Hypocrisy in America - Term Paper Example

 Hypocrisy in America Thesis: Racism discrimination is a phenomenon being applied in the United States with no signs of abandoning it. Blacks are highly valued and termed as productive, economically, but in the real sense their efforts and contribution are surrounded by hypocrisy of inequality. Introduction It is a dream of every state to have an equal opportunity and success to all its citizens (Tesler &Sears, 2010). The America dream is to have states free from any sort of discrimination. The dream will ensure that all citizens regardless of their religion, race, and background have freedom, justice and equality in the land. Racial discrimination in the United States has been practiced from the era of colonization. The mostly affected were African Americans, Latin Americans and Asian Americans. These groups had no right to vote, acquire land, quality education and employment opportunities. From 1830s, Americans have been trying to abolish racial discrimination since abolishment of slavery and incorporating slaves as American citizens. The formation of abolitionist movement called for immediate reforms in political, social and economic sectors. Majority of Americans had and are still having a literal understanding of Declaration for Independence. Though with clear understanding that all human beings were created equally by God (Jackson and Weidman, 2004), Americans are still denying blacks their rights. Even with many abolitionists fighting for equality, majority of them believed that blacks are not rationally the same to whites. Jefferson, one of the abolitionists did not belief on equality in rational competence, but by the principle that all human beings were created equally. This was basically the Christian teachings since Christianity is against oppression of the weak. It is clear that there is hypocrisy in the American dream since they are not living according to it. The values of equality are not fully practiced as there are many conflicts for people fighting for equal treatment and fairness. Racial hypocrisy in the US is progressing from politics to institutions (Greenwald, 2008). Many institutions are not practicing democracy; instead, they pretend to have equality in many things. It is so ironical that, when Americans were fighting against Aryan superiority on matters relating to state- sanctioned principles, they segregated African American militaries yet they fought against racism. In the 20th century, the Americans forbidden formal racial discrimination as it is immoral and socially offensive. This did not end; instead, it took other modern ways like racial stratification, Symbolic racism and social class among many others. Racial stratification is where people of the same race separate themselves from others. Social class is a situation where people associate according to wealth, political power, economic status and social beliefs. Symbolic racism explains the belief that black people are lesser race compared to whites. This belief forms the basis for discrimination of people of a particular race in order to hold the belief true. People being discriminated against do not understand symbolic racism as a form of discrimination since it is indirect. Symbolic racism as a form of discrimination is mostly applied today as it is slight, modernized and indirect. This is hypocrisy since many whites claim they are against racism yet they are practicing it through symbolic racism. In order to justify equality and at the same time practice racism, five arguments were formed. The first one states that, racial discrimination among other forms of discriminations is not in operation (Greenwald, 2008). This is to ensure that all people regardless of tribe, color or religion are equal in The US. Any disparity in terms of incomes is because Blacks are lazy in work and hence low payment compared to whites. This argument explains why Blacks are getting low paying jobs in America and cannot secure white color jobs. They also argued that Black people should not complain and fight for equality since they do not work hard and get their wants. This shows that whether a Black is in the same position with a white, he or she will never be equal in terms of rights. Additionally, they argued that instead of Blacks putting more efforts on promotions, they always depend on favors. This justifies why Blacks remain in the same position they stated and that it is hard for them to be managers. The last argument is that economically, Blacks are more advantaged compared to white people and something should be done to ensure equality. This is to ensure that Black people will raise no complains concerning economic status in America due to fear of discrimination. This is the hypocrisy being applied in the US today in the name of social equality and social values to all citizens. Some of the justifications of racial discrimination include; Discrimination in the US is being experienced even today in political, employment, residence and banking sectors. The main reason why such discrimination is not purely noticed is due to lack of publication and press release. The minority groups especially Muslims and African Americans are facing discrimination (Marvasti & McKinney, 2004). In recent decades, African Americans experienced discrimination as they could not acquire loans from financial institutions due to their color. In addition, African Americans farmers were not allowed to form associations and unions like the white farmers. This made black Americans to remain in poverty as they could get low quality produce due to lack of education on proper farming methods. The formation of National Black Farmers Association in 2009 was to fight for the rights of black farmers in America. In 2008 presidential election is a recent example where race differences were experienced. Race division during the campaigns and during elections continued in the US. Majority of African Americans voted for Obama than to his opponent (Tesler &Sears, 2010). Statistically, eight African Americans out of ten voted Obama as the preferred presidential candidate. On the other hand, majority of whites did not prefer him due to racial prejudice and the Alack American element in him. Therefore, race was a key element in the 2008 presidential elections and it played a big role. The quality of life of African Americans is of poor quality. This is due to discrimination in the job market, education, health as well as stigmatization experiences. These racial experiences affect the living style of an individual throughout life time. In addition, they can lead to emotional and physical stress to an individual. According to research, there is a direct relationship between human health and discrimination factors as they cause harmful effects such as psychological disorders. Undue deliveries, smoking, alcoholism, stress and depression among other heart related diseases are sometimes as a result of discrimination. Many health reports show that majority of people indulging in alcoholism and drugs are Blacks as a way of relieving stress. This explains why African Americans are living in poor health conditions compared to whites (Croll, 2008). The minority groups of people in America are segregated in marginalized areas with poor accessibility, poor housing, and lack of other essential necessities. These people have no or little say as to the place they want to settle since their voices are rarely heard. These people continue to be poor since they pay high rent for poor housing with their little income. This form of discrimination is highly practiced by landlords, lenders and estate owners (Jackson and Weidman, 2004). It is hard for financial institutions to provide mortgages to some racial groups in America. Even with the provision of million dollars by the Department of Housing and Development, lenders were reluctant in issuing the cash. Additionally, the capable minority groups are denied rights to rent or build residential houses in specific areas by discriminatory practices like routing. This is an illegal form of discrimination being exercised by some group of people pretending to have equality. In the provision of health care, there is a big difference between the quality of cure offered to Black Americans compared to whites. The medical procedures given to Whites and the type of treatment are in accordance with the new technology. Black Americans receive low quality treatment while others do not get assistance at all (Croll, 2008). According to Public Health journal, more than 886,000 deaths that occurred in 1991 to 2000 were avoidable if proper action was taken. The reasons given to support differences in health care are inadequate insurance or lack of it, failure to seek assistance and poor service. Health care discrimination is mostly on dangerous diseases that require advanced technology like kidney failure, heart related illnesses, cancers, pneumonia and brain surgery. The type of education offered to white people in America is different from Blacks education. Since Black Americans are said to have low understanding capacity compared to Whites, they are always discriminated in learning institutions. Higher learning institutions are mainly for whites and there are some subjects that Black Africans cannot study. To whites, Blacks cannot perform well in medicine related courses especially surgical and engineering (Chang, et al, 2003). This explains why majority of Black Americans are patient’s attendants and assistants in contraction activities. In addition, some races like Muslims are also discriminated against since they are considered to be terrorists. Even in 1990s, the number of Black Americans graduates in public universities and colleges in America were insignificant. This discrimination leads to American government policy of affirmative policy that will allow equal treatment of all people. This policy ensures that the minority groups and women in America have equal access to education, health and employment opportunities. Due to lack of quality education, Blacks performance is always low compared to whites. When it comes to job opportunities, Blacks and other minority groups secure low paying jobs due to their poor academic performance. These increases the prejudice that blacks are illiterate and have low thinking capacity compared to whites (Chang, et al, 2003). In the US, crime and criminal activities are related to a particular group of people based on race. According to a white organization formed by Taylor Jared, there are high chances of Blacks committing a hate crime compared to Whites (Jackson and Weidman, 2004). According to crime statistics in 2008, 83% of gun crimes committed related to Blacks. Currently, there is much tension in America due to Arab Americans. The discrimination against Arabs Americans and Muslims is increasing due to terror attacks. The tension between Arabs Americans and Americans increased due to the 2011 attack in US. This attack was associated with Arabs Americans and this lead to conflicts between Middle East groups and Arabs living in America. Additionally, this attack has accelerated conflicts and violence among religions and ethnic groups. Additionally, crimes related to drugs are connected associated with blacks. The war against supply, use and distribution of illegal drugs in America lead to many minority groups being jailed. Many Black people and the poor (majority being Blacks) were suspected to get involved with drag trafficking and use (Marvasti & McKinney, 2004). This is due to race discrimination as Whites believe that it is Blacks who engage in illegal activities to earn a living. Many prisoners in America are Blacks and almost every black family has a convict in prison perpetrated to commit a crime relating to illegal drugs. Conclusion Racial discrimination is a phenomenon that can be traced from the time of colonial rule, during the first and second war to current. During the colonial rule, the main form of discrimination was oppression of minority groups and trading them as slaves. This form of discrimination was termed primitive and efforts of fighting against it started. Currently, many developed states argue to be Free states that value all people as equal regardless of tribe, ethnic group, religion or color. Basically, racial discrimination is prevailing even today but it has taken another modern perspective of symbolic racism. Through symbolic racism, discriminators can claim to practice equality and can be seen doing so which is not true. In addition, it is hard for the minority group to notice any form of discrimination with this modern form of discrimination. This is hypocrisy and pretense by the majority group who continue to oppress and discriminate the minority group in their territories. It is hard to fully eliminate discrimination not only in America but in our global world. This is because every nation and group of people is in need of maintaining their beliefs and status while others want to gain recognition. References Chang, M.J., et al. (2003) A Compelling Interest: Examining the Evidence on Racial Dynamics in Colleges and Universities. Redwood City: Stanford University Press. Croll, P. (2008). A New Look at Racial Attitudes in America: Incorporating Whiteness by Examining White Privilege. Kansas: ProQuest. Greenwald, G. (2008). Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics. New York, NY: Crown Publishing Group. Jackson, J.P., Weidman, N. (2004). Race, Racism, and Science: Social Impact and Interaction. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Marvasti, A.B., McKinney, K.D. (2004). Middle Eastern Lives in America. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. Tesler, M., Sears, D. (2010). Obama's Race: The 2008 Election and the Dream of a Post- Racial America. New York: University of Chicago Press. Read More