Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States Essay Example
Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States
SOC/120
Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States
During the duration of this course I have learned about social problems within the society in which we live and around the world. It is still troubling to learn that poverty, social inequality, race and cultural discrimination, gender stratification, environmental damage, population growth, and urbanization are among the social problems and controversial issues that still exist in the United States. Social inequality is subject that has been around for many years because of someone’s race, gender, status, wealth. The harsh reality of this situation is that people are being judged and discriminated against for these reasons. Discussed will be the affect that social inequality has on minorities. The term minority does not refer to only African Americans, or to someone’s ethnic diversity. A minority, in terms of social relationships, could be anyone in terms of race, gender, status and wealth. In a sociological perspective, this means that a person could be a minority in which an individual is more or less advantaged; by definition a minority is any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural differences that sets apart and subordinates meaning that it is a socially constructed concept (Macionis, 2006). A person’s race and ethnicity, class, and gender shed light on inequality because members of a society decide that a person’s physical attributes actually matter (Macionis, 2006). Minorities have two important characteristics: distinct identity and subordination (Macionis, 2006). In the United States, minorities have lower income, occupational prestige, and limited schooling serving as a master status overshadowing personal accomplishments that leads to prejudice, and discrimination as an affect of inequality (Macionis, 2006). Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about a category of people that is
SOC/120
Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States
During the duration of this course I have learned about social problems within the society in which we live and around the world. It is still troubling to learn that poverty, social inequality, race and cultural discrimination, gender stratification, environmental damage, population growth, and urbanization are among the social problems and controversial issues that still exist in the United States. Social inequality is subject that has been around for many years because of someone’s race, gender, status, wealth. The harsh reality of this situation is that people are being judged and discriminated against for these reasons. Discussed will be the affect that social inequality has on minorities. The term minority does not refer to only African Americans, or to someone’s ethnic diversity. A minority, in terms of social relationships, could be anyone in terms of race, gender, status and wealth. In a sociological perspective, this means that a person could be a minority in which an individual is more or less advantaged; by definition a minority is any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural differences that sets apart and subordinates meaning that it is a socially constructed concept (Macionis, 2006). A person’s race and ethnicity, class, and gender shed light on inequality because members of a society decide that a person’s physical attributes actually matter (Macionis, 2006). Minorities have two important characteristics: distinct identity and subordination (Macionis, 2006). In the United States, minorities have lower income, occupational prestige, and limited schooling serving as a master status overshadowing personal accomplishments that leads to prejudice, and discrimination as an affect of inequality (Macionis, 2006). Prejudice is a rigid and unfair generalization about a category of people that is