Does Race Still Matter Essay

Fifty years ago, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 abolished segregation across the United States. Although the United States has come a long way in racial equality, one question remains – does one’s race still matter? One would hope that after half a century since segregation ended, race would no longer be an issue in modern society, but this is not the case. I would like to tackle this question by saying that race still matters in one’s everyday life.
As an Asian immigrant, I have lived more than two-thirds of my life as a part of the minorities in the United States. What I have noticed during my stay in the States is that racial profiling and prejudice is a very serious and on-going thing.
Throughout my childhood, my peers always assumed that I was good at mathematics and terrible at English. Granted, it is true that English is not my first language so I had a fairly late start and heavy Vietnamese accent compared to the other students. Along with the fact that my mother, who cared about my education a lot and knew little about English, pushed me very hard in mathematics since that was all she knew. So math was beaten into me at a very young age to the point that I was learning how to do upper level problems 2 or 3 years in advance. Yet the odd thing that I noticed was that my peers weren’t all that impressed that they themselves were in an advanced math class just like I was. I also find it interesting in the fact that there are constant problems between whites versus blacks, whites versus Hispanics, and whites versus whomever. This indicates that being white has a very strong impact, whether it be negative or positive, on one’s social and economic standing. Throughout the course of my schooling, I have been taught that America was built by white people for white people. …show more content…
It may seem very unpopular to believe and accept this in modern society, but the fact that the term “white privilege” exists back up this. White privilege as defined by Race, Racism and the Law, is “a right, advantage, or immunity granted to or enjoyed by a white persons beyond the common advantage of all others.” This means that just by having a white skin tone, you are already ahead of the game from everyone else. Not only is this term a racial injustice towards white people in and of itself, it also put a sense of inferiority on the minorities. Being white in the United States has a strong positive impact on one’s social and economic standing. The United States Census claimed that the average income for white, black, and Hispanic households as of 2012 were $57,009, $33,321, and $39,005, respectively (Census). This means that the status for a child that was born into a white household is greater than that of one who did not. With a higher status, more opportunities are available. Not only does one’s income affect one’s social and economic standing, it also allow the pursuit of a higher education to be more readily available. The National Center for Education Statistics claimed a whopping 72.8 percent of white students who attained their Master’s (NCES). That is more than two-third of the student populace being white. With a formal education under their belt, getting a good job and repeating the cycle becomes easier. As I have said before, being white does have its negative impact. You have