Racial inequality is identified as a form of social inequality, advantages and disparities that has adverse effect on the different races within the United States. The United States of America is very diverse in terms of population. According to the National Congress of American Indians, the population of the native American combined with the Indian and Alaska is estimated to reach 10 million which accounts for 2.4% of the U.S. population. The rest of the population is made up of generations of immigrants from all over the world but predominantly from Europe.
Some of the minority groups in the USA include Black Americans (generations from Africans taken as slaves), Native Americans, and Lain Americans. These are the groups that face the brunt of discrimination and the lack of opportunities. This is, regrettably, at the hands of some of the “majority white population." This essay will seek to explore the various causes of racial inequality, their effects, and concludes with potential solutions to this issue.
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Role of Religion in Racial Inequality
There are arguments and academic papers that have theorized that Christianity is an important part of the American identity. There has been the white supremacy notion from the beginning of the religious nationalism which has always been drawn and compared to the old testament Israelites where they were ordered to maintain their cultural purity. ( Simon, 2019). Also, drawing on narratives of Old Testament Israelites, who were demanded to maintain blood and cultural purity through ethnic endogamy and conquest, many white Christian Americans historically conceived of themselves as the “new Israel” ( Simon, 2019). According to studies, many Christian Americans believe that being Christianity is embedded in the fabric of what America is. However, some rogue fanatics have used the Christian Bible teachings selectively, therefore misunderstanding the entire message and used it to further their selfish agendas. There is a perceived correlation between Christianity and white supremacy.
This view has been strengthened by the fact that the current president, Donald J. Trump, has been enjoying the support of the Christian community as well as being a supporter of white supremacy. This also applies to the Islamic religion. Since the past years where terrorism has become a reality, it has become synonymous with Islam. This is because of the fundamentalist ideologies of some extremist Islamic believers. The effects of this have seen the loss of life and have even triggered warfare among countries, for example, the War against Iraq to find "Weapons of Mass Destruction." Not only in America, recently France has experienced terrorist attacks from the stand of supporting free speech and expression, which has rubbed some individuals the wrong way.
The error in this occurs when we, the people, take our respective religions to be interlinked with our nationalism or individuality to an extreme. The sense of white supremacists and the belief of keeping their lineage pure (according to their convoluted understanding of the Bible) also applies in the Islamic nations, which are defined as the Islamic States. While the white supremacist uses Christianity as a reason to be prejudiced, many Muslims face the discrimination of being branded as terrorists, especially in the wake of terrorist attacks. This has a direct impact both socially and economically, especially when host countries apply sanctions and visa bans to some countries affiliated with Islam. On white supremacists, racial inequality was witnessed best during the George Floyd incident. A white policeman, in the company of others, knelt on the neck of a Floyd while he cried out that he couldn't breathe, which was a brutal picture of how the system treats minorities ( Simon, 2019).
Social Structure and Racial Inequality
According to the literature provided, racial prejudice in society was created on the basis of exploitation and domination; thus, there was the emergence of racialized groups like the example of the American Indians and the black Americans, this whole scenario was to benefit in the process of European domination and the oppression of the minorities. Simon (2019) contends: “…we cannot simply say that settler colonialism or genocide have been targeted at particular races since a race cannot be taken as given. It is made in the targeting. Black people were racialized as slaves; slavery constituted their blackness. Correspondingly, Indigenous North Americans were not killed, driven away, romanticized, assimilated, fenced-in, bred White, and otherwise eliminated as the original owners of the land but as Indians”
The racialized groups were intentionally created for the benefit to push the agenda of European domination. This view can be seen not only in America but all over the world. From the Nazi to slave owners in America who would force the bigger-bodied Black Americans to sire offspring’s so as to create burlier workers, this practice believed that there were undesirable characteristics in certain races and thus sought to breed them out or “exterminate them on the whole (think the Holocaust).
In terms of domination, we can also factor in instances of genocide and xenophobia, which have been witnessed in some African nations. The difference here is that it is happening among Africans. The Rwandan genocide was the ethnic cleansing undertaken against the Tutsi by the majority Hutu community. Somalia as well is a country that has been embroiled in war among different clans all because of the control of key resources. Therefore, racial prejudice has been used in instances to oppress others, mostly for resources.
Racial Prejudice and the Effect on Economic Inequality
It is said that the Americans and in general the people of European descent are least likely to have a hard life therefore, there lives are deemed to be more affluent as compared to the racialized groups . If for example today whites continue to believe in racial stereotyping, it is quite predictable that they are likely to oppose government efforts meant to help people of color. The same case would also apply to the whites who hold this strong racial stereotypes will most likely oppose government programs that are meant to support African Americans ( Simon, 2019). Considering that the majority of whites believe this to be so, then it is no wonder that government spends less on programs that seek to assist the minorities in terms of education and health, and even job opportunities.
The distribution of human capital across the different races is not equal. This is despite human capital being valuable in the contribution to the livelihood of the millions of Americans, regardless of their race. This approach clearly have somehow limited us in our understanding of racial inequality by the human capital measure that provides equality of the outcomes across all the racialized groups, by neglecting any discussion in this topic of why racial variations exist in human capital in the first place ( Perry, & Whitehead, 2019).
Recommendations
It is true that the development of human capital, like acquiring skills through training and education, can help in improving the economic position of minorities irrespective of their race. This can be seen especially with Barrack Obama having been elected president, the son of a Kenyan and American lineage. Kamala Harris (Vice-President-elect) is also a good example of individuals who have risen against a society that is unbalanced in offering opportunities. However, the great thing about America is that the phrase “The Land of Opportunity” means when one improves their human capital, they stand in a better position to overcome these economic hurdles. The recommendation, thus, is that the government give more grants while improving the terms of student loans.
In terms of religion, I believe that the respective religion and its role in racial injustice I believe that all the respective stakeholders would be more vocal in condemning such acts. They should speak out in one voice and condemn acts that are against their teachings. In instances of white supremacists, we should have the church outrightly condemning this against the teachings of Jesus, who taught, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Muslim authorities should as well condemn terrorist attacks and be seen to offer help in weeding out these radical cells.
Racial prejudice has been and will continue to be a major issue in today’s society as long as one group is or feels that they are being marginalized in terms of opportunities. However, the main solution, in my opinion, is to empower the minority races to at least be at per with the other better-placed groups of individuals in society.
References
Barkan, S. E. (2013). Social problems: Continuity and change . Flat World Knowledge, Incorporated.
Perry, S. L., & Whitehead, A. L. (2019). Christian America in Black and White: Racial Identity, Religious-National Group Boundaries, and Explanations for Racial Inequality. Sociology of Religion , 80 (3), 277-298.
Simon, S. J. (2019). Hollywood power brokers: Gender and racial inequality in talent agencies. Gender, Work & Organization , 26 (9), 1340-1356.
Williams, D. T. (2019). A call to focus on racial domination and oppression: a response to “racial and ethnic inequality in poverty and affluence, 1959–2015 ″. Population Research and Policy Review , 38 (5), 655-663.
