African American Deprivation
Introduction
It is noted that African-American are known as the most discriminated race in the United States. Most probably, African American has been the victims of oppressions and inequalities in every aspects of life such as economic, social and political factors. Accordingly, many of the African American experience inequalities in this aspects. The goal of this paper is to identify the effects of social, economic and political inequalities in gaining power and authority by African American in the United States.
Social, Economic and Political Inequality
According to (1989), the problem of the 20th century was the problem of color line. According to him, although African Americans had made progress in terms of education, civil rights, voting rights, occupation, income, housing, literature and arts and science, such accomplishments can still be considered as unequal and incomplete. Historians believed that in the United States, there still exists racial inequalities in general and economic, political and social inequalities in particular.
The existence of these inequalities is still festering both public and private conversation in American society. After the dismantling of the most oppressive racist policies and practices that the Americans practiced over the past, many have come to believe that the United States has moved beyond race and that the most pressing racial concerns must center now in having social, political and economic neutrality and color blindness.
Social scientists typically analyze inequality as imbalance in the distribution of power, economic resources and opportunities. In terms of social inequality, it can be said that most of the African American are deprived of different resources that will enhanced their quality living. For example, not all African American are given opportunities to have good educations in different universities in the United States. Although there are few who can afford to study in these universities, there is a possibility of being discriminated by the peers or worst by some of the teachers. Access to some important resources for living is also unequal. Whites can access all their needs while African American has limited resources and sometimes there are no resources at all.
In addition, it can be said that white Americans continue to reap advantages from the historical, Institutional, structural and personal dynamics of racial inequality, and they are either unaware of these advantages or deny they exist. Black Americans in particular pay a very steep tax for this uneven playing field and outcome, as well as for the denial of white advantage. In housing markets, for example, we will see that it is harder for equally creditworthy black families to qualify for home mortgages, that blacks receive far less family financial assistance with down payments and closing costs that black homeowners pay higher mortgage rates, and that homes in African American communities appreciate less in value
In terms of economic inequalities, it shows that white Americans are able to enjoy high income while African Americans are being deprived of this opportunity. One study, for example, argues that the racial wage gap is really 23 percent higher because incarceration rates hide low wages and joblessness among blacks (, 2001; 2002). At comparable incomes, more African American family members work to earn the same money as white families. Working longer hours and more weeks per year means that middle-income black families worked the equivalent of 12 more weeks than white families to earn the same money in 2000 ( 2003).
The tremendous growth of the black middle class often is cited as a triumphant sign of progress toward racial equality. Indeed, the raw numbers appear to justify celebration: In 1960 a little more than three- quarters of a million black men and women were employed in middleclass occupations; by 1980 the number increased to nearly three and a third million; and nearly seven million African Americans worked in middle-class jobs in 1995 (1999). This impressive growth in achieving upward mobility, however, does not tell the whole story, as some argue that stagnating economic conditions and blacks' lower-middle-class occupational profile have stalled the march into the middle class since the mid-1970s.
The real story of the meaning of race in modern America, however, must include a serious consideration of how one generation passes advantage and disadvantage to the next—how individuals' starting points are determined. While ending the old ways of outright exclusion, subjugation, segregation, custom, discrimination, racist ideology, and violence, our nation continues to reproduce racial inequality, racial hierarchy, and social injustice that is very real and formidable for those who experience it. This book will explore the bedrock of racial inequality.
Traditional measures of economic wellbeing and inequality, such as income, education, and jobs, show authentic and impressive progress toward racial equality from the mid1960s through the early 1980s and stagnation since ( 1997). This is not to suggest by any stretch of the imagination that we have seen the dawning of the age of racial parity in the United States, because, indeed, wide racial gaps and discrimination persist in all of these domains. Employment discrimination, educational discrimination, environmental discrimination, and discriminatory immigration, taxation, health, welfare, and transportation policies continue ( 2001). Despite the passage of major civil rights reforms, most whites and blacks continue to live in highly segregated communities. Furthermore, although the US prizes political equality, some people still believed that racial minorities, especially African American are underrepresented in governmental decisions.
Analysis
Accordingly, power is embedded in decision - making so that it is held by those who make decisions that can affect the community in general. Someone who involved in making the key choices shaping a community have power in
the sense that what they decide on changes people’s lives and in this way, these decision - makers have power or control over other people. This is typical of pluralist theories of power. They focus their attention on the exercise of power, rather than its sources. Hunter, in the other hand, felt that there was dominant elite in the community, that power is concentrated in the hands of a few. His might be called a "stratification theory" of power, where power is a "subsidiary aspect of the community’s social structure" and the main determinant of the distribution of power within a community is its social stratification. Stratification studies assert that communities are divided into classes. The upper class, or the group with the highest social - economic standing, holds the most power. They are the "power elite" and can exercise influence over a large number of community decisions, thus "ruling" the local community. This is true in case of African American who are considered as being one of the the lowest class in American society.
The 'empowerment' of black Americans has been a central theme of the Civil rights struggle since its inception. Within the broad framework that this sets there has been a great deal of debate as to the specific goals the 'movement' should be aiming at as well as concerning the methods to be used in their attempted attainment. Was the intended outcome that of integration into mainstream society, embracing the white formulated values of American liberal democracy, or was the intention their rejection, and the redefinition and transformation of these structures through which white power is seen to operate.
As mentioned above, most of the African American is being deprived to have better social, economic and political conditions that white Americans. And because all important aspects of becoming a more effective and productive part of the society are being deprived to African American, this gave them little chances of gaining more power and authority than white Americans. Accordingly, in the society, especially the American society, those who have the wealth, good educational background and belongs to higher level of races are the one who are given more chances to gain more power and authority. If you are an African American, with a low educational attainment and with little income, most of the people would just ignore you and an important decision. This is because for some, your background would not be compared to those who achieve a lot which they consider to deserve in attaining the power.
Furthermore, being uneducated is also a great influence for not being powerful. Consequently, there are times that African American is not given the chance to achieve higher and quality education by the white American because they think that these minorities are incapable and unable. Since most white Americans are unjust and jealous, they are not giving the African American the chance to have equal opportunities for good education which is one of the most important factor in achieving power or authority. With this it can be said that social, economic and political inequality has a greater influence in gaining power and authority especially in terms of social divisions.
Reference
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