Nothing, yet everything; The Importance of Race and Identity in America Race and identity are two words that mean absolutely nothing, yet they mean everything in the society we live in today, and the society we have lived in the past. Throughout time, as a result of the underlying perceptions that people carry of people of a different race, we have seen these perceptions affect social structure, legal rights and privileges, and we have seen it serve as a platform for discrimination that has been plaguing this country for years. Everywhere you go, whether you like it or not, certain preconceived notions about the way people are because of the color of their skin invade your mind. Passing a black person on the street might make you walk a little
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This is a result of the public sphere of influence that has delved itself into society, and manifested itself into the minds of people. As much as it seems the world has changed since the times of slavery or even from the time of the Indians, when you look closer you can see that it really has not. Sure, it has taken on new forms, and managed to manifest itself in different ways, but none the less it continues to exist right under our noses. Discrimination is real and alive, and though it may not affect a certain percentage of the population it does affect a very large amount of people, and creates a caste system in America where some benefit, and some are left to fend for themselves. This inequality will continue to exist until people can learn to be rid of preconceived notions and stereotypes, and acknowledge that race has no meaning. Race has taken on different levels of power throughout time, and I will take you through those levels to show how race has continued to provide the world with unfairness and inequality. This country is not racism free. Racism affects people every day. It continues to discriminate by means of the legal system, and by means of the public realm of influence. Race and …show more content…
When immigrants began coming to America some scholars suggested that they were degrading the superiority of the whites. The mixing of black and white people was thought to eventually take the goodness out of everyone. Whites began administering intelligence tests that were set up for the success of white people, and only white people. Whites scored better than any other race because the tests were geared towards white culture. However when some black people in the North began scoring as high as the whites, scholars dismissed the idea that they could actually be as intelligent as whites, and suggested their success was due to the white persons superiority rubbing off on them because of intermixing. Then scholars go on to say that too much mixing will degrade all of society. So you can see that these patterns are reoccurring, and by seeing these patterns and how they operate throughout time, it makes it easier to see the same pattern in the world we live in today. It’s amazing to think about the idea that no one questioned any of this, but is it really that amazing. No one questions racism today, and it still exists under our noses. Some scholars knew the absurdity’s of racism, but they were “reluctant to part with it as a tool for speculation about human differences” (Gosset 5030). The ideas were so
This is a result of the public sphere of influence that has delved itself into society, and manifested itself into the minds of people. As much as it seems the world has changed since the times of slavery or even from the time of the Indians, when you look closer you can see that it really has not. Sure, it has taken on new forms, and managed to manifest itself in different ways, but none the less it continues to exist right under our noses. Discrimination is real and alive, and though it may not affect a certain percentage of the population it does affect a very large amount of people, and creates a caste system in America where some benefit, and some are left to fend for themselves. This inequality will continue to exist until people can learn to be rid of preconceived notions and stereotypes, and acknowledge that race has no meaning. Race has taken on different levels of power throughout time, and I will take you through those levels to show how race has continued to provide the world with unfairness and inequality. This country is not racism free. Racism affects people every day. It continues to discriminate by means of the legal system, and by means of the public realm of influence. Race and …show more content…
When immigrants began coming to America some scholars suggested that they were degrading the superiority of the whites. The mixing of black and white people was thought to eventually take the goodness out of everyone. Whites began administering intelligence tests that were set up for the success of white people, and only white people. Whites scored better than any other race because the tests were geared towards white culture. However when some black people in the North began scoring as high as the whites, scholars dismissed the idea that they could actually be as intelligent as whites, and suggested their success was due to the white persons superiority rubbing off on them because of intermixing. Then scholars go on to say that too much mixing will degrade all of society. So you can see that these patterns are reoccurring, and by seeing these patterns and how they operate throughout time, it makes it easier to see the same pattern in the world we live in today. It’s amazing to think about the idea that no one questioned any of this, but is it really that amazing. No one questions racism today, and it still exists under our noses. Some scholars knew the absurdity’s of racism, but they were “reluctant to part with it as a tool for speculation about human differences” (Gosset 5030). The ideas were so