Monday, September 28, 2015
Racial Equality, has it been achieved yet?
Publisher: Nicholas Comeau
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/23/us/americans-see-racial-equality-as-a-work-in-progress-pew-poll-finds.html
Related information: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/half-of-us-says-racial-eq_0_n_3796223.html
Has racial equality been achieved yet?
Most people would say no, to be exact, eighty percent of Americans would say no. A new study by the Pew Research Center says that we as a society have made great strides towards equality. They also said though, that much more still needed to be done. Many different groups of people were part of that conclusion. About forty four percent of whites, forty eight percent of hispanics, and seventy nine percent of blacks said that a lot more progress was needed. Their thoughts about how more work is needed to be done about racial equality aren't unfounded. Based on the reports by the Pew Research Center there are many aspects of life that present inequality in our society today.
While gaps in High School success between different races is very small, success in college has a widening gap. The gap between white and black college graduates used to be six percent, now it has risen to about thirteen percent. Now that there are less black kids graduating from college they don't really have any jobs and have more opportunities to get in trouble and get incarcerated. Black men are about six times as likely to become incarcerated that a white person, hispanics are three times as likely.
Marriage and income are two other hot topics in the world of racial inequality. In regards to income, if you take two similar households (one white, one black) you would notice an income gap. Now I'm not taking about three hundred dollars of difference, I'm talking about $27,000 worth of income gap. This gap used to not be so wide, in the 60's the difference was $19,000, the gap between similar families has almost doubled. Being down so much money probably makes it hard for black people to consider starting a family, only about thirty one percent of black people eighteen and older are married. On the opposite side, having that extra money handy makes starting a family easier; more white people have marriages than black people, twenty percent more.
So based on this research most people believe we need to do more to create equality in our society. Do you think they're right? Do you think these issues are simple trivial matters that distract us from other goals? What should we do to close the gaps between white lives and black lives? Do you believe we will ever have true equality?
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There's no question about it, we have to do more to create equality. Anyone who watches the news or reads the newspaper can come to that conclusion, there is at least one story a day regarding racial injustice. Whether it be a story of a black person being treated poorly by a police officer or a new study done on how big the income gap between whites and other races is, one can make the assumption that complete racial equality is not achieved. However, by law, it should be. By law, everyone is looked at equally and the color of skin does not matter. Obviously, that is not the case. Less black people are graduating from college, more are going to jail, and more are making less money. For no reason. Obviously, there are people who choose to not go to college and make decisions that put them in certain situations, I am not saying all black people go to jail because they can't make it in college. No, I am saying that our society has caused less people to graduate from college because of the rising prices of college and the increasing gap between black and white family incomes. We have definitely come a long way in the fight for racial and social equality, but there is still so much more that needs to be done. What struck me the most about the research done was how big the income gap is. That is definitely what needs to be done first in order to improve racial equality. If that is addressed, then we can start to work on the number of black people who graduate from college, that will also help close the income gap. To be honest, I am not sure if we will ever have true equality, in our generation at least. I don't see any huge changes happening in the next 80 or so years. Look how far we have come in about 150 years, from when blacks and other slaves were first freed. We tackled and got over segregation for the most part, now this is the next step. I am not sure how long it will take, however.
ReplyDeleteI agree that equality has not been fully reached when it comes to race. I feel like the problems are not the lack of laws created to fix the situation, but the biases and racist beliefs that are still held by members of society. This is why we do not have full racial equality, which is evident.
ReplyDeleteThe issue of income gap inequality is a two-fold issue. It partially has to do with racial biases held in the workplace, but more greatly has to do with poverty and a lack of opportunities for minorities. The lack of money does not allow minorities to go to college, hence the growing gap because families are not making enough money to keep up with skyrocketing tuition fees. When minorities do not go to college they cannot get high-paying jobs. When they do not have high-paying jobs there is an income gap between their family and a majority's family. Then the minority cannot pay for their children to go to college and this cycle continues. The question is how do you break this cycle?
The unemployment rate of black people is consistently around double the unemployment rate of white people. African Americans still mainly live in separate and unequal communities. Studies show the employers still have a preference for hiring whites over blacks. Is this what racial equality looks like? I don't think so. Many black children have economically disadvantaged families, grow up in economically disadvantaged areas, and attend economically disadvantaged schools. They do not receive the same opportunities and chance at success that many of their white counterparts do. They then often face discrimination when they look for a job. Of course, conditions have improved for African Americans, and they are now closer to equality than ever, but they are nowhere near where they should be. Racial inequality in our society is still very apparent. I'm not sure if equality will ever truly exist in America. It is going to be extremely challenging to break this longstanding cycle of racism and inequality.
ReplyDeleteI saw a post on Facebook and it made me question if we are pushing equality or equity. I believe we should be pushing more towards equity, in which fairness and justice are emphasized opposed to sameness. We all don’t come form the same place, so assuming we all come from the same start and have the same foundations is wrong and puts people at a disadvantage. Melissa as you mentioned “African Americans …mainly live in separate and unequal communities”, since they live in different communities the gap between Caucasian and African Americans graduating college is widening. This could be for multiple reasons, but I believe one of them could be the community they grew up in. As a result of the higher education gap between the two it may also seem to have an affect on income and receiving jobs. Pushing for equity would make sure everyone, no matter their background or history has the same opportunity as everyone else.
Deletelink to picture: http://www.pugetsoundoff.org/sites/default/files/users/88864/slideshows/blogs/Equality/1607/equity-vs-equality.jpg
On the topic of racial equality, I don;t know if it is possible to make more strides towards making people of all races equal. At least in the United States, we have achieved a society where all races and genders are seen as absolutely equal. We have abolished any kind of institutional racism from the public sector. Yes, I do understand that African American families are in general, more likely to be worse off financially, but I don't think this is an issue of black people being treated worse than any other race. African American men are six times more likely to go to prison than a white man, why is this? There is more to this issue than just racial inequality. Sure, we can all do something to help those in need, but artificially evening out the playing field in the financial world isn't going do us any good. Perhaps this issue of racial inequality isn't brought on by institutionalized racism, but from a problem of social media and popular culture. I, just like every sane person, wants everyone to be treated fairly, and with the respect of any human being, but I don't think that we are going about solving this issue the right way.
ReplyDeleteIn accordance with the law our society has racial equality. But, socially I believe this is not the case. There are many good points made in the blog post and the responses. I also believe that the problem lies in bigotry in society. There has been multiple issues of brutality to people in the black community and this is unfair. I do think a start to people recognizing this is inequality is in the formation of "#BlackLivesMatter". As much as we'd like to think that the people of color in our society are given the same advantages or opportunities it is sadly not the case. With these public groups inequality is being presented and should in social media in a way that at times cannot be ignored. With all types of race there is still an idea of white supremacy in positions regarding job placement. I know we are not, as a society, equal as far as race is concerned but I hope that one day this will no longer be an issue.
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