Social justice has shaped the current generation through our history. Race, gender and class differences are still in practice even though there is an amount of awareness. The inequalities have shaped our cultural, social and economic belief in the contemporary society. In a multi-cultured society comes with different awareness about the issue of equal opportunities and unifying a nation. Our history has been shaped on injustices based on color, gender, and class. The lesson learned in school is, however, painting a different picture which may give negative views on discrimination and racial discrimination. In this case, history has shaped the perception of social injustice, and the struggles for freedom done by these groups. There are instances that such truths have been nullified out of our curriculum. Why is this possible yet everyone in the world has a clue about the social injustices like slavery? Based on the historical events known through the curriculum, I will give an overview of the past injustices based on color, race and social class while looking at the struggles the affected groups have gone in the fight for freedom. I will consider what is learned from schools and books and access whether it has entirely given the truth about the past to shape our future and give recommendations on the way forward.
The American civil war has developed the country by unifying the citizens into a multi-cultured society becoming the most powerful country in the world. The handwork and perseverance of the population have set the country forward in achieving the American dream. The community has become more stratified as the country is growing. Ignoring the past historically, social justices is impossible because it is part of shaping how we perceive our country. The history of the social class and race has some cases of inequalities from slavery to the present ‘glass ceiling' It has given the acknowledgment of the society's deep regard for the cultural diversity and the prejudice associated with the ideology of institutional involvement in preserving the cycle of inequality in America. It has emerged during the period of the World War I and World War II. The American dream is about equal opportunity in prosperity regardless of the race or social class. It gives an acknowledgment that morality can result in the success of individuals. The system of reward is perceived to create the ranking of people according to class. However, the history has always shaped the perception of after the World War. The class division was institutionalized when The Great Depression took the stage with the government sourcing funds and reliefs to both unemployed and poor. The minority who were impoverished were left out of the picture deepening the roots of class inequalities. Another backlash is the deal by all the American Veterans who fought in the World War were given a chance to purchase houses at lower prices, but the Federal Housing Administration had written an Act that racially favored the white veterans than the black. All black veterans were clustered to purchase housing outside the high-end areas. These are how the government had institutionalized the inequalities in the society through policy and legislation (Edelman, 2015).
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Citizenship and labor are closely linked with the American history. Citizenship has been used to shape between those that are included as members of the community to the entitlement of respect, immense protection, and rights in contrast to those excluded in which they may not have the best recognition. Labor has shaped the society into economic position, which affects the purchase of goods and services, standard of living and quality of life. Both has given the rationale behind the giving a privilege to the white majority over the minorities in America. Labor and citizenship have the framework whereby one should look at what is practiced at the government institution. Many believe that citizenship is determined by the Constitution and the federal or state statute, but enforcers of these laws are the ones shaping the rule of nationality and labor in the community. The interpretation by an individual on the boundaries of opportunity and labor do so depend on the practices done in the region or community (Edelman, 2015).
The meaning of citizenship and labor and in the race, gender and social class was as a result of the abolition of slavery, industrialization, the immigration of the Europeans, the expansion of the Latin America, the Caribbean by the government. A social boundary like race, sex difference, and the science of evolution has been classified with human biology which explained the ranking of groups. There came the inferior and superior being. Race and gender are considered the most important issues that explained the inequalities which have shaped the current society. Learning the race in history class has always believed the men of color as the universal subject while regarding gender inequalities, white women in America were considered as the global gendered issue (Glenn, 2004).
Gender inequalities were shaped by many cultural or traditional beliefs. Some believe the inequalities experienced during the reconstruction period were as a result of biological ranking. Feminism was ranked to caregiving only and submission to the men and right to reproduce. Men did not want women to vote because they would fear losing control since women population was 51 percent of the population. Understanding of the issues of politics of situation was behind the gender inequality to participate in the policy and economical just like men. Logical reasoning never seemed to be in part of their nature. Some believe having equality in gender would rubbish out the traditional identification women being the opposites of men. Men found that women were more moral than men, upholding ethical standards. Women seemed to be religious and committed than men, and they were upholders of the family moral. The ideology brought in the legislation on morality. After the 19 th Amendment, Women were allowed to vote and made sure they were able to be rendered equal to men and began pursuing own freedom in the society. During and after the World War, men were mostly taken to war while the women were left to participate in labor and filled up some jobs in production and wage-earnings while some were trained on skills and filled up schools. It was a period of self-definition of the women population and later was and was angered since they were fired immediately after the war. During the 1950s there was the era of consumerism, there were great prosperity and the need for relative consumerism. Thus most men were related to work in manufacturing industries while women remained at the roles of caregiving and working at homes. Families grew bigger, in which men were forced to work harder than expected, with these demands, both genders began to rebel against the expectations in their roles. The Civil rights Act in 1964, had the proponent of eliminating discrimination by race, color, ethnicity, and age. Gender was initially ignored as there were debates on the rational of the discrimination based on sex which seemed a natural cause (Kimberly, 2006).
However, the United States Citizenship for women has been merged with struggles by women to achieve the full citizenship. There have been dramatic changes in social and legal changes that were accomplished. Many who have lived over the decades have noticed the changes and have adapted to the fact that women have equal opportunity as men. Women initially had no right of citizenry due to the belief of natural difference in sex and traditions of women being caregivers those workers. The women right to vote and right to property were achieved when Elizabeth Stanton dubbed her campaign as a declaration of sentiment after using the statements of the declaration of independent. Her statement was an eye opener to women movement since there was in believe that all were created equally, and nobody could alienate the rights but advocated for life, happiness and pursuit for happiness (Eisenberg and Ruthsdotter, 1998).
The particular struggles were the right to vote; many didn't believe that women have the right to vote, yet they had the intellectual ability. Education of women was never a consideration, and women knew they were naturally inferior regarding a public affair which shouldn't have been the case. There was backlash in the struggles as indicated by the periods of Declaration of Sentiment; the publicity ridiculed the movement, embarrassing most women hence jeopardizing the campaign. Women rights were increasingly publicized on the issues in question. The movement expanded with many more activists and abolitionist who supported the woman rights freedoms. With the wars causing many women to be employed in the workplaces, there was a sense of dignity and independence among the women labor (Eisenberg and Ruthsdotter, 1998).The fight for equal pay for women began. In the 1940s many union members were women. The Women's Trade Union League and the Federal body, known as the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor were tasked to make sure women work condition is healthy. The unions formed during the period had long been the frontline in the struggles to improve the workplace conditions, and educating new generations on their rights.
Today, the fruit of the movements has evident; many women have the opportunity to work and live anywhere, even though there is still some element of gender discrimination. In employment, the male still dominates the high paying jobs and earn better than the women. The statistics are shaped by the facts of sexual discrimination in contrary to the Equal Right Amendment. The approval of the Act has increased the chances for participation in rights movements. Also, the inclusion of the Title IX in 1972 on equal access to education and school for the girl child has been necessary for setting forward the ability for participation in male-dominated jobs that was initially outlawed. There is still an amount of movement of new issues affecting the population, from the 1990s, like issues of abolition, right to child birth control and the need for more social security benefits. The new wave is considered the current chain of movement that may or may not support the feminism without regarding the history of gender inequalities but rather issues on own health and welfare for the women population. Ideally, the struggles inequality between the sexes is in part a significant clause of the society to recognize the need to know how these issues are handled (Eisenberg and Ruthsdotter, 1998).
Scholars and philosophers have begun to slow the ideas about race as a biological characteristic, while social attitudes and arrangements are in part the reason behind the white dominance in America. The race was always a respond to the social creation and never biological fact based on color, without underlying the differences. During the period of the period of 1980s historians systematically studied the variations and started making changes while drawing the racial boundaries that shaped the country. Slavery is known to create social economic and political gains to the majority white. Slavery begun in Virginia in 1600s, it formed the impetus of racial, economic inequalities in America. It was termed as free labor which was creating the vast amounts of wealth to the cotton white farmers. The division of wealth was the reason behind the foundation for the racial, economic inequality. In 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation passed, perceived the fact that the African Americans were equal. The wounds of the Civil War are as a result of the secessionist disapproval of federal government involvement in the affairs of Slavery in the south. All the Amendments to the Constitution that prohibited inequalities and right to vote for foreigners and later women made sure that there would be a strong foundation for improving the welfare of the racially discriminated population. However, some institutions still opposed to the acknowledgment of equal rights in from the period of 1865. Racist and segregationist like Jim Crow, institutionalized to maintain the status of the minority groups from economic opportunities, making them more impoverished over the generations. The economic discrimination was aimed to make the sure the groups did not have economic empowerment and fear for the majority white population (American Anthropological Association). Decades later, African Americans have continued to be excluded from the wealth and opportunity. There has been progressing in eliminating racial discrimination, not only amongst the African Americans but also other minority groups. To date the wealth owned by the group is increasing, and currently, there is an improvement in the welfare of Americans. The only problem is that most minority groups continue to struggle.
The inequality amongst the African Americans and other minority resulted in growing concern and plight in the rise of the Civil rights movements after the declaration of the Emancipation by President Lincoln. Civil rights used non-violent and civil disobedience to spearhead the change. The federal government had succeeded in legislating initiatives like the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the Civil Rights Act of 1968. These leaders were Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Rosa Parks who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of Americans. Civil rights movement as spearheaded by Malcolm X and the Martin Luther King. The action ensured distribution of wealth amongst the minority and acknowledged the fact that desegregation had never bought improvement in the rights of the black community. In the modern civil right movement, it has developed by strength with the fight for democracy and inclusiveness with other groups. These controversies as demonstrated by the slavery and racial discrimination are still in debate. The boundaries of individual freedom and the role of government should bring an alternative to the concept of social justice (History, 2009).
The learning system has however been affected by the fear of social justice. In particular the curriculum in history, most teachers or texts ignore information that is geared to inform the perception of our society well. Lies my Teacher Told Me is a book about of what is being taught in the school system. The author is shocked with the fact that well documented historical events are not part of the books or are ignored by the teachers. These issues that have shaped our history include the social injustices like racism, gender inequality, and segregation. The tales the author advocates for radical changes for students to learn from the past. Is it because of fear that it will reignite these social injustices in the modern world? Well, this could be a fact that most books do not teach the deep secrets of documented historical events. Take for example Abraham Lincoln, father of abolition of the trade, yet he did want to transfer all freed slaves to countries like Haiti and Liberia making students appreciate more on the achievement than the backlash of the leader (Loewen, 106) Americans should face the truth about the past since it embodies the shape of our modern society. There are still instances of inequalities, even thought it had reduced significantly in the society due to awareness and the amendments in law. History class must include the flip side of the stories; only the truth will set the freedom in the society. As the country moves forward, our nation cannot set backward when students are sugarcoated with false stories about our history. The legacy of slavery, the genocide of the Native American and issues of voting rights should be worked tirelessly towards having the growing voices on the reconciliation based on race, color, and gender. The truth of all our history will always set the country free from the yolks of these boundaries (Edelman, 2015).
Racial, gender and social inequalities are as a result of systematic ranking of humans into class. Women were discriminated based on sex, not the capability and social class inequality was as a result of achieving the American dream. These have shaped the demographics and socio-economical status of the society. Therefore it can shape the future of a country. Even though, the struggles by the affected groups were significant, in some instance the social and economic factors could leverage their freedom which is the fear of inclusion in society. These are the lessons we learn from the past and should memorize in our minds to stop the infringement of the injustices in the future. I believe that having accurate historical facts will shape the society through reconciliation and having an all inclusive social justice.
Reference
American Anthropological Association (n.d). The Story of Race Transcript. Author . Retrieved from: http://www.understandingrace.org/history/history_trans.html
Eisenberg B. and Ruthsdotter, M. (1998). History of the Women’s Rights Movement the National Women’s History Project . Retrieved from: http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/history-of-the-womens-rights-movement/
Edelman M. (2015, October 16 th ). Teaching the Truth about America’s History: Only the Truth Can Make Us Free [blog post]. The Huffington Post . Retrieved from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marian-wright-edelman/teaching-the-truth-about_b_8317292.html
Glenn, E. (2004). Unequal freedom: How race and gender shaped American citizenship and labor . USA, First Harvard University Press.
History (2009). Civil rights Movement. Author . Retrieved from: http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement
Kimberly M. (2006, May 30 th ). Women in the Twentieth Century and Beyond. Author. Retrieved from: http://www2.ivcc.edu/gen2002/twentieth_century.htm
Loewen, J. W. (2008). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong . The New Press.
