Up from slavery,” it consists of the small actions that took place slowly to assure the equal rights. By the end of the first chapter, the concept of equal rights was introduced more prominently, opening people's eyes to the problem. Nevertheless, there was still doubt in the system and people who did not agree.…
White Privilege and You When was the last time you heard a joke about a white person being called a thug or an illegal immigrant? When was the last time you heard a news story about a white person who committed a crime, and wasn’t mentally ill? If you apply these situations to people of color, you’ve most likely heard about almost everyone. Welcome to a society in which white people run, in which their supremacy is unfortunately, manifested.…
The ‘the evolving concept of institutional racism’ (Grieve and French, 2000, p. 9) appears to have adapted to race related political correctness which is being increasingly enforced within the police alongside policies which aim to provide a better working environment for minority ethnic officers (Holdaway and O’Neill, 2006). Institutional racism has been described as ‘the stuff that gets into the bloodstream of the organisation’ (Holdaway and O’Neill, 2007, p. 397) as opposed to what can be viewed or heard on the surface. In another form, it is not necessarily explicitly portrayed (Rowe, 2008).…
Brown University professor, economist, and author of The Anatomy of Racial Inequality, Glenn C. Loury, presents an argument to reevaluate the true reasons behind the epidemic of mass incarceration in the Boston Review Book, Race, Incarceration, and American Values. In addition, scholars Pamela S. Karlan, Tommie Shelby, and Loic Wacquant, contribute to Loury’s examination of the impact of mass incarceration in the United States. Loury emphasizes the racial inequalities within society, society’s perceptions of race and crime, as well as, race and welfare. Karlan analyzes the role of voter disenfranchisement within black communities and felon disenfranchisement. Wacquant illuminates the vast affect of society’s views of blackness and the effects…
The injustices of America’s justice system One like myself does believe that the justice system has in fact been bias towards African-Americans. Many people believe this because our country's history with treating African-Americans horribly and very unfairly. Yes, I do understand that some may believe that the bias of the justice systems towards African-American is just a fallacy and the number of African-American behind bars has nothing to do with an unfair justice system, but there are many studies that have proven otherwise. Even today, black men are being ridiculed because of their skin color.…
“Violence as a way of achieving racial injustice is both impractical and immoral. Violence never brings permanent peace.” Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke those words decades ago, and although those words were spoken years ago, they still relate to today’s world. It seems that the world has transformed into this culture of hate and inequality.…
Racial disparity in the criminal system may influence a judge’s discretion on a case where a crime may be morally wrong, yet the decision of a judge may give a less sentence based on race, status, and history. For example, graduate Judge Aaron Persky in the State of California vs. Brock Turner case, gave Brock Turner a 6-month sentence instead of 6 years in a rape case. Many felt that Judge Persky was being too leniency and may have been biased because he and the perpetrator went to Standard. Even though Judge Persky didn’t violate any laws by his ruling, however he may have overused his discretion, where there aren’t any clear instructions on how to make a decision on a case, so one may have to use their discretion. Issues dealing with the…
America is an immensely diverse nation; built on the ideals of the ‘Land of the Free’ and ‘Home of the Brave’. The United States is also known as the Land of Opportunity, but how true do the statements ring for all of its citizens? Civil rights movements, within the United States, have made large milestone victories since the early to mid-1960s; changes and implemented laws and policies have since guided a movement of appeared equality. How is it then, with this appeared movement of equality, that the United States penal system has become so overwhelmed and disproportioned in the representation of its races? Racial disparities between Non-Hispanic Whites, Non-Hispanic Blacks, and Hispanics, within the penal system, have become increasingly more concerning.…
Social Institutions regarding Racial Inequality Slavery ended over 150 years ago and In 1964 the Civil Rights Act ended all laws regarding segregation. Have you ever wondered why racial inequality is still prevalent in today’s day and age. Well a lot of the reasoning behind racial inequality still existing is in fact due to social institutions. Throughout the course of this paper I’m going to argue that inequality still presides due to institutional arrangements thus being unsustainable.…
Racism has existed since the early 1600s when African Americans were first brought to America against their will to work as slaves. It wasn’t until the Civil Rights Movement, beginning in 1955, that the lives of African Americans started to transform and the U.S. Supreme Court began to terminate “Jim Crow” laws and ban segregation (“Civil Rights Movement,” n.d.). The main goal of eradicating segregation was to reach what is known as “racial equality”, which is the balance between all the races making everyone equal. Since the Civil Right Movement, our country has continued to make steps of improvement including, swearing in our nation’s first black president and the fact that black people and white people are now able to go to the same school.…
One of the major ongoing problems in the United States is racism and discrimination. This dates all the way back to when Native Americans or Indians were forced to migrate to other lands by the Europeans. In this society, every minority, mainly African Americans, Native Americans, Islamic and Muslim people, are the target of some type of discrimination and unfairness. Unfortunately, it is only getting worse. Since the time of the Trail of Tears, this type of discrimination has changed.…
Hunter Depalma ECON 221 Butler February 13, 2015 Racism & Income Disparity: Income Effect Income disparity is an ongoing complication within the United States not only between men and women, but between races. Many people in our country are poor, and the improvement in their lives that the ending of income inequality can bring them is great. For the most part this shifts demand curves from the incomes increasing and decreasing, negatively and positively. Some argue that our society here in America is set up to where the lower working class cannot escape poverty. We have provisions and burdens in our economy that will keep regressing the lower class.…
I have shown that due to the fact of skin color, one is more likely to be pulled over and serve a longer sentence than that of a non-Hispanic White man. I have shown there is inequality structured within the structure. I have broken it down into three separate races describing what they are most convicted for, how long they are sentenced, and how long they serve their sentence. Racial inequality does exist. This inequality stems from the time of slavery when diversity was not accepted.…