Systematic oppression or institutional discrimination can most easily be defined as “systematic mistreatment of people within a social identity group, supported and enforced by society and its institutions, solely based on the person’s membership in the social identity group itself.” These social identity groups can be either racial, separated by physical differences, or ethnic groups, separated by cultural origin and patterns. Through the functionalist perspective, the question of how does the dominant or majority race benefit from systematic oppression and institutional discrimination arises when looking into the continued oppression of African Americans in the United States by the White majority.
If you are White, you are a product of the …show more content…
The first being the 13th amendment which made it unconstitutional for someone to be held as a slave i.e. this amendment grants freedom to all Americans: except criminals. Slavery was an economic system for the south and at the end of the civil war, the death of slavery then left the southern economy in shambles. 4 million people who were once property and essential to southern economy were suddenly free. A loophole in the 13th amendment allowed for black people to be exploited once again. As a result of this loophole, after the civil war blacks were arrested in mass making them basically slaves again. They were arrested for minor crimes like loitering and then made to provide labor to rebuild economy in the south post- civil war. They played an essential role in the south and since the entire southern economy was built of free labor provided by the slaves they could not afford as a society for this group of people to be free. Even after the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments Black Americans faced an uphill battle to just treatment. The end of the reconstruction era and beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950’s saw African Americans clearly treated as second class citizens. The media portrayed “Negros” as “out of control and a threat of violence against white women”. The first big cinematic movie, The Birth of a Nation, only …show more content…
Voters still see discrimination at voting polls. In order to supposedly combat voter fraud, states have begun to require voter identification at polls as opposed to just registration. This is disproportionately a disadvantage to elderly and minority voting groups who are without these credentials. In fact, 25% of blacks and 16% of Latino citizens do not have photo identification as opposed to the 8% of Whites without. This is the definition of institutional discrimination especially considering there is little evidence to support voter fraud occurring at the polls. This is an easy way for the majority to manipulate the minority and maintain a ‘stable’ but unfair society. Another example of continued oppression is the disproportionate incarceration of Black Americans. Prison population was flat during the 20th century however, in the 1970’s began mass incarceration and this idea that “no one is above the law”. The Nixon era saw crime become more prevalent. He waged a war on all of those opposing him: the black political movement, anti- war, and gay liberation movements that Nixon felt the need to fight back against. He also waged a war on drugs and it was seen as a crime issue rather than a health issue. This war on drugs was about throwing black people in jail according to Nixon administration, as they could not make it illegal to be black or anti- war. They associated
If you are White, you are a product of the …show more content…
The first being the 13th amendment which made it unconstitutional for someone to be held as a slave i.e. this amendment grants freedom to all Americans: except criminals. Slavery was an economic system for the south and at the end of the civil war, the death of slavery then left the southern economy in shambles. 4 million people who were once property and essential to southern economy were suddenly free. A loophole in the 13th amendment allowed for black people to be exploited once again. As a result of this loophole, after the civil war blacks were arrested in mass making them basically slaves again. They were arrested for minor crimes like loitering and then made to provide labor to rebuild economy in the south post- civil war. They played an essential role in the south and since the entire southern economy was built of free labor provided by the slaves they could not afford as a society for this group of people to be free. Even after the ratification of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments Black Americans faced an uphill battle to just treatment. The end of the reconstruction era and beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950’s saw African Americans clearly treated as second class citizens. The media portrayed “Negros” as “out of control and a threat of violence against white women”. The first big cinematic movie, The Birth of a Nation, only …show more content…
Voters still see discrimination at voting polls. In order to supposedly combat voter fraud, states have begun to require voter identification at polls as opposed to just registration. This is disproportionately a disadvantage to elderly and minority voting groups who are without these credentials. In fact, 25% of blacks and 16% of Latino citizens do not have photo identification as opposed to the 8% of Whites without. This is the definition of institutional discrimination especially considering there is little evidence to support voter fraud occurring at the polls. This is an easy way for the majority to manipulate the minority and maintain a ‘stable’ but unfair society. Another example of continued oppression is the disproportionate incarceration of Black Americans. Prison population was flat during the 20th century however, in the 1970’s began mass incarceration and this idea that “no one is above the law”. The Nixon era saw crime become more prevalent. He waged a war on all of those opposing him: the black political movement, anti- war, and gay liberation movements that Nixon felt the need to fight back against. He also waged a war on drugs and it was seen as a crime issue rather than a health issue. This war on drugs was about throwing black people in jail according to Nixon administration, as they could not make it illegal to be black or anti- war. They associated