Week 5 Assignment

Associate Program Material

Racial Diversity: Historical Worksheet

Answer the following questions in 100 to 250 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use.

• Throughout most of U.S. history, in most locations, what race has been in the majority? What is the common ancestral background of most members of this group?

Throughout most of U.S. history, the white race has been the majority (Schaefer, 2012), although this fact is not soley based upon how many of them there are (population). The white race has been the majority throughout U.S. history due to their social standards in American society, instead. The white race came to the U.S. from various parts of Europe (their common ancestral background), and have successfully made themselves the majority, by founding the country on what benefited them the most. This led them to a position of higher standing, and allowed them to do whatever they felt necessary to help them flourish and become the majority.

• What are some of the larger racial minorities in U.S. history? What have been the common ancestral backgrounds of each of these groups? When did each become a significant or notable minority group?

Some of the larger racial minorities in U.S. history are African Americans and Native Americans. Native Americans became a significant minority group when their land was stolen from them by early European settlers, coming to the new land to avoid religious persecution. The common ancestral background for the Native American people is a single Eurasian group, according to UC News and Information (April 28, 2009). African Americans became a significant minority group when they were captured from their homes and brought here to be sold as slaves. Once the first few ships arrived, the number of them made them a minority of the time. The common ancestral background for African Americans originates is Africa.

• In what ways have laws been used to enforce discrimination? Provide examples. These laws were intended against which racial minorities?

There have been plenty of cases where laws have been used to enforce discrimination. An example of one such law would be the Jim Crow law, which was employed in the South just after the time of slavery. The Jim Crow laws prevented Blacks from obtaining equality in American society for about 100 years. These laws made life hard for African Americans, as is limited their rights. They had to use different bathrooms, go to their own churches, and most of the time were not welcomed at restaurants that predominantly catered to the white community- and all of this was supported by the Jim Crow laws.

• In what ways have laws been used to eliminate discrimination? Provide examples. Did the laws work to eliminate discrimination?

In the U.S., laws have been used to try and eliminate discrimination for years. Some of these laws are of a particular nature that makes it illegal to refuse housing to people based on their race. Many of these laws prohibit not only discrimination based on race, but gender, age, religious affiliation, and other factors. Affirmative action of the courts and prison systems which discriminates against Blacks and Hispanics and gives them 20% longer sentences (Schaefer, 2012) is a great example of a law that eliminated discrimination. Even though there will always be discriminiation of some form, these laws have helped to create some sense of equality among the different races.