Cities 07

W.E.B. Du Bois’ article, The Philadelphia Negro, brought up many thoughts about contemporary society. It was in this reading that I could not help but think of institutionalized racism and racial transparency that has continued to benefit those who are white. What is even more shocking to me is that this article was written in 1899, and personally, I feel that many of the struggles that faced Blacks in 1899 still haunt this minority group today. Du Bois claims that, “color prejudice in [Philadelphia] is…a far more powerful social force than most of the inhabitants of Philadelphia realize” (122). Nothing to my knowledge has changed regarding people recognizing the “quiet racism.” Being that whiteness is socially constructed, it is important to note that those who construct what is evil also construct what is good. The same holds true for Philadelphia in 1899 as well as Minneapolis in 2007. The whites who have always had the power define cultural norms, standards, and ultimately laws that advantage themselves. From a previous race relations class, I know all too familiar about colonization, extortion of underclass populations, and ultimately domination over a subordinate class. In an interview from the book, White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism, interviewee T. Wise writes, “The virtual invisibility that whiteness affords those of us who have it is like psychological money in the bank, the proceeds of which we cash in every day while others are in a perpetual state of overdraft” (Wise 107-108). I feel that such a statement clearly ties into Du Bois’ argument about getting work, keeping work, and trying to enter a new line of work. The same chances are not there for everybody. Today, it is quite clear that those who are white still benefit from getting a good job, getting a decent house, and have the social capital to get ahead in life. Despite this fact, many people would argue that the U.S. has made tremendous efforts toward gaining equality for all, which appears on the surface, but not in true reality. Recent gains in the political and business world mask the fact that Blacks still remain “on average the poorest and most disadvantaged of all groups in the U.S.” (U.S. Bureau of Census 2004). When comparing median incomes from blacks in 1999 compared to whites one can see the disparities. The median annual income for black households was $29,423, compared to $44,687 for white households (U.S. Bureau of Census 1999). Clearly, we have major disparities in income for blacks and whites but what is more interesting is how blacks are received in the community. In 1899, Du Bois describes some of the people in the Seventh Ward of Philadelphia. “The corners, night and day, are filled with Negro loafers – able-bodied young men and women, all cheerful, some with good natured, open faces”…to which most of the poverty stricken ones are gamblers, thieves and prostitutes with few having a fixed steady occupation of any kind (121). As this image is painted in my mind, it is quickly stirred up by a notion all too familiar painted by the mass media. It is hard to imagine a world without the mass media. As Du Bouis points out, those who are poor and black are not violent criminals, as the mass media in today’s world would speculate. In a study conducted by Gray in 1995, his research on race in media reveals that “working-class and poor African Americas – especially men – sill may be depicted as a menace involved in such activities as crime, gang violence, drug use, and general aimlessness” (Gray 394). It is also noteworthy to point out that whites are more likely to be portrayed as victims of crime on the television news.