According to Joe Feagin unjust enrichment is defined as: “the unjust theft of labor or resources by one group of people from another group of people.” In America alone, this has been happening for centuries. The history of the United States is rooted in the unjust enrichment of many people, most of them being people of color. During the 1600s, it was the Native Americans, the 17 and 1800s it was the Africans, and in the late 1880s, it was the Chinese immigrants. America has made trillions off of cheap and most times free labor and to this day, no one has done anything to correct it. Because of this injustice, wealth is still not evenly distributed today and the divide is not hard to see. What happened to the promise of “liberty and ‘justice’
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Racism, the great depression, Jim Crow, the list goes on and on, but he still persevered. I say it is luck because there were so many in his same position that were not able to own a home, own a car, or support a family. “Growing up black in America is one of the biggest tragedies.” When I asked my grandfather how he did it he told me two things, God and family. It was God’s grace that allowed him the strength to persevere, but it was the community and close relationship of his New Jersey neighborhood that allowed my mother and her siblings to have a better life than he did. A lot of the help he got with the children did not come from the government, but from the bartering of goods and services in his neighborhood. Neighbors who worked at the milk factory would bring home crates of milk for my grandfather and the kids because he helped them with child care. If it was not for the community, my Grandfather says he was sure that the system of inequality would have consumed him …show more content…
I can only speak for myself when I say that this research paper has made me realize the horrible truths of America’s past and how it has destroyed the very people that gave their lives creating it. We are still dealing with the aftermath of slavery and our wealth disparities prove this. America has abused and used its people of color to benefit the white upper-class for centuries. We live in a nation where the decedents of slave owners are millionaires while the descendants of the slaves and immigrants still live disadvantaged and below the white majority. Growing up black in America is one of the biggest tragedies to never be written. The story of the struggle of the black man out of slavery and out of poverty is one that will take many years to tell. “Today more than 30 percent of black men and nearly 60 percent of black women hold white-collar jobs.” Yes, it is true that today black people are miles ahead of where they once were in the 17 and 1800s, but we are also still so many miles behind our white counter-parts. This is the harsh but honest truth, and until we accept this as such and begin to right our wrongs, the wealth disparity will be the least of America’s problems. So to reiterate, America has made trillions of dollars off of cheap and most times free labor, and to this day, no one has done anything to
Racism, the great depression, Jim Crow, the list goes on and on, but he still persevered. I say it is luck because there were so many in his same position that were not able to own a home, own a car, or support a family. “Growing up black in America is one of the biggest tragedies.” When I asked my grandfather how he did it he told me two things, God and family. It was God’s grace that allowed him the strength to persevere, but it was the community and close relationship of his New Jersey neighborhood that allowed my mother and her siblings to have a better life than he did. A lot of the help he got with the children did not come from the government, but from the bartering of goods and services in his neighborhood. Neighbors who worked at the milk factory would bring home crates of milk for my grandfather and the kids because he helped them with child care. If it was not for the community, my Grandfather says he was sure that the system of inequality would have consumed him …show more content…
I can only speak for myself when I say that this research paper has made me realize the horrible truths of America’s past and how it has destroyed the very people that gave their lives creating it. We are still dealing with the aftermath of slavery and our wealth disparities prove this. America has abused and used its people of color to benefit the white upper-class for centuries. We live in a nation where the decedents of slave owners are millionaires while the descendants of the slaves and immigrants still live disadvantaged and below the white majority. Growing up black in America is one of the biggest tragedies to never be written. The story of the struggle of the black man out of slavery and out of poverty is one that will take many years to tell. “Today more than 30 percent of black men and nearly 60 percent of black women hold white-collar jobs.” Yes, it is true that today black people are miles ahead of where they once were in the 17 and 1800s, but we are also still so many miles behind our white counter-parts. This is the harsh but honest truth, and until we accept this as such and begin to right our wrongs, the wealth disparity will be the least of America’s problems. So to reiterate, America has made trillions of dollars off of cheap and most times free labor, and to this day, no one has done anything to