Are Ghettos a New Form of Modern Segregation - Research Paper Example

College: Are Ghettos a New Form of Modern Segregation? The issue of racial and economic segregation is not new. Racial segregation can be traced back to the era of slavery where many people from certain racial groups, especially the African Americans, were enslaved by other races particularly the Whites. The history of the world is filled with the sad stories of slave trade and how it proliferated in some parts of the world that were dominated by certain racial groups. During the colonial period, countries occupied by black people and Hispanics were invaded by European colonists who subjected the locals to slavery. In Africa, black people were sold in Europe as slaves. The slave trade led to the growing number of the African American population in America. According to Feagin (50), the unjust impoverishment of the African Americans and other people of color in America has existed since the period of slavery that ended in 1865. Even with the end of slavery, African Americans and American Hispanics have continued to face segregation. Between the 1880s and the 1960s, the White Americans acted collectively as well as individually to segregate the people of color and subjected them to unjust treatment by forcing them to work for them and live in impoverished conditions. According to Du Bois, a respected sociologist, the enslavement and segregation of African Americans and American Hispanics has been the main source of wealth and luxury in American and Europe (Feagin 50). Although the nature of segregation has changed over the years, it is still prevalent in the modern world. In the past, the segregation was widely practiced and legally accepted. Therefore, segregation of Africans and other people of color was done openly in America, Europe, and other parts of the world. Even after the abolishment of slavery in the world, racial segregation continued to prevail in many parts of the world especially in Europe and America. the Jim Crows laws passed in the Southern States after the American Civil War restricted African Americans and other people of color from enjoys the same rights and fair treatment as the while Americans (Dawkins and Graham 4). Supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan emerged and use violence means to ensure that the African Americans and people of color remained in the state of segregation (Alexander 1). Segregation based on race and poverty continues to be witnessed across the world. Although institutionalization of segregation through adoption of specific laws that supported the segregation of African Americans and Hispanics has decreased, these groups are still dealing with modern forms of segregation and the outcomes of a long period of being under the institutionalized segregation. The modern segregation in America is evident in the nature of housing where White Americans hardly live in neighborhoods that are dominated by either African Americans of Hispanics (NPR Staff 1). There is little integration between the White Americans and the African Americans and Hispanics. Neighborhoods where these minority groups live are poorer and crime levels are higher than in the affluent neighborhoods where the White Americans live. According to the Institute for Research on Poverty (n.p.), African Americans and Hispanics have high poverty rates than the average rate in the US. Although the poverty rates for the two minority groups remained stagnant between the 1980s and the 1990s, it started to fall when the 21st first century began. Despite this small progress, the poverty rate increased by 2010 to approximately 27 percent for both groups. The poverty rate for the Whites remains the lowest in the US to date. In the education system, segregation is still evident in the modern world. The Hispanic and African Americans attend high poverty schools. According to Orfield et al. (12), modern segregation of Hispanics and African Americans are not only based on race. The segregation is also based on social class and education background of family or community. Over 80 percent of segregated Latino and black schools experiences concentrated poverty conditions compared to only a twentieth of the white schools (12). The issue of segregation in Bahrain is unique. Bahrain is a Muslim dominated country, with the majority of the people belonging to Shiite Muslims. Shiite Muslims comprise of 70 percent of the population. According to a paper presented at the Wango Annual Conference in 2003, the dominant form of segregation in Bahrain is sectarian discrimination. While the majority of the population comprises of Shiite Muslims, Shiite Muslims only occupy about 15 percent of the top jobs in government offices and corporations (Bahrain Center for Human Rights n.p.). Over 64 percent of the Bahrain’s workforce is comprised of non-Bahrainis, which only constitute about 40 percent of the country’s population (International Crisis Group 1). This means that the majority Shiite community faces more segregation compared to the minority groups comprising of foreigners and Sunnis. The situation is worsened by the fact that the lucky Shiites who are employed are within the low wage job categories. Between 1990 and 2002, majority of the new jobs created in the private sector were low paying and foreigners took over 80 percent of these jobs. This has led to about half of Bahrain’s population facing poverty because of low paying jobs and unemployment (International Crisis Group 9). To understand the causes of racial segregation, it is important to consider the role of poverty in causing this segregation. There are multiple theories that explain the underlying causes of poverty and the resultant segregation. These theories range from economic theories to social theories to political theories. One of the traditional theories on poverty posits that poverty is self-inflicted. According to this theory, individuals are partly to blame for being poor and hence the resulting segregation (Shildrick, Tracy and Collin 169). Some of factors associated with the self-inflicted poverty include laziness and failure to struggle to overcome the poverty. However, it is important to note that this theory of poverty negates the role of other external forces in causing poverty. It assumes that all poor people are poor because of their own doing. Yet, it is evident that most people struggle to come out of the poverty and segregation groups. Apart from the simplistic behavioral theory of poverty that places the blame on the choice of individual behaviors that lead to poverty, some theories have also linked poverty to cultural elements. The cultural theory of poverty posits that individuals are responsible for causing, sustaining, and transferring a culture of poverty to future generations (Jordan 19). With regard to the segregation of African Americans and Hispanics, the cultural poverty thesis links their poverty and segregation to the cultural aspects of the past generations of these communities. Finally, structural theories of poverty link poverty to structural and institutional factors that favor sections of the society based on aspects such as race, gender, and class (Jordan 22). These structural theories argue that institutions and economic factors cause the disparities inherent in most societies where some groups enjoy better lifestyles and treatment than others. With regard to the poverty and segregation of African Americans and Hispanics in America, the structural theory links their fate to historical injustices especially racism and slavery that were institutionalized and orchestrated through economic structures. According to Jordan (22), institutional racism is a core structural cause of poverty and residential segregation among the African Americans in American. Poverty and residential segregation have various adverse effects. First, poverty and segregation have a unique relationship. Poverty causes segregation while segregation also enhances the levels of poverty. Poor people have limited resources, which mean they may be unable to access the best quality of education. This explains the high number of poor people attending cheap schools because they can only afford such schools. Some poor people cannot even afford to pay the low fees in these schools. They end up depending on government education loans, which lead to more difficulties in the future because of the luggage of repaying the loans especially when finding well-paying jobs is difficult. However, not all children from poor families have the opportunity to have an education. Most end up dropping out of school, which makes it difficult for such children to get employment and come out of the cycle of poverty. Poverty also predisposed people to higher health risks. Diseases are more prevalent among the poor than among the wealthy. Children born in poor families are particularly vulnerable to child mortality and morbidity. Some of these health problems are linked to poor nutrition and living in poor environments including living in the streets. Moreover, poverty leads to an increase in family stress levels. Family relationships are threatened by the emergence of family stress because of poverty. For example, poor families can easily break up because of poverty because of the inability to provide for children. Parents may also be too harsh on their children because of the high stress levels. Poverty can also lead to indirect effects such as crime and incarceration (Harris and Melissa n.p.). Poor neighborhoods dominated by African Americans and Hispanics experience high crime levels. This has also resulted in more African Americans and Hispanics being incarcerated that the White population in the US. To address the modern form of residential segregation, one of the main solutions that have been proposed and tested is integrated housing. With the enactment of Fair Housing Act of 1968, housing programs in the US have been designed to ensure the integration of affordable housing into suburban neighborhoods. Variousprominent people have also called for an integrated approach to housing programs including Martin Luther King, Paul Robenson, and W.E.B Dubois. A good example of the integrated housing project was undertaken in Chicago. In a publicized housing mobility experiment in Chicago, several low-income African American families with female heads moved out of segregated poor neighborhood to middle-class neighborhood dominated by whites. One of the main findings from the experiment showed that the families that moved had better lives including finding jobs and successful education (Seitles n.p.). Another tried solution has been the desegregation of schools. Prior to the 1960s, schools in Chicago were segregated such that children from Black and Hispanic backgrounds had their separate schools from the White children. However, after the desegregation of schools, segregation still prevailed. In fact, some of the schools in the area were placed on probation for poor performance after the segregation including Melody Elementary School (Bogira n.p.). Apart from desegregation, other solutions that have been adopted include provision of education loans and grants to needy students, provision of universal education under the No-Child-Left-Behind Act, and creation of more employment opportunities. However, segregation of African Americans and Hispanics is still prevalent as evidenced by the existence of ghettos that are predominantly occupied by these groups. In conclusion, I do not agree with the notion that racial segregation against African Americans and Hispanics has ended. In fact, the segregation still prevails only that it has taken newer forms such as residential segregation where these minority groups live in poor ghettos while the Whites live in affluent suburbs. Although several attempts have been made to address the issue of racial poverty and segregation, I believe that much more needs to be done. I agree with Feagin (49) that racial divide in America will not be resolved until African Americans and other colored groups that have endured unfair treatment by the White community are significantly compensated. One strategy is to provide more opportunities for the affected groups in education, sports, and employment. In education, the government needs to provide more grants to poor students to access education up to the highest levels possible. However, this should also be followed by creation of more employment opportunities with high-wages for these individuals who are graduating from colleges and universities. Alternatively, sports can provide more opportunities to the poor because the sporting industry has become one of the most lucrative in the current world. In a nut shell, there needs to be an overhaul of the system that created and has sustained the racial segregation of some groups for many years. Works Cited Alexander, Michelle. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness. New York: The New Press, 2010. Web. 28 April 2015. Bahrain Center for Human Rights. “Sectarian Discrimination in the Kingdom of Bahrain: The Unwritten Law.” 2003. Web. 28 April 2015. Bogira, Steve. “Trying to Make Separate Equal.” Chicago Reader, 2013. Web. 28 April 2015. Dawkins, Marvin P and Graham Charles Kinloch. African American Golfers During the Jim Crow Era. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000.28 April 2015. Feagin, Joe T. “Documenting the Costs of Slavery, Segregation, and Contemporary Racism: Why Reparations are in Order for African Americans.” Harvard Blackletter Law Journal 20(2004): 49-81. Harris, Benjamin H and Melissa S. Kearney. “The Unequal Burden of Crime and Incarceration on America’s Poor.” 2014. Web. 28 April 2015. Institute for Research on Poverty. “Who is Poor?” 2011. Web. 28 April 2015. International Crisis Group. “Bahrain’s Sectarian Challenge.” Middle East ReportNo. 4, 2005. Web. 28 April 2015. Jordan, Gregory. “The Causes of Poverty – Cultural vs. Structural: Can There Be a Synthesis” Perspectives in Public Affairs (2004): 18-34. Web. 28 April 2015. NPR Staff. “Segregation in America: ‘Dragging On and On’.” NPR, 2011. Web. 28 April 2015. Orfield, Gary, Mark D. Bachmeier, David R. James, and Tamela Eide. “Deepening Segregation in American Public Schools.” South Changes 19. 2 (1997): 11-18. Seitles, Marc. "The perpetuation of residential racial segregation in America: Historical discrimination, modern forms of exclusion, and inclusionary remedies." Journal of Land Use & Environmental Law (1998): 89-124. Shildrick, Tracy, Robert MacDonald and Collin Webster. Poverty and Insecurity: Life in Low-Pay, No-Pay Britain. Bristol, UK: Policy Press, 2012. Web. 28 April 2015. Read More