Inequality Based on Race - Essay Example

Inequality Based on Race Inequality Based on Race Introduction In a broad perspective, socialscience is a discipline that focuses on strengthening the relationships among the society. Globalization, a key aspect in the current generation, has played a huge role in enforcing the importance of social science to the society. The influence by the practices of social science have been instrumental in enabling individuals within the community to live together harmoniously. Immoral factors associated with social inequality such as discrimination on the basis of race still exist in the society. Discussion Social Science Practices and Attributes As a field of philosophy, social science focuses on enhancing the understanding of the functioning of the communities in the world. A community incorporates people who share a common characteristic inclusive of a geographical area and traditional values. Patterns of racial segregation are not natural outcomes. According to Law (2013), racial discrimination will act as a proponent that will indicate the relationship of inequality and the society. The social mechanism will also explain the interconnected social attributes create persistence in racial difference. The paper will focus on the power and the global community aspects of social sciences with the aim of understanding the world better. Racial Discrimination Social inequality is a scenario that occurs through the uneven distribution of available resources in the community. In the case of inequality based on race, the skin color acts as the dominating factor in the allocation of resources. The issue of racism has been on the rise given the continued increase in the interaction among individuals from different nations. As a result, human welfare all around the world faces patterns of inequality that is recurrent in nature. For instance, cities around America exhibit racial discrimination to African Americans from the east coast to the west coast. Bonilla-Silva illustrated that the boundary of racism is very legible in the U.S as the black community find it very hard to get jobs and access quality education as compared to the Americans (2013). Racism dates back to the ancient age where people simply disliked certain attributes of a particular culture. Right from the upbringing, parents warned children against associating with some races. The media also participated in re-enforcing racism into the minds of individuals. The mentioned factors made the co-existence of people of different ethnicity and skin color in the society unbearable. With time, the nature of hatred turned into a foundation of prejudice. The outcome of the stated social practice is that inequality has grown and affected the wealth and income distribution (Bechhofer & Paterson, 2012). The struggle for access of available opportunities favor the major race leaving the minor ones with limited job opportunities. Relationship between Power and Inequality Based on Race To understand the subject of inequality based on race it is important to look into the ideology of power. Power is a diverse body that encompasses the ability to act in a certain way or to play a stated role. It may also be political referring to the power to influence and lead others. Oliver & Shapiro argued that since the colonial era, many nations have discriminated the minority groups in the significant matters involving development (2013). This explains the reason as to why slavery existed around the world. Taking the United States for instance, White Americans had privileges that other groups including Latin Americans, Native Americans, African Americans as well as Asian Americans did not have. The rights and privileges pertained to education, voting, citizenship and land acquisition. Racial Politics, a major phenomenon since time in memorial continues to shape the definition of inequality with regard to skin color. The fact that the American government has since its inception discriminated various racial groups especially when it comes to protection by the law is sufficient evidence. No individual from the racial groups stood a chance to vie for any political seat whatsoever (Bechhofer & Paterson, 2012). Rightful citizens only entrusted the power of leadership to fellow citizens. The election of President Barrack Obama marked a major step in breaking down the barrier created by political racism. It is only in the recent past that the U.S government initiated policies that offer the racial groups rights with the aim of promoting democracy and peaceful co-existence within the society. Inequality based on Race and the Global Community Technology has revolutionized the way of life thereby connecting nations all over the world. Consequently, the aspects of globalization deem communities as being socially, economically and politically independent. People relate differently and have various perceptions about other races in the modern day. Some ethnic groups consider others to be more or less civilized thus enhancing conflict with the minority in many nations. The increase in the number of trade transaction and other opportunities has seen people travel and deal with people of different race (Lawrence, 2013). In the existing era of education, people still have the mentality to judge and discriminate specific races even in business transactions. White people act as the good people who are law abiding citizens and treat black people as criminals. One of the benefits of the global community is that people have re-located to various regions to take up various opportunities. The move aims at improving the livelihood of such individuals and the society at large. A major challenge to the move is the practice of racial profiling on the international scene. Due to racial profiling, the immigrants have no option but to fight for equality in provision of services. Tension rises creating a barrier to good relations between the immigrants and other members of the community (DiTomaso, 2013). The education system is one of the areas where racial profiling is most prominent in. Children under such situations do not only struggle with academic development but become uncertain about the future. It becomes very hard for interact or even integrate with the society comfortably. Challenges Faced Due to Inequality Based on Race The social short comings associated with inequality on the basis of race include the inability of the community, the country and the region to development. Lindquist illustrated that if people discarded the behavior of discriminating, the society would grow by increasing productivity (2012). More people would participate in beneficial transactions regardless of the ethnicity or race. The locals would also learn some measures on how to that would improve the welfare of the society at large. Disputes are rampant in the region due to inequality on race. This is because the minority group push forward various interests against a static majority. Discrimination of children because of race creates a low self-esteem and makes it difficult to interact with others. The future of the children also becomes uncertain because of the poor upbringing in terms of skills. The country becomes unable to unearth new opportunities or skills provided by the racial group. Members of the society would underutilize the resources available within the country. Given the fact that discrimination exempts the racial group from job opportunities, cases of crime in the community would increase (Babbie, 2011). The racial group has to find out a means of survival. Cases of informal settlement will arise leading to segregated housing within the region. Tension between the racial group and other members of the society will interfere with the peaceful co-existence of individuals in the society. Civil war may occur as the racial group demands to get recognition with regard to particular rights. Consequently, the running of the operations of a nation will not be as smooth and will affect other sectors. Conclusion Social sciences have a great deal of impact not only on the lives of individuals but also on the community and the nation at large. Members of the society use social sciences to comprehend the interplay of relationships in the community. Ideally, social sciences act as the mirror of the society indicating issues that require attention and identifying possible problems that affect the normal functioning of a nation. The most critical role pertaining to social sciences is the ability to scrutinize the society and point out the emerging trends and fundamental areas of potential growth. Inequality based on race affects the process of development in the society. Coupled with the factors of power and global community, racial discrimination acts as the tool that highlights the manner in which racial inequality affects the harmonious living of people. Reference List Babbie, E. R. (2011). The basics of social research. Australia: Wadsworth / Cengage Learning Publishers. Bechhofer, F., & Paterson, L. (2012). Principles of Research Design in the Social Sciences. New York: Routledge Publishers. Bonilla-Silva, E. (2013). Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in America. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. DiTomaso, N. (2013). The American non-dilemma: Racial inequality without racism. New York: Russell Sage Publishers. Law, I. (2013). Racism and Ethnicity: Global Debates, Dilemmas, Directions. New York: Routledge Publishers. Lawrence, D. P. (2013). Impact assessment: Practical solutions to recurrent problems and contemporary challenges. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley Lindquist, M. (2012). Race, Social Science and the Crisis of Manhood, 1890-1970. New York: Routledge Publishers. Oliver, M.,& Shapiro, T. (2013). Black Wealth / White Wealth: A New Perspective on Racial Inequality. York: Routledge Publishers. Read More