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Discriminatory: The Role Of Race And Ethnicity In Society

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The Role of Race and Ethnicity in Society
The fall of 2016 at California High School marked a turning point in the evolution of racism and fueled the issue of racial inequality in America. Students walked into the school bathrooms to find the words “for whites” and “for colored people” written along the stall doors. Staff members and the student body witnessed the heinous presence of racist graffiti on the white tinted walls of the school bathrooms. Blacks were pressured to enter separate stalls than whites and reexamine their status in society. Students and faculty members were compelled to analyze the role of white supremacy and the effects of racial prejudice throughout our nation. The notions of race and ethnicity have been negatively …show more content…
In Racial Conflict: Are U.S. Policies Discriminatory?, Katel illustrates an example of racial discrimination by addressing “The $11,000 median net worth of black households is about 13 times less than the median white household net worth of $141,900” (Katel). Whites typically own greater assets and property values than blacks. This contributes to the decreased median net worth of black households and demonstrates how whites have better access to public accommodations. According to the article, “Housing and Urban Development Secretary George Romney views the country’s discriminatory housing patterns as a high-income white noose” (Katel). White privilege in America caters to the low income of blacks which ultimately leads to poverty and the lack of adequate housing. Police brutality is another form of discrimination that is highly prevalent throughout the nation. White policemen and women arrest more blacks than whites. John J. Macionis says “African Americans make up 13.2 percent of the population but account for 29.0 percent of arrests for property crimes (versus 68.2 percent of arrests for whites) and 38.7 percent of arrests for violent crimes (versus 58.4 percent for whites )” (Macionis 192). The cause of this is simply the status of blacks in society. Impoverished blacks that live among privileged and wealthy whites view the nation as unjust so they engage in criminal activity in order to retaliate. This leads to increased police brutality by police officers and other workers within criminal justice. In Racial Conflict: Are U.S. Policies Discriminatory?, racial bias is further expressed as Katel asserts “About one in 12 black men ages 25-54 are in jail or prison, versus one in 60 white men” (Katel). Policemen and women arrest more men and women of color than whites simply because of the constant prevalence of racism in

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