In my twenty-eight years of interacting with my community, I have gained an insight into the differences in my community. After a close examination and scrutiny of the community where I come from, I have unconsciously realized that the majority of the community members are quite different. I concluded after noticing that there are people I could associate myself with and those that I could not associate with in terms of their physicality. Though sexuality forms a basis of my categorization, I tend to emphasize skin pigmentation. Since I tend to seek comfort in numbers, I always feel out of place when in the company of a majority of the other groups that I do not associate with based on my classification. I am quite sure that out there, some share with me these sentiments, and because of this, there are continued strains on the relations between dissimilar groups from the community perspective. This has in turn bred favoritism, where a particular group has an upper hand in almost every, the area in the community. Nevertheless, this depends entirely on which side you are in a particular situation (Brewer, 1979, p. 310).
I always held the notion that those who are entrusted with authority are strategically placed and have an upper hand in dealing with matters of the community as a whole. Hence concluding that they should restore sanity in the community, in the context of the role played by government institutions. However, to my realization, that is not the case. Those who have ascended the political ladder and are at the heart of administrative duties tend to favor their community and continuously ignoring the unrepresented group. Most of the privileges are accorded to the group that is at the heart of the administration. The situation is further aggravated if it comprises purely of members from a particular race. Being an African American residing in Urbana in Illinois has helped to shape my way of looking at different aspects of the standards of living between the whites and the blacks. The demographic distribution is quite interesting as blacks are distributed all over the state. The town’s conditions coupled with income disparities have brought many issues to the core. Highly paying jobs are a reserve for the whites (Hewstone, Hopkins & Routh 1992, p. 228).
Northeast Champaign had relatively poor housing conditions for the blacks while their white counterparts had quality housing. This prompted all the blacks to start a new comprehensive housing development plan entirely funded by private equity. The driving force was the poor housing conditions. It was the brainchild of Charles E. Philip who was an insurance agent of black origin. Demonstrations by blacks precipitated what they termed as discriminations against the housing. There were predominantly white housing areas and black housing areas. A spirited fight ushered in a new era where blacks were allowed into white predominantly housing areas. The trend has continued to be witnessed even in modern times as public housing has inherent problems that need to be addressed. Drawing heavily from the experiences of Charles E. Phillip who championed quality housing for the blacks.
Being an African American and residing in Urbana where the demographic distribution comprises a mixture of several races, with the blacks scattered all over the place, I have experienced inequalities in the provision of services. Surprisingly these are consequences of the community that I am a resident of. The designation of different lunch counters basing on the color of the skin is evidence of the fact there is segregation by the community. Furthermore, those who want to go to a movie theatre, stores, schools, and restaurants have in one way or another confronted with segregation. Securing employment, and I mean a well-paying job, is very hard for the black person. A bigger percentage of blacks secure employment through the University’s structure and other lowly paying jobs. As Stern (1994) stated, “low rents attracted black persons to the northern part of the town and explicit segregation policies kept them there” (para. 9). These are practices by the community against the targeted group. The black housing is of low standards and it is highly overpriced. Some blacks are deprived of adequate electricity, water, and essential requirements of a good house.
The role played by media as a social institution cannot be ignored. The media has on several occasions’ undergone transformations that are both favorable and unfavorable. Several years ago, it was a commonplace occurrence to spot an advertisement comprising of people from different backgrounds all enjoying a product together. Initially, it was hard to spot an advertisement comprising of a black person. However, it has evolved until a bigger percentage of races were taken into account. Recently, adverts are beginning to surface portraying different ethnic dimensions. As Wayne (2006) stated, “I recently saw several McDonalds ‘separate’ but equal commercials. In one, a group of Black students is hanging out at a black table. In another, a group of Hispanics makes an urban safari trek (para 1).” Some commercials have even gone a notch higher by depicting blacks in hideous circumstances. In addition, there is inadequate representation in entertainment and news. Quite often, the depiction is always humiliating in one way or another. The entertainment industry is awash with whites and the ratio is quite high compared to black.
The leadership is made up of people from different races and backgrounds. It is quite easier to associate with a leader with whom I share the same physical attributes. Apart from physical attributes, a leader whom I share with the same values and norms regarding a particular subject. People in leadership positions have different views regarding the community. These differences have brought about different stands on particular issues affecting the community hence they have taken a stand quite different from mine (Learner & Miller, 1978, p. 1038).
Full representation of the interests of the minority is yet to be realized. A wide range of cases is a pointer to this. The failure of the community to elect minorities into the school boards is evident that their interests are not fully represented. In instances of voting where minorities are up against a predominantly white background, the result is that the minorities end up losing the election. This can be attributed to the fact that voters align themselves in preference of the candidate associated with a particular group. Eventually, in such a case the minority’s interests are not represented.
It is completely impossible to wipe out the existence of community inequities. Therefore, it is imperative to acknowledge that the best we can do is preventing ourselves from perpetrating some of these inequities. Of particular interest to me is I would strive to put to an end all the racial-oriented issues in my community even though my ability to change some of these racial inequities is limited. Racism forms the basis of all the other inequalities, hence putting to an end all the resultant problems of racism necessitates that we tackle the root cause of the problems. Instituting and monitoring anti-racism campaigns is one of the ways to put to an end all the racism in my community. Organizing community events and conferences and advocating participation by members of different races create avenues for tackling some of the core issues of racism. Increasing community awareness, changing some of the policies that are in place, and advocating for a balanced leadership that takes into account all the interests of community members at heart (Myers,2005, p. 98).
Interactions have helped to shed some light on the diverse composition of my community. I have consistently associated myself with a group of persons who resemble my physical attributes repeatedly. This has created sharp divisions in how the community treats people with different physical attributes. This has been extended up to the leadership level where people treat each other based on physical attributes. The media has also contributed to the straining of relations between the different groups of people by creating different pictures of the two groups. Although there are differences in physical attributes, there are chances of holding the same views and perceptions regarding a particular subject. Although there are minorities in my community, their interest is not well represented. This is further worsened by the role played by the media.
Reference
Brewer,B. (1979). In-group bias in the minimal intergroup situation: A cognitive- motivational analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 86, 307-324.
Hewstone, M., Hopkins, N., & Routh, A. (1992). Cognitive models of stereotype change: Generalization and subtyping in young people’s views of the police. European Journal of Social Psychology, 22, 219-234.
Lerner, J., & Miller, T. (1978). Just world research and the attribution process: Looking back and ahead. Psychological Bulletin, 85, 1030-1051.
Myers, G. ( 2005). Social Psychology. McGraw Hill: NY.
Sterne, J. (1994).Scratch me and I Bleed Champaign: Geography, Poverty and politics in the heart of East central Illinois.Bad subjects.Web.
Wayne, A. (2006).The return of segregation in the media-the ugly truth emerges. Web.