Inequality Essays - Discrimination, Hatred, Racism, Poverty

Inequality The myth of a classless American society coupled with social stratification impedes race relations in the U.S. far more than any racial differences. The never ending struggle of the have-nots to become one of the haves produces a frustration and feeling of oppression that acts as a catalyst for spawning racial tensions. Minorities see the majority of wealth in the hands of the white population and feel that the wealth is unevenly distributed. Whites hear of government programs for minorities and feel as if they are lazy or just looking for a handout. This occurs and stereotypes are formed. Combine all of this with the United States system of dual welfareand the perfect environment for racial strife is created. In our classlesssociety of false hope the working class and poor are continually seeking opportunities to excel that just aren't there. They have been led to believe that intelligence and ambition are key contributors to one's success. This belief lays blame on the unsuccessful themselves, even if they do possess ambition and intelligence. These people are in a never ending cycle of struggle, followed by minimal rewards, which eventually produces a frustration that sometimes leads to desperate measures. Cornell West expands on this with the following statement : . . . homicidal assaults by young black men on one another are only the most obvious signs of this empty quest for pleasure, property, and power (Race and Racism p.123). This statement shows the extremes one will go to in his empty quest for a better life. This is not only happening 2 to blacks by blacks. It is happening to all races by all races. People hear of events like these and categorize them as a racial crime or a racially motivated crime just because the victims may be of a different race. As West's statement demonstrates the killings occur as a means to an end, the end being a better life. In our ever diversifying melting pot of a country, same race victim and criminal crimes are becoming less and less statistically likely anyway. Events such as these don't occur because of race. They occur because of the frustration and desperation bred by the false hope that hard work and determination leads to success. It is no mystery that most of the wealthy people in America are white. West again points out (Race and Racism p.124) that 86% of the wealth in the United States is owned by only 10% of the population. In this 10% the number of minorities is minute. The wealth owned by this few is there because they have kept it in their families throughout the generations. These are the same super-rich bloodlines as that of 150 years ago. These families were rich when no minorities (and hardly any whites for that matter) were. Almost everyone was working class or poor besides them. Minorities are aware of this uneven wealth distribution and this leads to resentment. Our government tries to compensate for this through special programs for minorities. When this occurs whatever groups are not receiving compensation see the other as lazy or as taking a handout. In 3 turn this leads to resentment. Different groups begin stereotyping each other due to the resentment which evolved through unequal wealth distribution, which itself is a product of our classless system. So in turn stereotypes that Mexicans are lazy, African Americans steal, Whites cannot dance and White men have small penises, Jews are ultra- thrifty, Lesbians are men haters, Gay men all like antiques, and Asians are shrewd at business and all stick together, are in all probability (definitely) unfounded. Despite the fact that these stereotypes are unfounded, much of the resentment may not be. Here in the United States as much, if not more, money is spent on programs for the rich as is spent on programs for the poor. Donna Langston points this out with the following statement: We have a ?dual welfare' system in this country whereby welfare for the rich in the form of tax- free capital gain, guaranteed loans, oil depletion allowances, etc., is not regarded as welfare (Race And Racism p.129). Here Langston compares the welfare of the poor (food stamps, w.i.c., medicaid, etc.) with the welfare of

Huck Finns real father essays

Huck Finns real father essays In Mark Twains novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn young Huck seems to have two fathers. Pap, his biological father, and Jim, the runaway slave who befriends Huck and acts the way a real father should. Pap (Hulks biological father) is an alcoholic who treats Huck very poorly. He beats Huck whenever he is hitting the bottle and only returned to Hucks life when he found out Huck was left a large sum of money. Jim was only in Hucks life to help him and thats is why he was a true father to Huck. Early in the story Pap kidnaps Huck and locks him in the house for several days . As a result of this monstrosity Huck decides to escape and fakes his death( Twain-33). He floats down the Mississippi on a canoe he found. He stops at Jacksons Island, a small island in the middle of the river. It is there where he meets up with Jim who had just runaway from his master. To cook their food and do other things they built a fire and decided to keep it burning all night. To keep it burning they decided to take turns watching it as the other person slept. One night Jim stayed up all night watching the fire and keeping a look out. When questioned about his actions he tells Huck that he felt bad waking him because he looked so peaceful. To me that is something only a true father would do. Another reason why Jim was more of a true father to Huck was through his actions. Pap would teach Huck the morals of southern society. One of these morals was racism. Although Huck knew in his heart that this was wrong he believed in it because of the way of society. Jim attempted to instill in Huck good, righteous beliefs. That is another way in which Jim was a true father. In conclusion, Jim was more of a true father to Huck then Pap for several reasons. These reasons were: (1)instilling beliefs that are right, (2) The way he treated Huck and (3)the things that he did f ...

American Imperialism in the Philippines (1903) and Mary H. Fulton, On Term Paper

American Imperialism in the Philippines (1903) and Mary H. Fulton, On Christian Missionaries. Document analysis - Term Paper Example First, both documents reflect a common drive to conform to gender expectations. On the one hand, in the document â€Å"American Imperialism in the Philippines,† the attitude of President William McKinley in defending the colonization of the Philippines is plain machismo and ego in action. McKinley said, â€Å"That we could not give them back to Spain -- that would be cowardly and dishonorable.† Refusing to get the booty of war is in fact an honorable thing to do, especially when the booty which McKinley says â€Å"had dropped into our laps† has been fighting its own war against the Spanish regime for years already. Insofar as the Filipinos are concerned, when the Americans came, they were already winning. They won the fight against the Spaniards; they were not rescued by the Americans. â€Å"The Filipinos had also declared their independence and established a republic under the first democratic constitution ever known in Asia. Their dreams of independence were crushed when the Philippines were transferred from Spain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1898), which closed the Spanish-American War.† (Philippine History)... Gender dictates that the male sex is courageous, brave and honorable. And to colonize the Philippines is what an honorable and courageous man would do. On the other hand, Mary H. Fulton writes of the Chinese women, â€Å"Then they notice my clean, short finger nails, and contrast them with their long ones,—often a finger in length,— which indicate that they are ladies of leisure.† Again, this is the work of gender and the need to conform. Chinese women go through the inconvenience of unnecessarily long finger nails and the pain of bound feet all in the name of femininity and pride. Chinese tradition regards the lotus feet and long finger nails as signs of a good woman because its makes them the epitome of affluence and good fortune. It means that they can afford to pay for people to do the chores for them and even carry them on their backs. The men in America celebrate while the women in China suffer all in the name of conformity with their prescribed gender role s. Another human trait common to both documents is the belief in God. Broadly speaking, all man regardless of creed or religion believes in the existence of a supreme being. Even the self-confessed atheists have something that rules over their lives and to whom they turn to in times of need. To the believer, this God could be Jesus Christ, Allah, Yahweh, the Roman and Greek Gods or the pagan’s ancestors’ spirits. To the non-believer, this could be himself for it can be argued that if he does not believe in a god that rules over man, therefore he rules over himself and he is his own god. McKinley admitted to have acquired the wisdom on what to do with the Philippines after he knelt down and prayed to God for guidance and enlightenment: â€Å"I am not ashamed to tell