Samuel Wetherill
Arguments and Persuasion
Professor Ana Hartman
19 November 2017
Fabricated Stratification and its Effects on Society The idea of race and the perception or belief in subjective superiority based on superficial genetic features has been around as long as human civilization. We have made great strides as a collective global society in equality, and mainstream racism throughout most of western culture and beyond has been abolished. Children from a young age are taught in school to be colorblind when it comes to race. But the idealized Garden of Eden version of equality is gradually replaced by the reality that the world isn’t exactly as it was promised. By adolescence and early adulthood it becomes apparent that our societies still have serious issues with racial tension, caused by false identities and social constructs that have been forged over ages and passed down generationally. Although slavery and segregation have …show more content…
Baldwin explains “No one was white before he/she came to America. It took generations and vast amount of coercion before this became a white country.” (Baldwin 1) By joining this artificial racial group, various people from different European backgrounds had to discard their cultural identity. After their arrival in America Irish immigrants were considered second-class citizens in America. Because of their physical appearance, the Irish could assimilate over generations as they lost their accents and could ultimately join the elite of light skinned upper class of American society. Baldwin further outlines the problem with class in America based on the flawed European vision by explaining, “It is a vision as remarkable for what it pretends to include as for what it remorselessly diminishes, demolishes or leaves totally out of account.” (Baldwin
Arguments and Persuasion
Professor Ana Hartman
19 November 2017
Fabricated Stratification and its Effects on Society The idea of race and the perception or belief in subjective superiority based on superficial genetic features has been around as long as human civilization. We have made great strides as a collective global society in equality, and mainstream racism throughout most of western culture and beyond has been abolished. Children from a young age are taught in school to be colorblind when it comes to race. But the idealized Garden of Eden version of equality is gradually replaced by the reality that the world isn’t exactly as it was promised. By adolescence and early adulthood it becomes apparent that our societies still have serious issues with racial tension, caused by false identities and social constructs that have been forged over ages and passed down generationally. Although slavery and segregation have …show more content…
Baldwin explains “No one was white before he/she came to America. It took generations and vast amount of coercion before this became a white country.” (Baldwin 1) By joining this artificial racial group, various people from different European backgrounds had to discard their cultural identity. After their arrival in America Irish immigrants were considered second-class citizens in America. Because of their physical appearance, the Irish could assimilate over generations as they lost their accents and could ultimately join the elite of light skinned upper class of American society. Baldwin further outlines the problem with class in America based on the flawed European vision by explaining, “It is a vision as remarkable for what it pretends to include as for what it remorselessly diminishes, demolishes or leaves totally out of account.” (Baldwin