Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.
Introduction
A race can be described as a group of species who share the same anatomical features which appear the same within a group and distinct from other groups. Ethnicity on the other hand is the physical and cultural characteristics that are used to identify people of a certain group.
Race and ethnicity
Race and ethnicity in the United States is not based on any spelt out criteria and consequently various people may label a certain group of people variously. The most common ethnic groups in America are Latinos, Chinese, African Americans and American Indians. Most of the ethnic groups have several close-knit cultures and traditions while other groups have very little in common other than the physical appearance. A race on the other hand is based primarily on the cultural orientations and there are no clearly distinct races in America right now because the traits of one race may be shared by another race. Both ethnicity and racial groups that are in existence in America are socially and historically constructed.
Prejudice
Prejudice is a type of power which a certain group of people has above another and consequently disintegrates the two groups. The relationship that exists in the presence of prejudice is that of negativity that comes about as a result of fear, hatred and threats. In the US, the largest form of prejudice is against the Muslim religion. However, other religions like Christianity and Judaism are more favorable. Other prejudices that are present in the United States are based on the race, ethnic group, gender, education level and the economic classes that one belongs to. Prejudices can be combated positively and looked at as the uniqueness of each individual.
Discrimination
Discrimination is a situation where a certain group of people view the other as of a lesser class. In America, there are different types of discrimination which range from age, gender and race. The largest form of discrimination in the US is racial discrimination and this spills over to employment opportunities and the education opportunities. Discrimination of a group of people results into segregation and poverty in extreme cases, due to lack of opportunities to flourish economically and even socially. To deal with the discrimination, the US government has come up with the Age Discrimination Act to protect the rights of all citizens of all ages and also permitted the claims of Multiple Discrimination.
Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans
The largest of the Americas minority that emerged as a result of war are Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans. As compared to the white, these minority groups suffer from high unemployment rates, high poverty rates and very low incomes. The racialisation of these two groups was done in a distinct manner from the other groups in the US. Though there were some elite Mexico Americans and Puerto Ricans who were making it economically and therefore threatening to become independent, systems were put in place to ensure that this independence was hindered. The first step was that these groups were denied land ownership and this meant that they remained subordinates and dependent on the people who were pioneering the racial process(Victor 2005). The second step was discrimination at a social level where these groups were not able to access the same education and social amenities that the other American citizens had access to. The third stage was placing these groups into a different social class and letting this culture be the normal way of life. This culture infiltrated in all systems and some people were perceived as inferior and could therefore not get white collar jobs, for example. The fourth and final stage is whereby this culture became so deep rooted to the extent where the people who were perceived to be inferior wanted to change their identity and culture so that they can be accepted in the society (Victor 2005). This means that they too perceived themselves as subordinate and therefore had to work very hard for them to belong. This was the highest level of racialization.
Conclusion
Racialization still poses a challenge today especially to the antiracist movements. It is important to note that the issue of racism is slowly fading away but it is far from being over. Many countries are making efforts to combat this vice, especially in the U.S, but such efforts are still facing challenges due to the culture of racism that had infiltrated the systems to a very large extent.
Reference
Victor, M. R. (2005). In the racialization of Mexican Americans and Puerto Ricans (pp70-105). Web.
Order from us for quality, customized work in due time of your choice.