Questions on History and Political Science - Coursework Example

History and Political Science s Q1. Ethnic segregation is defined as the separation of given people based on their ethnic group. In looking at the map of St. Louis, Blacks are more situated in Northwoods area while there is a big population of Whites in Marlborough. The black ethnic group often clusters itself in suburbs of major towns due to their low income earning state plus the feeling of being a segregated group based on racial grounds. The whites on the other hand often cluster themselves in areas associated with the rich. Q2. Ethnic segregation has enabled a difference in the lifestyle between the Blacks and Whites in Northwoods and Marlborough to be evident. The social system has also separated the two groups to give the insurgence of the Whites who are in high class places while the blacks exists in the middle and lower class part of the society. In addition, ethnic segregation has further increased instances of racism as the society is divided into places where blacks and whites can live. Q3. Ethnic diversity also has benefits. One known benefit is multiculturalism. When different ethnic groups manage to live in one area, they manage to share with each other their culture. Some groups are able to appreciate and adopt the other groups culture hence leading to exchange of cultural information, for instance, pertaining the likes of eating habits, clothing, music and others. Another benefit of ethnic diversity in various cities is that it helps in scaling down the issue of racism. Q.4 Los Angeles is populated with Hispanics, Blacks, whites and Asians. Whites majorly exist in high class areas of Los Angeles like Hollywood and century city, Sherman Oaks. In Monterey Park, there is a large concentration of Asians. Hispanics take a large population as they are spread throughout Los Angeles, but more so to the East side. On the East side too, there is a mixture of whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics. The diversity exists due to social stratification. The minority groups like the Hispanics and Asians are more concentrated in middle and lower class zones. Whites are more concentrated in areas of the rich as they belong to the high class people in the society. Q.5. a. Miami, Florida Hispanics are the main minority group here. This is because they migrated to from Latin America in search of good opportunity in America. b. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota Blacks are the main minority group. c. Des Moines, Iowa Hispanics are the main minority group d. San Francisco, California Hispanics are the main minority group e. Cleveland, Ohio Blacks are the main minority group Q6.a Southern cities-Memphis, Nashville, Birmingham, Jackson, Atlanta These places have a high population of blacks b. Southerwestern cities-San Antonia, El Paso, Phoenix, Tucson They have a high population of Hispanics c. West Coast cities-Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles They have a high population of Hispanics d. Our Three largest cities-New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago Its intermixed with whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics situated in various areas based on social stratification and ethic segregation. e. Northern cities-Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Detroit, Indianapolis They have a high population of whites f. Florida cities It has a high population of whites situated in the major cities. 7. Three types of boundaries between ethnic groups seen on the map. In looking at the map, it can be deduced that the type of boundaries that exist between the various ethnic groups are race, language and culture. Table St. Louis Census Tract a b c d e f g h Population Clayton Pontoon Beach Ballwin Jennings Cathokia Maryland heights Labadie Maryland Heights Average family size 4 3 5 3 2 4 3 4 Population 25 years and over 25 28 35 30 28 33 34 32 Median age( Years) 35 30 40 37 29 37 38 36 Under 5 years (%) 12 8 6 10 12 16 7 8 65 years and over (%) 23 33 12 14 8 26 30 22 High school graduate or higher 99 84 97 78 83 76 83 70 Bachelor’s degree or higher 84 13 52 32 6 22 18 16 Foreign born 14 20 12 6 18 10 8 36 Ancestry Non-am Largest# 8 5 7 9 10 12 16 13 In labor force 24 22 30 33 16 18 23 14 Mean travel time to work (Min) 50 40 43 33 27 54 38 41 Families below poverty line 20 18 16 23 12 8 10 11 Per capita income 23 12 19 23 18 24 17 13 Owner occupies housing units (%) 12 8 14 16 13 17 14 11 Median Value (homes) 10 7 8 9 10 11 9 8 Lacking completely plumbing fac 4 8 4 6 5 3 4 5 Q8. In looking at the statistics found in the table above, it is evident that ethnicity plays a role. For example, whites are located in areas of high per capita earning compared to other ethnic groups. In addition, whites have fewer families with people living below the poverty line as compared to Blacks, Hispanics and Asians. Hence ethnicity majorly influenced the distribution of the various components found in the table above. Q9. In having ethnic segregation, it resulted in people getting placed in various social classes based on the geographical area. For instance, in accordance to the consensus tract of St. Louis, it is harder for the minority groups to move up the ladder as they are prone to stay in areas they are familiar to their ethnic groups. Moving from an area of a given ethnic group to another hence is limited as people of the same ethnic group then to cluster in certain areas hence promoting idealistic notions of racism. Q. 10. More whites exist in urban areas, suburban and rural areas because of the economic activities they engage in. Since the whites majorly own major investments in the given areas, they are more prone to concentrate in areas with amenities like good roads, infrastructure, along beaches, social amenities as they are prone to be the high class in such societies. The rest of the ethnic groups, are concentrated geographically into areas with middle or low income earners. Read More