African Americans and Race Research Paper

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Race Relations

The subject of race has always been an issue in the United States. However, the volume and the pitch of the topic depends on the events and context of history at any given time. Things got ramped up significantly when Ferguson happened and the recent national anthem protests that were seemingly started by Colin Kaepernick did much the same thing (Dyson, 2016). This repot shall cover a number of important topics with the main one being privilege, how it exists and manifests and beyond. While privilege is not something that everyone thinks about, it most certainly exists and thus should be defined, refined in terms of what it means and learned about in the proper way.

While many are quick to point to privilege in a white sense, it can actually refer to anyone and their advantages (or disadvantages) of being a certain race in the United States. Even so, white privilege is the main focus a lot of the time. Generally, privilege in a positive sense is being able to assume that most of the people in a class and the people that will be talked about in terms of history will be the same color as you. Further, failures will commonly not be attributed to the same race that you are. Finally, it would be common for someone that is privileged to not have to think about race, gender, sexual orientation and/or disability on a daily basis due to having to consider it by force due to daily events and rites of passage. As noted above, white privilege is the most common lens used when it comes to this subject. However, the definition just rendered proves that women and those with disability (or those that are men or non-disabled) can think about it as well (WPC, 2016).

Of course, privilege is created by one culture, race and/or language being dominant or oppressive over another (Mcintosh, 2016). Of course, that would be white people in the United States. They make up a majority of the population, most of them speak English and their skin tone and source of immigration (either recent or not) is generally Europe. These common traits allow for white people to not to have to think about race due to their societal environment and experiences as they are not commonly mistreated for issues like race, ethnicity and language.

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By contrast, Latinos have darker skin, speak Spanish (and sometimes do not speak English) and beyond and thus are treated differently (if not very poorly) for that reason alone even if they generally mind their own business and go about their lives. It is harder for them to be out in society comfortably, it is harder for them to communicate with others in an easy way and they are otherwise not treated with the same deference and respect as white people operating in the same society.

Just as one example, it is fairly common for someone to assume that a Latino that does not speak English well (or that is Latino in general) is "illegal" and thus should not be here. In terms of when privilege is "invisible," a rule of thumb about that subject is that people that have privilege and that do not know that it exists are almost always the ones that actually have it. For example, if some random person does not notice privilege, whether they know what the term means or not, they would tend to be white or otherwise part of the dominant race, language and culture, depending on where they are. However, gender is in that equation as well as people that assume "women" when they hear the term gender are in that proverbial boat as well (Smith, 2016).

As for whether this invisibility is sustained in modern societies, this would really be a "yes." It is absolutely the case in societies like the United States where white men are on one plane of status and normalcy while others such as women, Latinos and blacks are on a different level, and in more ways than one. To say that things have in no way improved would not be fair or accurate. However, to say that things are remotely a level playing field would be laughable at best. Just one example where the divisions and demarcations are still rather nasty would be capitalism. Many people have heard about the study where people with "ethnic" names like Jose or Dequan are treated differently than people named Bob and Steve due to the perceived race,….....

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