In the United States, there is the belief that an individual, no matter who they are or where they come from, has the ability to succeed as long as they work hard for what they want to achieve. This belief is known as “The American Dream”. Despite “The American Dream” being a hegemonic belief, in reality it is not true. Within the United States there are systems that uphold inequality. These systems of inequality make it difficult for certain groups of people to achieve the so-called “American Dream” no matter their abilities. Race/ethnicity is a category of difference that greatly effects one’s position in society in the United States, especially for persons of color and even more specifically for people of Black or African American descent.
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It is more difficult for Black people to find employment simply based on society’s negative perception of Blacks. In the essay, Jobless Ghettos: The Social Implications of the Disappearance of Work in Segregated Neighborhoods, sociologist William J. Wilson writes that “many black inner-city applicants are never given the chance to prove their qualifications on an individual level because they are systematically screened out by the selective recruitment process”, this is contributed to the fact that “Employers make assumptions about the inner-city black workers in general” (Ore 334). This discrimination against Blacks does not take place only in inner cities, it is happening all across the low-wage labor market, as discovered in the experiment done by sociologist Devah Pager, Bruce Western and Bart Bonkiowski. Pager, Western and Bonkiowski found that “firms are reluctant to hire young minority men—especially blacks—because they are seen as unreliable, dishonest or lacking in social and cognitive skills” (Ore 344). Through their experiment, a clear racial hierarchy emerged with whites being the most desirable, then Latinos and then finally blacks. The most prominent evidence that supports their findings of a racial hierarchy is that a “black applicant with no criminal background experiences job prospects similar to those of a white felon” (Ore 344). The discrimination that Blacks face in the job market is evidence that people have a lack of control over their own lives. Regardless of ability, there are generalizations made about people of African American descent as a whole and they do not get the luxury of being viewed as an individual. The job market in the United States is another social force that contributes to Blacks being low on the power
It is more difficult for Black people to find employment simply based on society’s negative perception of Blacks. In the essay, Jobless Ghettos: The Social Implications of the Disappearance of Work in Segregated Neighborhoods, sociologist William J. Wilson writes that “many black inner-city applicants are never given the chance to prove their qualifications on an individual level because they are systematically screened out by the selective recruitment process”, this is contributed to the fact that “Employers make assumptions about the inner-city black workers in general” (Ore 334). This discrimination against Blacks does not take place only in inner cities, it is happening all across the low-wage labor market, as discovered in the experiment done by sociologist Devah Pager, Bruce Western and Bart Bonkiowski. Pager, Western and Bonkiowski found that “firms are reluctant to hire young minority men—especially blacks—because they are seen as unreliable, dishonest or lacking in social and cognitive skills” (Ore 344). Through their experiment, a clear racial hierarchy emerged with whites being the most desirable, then Latinos and then finally blacks. The most prominent evidence that supports their findings of a racial hierarchy is that a “black applicant with no criminal background experiences job prospects similar to those of a white felon” (Ore 344). The discrimination that Blacks face in the job market is evidence that people have a lack of control over their own lives. Regardless of ability, there are generalizations made about people of African American descent as a whole and they do not get the luxury of being viewed as an individual. The job market in the United States is another social force that contributes to Blacks being low on the power