Discrimination Against Racial Minorities - A Reality of Our Times - Research Paper Example

Discrimination Against Racial Minorities: A Reality of Our Times Too. In our modern politically correct lives, where we take care that we are always politically correct in everything we say or do, we often take it for granted that we, and those like us, act and speak in this manner because we hold such convictions, like gender-equality and racial equality, as our own. Growing up in an environment where slurs, be they ethnic or racial or any other kind, have been all but obliterated from social discourse, we automatically assume that this means we live in a fair and unbiased society. However, that is not how it is; what political correctness has done is simply push back the prejudices in the background, but not out of reach. The truth is that we are still living in a society that does not treat people equally, but is racially biased and very much so. The paper will try to highlight the racist attitudes still present in our society and an attempt will be made to discuss steps that can be taken to counter it. The United States has a bad track record when it comes to racial tolerance. With slavery being a norm, so much so that a third of our founding fathers were slave owners themselves, our earlier society was not only intolerant of the racial minorities themselves, but the idea of their blood being “mixed” with the pure blood of the whites was also abhorrent. Thomas Jefferson was also of that opinion that once a slave was freed, he was “to be removed beyond the reach of mixture” (490). In the same writing, while admitting that the Native Americans or Indians did have some artistry and craftsmanship, Jefferson said that the blacks were completely devoid of any intellectual merits (489). Such open bigotry, and that too from a founding father of our country, is shocking, however, it can be overlooked by stating that he lived in a very different time than ours and that the knowledge and the resultant open-mindedness we have gained now has ensured racial equality. Through this paper, an attempt will be made to point out who racism is still a reality today and despite the opposing arguments of political correctness proponents, we are not completely color blind. Even during most of the twentieth century, our society was a very racist one. The American way of life is, more often than not, the “white” or “Caucasian” way of life. As the whites are a majority in our society, it is of course not surprising that their way of life should define the American way of life, however, this attitude often leads up to the racial minorities having to leave their own customs and identities behind so that they mesh well with the majority whites and, thus, become more acceptable to them. The fact that even though, excluding the Native Americans, all people of our society come from foreign lands and far off places, it is only the non-whites or the racial minorities who, time and again, have had to prove to the majority that they are, in fact, loyal American citizens is a proof of racial prejudice. During the Second World War, American citizens of Japanese ancestry were arrested and interned in concentration camps in the United States for the national interest, albeit they were given reparations and an apology later (Cose), however, the fact remains that none of the blue-eyed blondes, even those belonging to the Ku Klux Klan, were so arrested and interned, despite the fact that the America fought the war not only against Japan, but also against Nazi Germany. People often think that the racist face of our history ended with the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s and the 70s. Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, and others like them helped change America into a fair and just society where the color of a person’s skin did not matter, and a citizen can now aspire to be anyone. However, as good as it sounds, it is simply too good to be true: yes, there has been a change in that we do not have such open bigotry where the blacks, or other racial minorities, are not allowed to enter certain professions or forced into segregation, however, as Brown et al. put it, “America is now a nation so racially complicated that one black person can be secretary of state, while another is racially profiled or sodomized in a New York City police station, all in the same historical moment” (x). It is, perhaps, not surprising to know that even the law enforcement agencies practice racial profiling. Lamberth explains the phenomenon of DWB, or Driving While Black (32), whereby he confirmed the concept through his survey findings that on the New Jersey Turnpike, Blacks are 16.5 times more likely to be investigated and arrested by the police than whites (36). The reasons thereof include the idea held by the police that “minorities are more likely than whites to be carrying drugs” (Lamberth 34), something, Lamberth asserts, is also enabled through police training videos in which the perpetrators are from any of the racial minorities (34). Racial minorities are often subjected to discrimination and prejudice that can also lead to intolerance. Their differences, they are told, are not to be celebrated, but sneered at. In order to be part of the “melting pot,” they have to become more American, which is one way of saying more Caucasian. Whether it is the Native American, who sees himself caricatured in the mascots of various United States sports teams (Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians, for instance), whose hooked nose and red skin screams of “stereotyping,” or the African American who, we are told, is either good at sports or music if he is to amount to anything, or the Latin American who is an illegal immigrant who steals our jobs, or the Asian Americans (both Orientals and South Asians) who are geeky, stereotypes about the racial minorities are constantly are perpetuated via various media. Not only are such images extremely generalized and offensive, they also generate a certain sense of negativity, a feeling of alienation enters the minds of the minorities, and they find themselves, along with mainstream America, defining themselves in a stereotypical way as well. The Latin Americans feel that they have to constantly prove, for instance, that they are legal immigrants, and the African-Americans feel that they have to justify why they like eating certain food (chicken and watermelon, as an example). These “stereotypes” are not positive in any way, they are the things that keep these racial minorities “apart” from the mainstream white America, and, therefore, need to be abandoned. Such racial prejudice, still perpetuated by our media, has quite a negative impact on the minds of the minorities. They are constantly being told that they are to abandon their “different” ways to become part of mainstream America. Resultantly, a feeling of inferiority crops up in the minorities – one can even say that they become ashamed of their own cultural heritage and/or racial differences. A good example in this regard would be how African-American women get their hair straightened, and Native American men, especially those who were raised off reservation land, do not always sport long plaited hair even if their customs dictate it. Moreover, though they are ashamed of not being white, the frustration and inferiority that the media and the environment feeds, results in a lot of resentment in the minorities. This can erupt in the form of a violent outburst, or in some cases certain ethnic and racial gangs that are formed in defiance of the constant “white-washing” of their culture. Through these gangs the minorities feel a sense of belonging somewhere, as they constantly feel a sense of alienation from mainstream America. Though it is pointed out that these gangs have “crime” as the main unifying force, however, it cannot be argued that most of these gangs have racial uniformity, and hence they are also pandering to the racial alienation of those who join them. The psychological effects of these negative attitude towards the minorities often results in many psychological problems too, for instance, there is a certain amount of mistrust that the minorities feel towards the majority white population. Not all people agree when it comes to helping create racial equality and taking official steps to counteract racism, or at least make reparations. For example, affirmative action, one such step whereby the race, color and gender of people were taken into consideration for employment, public contracting and educational opportunities, has caused much debate, controversy and resentment among the people of the United States. On the one hand it is argued that it is foolish to assume that three hundred years of subjugation can be wiped away by a mere thirty years of quotas set in place to favor the blacks. On the other hand, others, like Steele, argue that it makes the people dependant on hand outs and actually relegates them to the position of second class citizens, where they simply stop trying to achieve anything on their own merits. Some critics even go so far as to state that due to affirmative action jobs and educational opportunities are given to minorities, based on their race, at the cost of better candidates who just happen to be white. At first glance this does appear to be close to the truth: after all quotas do not result in better productivity, rather they hamper it. However, on closer inspection, this idea can easily be laid to rest. Statistics show that during the Reagan era, when federal affirmative action was halted, “blacks lost out” (Brown et al. 187). Not only did black male employment decrease, but the wage differentials between whites and other racial minorities also increased, moreover, these gaps were not caused by lack of education or job skills as these changes varied between cities (Brown et al. 187). Clearly affirmative action has a positive effect on the employment of racial and gender minorities, and what is more, it does not do so at the cost of productivity and efficiency. This basically goes to prove that affirmative action does not actually hand out jobs to undeserving or non-productive minorities at the cost of the productive whites, but that it gives them a chance to compete with those who have held a privileged position since the inception of this country. The case of C. P. Ellis, a former Ku Klux Klan member, who became a union leader fighting for the cause of the workers, be they black or white, shows that even the hardened racist amongst us is not beyond change. In an interview conducted by Studs Terkel, Ellis relates how it is basically the low-income whites who become Klan members, as they do not have a say in anything that is happening around them, and in order to gain a vestige of control and power, they vent out their frustration by hating the blacks (Terkel 521). Ellis soon realized that his situation was similar to those of the blacks, and that there was no point in hating them as they were just as helpless as he was in trying to make ends meet (Terkel 523). The hatred, he points out, is often caused by misunderstanding, inferiority feelings and lack of education (Terkel 525). He also states that when he met and talked to people of other race, it was then he realized that they were not as bad as they were generalized by the Klan to be (Terkel 523). Ellis’ case illustrates that it is often our lack of knowledge that prevents us from shedding our racial and ethnic prejudices. Therefore, I feel, it is necessary, that in order to get rid of the prejudices that we hold today, and to make America a truly color-blind society, we must inculcate these values in our society, both in the younger and older citizens of America. Through adding cultural sensitivity to our curriculum, children can be educated at school about this issue, resultantly becoming more racially tolerant. We should, perhaps, add cultural sensitivity seminars for the older generation as well, where life experiences are shared by those who, like Ellis, have lived a life filled with prejudice, as well as by those who have been victimized by such prejudiced people. Once such stories come to light, and the prejudice and discrimination is personalized for us, it would be harder to ignore it and let it exist. It is true that there are still a lot of hurdles in the way of complete racial equality, however, we need to start somewhere. The first step, I feel, would be to admit that racial prejudice and discrimination exist amongst us; though not as blatant as before the civil rights movement, the prejudice in our society is still rampant, it is only because it is hidden behind the politically correct speech of people that we are not aware of its existence. Not only can we do better as a society, but to be called the true land of the free, we must do better to ensure that racial prejudice, be it through stereotypes or any of other form of discrimination, ceases to exist in our society. Works Cited Brown, Michael K., et al. White-washing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003. Print. Cose, Ellis. “Discharging a Debt.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 492-503. Print. Jefferson, Thomas. From “Notes on the State of Virginia.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 486-490. Print. Lamberth, John. “Driving While Black: A Statistician Proves That Prejudice Still Rules the Road.” Race, Ethnicity, and Policing: New and Essential Readings. Eds. Stephen K. Rice and Michael D. White. New York, NY: New York University Press, 2010. 32-36. Print. Martínez, Rubén. “The Crossing.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 574-583. Print. Morales, Aurora Levins. “Child of the Americas.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 609-610. Print. Steele, Shelby. “I’m Black, You’re White, Who’s Innocent?” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 530-540. Print. Terkel, Studs. “C. P. Ellis.” Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing. 7th ed. Eds. Gary Colombo, Robert Cullen and Bonnie Lisle. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 519-528. Print. Read More