Bobo asks how we can have milestone decisions like Brown V. Board, pass a civil rights act, a voting act, fair housing acts, and numerous acts of enforcement and amendments, including the pursuit of affirmative action policies and still continue to face a significant racial divide in America. Bobo offers these thoughts on the subject. In America we are witnessing the crystallization of a new racial ideology Bobo refers to as laissez-faire racism. Furthermore race and racism remain powerful levers in American national politics. Additionally social science has played a peculiar role in the problem of race according to Bobo.
Schlesinger points out that many came to view the unifying American melting pot phenomenon as an Anglocentric conspiracy to undermine and devalue other ethnicities. Although there was one glaring failure of American democracy; the racist exclusion of blacks from the promise of the American creed. Mr. Schlesinger goes on to enumerate the events which took place over the past half century which, from the springboard of the new creed of cultural pluralism, have brought America to what he sees as a dangerous era of multiculturalism with the potential to rend the nation . He begins with the culmination of World War II and its effect of confronting Americans with their own bigotry in light of the Germans' racially motivated atrocities toward the Jews. Soon thereafter came the collapse of white colonialism.
By this time, slavery is a very hotly debated issue in America, even eventually leading to the Civil War. Thoreau obviously takes the position against slavery and tries to use his writing to try and convince the citizens of America to stand up against slavery and the laws that protect it. Thoreau often writes of the injustice that the government displays towards its people. For example, Thoreau writes, “Why does it not encourage its citizens to be on the alert to point out its faults, and do better than it would have them?” (184). Thoreau’s purpose is to convince the citizens of America to not follow the majority, but do what is felt to be morally right.
In Steele’s examination of race relations in America, he states that, “the long struggle of blacks in America has always been a struggle to retrieve our full humanity. But now the reactive stance we adopted to defend ourselves against oppression binds us to the same racial views that oppressed us in the first place” (34). It is this statement that is the basis for Steele’s arguments that show us how Americans have become trapped in this never ending cycle called racism. Innocence Innocence and guilt are two elements of racial conflict that Steele presents. He explains how the motives of blacks and whites have been dominated by a desire of innocence.
Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, made a good choice to include controversial words in the book to show racial injustice and should be taught in schools. The fight on racism is one of the most important parts about the book, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain uses satire to poke fun at people and show them they are wrong; twisting their beliefs. Satire is used on anything from religion to racism to stereotypes. A great example from the book is when Pap goes on and on about how government lets blacks be free, “It was ‘lection day, and I was Just about to go and vote, myself, if I warn’t too drunk to get there; but when they told me there was state in this country where they’d let that nigger vote, I drawed out” (Twain 20).
In our class discussion, as well as through our readings on racism, I am beginning to grasp a definition of racism that is more specifically related to institutional power than I had formerly realized. I don’t think I ever looked up “racism” in the dictionary before, where, having now done so; it indeed specifies that racism is directly linked to the power that is used in perpetuating it. In our reading from “What is Racism” the author defines racism as “a pervasive and systemic exercise of real power to deny minorities equal access and opportunity” (Sue, 2003 p.31). My more complete understanding of racism informs an interesting observation I had this week. I would like to show how through this observation, a form of racism is perpetuated through lowered expectations of people of color and how this specifically relates to the denial of equal opportunity for accessing education.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, one of Mark Twain’s most famous works, is extremely critical of slavery and racial discrimination. It was written in 1885, about twenty years after slavery was abolished in the United States, but racism was still a major problem in the country at the time. Twain tried to raise awareness of the racism he saw in the country, but was often looked down on for his views. It did not help that The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was so controversial. However, this story can be a considerable asset in ridding prejudice from the modern world.
This is well reflected by the popular "fat American" stereotype. [22] Racism and racialism American people in general are sometimes portrayed as racist or racialist, often discriminating against their minorities. Racism was a significant issue of American history and is still relevant today. Racialized society, racial classification, and the concept of race is a part of the American culture, where it is frequently used in political contexts. Racial segregation, racial animosity, affirmative action and racial quotas are often used in the United States.
Hannah Pedigo Claiborne Interaction Self/Society September 22, 2012 Paper 2 What naming in our culture do you particularly dislike? So many things have changed in the course of my short life within our culture. I have a problem with many things, but the main naming in our culture that I dislike would be calling African Americans “black.” In my opinion, calling someone “black” is degrading. Black is a color. Half the time, these “black” people aren’t even black.
Maeda Qureshi Section 005 The history of American civilization – some of which includes the women suffrage, discrimination against African Americans, prejudice against minority groups, and hate towards gays and lesbians– is evident proof of Rogers Smith’s “ascriptive hierarchy” that has warped American society. Smith, an American political expert interested in questions dealing with race, ethnicity, and gender, claims in Beyond Toqueville, Myrdal, and Hartz: The Multiple Traditions of America that American society is based on the “hierarchy” classification. He argues that for most of American history, people living in America were denied the right to vote because of their race, ethnicity, and sex (Smith, 10). Smith indicates that according to this system, the people who were on the top received all the privileges of liberalism. However, people like women, blacks, and minority groups who were below that class didn’t receive any of the benefits of liberalism, but rather endured discrimination and injustice like even in the 20th century.