Racial Inequality Research Paper

Solommon Yohannes

October 5th, 2017

Sociology& 101

Mr. Woo

Racial Inequality Viewed Through the Conflict Perspective Lens The racial inequality that we have in modern day blossomed from the historic oppression and comprehensive prejudice of minority groups. From the very beginning of “American” history, other groups of people who were not of European decent were discriminated against and treated inhumanely and without the smallest regard for their lives. Native American populations were decimated by diseases brought oversea by Europeans and forced from their ancestral lands by settlers to make room for their expanding populations. African people were enslaved by the millions and were used as tools of labor, and weren’t even regarded as humans,

I didn’t think that symbolic interaction applied here because it is more of a micro analysis, and structural-functionalism is about how aspects of society are functional and work in harmony, which also does not apply to this topic. This approach is about analyzing the inequalities of aspects in the social world such as race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation etc., and the issues that stem from them. I believe that in the realm of racial inequality, this perspective ties in with it the most due to the nature of “conflict” that is deeply embedded in its foundation. Racial inequality is an example of social conflict because of the divide that is caused between various races. In this case specifically, the divide between white America and the rest of the minority groups comprising America. There are still factors that have only been erased on the surface but still play a large role in the way that people of color are treated in America, and dictate to a certain extent, compromise the “freedom” that people have. On the other hand, we have white America, who have heightened chances of achieving anything that they please. This does not apply to every white American, as there are also white Americans who are living on or below the poverty line, and much like everybody else must put in a lot of effort to reach certain heights, however they have an advantage over all other denomination of people known as “white privilege” which are the societal benefits that people who can be categorized as “white” enjoy over the rest of the population and in the end, have a higher social status. Ultimately, people of color must work harder, and face many more setbacks in their climb to success than white Americans do, which is not fair,