In this essay, racism will be exposed within the context of two disasters; Hurricane Katrina and the B.P Oil Spill. Class resources will be examined using race as an analogy for the slaved response. Racism is the belief that some groups of people have inherently different characteristics that make them superior or inferior. The end result is a form of discrimination that justifies the differences (McDonnell, 2016). Within a society consisting of people from different cultures, backgrounds and skin color, racism does exist on the basis of supposedly shared biological traits. In the aftermath of the Hurricane Katrina, many scholars and professionals thought that the racial inequality have been “exposed” by this hurricane and the hurricane would …show more content…
How the media exaggerated photos of black people looting calling them criminals. Racism existed while saying white people did it to survive but black people were looting. Even Fox news we saw the same file photo of a black person looting over a dover again (McDonnell 2016). Tim also argues how slowed response of the President, Governor, Michael Chertoff, and Michael Brown was a deliberate blockage of much needed services (McDonnell 2016). Bush had the opportunity to use government in LA but he didn’t because of the Posse Comitatus. Posse Comitatus is the U.S federal law that limits the federal government to interfere in the state policies. So bush saved huge tax cuts to oil and gas corporation and the neighborhoods were never built for the victims after …show more content…
Those neighborhoods will never be rebuilt for the poor and the minorities because the federal governments wanted to bring in the oil and gas lines back there. No educational opportunities for the minorities and no public housing, transport or medical facilities for them. On the other hand, she also argues that social class was a factor for the slowed response of the government but also understands that race also played a major role in it as well. How Barbara Bush also gave a horrific statement regarding the Hurricane Katrina that clearly was depicting that white people thoughts about the Hurricane Katrina. She stated that, “These people are doing very well for themselves” (Malveaux, 2008: 246). The statement the white misperception about the Hurricane
They argue that institutional racism in the housing market enacted by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), private loan and real estate institutions and actors, and white residents effectively and permanently isolated African Americans. Institutionalized racist practices of the housing market such as redlining and steering, coupled with white flight and structural disinvestment in African American neighborhoods, effectively isolated African Americans and further contributed to the creation of black ghettos. Thus, residential segregation concentrates poverty, erodes institutional and economic support, and ultimately causes its residents to normalize their problematic social environment of high levels of joblessness, teenage pregnancy, drugs, and violence. If the segregation of African Americans were to be resolved by their economic achievement and class mobility, middle-class African Americans should be able to enter white neighborhoods of comparable income levels. However, as Massey and Denton show, once the threshold of “too many black families” is crossed, white flight occurs and poorer black families move into the neighborhood, creating (and expanding) racially segregated
“...Much of the recent crime increase threatens the vitality of America’s cities–and thousands of lives–it is not, in itself, the greatest danger in today’s war on cops. The greatest danger lies, rather, in the delegitimation of law and order itself’ (Mac Donald). In the book “The War on Cops: How the New Attack on Law and Order Makes Everyone Less Safe,” published in the year of 2016, author Heather Mac Donald provides credible evidence to expand on her viewpoint of our country’s current criminal crisis. In addition to “The War on Cops, Mac Donald has written two other books. Her works “Are Cops Racist?”
Gwen Thompkins, a correspondent for NPR, reports on the struggling city of New Orleans, Louisiana, 10 years after hurricane Katrina. She begins her report with a conversation she had with Roberta Brandes Gratz, who studies city around the globe. They discussed Gratz book discussing how the people of New Orleans rebuilt their city after the natural disaster and failed levies. Gratz explains how New Orleans use to be a booming densely populated area and how residents are struggling to retain this aspect of their community. Gratz says the communities are slowly progressing which she states is a good thing.
The major thesis in this book, are broken down into two components. The first is how we define racism, and the impact that definition has on how we see and understand racism. Dr. Beverly Tatum chooses to use the definition given by “David Wellman that defines racism as a system of advantages based on race” (1470). This definition of racism helps to establish Dr. Tatum’s theories of racial injustice and the advantages either willingly or unwillingly that white privilege plays in our society today. The second major thesis in this book is the significant role that a racial identity has in our society.
Racism has been present in society since forever, maybe even the very first day that two men of different races met. Racism is defined as “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” Usually racism is a belief that a person with a certain race has better abilities, attributes and skills. If this belief is to distinguish as superior it can have tragic events occurring between two types of groups. An example of two types of groups that have separated into an image of rivalries fueled with competition are the ‘Whites’ and the ‘Indians’, as shown in the novel Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese, where the devastating effects of racism and discrimination are evident in the protagonist Saul Indian Horse, for his spirit is nearly broken all together by them, most notable in how he was forced to live in a cruel Residential school, he endured taunting in the hockey world, and bullying in the work force, affecting a lifelong struggle with severe depression and alcoholism.
In chapter one, there is a particular emphasis on the Charleston Earthquake of 1886. The text discusses the different perspectives that black and white individuals had about the 1886 earthquake and natural disasters in general. Steinberg asserts that white individuals perceived the quake as natural phenomena. In contrast, black individuals perceived the quake as an act of god.
A system that is built upon discrimination will continue to discriminate until major interventions are devised and upheld throughout the community (Reskin, 2012). Badger (2016) explains that after recent peaceful protests in Baltimore, the mayor spoke out and blamed “thugs” for these “riots”. The protest aimed to explain citizen’s frustrations with the institutions oppressing them, and exemplify the significance of how interrelated disparities are in communities (Badger, 2012). The mayor failed to acknowledge that we have created slums and prolonged the poverty in these neighborhoods. She ignored that disparities are all connected, such that living in a poor neighborhood typically leads to a poor education, then to a very low level job, and that then inherently lowers their health outcomes (Massey and Denton, 1993).
We learned that over the last 40 years the police department of the City of Miami and Miami- Dade County have experienced their share of civil disturbances. To illustrate, there have four cases of race riots between both police departments which led to innovation to be involved in their pursuits to better their responses. These were the race riots in 1968, the Liberty City Riot, 1980, the McDuffie Riot, 1982 Luis Alvarez Riots, and 1989 Loranzo Riots within the Liberty City over town areas. However, the article stated that these riots were resulted by either police shooting of young black men, or thanks to the federal government the deporting of a young Cuban boy. Thus, it was not until the civil arrest of the 1980’s McDuffie Riot which seemed
Racism is alive and well in our modern day society. The fact that racism is a prominent form of social justifications cannot be neglected. On the contrary to this, Angeline Price’s article titled, “Working Class Whites,” she argues that racism is gone but this idea of “classism” would be the “last available method of prejudice in our society.” However, Michael Omi and Nell Bernstein think otherwise.
All of these different aspects of social stratification are found all over the US today. This article discusses events that took place in 2013. This shows that even today, racism is still alive and something that is a day to day battle for people all over the country. However, today it much more prominent in the fact that it is often hidden. Neo-racism is much more commonly found because it is
Today in class, we discussed a topic that is deeply engraved in American history yet widely avoided by many: race. More specifically, terms like “racist,” “All Lives Matter,” and “white privilege,” which may make some people uncomfortable but more than ever, need to be confronted and examined. We watched several videos containing a variety of people discussing their own personal thoughts and feelings on such terms to spark our own conversations on the same topics. After viewing the first video on the word “racist,” I began to reflect on my own actions towards other people.
Race has always been a problem in America and other countries. But developments such as Critical Race Theory (CRT) has helped challenge race and racial power and its representation in American society. Articles such as Critical Race Theory: An Introduction by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic; White Privilege, Color, and Crime: A Personal Account by Peggy McIntosh have helped CRT develop further. Along with the documentary White Like Me by filmmaker Tim Wise. These articles and film explore the race and racism in the United States, along with critical race theory.
As we reach the 21st century we would think that racial inequality has completely ended yet we continue to see much discrimination. Racial inequality continues to exist in the world and here in the United States it is a very controversial topic. Today, we watch the television and almost everyday we hear news about some type of crime or situation which regards race issues. In other words, racism is still a topic that we experience in a daily basis and continues to haunt this country. By analyzing some recent racial inequality news we can find out what continues to make this issue such a controversial topic.
“Racism distorts our sense of danger and safety. We are taught to live in fear of people of color. We are exploited economically by the upper class and unable to fight or even see this exploitation because we are taught to scapegoat people of color (Kivel, P).” This quote from the article, The Cost of Racism to White People, barely digs at one of the reasons why racism still occurs in today’s world. There are many motives out there for why racism still occurs.
Racism is an ever growing issue in the world, and something we can’t hide behind. According to dictionary.com the defintion of racism is: “the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics, abilities, or qualities specific to that race, especially so as to distinguish it as inferior or superior to another race or races.” Race was created socially by how people perceive ideas and faces people are not used to yet. It is the “hatred” of one person to another individual, solely based on that person's belief that the person is inferior because of their language, birthplace and skin colour. Racism is an issue that has lasted throughout history, providing justification for a group’s dominance over another.