Comparison of Social Stratification between Blacks and Whites Social stratification refers to a system by which a society ranks categories of people in a hierarchy. In the United States, it is indefinitely visible that there is a difference between groups in terms of status, power, and wealth. Some of the most significant differences can be seen between blacks and whites.
Blacks do live life at a disadvantage in comparison to whites. Campbell and Kaufman (2006) found that black families living under the same roof have notably less wealth in comparison to white households and that this gap continues to grow. According to Campbell and Kaufman (2006), wealth inequality in present times are almost double what they were in the year of 1975. That …show more content…
It takes a long time to build up a good amount of wealth to pass on to the next generation. Whites have had a much longer time to do this in comparison to blacks. One reason behind this may be because of the disadvantaged history that blacks have lived. Blacks have lived through, “severe discrimination, economic segregation and low-wages” (Morillas, 2007). This could be a huge reason behind the lesser amount of wealth that blacks have in comparison to whites. Blacks have had less time for the wealth of their families to build up because of all the misfortune they have been dealt in the past. Stricker (1976) posed some statistics in his writing that compared the social status of blacks in whites by looking at their income …show more content…
To be more specific, white men made approximately nineteen dollars per hour in the year 1995 whereas black men made only about twelve dollars per hour (Morillas, 2007). That is far less than whites. This gap between earnings for blacks and whites decreased a bit during the 1960s and 70s, but then leveled off and has remained the same since (Morillas, 2007). The gap remains today and may partly stem from discrimination during the hiring process by interviewers or assessors from several different employers. Employers may decide not to hire blacks because of stereotypes or racial preferences. The employer may only want to hire them for bad jobs which may concentrate blacks into the lower wage jobs that will place blacks in an overall lower economic sector. With so many blacks being hired for the lower level jobs, they will have less experience in the labor market which would result in them continuing to acquire lower paying jobs and prevent them from getting higher paying employment opportunities (Morillas,
Blacks do live life at a disadvantage in comparison to whites. Campbell and Kaufman (2006) found that black families living under the same roof have notably less wealth in comparison to white households and that this gap continues to grow. According to Campbell and Kaufman (2006), wealth inequality in present times are almost double what they were in the year of 1975. That …show more content…
It takes a long time to build up a good amount of wealth to pass on to the next generation. Whites have had a much longer time to do this in comparison to blacks. One reason behind this may be because of the disadvantaged history that blacks have lived. Blacks have lived through, “severe discrimination, economic segregation and low-wages” (Morillas, 2007). This could be a huge reason behind the lesser amount of wealth that blacks have in comparison to whites. Blacks have had less time for the wealth of their families to build up because of all the misfortune they have been dealt in the past. Stricker (1976) posed some statistics in his writing that compared the social status of blacks in whites by looking at their income …show more content…
To be more specific, white men made approximately nineteen dollars per hour in the year 1995 whereas black men made only about twelve dollars per hour (Morillas, 2007). That is far less than whites. This gap between earnings for blacks and whites decreased a bit during the 1960s and 70s, but then leveled off and has remained the same since (Morillas, 2007). The gap remains today and may partly stem from discrimination during the hiring process by interviewers or assessors from several different employers. Employers may decide not to hire blacks because of stereotypes or racial preferences. The employer may only want to hire them for bad jobs which may concentrate blacks into the lower wage jobs that will place blacks in an overall lower economic sector. With so many blacks being hired for the lower level jobs, they will have less experience in the labor market which would result in them continuing to acquire lower paying jobs and prevent them from getting higher paying employment opportunities (Morillas,