Describe a form of Soial Stratification other than the class system found in the United States - Essay Example

Introduction Social stratification refers to the uneven allocation of power, influence, prestige, privileges, opportunities and material rewards among groups and individuals. There are two ways in which stratification can occur, the first one being where individuals are assigned to societal roles using an ascribed status as the basis for the assignment. An ascribed status is an easily identifiable characteristic over which one has no control for instance, skin color, gender, family name, or age.

Under this are the estate and caste stratification systems. Secondly, individuals are assigned to societal roles using their achieved status as the basis for the assignment. This is referred to as the class system (Tischler, 198). Like any other society, the United States of America is stratified. This paper delves into the racial caste system of stratification in America.Highlands.edu records that when slavery came to an end in America, a racial caste system arose. Even in early 20th century, all whites were deemed to belong to a higher caste compared to all African Americans and the South maintained separate accommodations for the races.

Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos, African Americans and White European Americans are the major racial groups in the US. Whites whose ancestors came from European countries constitute the dominant group. Latinos, despite being the largest racial group in the US, are badly off on all well-being indicators compared with Asian American and non-Hispanic whites. The country of origin is significant and Cuban Americans score much higher on well-being indicators. Puerto-Rican Americans score the lowest.

African Americans, even with numerous protests by civil rights movements, also face a legacy of racial discrimination even today. Evidently, as Highlands.edu highlights, despite gains made by some African Americans, some of them, especially the poorly educated, still lag behind in education, politics and economics. Other minority groups that have suffered racial discrimination in the US are Native Americans who have the highest poverty, suicide, alcoholism and unemployment rates and almost half of whom live in rural areas; and Asian Americans.

Jones and Barnes note that the coloreds are more likely to face incarceration, unemployment, poverty and lack of insurance compared to whites. In the year 2007, the rate of poverty was 8.2%, 24.5%, 10.2% and 21.5% for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians and Hispanics respectively. The rate of unemployment was 4.1%, 8.3%, 3.2%, 5.6%, for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians Hispanics or Latinos respectively while the uninsured rate was 10.4%, 19.5%, 16.8%, and 32.1% for non-Hispanic whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics respectively.

Records from the Bureau of Justice Statistics indicate that at the end of the year 2007, 33%, of the incarcerated males were non-Hispanic white males; 39%, were black males, and 20% were Hispanic. These numbers have definitely aggravated in America’s present economic crisis (3). Conclusion Apparently, despite the development of civil rights movements and Civil Rights Acts that challenge existing racial segregation patterns, a glaring proof of racial caste stratification system is still prevalent in the US.

The nation needs to unite in fighting against this form of stratification and instead pride itself in multi-racialism. Works CitedHighlands.edu. Ch 7 Global Stratification. 2007. Web. Jones, Trina and Barnes, Mario L. America Is Not Yet Post-Racial. 2009. Web.Tischler, Henry L. Introduction to Sociology. Stamford, Connecticut: Cengage Learning. 2010. Print.