Racial Inequality

The legacy of racial discrimination and oppression towards people of black descent in America, is one of inequality and mistreatment. In “Being Poor, Black, and American,” William Wilson writes about three types of forces that hinder the progress of blacks in society: political, economic, and cultural. Society’s dialogue on the current socio-economic status of most African Americans leans towards blaming blacks for their own lack of effort and judgment; however, these situations are deeply rooted in factors beyond the control of most ordinary black folk: the government’s deliberate initiatives to create of internal ghettos with project standards of living, the lack of circulation into minority communities, the transition away from a physical …show more content…
Wilson (2011) identifies an emerging form of racism known to social scholar as “laissez faire racism”, as the belief that blacks are responsible for their own socio-economic circumstances and therefore are undeserving of any outside aid. This school of thought and those sharing a distasteful views towards black people result in “devastating effects of oppression is that it dehumanizes the oppressed people” (Osajima, 1998, p.153). These views ultimately believe that blacks are culturally inferior. With the media constantly portraying black males as the one-dimensional aggressors of crime and predators, it is difficult for certain offensive stereotypes to not develop. Racial tensions between blacks and mainstream American society forming from an inadequate understanding of the reality and causes of ghetto culture continue to set back black people’s progress in the nation. Culture results from the interaction with the environment and the people within it, and the variation between the realities of mainstream American society and impoverished minority neighborhood could not be any more drastic in nature. In many cases the sheer differences in culture between mainstream America and inner city ghettos have adverse effects on the economic viability of people of color. The article “Stealing a Bag of Potato Chips and Other Crimes of Resistance” starts with a young black teen named Ronny, who was called in for a job interview at a local steakhouse. After the interview, Ronny left the interviewer without giving a handshake and is asked why he did so. Ronny said, “‘Because it was a white lady. You not supposed to shake a white lady’s hand. They be scared of a nigga. They think I’ma try to take their shit or fuck ’em. I just said thanks