Racism By Carmelita Castanea Summary

In “Racism" Carmelita Castaneda and Ximena Zuniga begin their introduction by questioning the interpretation that the election of Barack Hussein Obama, the first person of color elected president of the United States, has brought about a concrete breakthrough for racial equality towards people of color. The authors also make note of the contrasting view that racial disparities in education, healthcare, criminal sentencing, and employment are increasingly marginalized based on well substantiated evidence found in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the National Center Education Statistics, and the Achievement Gap Initiative. The authors confront the regularly held suppositions that the U.S. is a “post racial” society, and provide evidence that …show more content…
This construction allows racism, the set of institutions, cultural and interpersonal patterns and practices that create advantages for people legally defined as “white”. In my opinion, there are patterns of racial inequality that continue to exist that hinder the U.S.’s ability for diversity and equality. I think this because racism is so deeply embedded in the nation’s history because it was what this country was built upon. Throughout time, racism is simply reinvented, and has become more subtle and not so forthcoming, but always perpetuating social disadvantages. Up until very recently, did the U.S. attempt to become a “post-racial” society, however, a lack of repatriation and concession makes transitioning to an all-encompassing society all the more difficult. For example, the authors provide a brief snapshot overview of the history of racism in the U.S., and surmise that the rationalization of racial advantage for “whites” versus the slanderous condemnation of “non-whites,” and immigrants, and allowed for policies to shape life across America until the …show more content…
I agree that racism starts early. As someone who grew up in a mostly white and asian community, races who radically differed from these groups were already perceived as different and therefore, unequal in a way and preconceived notions were born. I also think racism is encouraged in subtle ways through ethnic jokes between friends, or the media. I think that these subtle reinforcements allow people of color as well as whites to internalize these jokes and perceptions as truths. The author also discusses the difference between racism and prejudice as most people use these terms interchangeably, and depicts racism as a system of advantage based on race. By differentiating these terms, I was able to realize that racism is systemic rather than just a personal ideology stemming from prejudice. And, that even though all “whites” benefit from racism, they do not all benefit equally. I agree with this point because, as the author mentioned, a white women on welfare is not benefiting as much as a rich white man, but both of these people are benefiting more than a non-white person, which is shocking. I feel that most people who are white would not chalk up their clear advantages to their “whiteness,"