Introduction
Racial inequality in the United States has taken root in the recent past and continues to affect a larger majority of the people. The social movement against racial inequality aims to identify social disparities affecting various races in the United States and provide solutions (Chasin, 2022). His movement has played a vital role in reducing the current state of imbalances in resource distribution in various states. It also tries to solve the current imbalance in the distribution of power and opportunity thus ensuring that all states have equal chances (Clayton, 2018). However, the movement is affected by aspects such as modern-day slavery and second-class citizenship.
Current State of Racism in the US
Racism has taken many forms, including genocide, slavery, lynchings, segregation, Native American boarding schools and reservations, racist immigration and naturalization policies, and internment camps. By the middle of the twentieth century, racial segregation in public places had been virtually outlawed due to widespread condemnation. Uneven socioeconomic conditions are still a direct result of racism, making racial politics an ongoing phenomenon. Extensive evidence of racial discrimination in the 21st century has been revealed through studies of the criminal justice system, the economy, housing, healthcare, the media, and politics in the United States.
History of the Racial Inequality Movement
In the United States, racism against different groups of people has been present since the colonial era. African Americans’ political, social, and economic liberties were severely limited before and after the end of slavery in 1865. Genocide, forced relocation, and massacres have all been inflicted upon Native Americans, and bigotry against them persists even today (Chasin, 2022). There has also been prejudice against people of Asian, Pacific Islander, and Hispanic descent in the United States. Additionally, non-Protestant European immigrants, especially Jews, Poles, Italians, and Irish, were routinely excluded and discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity.
American Civil Rights Movement
The American Civil Rights Movement was a large-scale protest movement that began in the South in the 1950s and gained national attention a decade later. Abolitionist attempts by Africans and their descendants to end racial oppression and slavery went back generations. People who had been slaves were freed at the end of the American Civil War, and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution gave them legal standing to vote and hold public office (Chasin, 2022). The trend of racial segregation in public spaces was ended by the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, which relied mostly on nonviolent protest.
Relative Deprivation Theory and Racism Movement
According to relative deprivation theory, those who are affected by racism are likely to advocate for this type of social issue. So, according to this view, people’s feelings of injustice fuel racial inequality movements. Therefore, relative deprivation describes the unhappiness a social group may feel when it compares what it obtains with what other groups obtain and comes to the conclusion that it is not obtaining what it deserves. This hypothesis proposes that situations in which people have high hopes for future progress are followed by economic downturns, increasing the likelihood of social unrest against racism.
Economic Theory and Racism Movement
When people are treated differently because of their income level, this is known as economic discrimination. Minorities’ access to resources like capital investment funds and the cost and/or availability of goods and services are examples of such barriers. Worker and customer bias, as well as bias towards firms owned by minorities, fall into this category. In contrast to price discrimination, in which monopolists (and to a lesser extent oligopolies and monopolistic competitors) charge different customers varying prices based on their willingness to pay, this is not market segmentation. When dealing with some minorities, especially in countries where prejudice is accepted or where divisions are exceptionally wide, there is a cost that cannot be ignored.
The micro-level approach of the Racial Inequality Movement
The focus of micro-sociology is on the interactions that take place between a small number of people on a more intimate scale, such as conversations or the dynamics of tiny groups. This level can be regarded as the basis of the larger macro-level approach as the participants are drawn from here (Abel & Reiter, 2022). The micro-level approach is carried out at a personal level and individuals themselves fund the fight against racial inequality. This level allows the individuals who enact the racial inequality movement to run the entity themselves.
The macro-level approach of the Racial Inequality Movement
This kind of local examination is made possible by micro-sociology, but it sometimes ignores the systemic factors that shape people’s actions toward the racial inequality fight. The danger of macro sociology is that it can lead to the detachment of trends from the people who put them into action on the ground, even as it allows for the study of large-scale patterns and trends (Abel & Reiter, 2022).
Meso-level Approach to Racial Inequality Movement
It is possible that the causes of rising racism in a society lie (at least in part) at the meso level. Increases in racism and xenophobia may result from the presence of a xenophobic Radical Right Populist (RRP) party because of the party’s impact on other political players and the effect on people’s worldview (Abel & Reiter, 2022).
Relevance of the Racial Inequality Movement
Here are some more arguments for eliminating racism: They make it harder or impossible for the target of racism to contribute fully to society. They damage the community as a whole since the person or group participating in racism is deprived of the potential contributions of their victim. There is a higher probability that the target of racist conduct will retaliate, either immediately or in the future (Chasin, 2022). They are in opposition to the principles that the United States and other democracies were built on. Many countries have passed laws making racism a crime.
References
Abel, K. M., & Reiter, E. M. (2022). Health and Race in America at the Macro, Meso, and Micro Levels. In The Reproduction and Maintenance of Inequalities in Interpersonal Relationships (pp. 255-272). IGI Global.
Chasin, B. H. (2022). Inequality & violence in the United States: Casualties of capitalism. Rowman & Littlefield.
Clayton, D. M. (2018). Black lives matter and the civil rights movement: A comparative analysis of two social movements in the United States. Journal of Black Studies, 49(5), 448-480. Web.