The issue of racial inequality is an urgent problem for modern society. Despite the high level of progressiveness and the spread of awareness about the importance of inclusion and diversity, a large number of people are facing the consequences of slavery in the colonial period. Many researchers have studied the phenomenon of racial inequality, which provides different points of view on what the state of this problem is at the moment. Thus, this essay aims to support the opinion that the United States of America has failed to solve the problem of the American Paradox of the relative popularity of people in the country.
Thus, it is necessary to consider in more detail the issue of racial inequality and the point of view of researchers who have made a unique contribution to this topic. For example, scientists such as Audrey Smedley, Michael Omi, and Howard Winant believed that race is the cause of structural inequality in society. This is due to the influence of the history of the United States, in which slavery is one of the critical points (Huhndorf 21). Hence, until now, many people associate belonging to a non-white race as a sign that is not favored in society (Horsman 2). It is worth emphasizing that this applies both to representatives of the black community, as well as to Asians and indigenous people.
The works of Michael Omi and Howard Winant elaborate on the topic of racial formation and its reflection in society. Hence, they consider the concepts of how race affects people and, at the same time, how individuals form the concept of race. Thus, it becomes a two-way process, as a result of which the way people understand race and how they are represented in various spheres of society is formed and shaped. Moreover, special attention is paid to the historical aspect since scientists believed that the events taking place in society had a substantial impact on its views and worldview.
Thus, history determines how people see race, where they put racial inequality as a problem of society, and what ideas they have about its representatives. All these factors are proof of why racial disparity still exists, which is also reflected in accessibility to various aspects of the political, economic, social, or health spheres. Henceforth, Michael Omi and Howard Winant consider race in close connection with society and its influence, which determines how people will relate to and see representatives of different cultures, nationalities, faiths, and traditions.
Further, the problem of racial inequality is a deeply ingrained issue in society. At the present stage of development, many people face discrimination and neglect on a daily basis. Stereotyping has also become so firmly embedded in the public consciousness that many labels that are put on representatives of different races are no longer considered harmful or destructive and are completely wrong. Thus, based on the works of Omi and Winant, it is necessary to create a new public vision of this problem in order to form new views on the analyzed issue.
Racial discrimination and the inequality caused by it in relation to representatives of any non-white community is the most critical problem of modern society. It is reflected in the varying degrees of people’s access to various resources, power, and economic aspects. Despite the fact that colonial America has long been liquidated, the country is still experiencing the consequences of this period. To this day, many representatives of black or indigenous people cannot get similar access as the representatives of the white population.
Thus, regarding historical development, the non-white population has constantly experienced the oppression of racial inequality. In addition, Frederick (2) stated that “oppression makes a wise man mad.” They were the ones who were first colonized and taken into slavery, and now they are struggling with uneven access to many things (Morgan 320). At the same time, the white population has never been characterized by such problems. The introduction of the concepts of diversity and inclusion into society and the spread of awareness about the importance of these phenomena significantly improved the situation that prevailed among people. However, the United States is still struggling to completely change the shared vision, as it still has not managed to entirely limit the effects of the colonial period.
Researcher Edmund Morgan has created great interest in the American Paradox for this scientific work. It lies in the fact that in American society, slavery and freedom have existed simultaneously throughout the history of the country’s development (Fredrickson 141). In other words, the scientist determined that the more the rights of non-white people were infringed upon, the more the rights of the white population of the country were strengthened. Thus, it can be determined that the more vital the role of slavery in the history of American society, the higher and more valuable the role of freedom and democracy in it became.
The concept of the American Paradox helps to better understand many aspects of the functioning of the past and modern society, offering a unique way of dependence on various kinds of phenomena within it. Moreover, the first acquaintance with Morgan’s theory contributed to a new wave of interest in studying the role that history and prolonged slavery in America played in the formation of racial inequality.
Thus, opposition and slavery are the main characteristic features of the historical development of the United States and are overlooked at any stage of the formation of American society. Therefore, the concept of the American Paradox confirms these conclusions. It is worth noting that at the same time, equality has always been a problem for people in America, and the country has been making attempts to change this situation for many years. However, not all changes and initiatives meet with success, which is a consequence of a long process of colonization and then decolonization of communities in the country.
Therefore, based on the above information, it can be concluded that the United States of America is still struggling with solving the problem of racial inequality. Moreover, this problem applies not only to the black population but also to all representatives of non-white communities, for example, Asians or indigenous people. Thus, the long history of slavery, violence and opposition affected the country (Waldrep and Bellesiles 113). It caused the formation of such a phenomenon as the American Paradox, which Edmund Morgan derived. In his concept, the scientist showed the relationship between slavery and freedom in the United States and that one developed and flourished at the expense of the other.
Moreover, many scientists define race as a motivation for the division of society due to the fact that historical events greatly influenced people’s vision of national characteristics and formed a negative attitude towards them. This has been reflected in the fact that many individuals of the non-white community cannot get full access to a large number of resources and power in areas such as economics or politics. Despite the seriousness of the problem, it can be solved by creating a new public vision of race that encourages diversity and inclusion.
Works Cited
Frederick, Douglass. “What To the Slave Is the Fourth of July?”. Mass Humanities.
Fredrickson, George M. White Supremacy: A Comparative Study of American and South African History. Oxford University Press, 1982.
Horsman, Ragina. Race and Manifest Destiny: Origins of American Racial Anglo-Saxonism. Harvard University Press, 1986.
Huhndorf, Shari M. Going Native: Indians in the American Cultural Imagination. Cornell University Press, 2001.
Morgan, Edmund S. American Slavery, American Freedom. W. W. Norton & Company, 2003.
Waldrep, Christopher and Michael Bellesiles. Documenting American Violence. Oxford University Press, 2006.