Stated throughout the course was a mention of the system of the United States not being made for all people to succeed. Not all people in the United States have equal access to resources and this country began that way. This was previously mentioned when the issue of privilege was addressed and will further be reviewed in this paragraph. The method in which the United States began was that the white man came to the country to take over the land against the American Indians, then the white man shipped Africans from their home countries to the United States to work for them and treat them as though they were less than human. The foundation of the United States was designed so that whites had more power than those of color. It then should be
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There is a financial gap between black and white Americans. The typical black households accumulates less than one-tenth of the wealth that a typical white household carries. The rationale for this includes that home ownership is lower amongst blacks than whites and owning land is one of the greatest assets an American can hold. This statement correlates with the historic moment when Union General William T Sherman prescribed forty acres in his Special Field Order No. 15. Blacks also have lower incomes than whites, as the median income for black households is less than 60 percent than that of white households. Economic inequality also stems from the fact that the jobless rates for blacks are twice as long as the jobless rates of whites. These factors have led to the fact that at least one in four blacks live in poverty, while fewer than one in 10 whites live in poverty. Rieger stated that “The American Dream-that anyone can make it to the top based on individual achievements-further feeds the myth of individualism, and consistently works against those at the bottom and in favor of those on top” (Rieger, pg. 51). The American dream is described as “Joe the Plumber […] a potential member of the ownership class […] people who own or at least control a significant share of the means of production and command capital” (Rieger, pg. 32). This is a dream much more difficult that the black American can envision for him or herself. Because of privilege and the system in which our society is made of, not everyone can reach the top because they have started too far down on the bottom. (Luhby) This also means that the Emancipation
There is a financial gap between black and white Americans. The typical black households accumulates less than one-tenth of the wealth that a typical white household carries. The rationale for this includes that home ownership is lower amongst blacks than whites and owning land is one of the greatest assets an American can hold. This statement correlates with the historic moment when Union General William T Sherman prescribed forty acres in his Special Field Order No. 15. Blacks also have lower incomes than whites, as the median income for black households is less than 60 percent than that of white households. Economic inequality also stems from the fact that the jobless rates for blacks are twice as long as the jobless rates of whites. These factors have led to the fact that at least one in four blacks live in poverty, while fewer than one in 10 whites live in poverty. Rieger stated that “The American Dream-that anyone can make it to the top based on individual achievements-further feeds the myth of individualism, and consistently works against those at the bottom and in favor of those on top” (Rieger, pg. 51). The American dream is described as “Joe the Plumber […] a potential member of the ownership class […] people who own or at least control a significant share of the means of production and command capital” (Rieger, pg. 32). This is a dream much more difficult that the black American can envision for him or herself. Because of privilege and the system in which our society is made of, not everyone can reach the top because they have started too far down on the bottom. (Luhby) This also means that the Emancipation