William Julius Wilson's theory and the Laws and Polices
While reading, Ore’s Race, Wealth, and Equality, I came across the section about William Julius Wilson’s theory that “racism and Discrimination, while still actively practiced in many spheres, have marginally less effect on black Americans’ economic attainment than whether or not blacks have the skills and education necessary to fit in a changing economy�(77). I’m going to comment on this theory because I know that even today; they are a lot of people who feel this way. I just want to say that even if black people have the skills and education it is still very hard for them to get really good jobs and careers because most work places in America are very racist, discriminatory, and prejudice. It is a fact that if a black person and a white person were to interview for the same job, the white person is more likely to get the job. In the rare situations in which black people do get the job, over white people, sometimes it because they really did deserve it but other times is because the company will use them as their "black token". For the record it is still hard for black people to get good jobs today just like it was back in the day. Even, though I do agree that black people do need to get really skilled and educated (which some are doing) it is going to time for them to receive equal treatment in certain opportunities. Also, urban do need to be made better so that black children can end up better educated than they already are.
After reading the article "doubly divided" I remember thinking Black people are not the only people who White America deceived. All these Acts and Laws that were passed to supposedly help Native Americans, African Americans and Latinos how they were easily transformed to help white American to get ahead and then people wonder why minorities are not as well up as the whites just shows how our society works. People who are being spoon fed, wonder why others are going hungry when they themselves are full. I was reading about the 1848 treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which gave the US half of the Mexico's land and I think it is funny how we America is now trying to stop Mexicans from entering America. I think states like Texas belong more to the Mexican than to the Americans because they were some what deceived in the treaties. Another thing that surprised me was that Asians wanted to pass as whites so they get benefits that what people got, I used to think only light skinned blacks were the only ones who tried to pass themselves as whites.
Discussion questions
1) Do you think that in today society they are people who try to pass as white so they get the same benefits? And if they are people like that do you think they are able to receive the benefits?
2) Do you think certain minority groups considering thier history in America and the government should have reduced college tuition, if it means it will help those minorities bridge the gap between themselves and the white population?
Comments
In response to question 2, although it's a great idea, I believe that it's still discrimination. Instead of alleviating the issue I think it will elevate the problem. We all know that there are many kids out there that are from lower class families and from different racial backgrounds that think going to college is impossbile. The main reason is because they don't have any money for it. What they don't know is that there's finacial aid and scholarships. What many don't realize is that there are millions of scholarships out their for multicultural people. The problem is, nobody knows about them or else they think it's not realistic to get them. I think that the kids should be educated about these programs and make them realize how realistic these programs are. If they realize that money isn't the main factor and that it only takes their will to get an education then the gap of racial inequality will decrease.
Posted by: Amanda L | February 19, 2007 1:24 PM