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Date due: RACE AND THE SOCIOLOGICAL IMAGINATION
Race can be defined as a category of humankind that possesses distinguishing physical characteristics, most commonly the skin color. Throughout history, society has attached labels to races, spurring hatred among people of different races since most of the time the stereotypes are negative. This paper will explore racial experiences as viewed in a particular milieu and in relation to the society at large. It will also cover a brief history of racism and how this history has shaped the current society’s attitude towards race.
Question 1: Racial situation from adolescence
While in high school, I experienced …show more content…
Being a cosmopolitan state, instances of racism are entrenched in the society as people from different cultures come with their beliefs and practices which they perceive as superior to the rest. These cultures, coupled with negative stereotypes, make one race to look down on the other, resulting to a community that uphold matters regarding race in the negative sense. Children born in such societies also learn racial discrimination from their parents, making it difficult to eradicate racism from our communities.
Question 4: History of racism in the United States
The United States has a past of racism, spanning from the colonial era to the slavery era and is still rampant in today’s society. A survey by ABC News found that at least one in ten Americans held prejudices against Hispanic-Americans while four out of ten did the same regarding Arab-Americans (ABC News, 2007). Groups which have been discriminated against in the past include the African-Americans, Latin-Americans, Asian-Americans and non-Protestant Anglo-Americans such as Poles, Jews, and Italians. However, racial prejudice among Americans has reduced markedly over the past few decades.
Question 5: Race as a social …show more content…
Skin color has been used to discriminate against people regardless of their abilities or achievements. For instance, racism is rampant in American communities as shown by the many famous people who have faced racial discrimination at some point in their lives. In his biography, The Audacity of Hope, President Barack Obama narrates how he would be followed by security guards while he shopped in department stores. He explains how African-Americans were commonly associated with criminal activities and regularly faced police brutality. Race became a social factor for him since he could not associate freely with people from different races as he was not sure of their reaction to the fact that he was