Social inequality is the unfair distribution of goods, burdens, and wealth in the society. Social inequality results in various challenges, including underrepresentation, marginalization, substance abuse, and criminality in society. People who are less equal in the societies are neglected in cultural inclusivity, economic growth, and social engagement. Social stratification in the U.S is based on race and ethnicity and is demonstrated in films, poetry, and songs.
Poetry is significantly utilized to shed light on the issue of social inequality. The poem ‘I Dream a World’ by Langston Hughes is about the discrimination against blacks in America. Hughes depicts a world where everyone lives equally with harmony, love, and freedom regardless of skin color. In the first stanza, the first three lines, Hughes notes, “A world I dream where black or white, whatever race you be, Will share the bounties of the earth” (Amnesty 1). The poem is relevant to social inequality in that it portrays how social inequality along racial divides limits the minority in America extensively. The poem is about the overall effects of social stratification based on race and color. The poem relays the importance of social justice and challenges of social inequality in America in a salient way to bridge the gaps between people from different backgrounds. The poem utilizes alliteration to spotlight the main subject contained herein. The words ‘I dream a world’ are thematically linked together at the beginning of every stanza to create a rhythm and put forward the central argument.
Songs are also often used to describe social segmentation and inspire social change. The song ‘Fight the Power’ by Public Enemy creates awareness of the sociopolitical realities that affect the black communities. The story of the music is about the outrageous racial injustices in American cities influenced by racist mobs, police officers, and politicians. In the second stanza’s eleventh, twelfth, and thirteen lines, the song reads, “Got give us what we want, Gotta give us what we need, Our freedom of speech is freedom or death” (Public Enemy 0:43). Music substantially contributes to social activism by sharing a critical message and stimulating action for long-term change hence critical in addressing social inequality. The rhythms and lyrics in the song ‘Fight the Power’ resonates with the African American culture to effectively engage the targeted audience. The vocal and instrumental sounds in the song are designed to evoke emotions of harmony and struggle among the black Americans. The song contributed to the struggle and resolution for social change in America to a certain extent.
The film BlacKkKlansman by Spike Lee is a provocative art that demonstrates the link between racist origins and social inequality in America. In the film based on true story, a police detective Ron Stallworth joined the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan posing as a white man and exposed the social and political influence that promote hate, social inequality, and racism in America (Lee 34). The film highlighted how the Donald Trump administration inspired the organization to promote marginalization and discrimination of people of color in America. Lee also spotlights on systemic racism in the police department. Unlike the white supremacists, the Black Power activists appear to be non-violent and evasive of militarism techniques in their movement. BlacKkKlansman is critical to social stratification, since it creates a perfect reflection of how racism widen inequality and marginalization in the society. Lee uses the method of constructing binaries such as good and bad, civilized and barbaric to illustrate and reverse the narrative by KKK organization.
Works Cited
Amnesty. Poem: I Dream a World. 2019, Web.
Public Enemy. “Public Enemy – Fight the Power (Official Music Video).” YouTube, 2020, Web.
Spike Lee, director. BlacKkKlansman. FMovies, 2018, Web.