Introduction
African Americans have been subject to racialization since they arrived in the United States. This process has been perpetuated through several mechanisms, including slavery, Jim Crow laws, and mass incarceration. African Americans have also been subjected to several negative stereotypes, which have justified their discrimination and exclusion. Despite the progress made in recent years, African Americans continue to face significant challenges in the United States. They are more likely to live in poverty, be unemployed, and experience police brutality. They also continue to be underrepresented in politics and other areas of public life.
The case of African Americans demonstrates the ongoing problem of racialization in the United States. This process has had a profound impact on the lives of African Americans, and its effects are still being felt today. Analaysing racialization towards African Americans is essential because they have suffered significant challenges, evolution, and new outcomes over time in the hand of racism among white people.
Summary
In her article, “Racialization and its paradigms: from Ireland to North America,” Bashi Treitler discusses the success, struggle, or failure of the African American ethnic project. She begins by explaining that the success or failure of the African American ethnic project can be seen in different periods. For example, Treitler (2016)argues that the African American ethnic project was successful in the period after the Civil War.
This is because African Americans were able to gain freedom and civil rights. Moreover, Treitler points to the end 19th century to the mid-20th century as an illustration of a time when the African American ethnic project was struggling. This is because African Americans faced Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination during this time. Finally, Treitler (2016) states that African American ethnic project is currently struggling. African Americans continue to face discrimination and disparities in education, employment, health, and income. The success or failure of the African American ethnic project can be seen in different periods, depending on the specific situation of African Americans during that time.
Treitler provides some examples to support her argument that the African American ethnic project is currently failing. She points to the fact that African Americans are more likely to live in poverty than other groups and are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed (Treitler, 2016). African Americans also face disproportionately high incarceration rates and are more likely to be the victims of violence. These disparities underscore the fact that, despite some progress, the African American community continues to face significant challenges
The slave trade was the first instance of African Americans being racialized. This is because the slave trade was based on the idea that Africans were inferior to Europeans and best suited for manual labor. This idea led to the belief that African Americans could not live as equals to whites in society. As a result, African Americans were subjected to several restrictions, such as being unable to vote, hold office, or own property. Moreover, Treitler talks of the Jim Crow laws, a series of policies enacted in the late 19th century to segregate African Americans from whites (Treitler, 2016). These laws led to African Americans being confined to certain areas of cities, being banned from public facilities such as schools and parks, and being required to use separate entrances to buildings.
Another indication that Black people struggled against racism is the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement of 1950, a time when African Americans fought for equality in the United States. This was done through several protests, sit-ins, and marches. One of the most famous moments of the Civil Rights Movement was the Selma to Montgomery march, which was a march that was meant to protest the lack of voting rights for African Americans in the state of Alabama. Treitler (2016) employed the War on Drugs when the United States government investigated the use and sale of illegal drugs to show unfairness towards black people. The activities on drug abuse disproportionately affected African Americans, as they were more likely to be arrested and sentenced to longer prison terms for drug-related offenses.
Analysis and Support of Treitler’s Views
I agree with Bashi Treitler’s description of the African American group. The African American group has been subjected to discrimination and racism since they were brought to the United States as enslaved people. Even after slavery was ended, black people were still treated as second-class citizens. They were denied their freedom and forced to work without pay (Gans, 2017). They were also subjected to inhuman treatment. After the Civil War, African Americans were supposed to be free and equal to White people, but this was not the case. African Americans were still discriminated against and were not given the same opportunities as White people (Gans, 2017).
Today, African Americans experience disparities in education, employment, and income. Sociological research has shown that these disparities are due to African American historical and contemporary experiences in relation to the U.S. racial hierarchy. They are also more likely to be incarcerated than other groups.
The U.S. racial hierarchy is a system in which White people are at the top, followed by Asians, Latinos, and African Americans. This system is based on the history of racism and discrimination in the United States. White people have always been in the majority and have always had more power than other groups (Gans, 2017). They have used this power to advantage themselves and to disadvantage other groups, including the Black Americans.
One study found that African Americans are less likely than Whites to receive a quality education. The study found that African American students are more likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers, to attend schools with fewer resources, and to be segregated into lower-performing schools. These disparities in education lead to differences in employment. African Americans are less likely to have the skills and qualifications necessary to obtain good jobs (Oliveri, 2017). They are also more likely to be unemployed or underemployed, as they were often the last to be hired and the first to be fired. This results in lower incomes for African Americans than for white people.
The health disparities between African Americans and other groups also follow racial hierarchy’s significant impacts. African Americans are more likely to suffer from chronic health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension (Khoshneviss, 2018). They are also more likely to die from cancer and heart disease. One reason for these health disparities is that African Americans are more likely to experience poverty than other groups. Deprivation can lead to poor health due to inadequate access to quality healthcare, nutritious food, and safe housing. Poverty can also lead to stress, which can further impact health (Khoshneviss, 2018). It has been more challenging for African Americans to have proper health insurance coverage than whites. This means that they are less likely to receive preventive care and more likely to delay seeking treatment for severe health conditions.
African Americans are also more likely to be incarcerated than other groups. One study found that African Americans are incarcerated at six times the rate of Whites (Oliveri, 2017). This is because African Americans are more likely to be arrested and convicted of crimes. They are also more likely to receive harsher sentences than Whites. This results in a cycle of poverty and criminal activity for many African Americans.
Furthermore, African Americans still face discrimination in many areas of life. They still have to put in double the efforts a white person could use to get the same economic or work level. Black people still live in segregated neighborhoods and go to segregated schools, as systemic barriers have not been entirely broken to promote justice for and equality for all races. White people are still considered superior to others. African Americans are also more likely to be incarcerated than White people (Khoshneviss, 2018). In addition, African Americans still experience racism in their everyday lives. They may be treated differently than White people in stores, restaurants, and other public places. They may also be subjected to racial slurs and verbal abuse.
Conclusion
The U.S. racial hierarchy is a system in which White people are at the top, followed by Asians, Latinos, and African Americans. Being at the lowest point of the hierarchy, black people still struggle to gain justice, with much discrimination still in place. However, things have improved since the civil rights movement, as the issue of slavery ended, and Black Americans enjoyed most rights they could not have, like voting and owning property.
Bibliography
Gans, H. J. (2017). Racialization and racialization research. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 40(3), 341–352. Web.
Khoshneviss, H. (2018). The inferior white: Politics and practices of the racialization of people from the Middle East in the U.S. Ethnicities, 19(1), 117–135. Web.
Oliveri, F. (2017). Racialization and counter-racialization in times of crisis: Taking migrant struggles in Italy as a critical standpoint on race. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 41(10), 1855–1873. Web.
Treitler, B. V. (2016). Racialization and its paradigms: From Ireland to North America. Current Sociology, 64(2), 213–227. Web.