The notion of racial and ethnic inequality has always been closely associated with American society. However, over the last months, the subject of racism and discrimination has been discussed at an unprecedented rate, followed by demonstrations, protests, and loots. Hence, it is now of crucial importance to dwell upon the very roots of racial and ethnic inequality in the United States to obtain a better understanding of people who are trying to highlight the issue.
To begin with, it should be outlined that the scopes of racism in the US depend directly on the racial legislative representation in the state. Since this aspect is now suffering, the outcome of such an attitude is performed through protests and violent actions aimed at drawing attention to the problem. Institutional racism, represented through law enforcement violence and abuse, and limitations for black people in the US, has been a pattern of social behavior for more than sixty years now (Giddens et al., 2019). However, while the issue is seemingly resolved over the decades, the scopes of implicit racism never stopped increasing in society due to the institutions’ ignorance of the problem. Moreover, this attitude pattern provokes individual and blind racism among US residents.
One of the major reasons behind the increasing rates of racism in the US might be explained by Bob Blauner’s hypothesis on forced assimilation into the ethnic environment. In fact, the theory states that those ethnic groups and minorities, who made the decision to immigrate voluntarily, feel more comfortable when it comes to social adjustment (Giddens et al., 2019). African Americans and their ancestors were forced to move to the US land in order to serve as a free labor force without any right to feel like full-scale members of American society. As a result, their lifestyle and social attitude have come through so many obstacles to appear at least in the place they are now, with more changes to come.
Reference
Giddens, A., Duneier, M., Appelbaum, R. P., & Carr, D. (2019). Essentials of sociology (7th ed.). W. W. Norton & Company.