Minority Exclusion and its Effects
Throughout the United States’ history, there have always been forms of minority exclusion that have strongly effected minorities. There are two models of minority exclusion that have become prominent in the US. The first type is apartheid where the government, whether it be State or the Federal government, creates laws that make it legal to discriminate against nonwhites. The other form of minority exclusion is economic and political disempowerment where the minority is given a right, but that right is later taken away by any form of power. My thesis is that minorities such as Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans have all felt the effects of minority exclusion. Each one has …show more content…
As the White Europeans first settled into the Americas, the Native Americans were seen as equals. When White settlers first arrived in the Americas, their goal was to coexist with the Native Americans and “many Whites had respect for Indians because they flourished in an environment that perplexed Europeans” (Shaw et. al. 2015: 34). Treaties were made and all seemed right until more and more White Settlers moved to the United States; their need for land grew savagely and as they got accustomed to the Native Americans they began to think of them as lesser subjects. Because Native American lifestyle consisted of hunting and gathering. The difference in lifestyle led the Whites to believe that they hold a sense of superiority towards the Native Americans. A form of apartheid that the Native Americans experienced is the movement of their homes to reservations. Professor DeSipio discusses The Indian Removal Act of 1830 in lecture two of Week three where he talks about the removal of Native Americans from their land to a less desirable land in the Midwest. The goal of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was to take away the optimal land that was better suited for survival away from the Natives and give them to more deserving White people who are subjugated to a better life. The Native Americans were given land that was far from other civilizations where they had to start from scratch. Furthermore, Native …show more content…
Although there were no state or federal laws that directly targeted Latinos, the apartheid that they felt was there. The Mexican American War territories that were won used to be Mexican American Elites in office. It slowly became an Anglo powerhouse as Mexican Americans were no longer seen as part of the government group and “electoral rules were written to exclude Mexicans and other minorities from using the franchise” (Shaw et. al. 2015: 118). Unlike other minorities, the form of apartheid for Latinos is less noticeable because the Whites had slowly but surely booted them out of office and had not terrorized them into leaving. However, economic and political disempowerment is more prominently seen for Latinos because of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. That treaty was to guarantee the lands of the Mexican Americans, but like the Native Americans, that too was taken away. The U.S. government was keener in satisfying the needs of their White Citizens even though the Mexican Americans were to become or have already become U.S. citizens because of the treaty. This goes to show that the color of one’s skin and where they come from still hold a prominent role in determining how important one is to the government. The Latino community has come a long way since then as they have been included in the Voting Rights Act extension in 1975 which enables them to be able to read the voting registrations and other
Throughout the United States’ history, there have always been forms of minority exclusion that have strongly effected minorities. There are two models of minority exclusion that have become prominent in the US. The first type is apartheid where the government, whether it be State or the Federal government, creates laws that make it legal to discriminate against nonwhites. The other form of minority exclusion is economic and political disempowerment where the minority is given a right, but that right is later taken away by any form of power. My thesis is that minorities such as Native Americans, African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans have all felt the effects of minority exclusion. Each one has …show more content…
As the White Europeans first settled into the Americas, the Native Americans were seen as equals. When White settlers first arrived in the Americas, their goal was to coexist with the Native Americans and “many Whites had respect for Indians because they flourished in an environment that perplexed Europeans” (Shaw et. al. 2015: 34). Treaties were made and all seemed right until more and more White Settlers moved to the United States; their need for land grew savagely and as they got accustomed to the Native Americans they began to think of them as lesser subjects. Because Native American lifestyle consisted of hunting and gathering. The difference in lifestyle led the Whites to believe that they hold a sense of superiority towards the Native Americans. A form of apartheid that the Native Americans experienced is the movement of their homes to reservations. Professor DeSipio discusses The Indian Removal Act of 1830 in lecture two of Week three where he talks about the removal of Native Americans from their land to a less desirable land in the Midwest. The goal of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 was to take away the optimal land that was better suited for survival away from the Natives and give them to more deserving White people who are subjugated to a better life. The Native Americans were given land that was far from other civilizations where they had to start from scratch. Furthermore, Native …show more content…
Although there were no state or federal laws that directly targeted Latinos, the apartheid that they felt was there. The Mexican American War territories that were won used to be Mexican American Elites in office. It slowly became an Anglo powerhouse as Mexican Americans were no longer seen as part of the government group and “electoral rules were written to exclude Mexicans and other minorities from using the franchise” (Shaw et. al. 2015: 118). Unlike other minorities, the form of apartheid for Latinos is less noticeable because the Whites had slowly but surely booted them out of office and had not terrorized them into leaving. However, economic and political disempowerment is more prominently seen for Latinos because of the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. That treaty was to guarantee the lands of the Mexican Americans, but like the Native Americans, that too was taken away. The U.S. government was keener in satisfying the needs of their White Citizens even though the Mexican Americans were to become or have already become U.S. citizens because of the treaty. This goes to show that the color of one’s skin and where they come from still hold a prominent role in determining how important one is to the government. The Latino community has come a long way since then as they have been included in the Voting Rights Act extension in 1975 which enables them to be able to read the voting registrations and other