America has been dealing with segregation from its birth. Many of us wonder today if America should be resegregated. “To segregate is to: to require often with force, the separation of (a specific racial, religious, or other group) from the general body of society. ” (Dictionary. com). In order to understand our selves, we must first understand Segregation in America. The constantly changing fashionable take on Segregation in America demonstrates the depth of the subject. In this research paper I am going to take a look at the past, present, future of segregation, and its effects on society today.
By looking at America’s past life of segregation, we may open wounds for many that have been covered with salt and that also may bring out heated emotions. In this paper we are looking at whites and blacks. In the past these two races were separated in every aspect of life that we can think of. The common name for a black (African American) in these days was nigger or negro. I have heard a few elderly African Americans say that they would call the white (Caucasian) people Crackers. Race has continued to be a heated factor in America up until today.
Though Segregation in America is a favorite topic of discussion amongst monarchs, presidents and dictators, it is impossible to overestimate its impact on modern thought. It is estimated that that Segregation in America is thought about eight times every day by those most reliant on technology, many of whom blame the influence of television. Taking a look at the job aspect for the blacks in the past, they were limited. Many of the jobs that were available where drivers (which consisted of driving the boss (which was a white man) around where ever they needed to go), share cropping, and warehouse work.
If someone was to ask which cost had the worst segregation period, it would be the south. When it came to the women’s role in the job category they were maids, mammies, or simply stay at home wives who stayed home and took care of their children. Some women were able to find better jobs with a little more pay which consisted of secretaries and nurses. Blacks received the lowest pay for their work and dedication to making money for their families to survive. The day to day life for a black individual was very dull and unglamorous.
With the job pay being so low many families count afford transportation to get around, therefore they had to carpool with others, use the public transportation system, or rode bikes, but most of the black society walked to the destination they needed. Some of the hobbies that they we permitted to do was attend parks, movies, stores, etc. , but they were not always allowed in all places of business. While in these places of businesses they were only allowed to sit in a pacific area that was labeled for colored, and the water fountains and restrooms were also labeled the same way.
The consequences for breaking the rules where; local citizens would take upon there self and beat people up or the law enforcement would simply throw them in jail or give them a fine For example, the story of Viola Desmond. Like the very familiar case of Rosa Parks, Ms. Desmond was arrested because she would not vacate a seat. “ Desmond went into the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N. S. in 1946- she sat close to the front, ignoring or unaware of the theatre’s segregated seating policy restricting black patrons to the cheaper seats in the balcony.
When she refused to leave the whites-only section she was dragged out by the police and taken to jail. ” (Foot, Richard. 2010) This is just one of the many scenarios in black history where blacks have been punished for not conforming to the norm of the times. I would have to say that whites have been the privileged race in America since its birth. Whites always look at their race as the superior one, they held there selves on a pedestal and looked down on those who were not like them. This is something that I believe has been shown and proven to be true for the most part.
Whites have always had better educational privileges, and better money due to higher pay from employers. The whites have had influence and power that has been dated back to the slavery period, they also came up with many clever and convenient strategies on how to make slaves and control them. Power had a big impact because it was the main control that they had over blacks. Looking forward to when the civil rights movement came into play, the whites were not able to beat and harm blacks as they did previously before in the slavery period because it was now illegal.
Other actions were taken in to place: for instance, the punishment for blacks not doing as told was for the police take them somewhere private and invisible and beat them. The police also would sick dogs on them, beat them with their sticks, orspray them with water hoses if they rallied. Many of us know of the group called the Klu Klux Klan and this was to be the last option of punishment. The (KKK) Klu Klux Klan is a white supremacist party. Their belief was the same as any other white believed, and that was that their race was the supreme one and everyone else was beneath them.
The KKK was known for shooting, beating, or hanging and individual of the blacks who did not abide by to what was the norm. The norm was for all black to be submissive to whites in whatever way they see fit. Looking at the job aspect whites held better jobs than blacks. They could basically name their job title to anything they wanted to be. The day to day life of a white individual was simple; they could be anything from the president to a homeless man. They were able to afford all of the luxuries in that period such as education and anything they seen fit because they had the money.
When it came to education, blacks were given hand me downs, and poor equipment for other things if they received any at all. Blacks were not allowed to go to the same schools as whites. Everything was separate. The education that the average black student received from a southern school was minuet compared to the education that the white children received. The social activities that were available for black were also limited, sports has been one of the most loved pass time activities for Americans.
A lot of college students who participate in sports were found by college scouts in high school because of their sports records that they hold. Back in the past this was not available to black because they did not do college scouting at (negro) schools, they looked passed their talent. The schools for blacks were even substantially smaller than the white’s. Looking at the view from the white’s aspect they were the students that had the newest and best material that was available. Comparing the education between the white’s and blacks I would say that the white’s received better educational opportunities the blacks.
Majority of the teachers for the most part, went to college and had proof of being able to teach the required material. Having the lacking end of the educational system many of the blacks wished that they had the same opportunity as the whites did. They way that this was accomplished was when integration took place. The black’s wanted to be able to integrate in to the white’s schools. This way they would know that they were receiving the best educational opportunities that were available. One example of this is the story of Ernest Green. In 1957 in the city of Little Rock, Ark, Ernest and eight of his friends attempted to enroll in segregated Central High School. After withstanding verbal abuse, physical abuse, and other acts of violence, Ernest gained access to the school and was the only one of the nine students to graduate from the high school. ”(Anonymous (JET) 1993) Again this was just one of the many occasions where blacks were attempting to segregate, and were physically or mentally abused for wanting a better education. America in today’s world, segregation is known to be illegal.
Most of the congress is pressing to make sure that every individual get treated equally and right according to the laws that have been put in place. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. ”(Declaration of Independence) These words were set in place to be the framework for all of American people; today we hold these words more seriously than they were held in the past times.
In today’s world we all can see that there has been a major change and that most of America is content with the way that our society is. I would have to say that I see this as being evident for many reasons such as; in 2008 we elected our first African American president, this was unheard of in the past. Many children were told that they could be anything that they wanted to be but, in the end they never expect it to actually happen. The weird thing about today’s society is that we have integrated the schools but, the majority of students still band together by race.
It is considered out of the norm but not unusual to see a black student in a crowd of white students or the other way around. Unfortunately, there is still a type of segregation that is going around which is known by classism. This has been able to stay around do to the bending situations and laws. Educational wise they now have schools that are called charter or magnet schools. “Charter schools emerged in the early 1990’s as a new idea for public school reform. This alternative choice could circumvent state and national bureaucratic controls that were perceived as hindering public schools from reform. (Tal Levy, 2010) This gives the parents the option to choose a supposed to be better educational aspect for their children instead of them attending the public school system. These schools are known for more one on one time with the students for a better understanding of the material that is being taught, as well as the strict guide lines that all students, parents, and teachers must follow. In 1991 laws were passed to ensure that segregation does not happen in these schools. “Minnesota passed the nation’s first charter school law in 1991.
Between 1991 and 2003 forty other states and the District of Columbia passed charter school laws and to make sure that segregation is not an issue previsions have been made in legislature that calls for racial integration. ” Another typed of segregation in America that I feel need to be address and work out is hushed segregation; you can mostly find this in the work field. Some of the employers out there in the society today hire individuals based on their gender as well as their race; being that this act is illegal they cannot speak on why they chose the male over the female for the job.
The segregation in numerous of these cases today is not because of racial bias as it is so much about gender bias. The men in today’s legal field for example will receive cases before women do because men lawyers are perceived to be more likely to win cases than women are. The legal field is gagged as a world for the men. Women are the paralegals and secretaries. In other cases the situation consists of men being paid higher wages then women for performing the same jobs.
The employers get away with this is most of employer guild lines states that employees are not allowed to talk about how much they are being paid. A job position is another situation that some companies seem to hire on your gender or race. For instance, there are to college graduates one is white and one is black they both have credentials and the same grades, which one of the students you think will get the better advantage over the other the white student in a suite or a black student in a suite? Well believe it or not in today’s world the answer would be it epends on the type of god that is being applied for. If we were to look at this same question but in the view of the past the answer would have automatically been the white student. Moving on to another area where I feel segregation is held is housing. Most of the black community today has low income and can be found in the low poverty areas in many states which are known to many as the projects or a more commonly name such as the ghetto, in most of these areas we will find that the majority race is blacks.
You can also find communities that are just as bad but are mostly populated with the Mexican race. Many people identify these neighborhoods by site because there known to be run down and have poor property upkeep. It is also common to find a lot of gang activity and also a lot of other types of violence. This makes the property value low which means that it is rare to see/find and whites living in the area. Majority of white people live in a more upscale area which is known by the suburban areas.
Many of these neighborhoods try to control the crime rate by putting together a group of people in the area watch for people committing crime they are better known as neighborhood watch groups. And majority of their home are equipped with security alarms. In some areas it is also common for them to have police patrol the areas frequently at night as well. I would say that it is not done with racism but with classism. If the a law to resegregate America was declined, could this issue act as an eye opener and give cause for people to want to put a stop to the hushed segregation problems?
There should be laws in place with as little loopholes as possible for the hiring process in within many employer companies. Who would govern these laws to make sure they are followed? Next is the problem of the pay scale and the positions. Would it show to be more beneficial for the employer and the employee, man or woman, to have set pay scales for positions? It may also show to be more beneficial to set higher standards for the hiring of the amount of minorities in the companies. It should not matter if it is a man or a woman, black, white, pink, or pocked doted.
Everyone should be treated equally n all aspects if the woman would do better in the position as the man then she deserves the opportunity to show what she is capable of. As for the other problems dealing with classism in the school system, I feel that they should also conform to the same rules that all of the public school systems have to as far as segregation goes. People need to answer whether or not does it mean that a rich person should have a better education then a poor person? Does money make a person or does hard work and ambition?
These are all things that should be considered in making choices such as these. In conclusion, looking at all the aspects of segregation and looking at the data fully, I must say that being against it makes me happy. Living in a world where we all are supposed to be treated equally no matter of race or gender, every individual should be granted the same opportunities. Therefore, I can honestly state that I feel that America should not be resegregated. References http://dictionary. reference. com/browse/segregate http://www. ushistory. org/declaration/document/ Levy, T.. 2010). Charter Schools Legislation and the Element of Race. Western Journal of Black Studies, 34(1), 43-52. Retrieved July 18, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1989943651). Richard Foot. (2010, April 15). N. S. family balks at pardon for 1940s civil rights icon. The Windsor Star,A. 6. Retrieved July 18, 2010, from Canadian Newsstand Complete. (Document ID: 2012008241). ‘The Ernest Green Story’ tells how black students integrated Little Rock school amid violence. (1993, January). Jet, 83(13), 14. Retrieved July 18, 2010, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1684597).
