Are Racism Or Poverty Serious Ongoing Problems Within America Discuss The Views Of Authors Who - Article Example

“RACISM AND POVERTY”Introduction:People by any means have different beliefs and outlook toward human principle and that what is ideologically appropriate may be humanely immoral to others. This belief emanates from our origins and that it results in segregation of thoughts and ideals, partition of mores and societies and different outlook towards other individuals. Times tells us that if there is the merging of race and cultures in a single but liberal society, the result could be chaotic in such a way that there would be battle for supremacy, dominance over other race and revolution within the system.

Thus if we have to have a classic example of a society that have to deal with its internal problem caused by multiculturalism, we can name America as one good example. Sensitivity among the culturally exposed and the indigenously oriented races in one social order has been given emphasis in America and the underlying problem it entails. That primary problem that affects the American society until now is racism and poverty and it has never faded. Racism and poverty has long been the issues of the African-Americans who have long been part of America’s society and culture (Henry Louis Gates, 1996).

The big question still haunts every fiber of America. Is racism or poverty still a serious ongoing problem in America? These issues have caused debates and comments among the public and politicians and we will discuss here if there is really injustice and poverty among blacks and how it affect them.George Fredrickson, author of the book Racism - A short History described Racism as any action, practice, or belief or ideology that humans are divided into separate and exclusive biological entities called “races”.

That every human inherits even the negative traits, intellect, morality and cultural behavioral features from his ancestors and so some races are inherently superior to others (Fredrickson, 2001). Let us briefly discuss how the American blacks have managed to come to America. Based from the Public Broadcasting Service’ African American World, an online source of information, in the early part of the 20th century right after the civil war, massive waves of African-American groups migrated from rural to urban areas in search for jobs and economic development.

But while some of the societies of whites are not yet ready to accept and merge with the African-American race the blacks nevertheless experienced racism, poverty and injustices. Their communities were segregated from whites not by federal or government laws but by informal agreements of the whites who rule. This form of racial discrimination has significantly put the blacks to live in the poverty line. Migrating from the South did not give them better life and poverty has been their constant problem (World, 2007).

But many sources say that blacks are not that inadequate in terms of needs and quality of life. That there is a certain degree in determining poverty as according to their lifestyle and status in life. According to Paul Sniderman and Edward Carmines on their book Reaching Beyond Race, a study in 1996 was conducted on a given number of black populations and the result showed that from 1996, their yearly personal income has an average of $371 billion. This is 50 percent greater than it was in 1980.

The average black household spending for new cars, clothes, and appliances now outdo an average household spending for whites. To have a specific example, the expenditures of blacks for computer hardware and software since 1983 have doubled reaching $741 million in 1996. Blacks now which make up to a high percentage of the national population, account for a 25 percent of all spending for online computer services (Sleeper, 1997).