Preview

Cornel West: Racial Discrimination In America

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
457 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Cornel West: Racial Discrimination In America
Cornel West easily illustrates the idea of discrimination in America through the explanations of white supremacy. For Example, “This vicious ideology and practice of white supremacy has left its indelible mark on all spheres of American life- from the prevailing crimes of Amerindian reservations to the discriminatory realties against Spanish-speaking Latinos to racial stereotypes against Asians.” White supremacy has held racial progress back from not only African Americans, but from all people of color. All people of color are feeling the inequalities that white supremacy compel onto other races. In addition, “No other people have been taught systematically to hate themselves.” White supremacy has taught the African American race to hate who …show more content…
For Example, “But for a hated and haunted people, whose prize possessions have been subversive memory, personal integrity, and self respect to become captive to historical amnesia, materialistic obsessions, and personal accommodation for acceptance at any costs yields black nihilism and collective suicide.” The African American people as a whole have become so caught up in making quick money they have forgotten about their past and their own self-respect. African Americans have slowly lost a hold of the important things in life. In addition, “The impact of the black market culture on black life has been devastating. As Stanley Crouch rightly has noted, fifty years ago black communities were the most civilized and humane in America- highly nurturing, caring, loving, and self-respecting behind the walls of apartheid. The market invasion, including the ugly drug invasion, has transformed too many black neighborhoods into hoods, black civic communities into black uncivil combat zones.” The black market has depleted African American morals. The black market culture has taken over the minds of African Americans; they have let drugs for example help demolish black neighborhoods and black civil communities. Furthermore, “We have too many black leaders who give in too quickly and sell out too easily.” Black leaders are quick to become victim to market culture. Black leaders become indulged in the spotlight, and they forget about where they have come from and their

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In “White Like Me,” Thomas Wise discusses the many ways White privilege influences other race’s, from a White male’s perspective. Three of the most interesting point relate to the of “white supremacy” and how the common white citizens unknowingly uses their powers. He expresses the belief that Whites should “guard their white privilege” because the United States, as a capitalist society, honors the majority. Another point he makes is that Whites are able to escape the blame for their unjust actions, whereas people of color would be slaughtered in the media for such things. An impactful example he uses is terrorism. In Oklahoma there were two white terrorists who bombed a government building, killing many. This horrific action was headlined…

    • 380 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Tim Wise, the author of White Like Me talks about how he explored racial identity and whiteness influence the lives of white Americans by investigating how they have impacted in his own life. He investigated on what it means to be white in a nation that’s created for the benefits of those who are white like him, and how privilege flows into every institutional arrangement from education to employment to justice system. Wise then talks about the ways that white privilege can finally harm its recipients in the long run and make progressive social change less likely. His personal stories makes the case that racial inequity and white privilege are real and persistent threats to personal and collective well-being that resistance to white supremacy…

    • 128 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Back then when Abraham Lincoln protested against racism, he asserted that “Achievement has no color” and just like Lincoln, Grant faced racial discrimination by breaking down the white man’s prejudice. Not like any other colored people in the society, Grant he went off to college and achieved a college education even though he is a black man. Grant Wiggins became a teacher just because that is the only vocation that an educated black man can do in the south. “ I am not [a] great [teacher]. I am not even a teacher” (254). He despises being a teacher and strongly desires to escape its fate as a black man living in Louisiana by taking off to California (192). However, Grant remains in Louisiana because he soon admits that he holds little or…

    • 295 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, Peggy McIntosh provides vivid examples on how "white privilege" is considered to be unapparent for many white individuals and negatively affects people of color. White privilege is an “unearned advantage” given to Caucasian individuals, as it “confers dominance” by establishing that the is white race is superior (McIntosh, 1990). With white privilege, white individuals are protected from the “hostility, distress, and violence,” which is often associated with individuals of color (McIntosh, p. 332). White privilege gives these individuals the opportunity to receive vital educational, political, and social resources that may possibly be inaccessible for people of color. By providing awareness on how white privilege works and how it can be detrimental in the attempt to gain racial equity for individuals of color, this concept can work to improve racial equity by establishing educational programs that inform individuals on white privilege and ending political policies that serve as a measure to oppress individuals of color.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout our nation’s history, African Americans are consistently and involuntary forced to stand as an omnipresent representation of inferiority. Starved of a Negro consensus, white men—mostly European—began persecuting them and exalting their supposed mediocrity. Hundreds of years after this tenet hit America, an exceedingly astute preacher named Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exemplified himself as the backbone of the Civil Rights Movement in the mid-1900s. Notwithstanding the omnipotent fear plaguing the Negro community, Dr. King apprehends the vindictiveness of classifying the black men and women as inferior and engenders a movement. One hundred years after the passing of the Emancipation Proclamation, Negros still encountered perilous suppression.…

    • 1213 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    White Suprimacy Responce

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages

    While growing up I never bothered to pay attention on what was going on in my surroundings. Through this class I will be learning about my own culture and develop a sence of self perspective and become familiar with todays society. Today, we classified eachother by our race and backgrounds. As a matter affact eventhough we may have different backgrounds and beliefs we all have been brought to America for a brighter future and better oppurtunities in change of a better life style. As I read Racial Fault Lines by Tomas Almaguer it has gave me a understanding on how white supremacy takes advantage of other historical racial groups. White Supremacy is the belief in where white people are superior than any other racial backgrounds.…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    This paper covers white privilege as well as the systematic racism leading to the death of two people. It also connects an online article by Warren J. Blumenfeld to the book written by Rebecca Skloot. Both have a central theme of white privilege and racism, but Blumenfeld appears to believe that racism and white privilege feed off of each other while Skloot simply reports examples of past instances of racism that still have an impact today.…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jackie strong and courageous character is important because he is able to withstand all this racial discrimination, threats, and heat from everyone and still break records. The importance of these scenes shows how this racial discrimination was normal because it wasn’t until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that you couldn’t discriminate against anyone by their color, race, and religion and there had to be an equal and fair opportunity. Also, that many people didn’t realize that the North also had racial discrimination and it wasn’t just the south. Unfortunately, the movie didn’t highlight any of the civil rights movement during the 50s and 60s. It didn’t show the laws that effected blacks before Jackie joined the Dodger, when he played on the…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to the textbook, You May Ask Yourself, a denotative definition for the word discrimination is a harmful or negative acts, excluding thoughts, against people labeled inferior in comparison to their own racial category without regard to their individuality. Also, discrimination can be associated with segregation, the legal or social practice of separating people on the basis of their race or ethnicity; as a result, public services, businesses, government, amongst other industries is legally prohibited from discriminating people on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin. The concept of discrimination has existed for over centuries, from Plessy v. Ferguson when the Supreme Court enforced the “separate but equal” doctrine, which allowed ethnicities to be publicly divided so long as there were proper services and conditions for each minority, to the growing segregation during World War II in America concerning the racist remarks against the Nazi. (Conley, 2013; Federal, 2016).…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Discrimination is very old in its origins. From the earliest periods of human existence, groups developed prejudices toward others and then discriminated against those whom they regarded as different or inferior. Many attempts were taken to maintain or increase power, prestige, or even wealth; groups found it easy to invent or accept the idea that others were somehow inferior to them and thus not deserving of equal treatment. Among the many differences that could be used as a basis for discrimination, people quickly discovered that physical appearance was the easiest to identify. It required no subtle analysis, no careful contemplation, but only a superficial glance at those visual features that would later be used to identify "race".…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Is Racism a Permanent feature of American Society? Derrick Bell argues in this issue that the prospects for achieving racial equality in the United States are “illusory for Blacks. Bell reminds us despite the fact of the progress of blacks in United States; the legacy of slavery has left a portion of the race “with life-long poverty and soul devastating despair”. Bell believes that race consciousness is so imbedded in whites that it is virtually impossible to rise above it. He also argues that “few whites are able to identify with blacks as a group” and tend to view blacks through “comforting racial stereotypes”. Bell feels strongly that critical and proper examination of the history of black-white relations supports his conclusion that racism is a permanent feature of American Society. Bell makes some good point about racism in the American society today. The fact that the psychical part of racism is gone does not mean that racism as permanently left American Society. The fact that racism still “exist” is does not reflect on blacks’ success any longer. Majority of whites had a head start because their generation of success goes so many years back, were as for blacks success was not allowed at a point in time. Blacks have come a long ways over the years but there is still racial discrimination that “affects” the black population.…

    • 1438 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the passage Thomas Paine states that American government is fair-minded. However, there are an overwhelmingly large amount of examples that prove that corruption does indeed exist in America’s political system. One relatively recent example of corruption was the bribery involved Rand Paul’s presidential campaign in 2012. In this event Jesse Benton, Paul’s political director campaign manager admitted to paying senators in exchange for their endorsement towards their campaign (Ballhaus). This example of corruption disproves Paine’s claim that the government in the United Stated is unbiased and fair. In his book, Paine also claimed that, “There the poor are not oppressed, the rich are not privileged…. Their taxes are few, because their government…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Everyone accepts racism when they see it right in front of them. However, it is often hard for people to acknowledge the benefits that they are given because of systematic racism. While one in four black males are incarcerated, only one in seventeen white males are. When the term white privilege is used, people tend to squirm as they are reminded of the history of their ancestors and the foundation of this country. The term gives many people an uneasy feeling; it causes them to feel guilty, rather than informed. The second I mention the term, heads turn and people stare. It is not an easy topic for white Americans to acknowledge, because of the guilt it carries. However, the US will not be able to move forward in the fight for equality if white…

    • 150 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It is only being a Muslim which keeps me from seeing people by the color of their skin. This religion teaches brotherhood, but I have to be a realist—I live in America, a society which does not believe in brotherhood in any sense of the term. Brute force is used by white racists to suppress nonwhites. It is a racist society ruled by segregationists....…

    • 194 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Discrimination - “The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the ground of race, age, or sex.” Racial discrimination - “Treating someone unfavorably because he/she is of a certain race or because of personal characteristics associated with race (such as hair texture, skin color, or certain facial features).” Discrimination isn’t a newly faced issue in our society today. We have witnessed many events where racial discrimination has taken place all over the country. I chose to research this topic because it was a topic that came up during our Civil War presentations in Social Studies class. Racial discrimination is a terrible issue that’s been around for quite a while and is negatively affecting…

    • 325 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays