Race Relations Essay Example for Free

Race Relations EssayHumanity has been enduring an ongoing involvement for centuries the strained dealings among the turn tails. Despite efforts to put the past behind, signs remain at nearly every juncture that there still exists a strong spirit of racial dissension. While many ovalbumins do not see the riddle being as severe as it is represented, African-Americans angrily reply that the lighter sputter race has not had to endure much(prenominal) diagonal and, therefore, cannot begin to identify with the situation.Frank Newport, vice president of the Gallup Poll Organization, says Caucasian Americans do not constitute racism as a big problem, therefore, they do not see a need for government intervention (Anonymous, 1997 04A). Similarly, Asians, Hispanics and other United States minorities believe they much receive unfair treatment because of their race.However, chairman Clinton and several organizations including the National Multicultural Institute, whose main foc us is to sort out the jumble of expectations and fears that swirl around the initiatives trial to reconcile ethnicity and difference with the notion of one American nation (Green, 1998 PG) atomic number 18 pushing hard to mend racial tension with a comprehensive program that is designed to bring all races together. Will it work? Or lead minorities look upon the effort as zero point more than a Band-Aid covering a much larger issue?To some extent, concepts such as affirmative action have their place in society, yet they will do nothing to alter an individuals perception of one race or another(prenominal). In the past, childrens racial viewpoints have routinely been shaped by their p argonnts perceptions. This is precisely how racial prejudice is passed down from genesis to generation. However, todays teens appear to be breaking free of the antiquated procession by voicing their own panoramas almost race relations.While racial hate crimes continue to run rampant, the newer ge neration tends to believe there is less interracial tension than do their parents (Farley, 1997). What has instigated this considerably lax attitude among the young generation is not quite clear yet a TIME/CNN poll has discovered that the juvenile population is far more forgiving of racial prejudices than their big(a) counterparts.Of twelve hundred, eighty-two adults and six hundred one teenagers aged twelve to seventeen the younger sect demonstrated a considerable amount of racial tolerance toward one another when compared with the older respondents (Farley, 1997). If given the luck, children and young adults will not adopt negative views of other races if they are not placed in such an environment that encourages such thought. However, with the deep-seated hatred that has been bred into so many generations, it has become difficult for some of those prejudice intentions not to trickle down the family line. except the TIME/CNN poll was instrumental in establishing that a good num ber of adolescence of all races have successfully set offd beyond their parents views of race (Farley, 1997 88+). To the kids with such an free mind, race is no more important to them in either a social or personal level yet it is not to be overlooked that these same respondents were still able to recognize the fact that racism was one of Americas biggest problems today. Even so, over one-third said the problem though it exists is peanut (Farley, 1997 88+).As it relates to their own lives, eighty-nine percent of the African-American adolescents who responded said the problem was small or did not exist at all. Amazingly, the Caucasian respondents both young and old considered racism a more dominant issue (Farley, 1997 88+) than did the African-American adolescent respondents. What does that say about the varying impressions of race relations? Depending upon which race is viewing the issue, it appears the seriousness of the problem could be considerably damaging or an insignific ant obstacle.Still, optimism is high that the younger generation deems race relations as being in good standing. This may be a sign of hope (Farley, 1997 88+) or nothing more than youthful naivete (88+) regardless, it demonstrates a long awaited shift in the social climate relating to race relations and its consequences. Sociologist Joe R. Feagin says the answer may lie with both options. His interpretation of the lack of adolescent racism is that reality has not fully set in for those who have not yet experienced the real world.You have to be out expression for jobs and housing to know how much discrimination is out there (Farley, 1997 88+). Feagin contends that those who have a better grasp of racial reality are those who are over the age of nineteen. Reasoning behind this is that comparatively few African-American teenage respondents said they had been victimized by discrimination contrarily, half of the African-American adults admitted they had (Farley, 1997). Experts are conc erned that adolescents are being too gullible when it comes to realizing the fairness of the matter.Others contend that perhaps they are willfully setting a precedence for others to follow that will ultimately initiate a genuine value in race relations. It is not as though contemporary teenagers do not have association of history and its negative treatment of minority races rather, it appears they have more faith in their own proximo than their parents did before them. Additionally, todays youth are trying to move away from the typical scapegoating (Farley, 1997 88+) that has become so commonplace in society.Suspicions arise with poll results, however, in that they do not always reflect the truth many people are more apt to give socially acceptable (Farley, 1997 88+) answers rather than what is truly in their hearts. Yet this is not likely to be the contention of teenagers who, for the most part, speak more freely and true to form than adults. A believer in this concept is soci ologist Howard Pinderhuges, author of Race in the Hood Conflict and Violence Among Urban Youth, who firmly contends that teenagers are genuine.Teenagers are a mirror of our souls. They speak plainly about things that adults would like to hide. Political rightness isnt an issue to them. Youre more likely to get what they think unfiltered (Farley, 1997 88+). Still, through all this optimism, there exists an invisible boundary line that, even though race relations seem to be improving, keeps the races separated. Seventeen-year-old Danny, one of the TIME/CNN respondents, commented that his friends consisted more of African-Americans than Caucasians.This, in and of itself, was not as enlightening as was his admission of the fact that we just babble out in school (Farley, 1997 88+), not allowing the relationship to progress into ones personal territory. It was a normal occurrence for none of Dannys African-American friends to visit him at fireside or for him to go to theirs the lines o f separation were clearly drawn. Experts consider this to be accountable in large part to the amount of violence that takes place in the crime-plagued housing projects (Farley, 1997 88+) where many of his friends live.The situation is far from unusual. Even among African-American youths, the interpretation of neighborhood safety has its variations. According to the TIME/CNN poll, forty percent of African-American teenagers ingest to have known someone in their age group who has been killed, whereas just fifteen percent of Caucasian teenagers said they had experienced the same. Interestingly, African-American youths believe they are treated unfairly by enforcement officers, while one-third believe they are at risk (Farley, 1997 88+) of receiving unfair treatment.Just one of five Caucasian youths feels the same. John Hope Franklin, head of President Clintons race relations task force, claims genuine racial betterment will not arrive until you have improvement in the home conditions o f kids of all kinds (Farley, 1997 88+). An intriguing informal study gives an indication of how racial difference runs deep within an individuals psyche. Psychologist and author Beverly Tatum, who recently wrote wherefore Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? , routinely poses the following question to psychology students I am _______. What is most interesting about the answers she receives is the fact that Caucasian students fill in the blank with an adjective describing their personalities or characters, whereas students of other races are more apt to finish the sentence identifying their ethnicity. According to Tatum, such racial recognition is born out of adolescent peer pressure, societal influences and self-reflection (Farley, 1997 88+). Polls are regularly put to use to determine the universal climate on race relations.A recent USA TODAY survey of more than two thousand college freshmen from around the country reported that forty-five percent perceived race relations as having a positive stance within society in all, two percent thought relations betwixt African-Americans and Caucasians were excellent (Kohen, 1998 PG). A poll in The Independent, a British publication, noted that one-third of the Caucasians believed one should marry only within ones race (Forna, 1998 1, 2). Granted, views of younger generations may be quite a bit more diverse than those of the older sect, but those younger views are what will ultimately shape the future of the country.Being on campus allows people the fortune to intermingle more frequently with those of other races, which may give them the false impression that the rest of the world is as friendly with one another as they are at school. Unlike out in the real world, campus life encourages the fraternization of racial groups, attempting to overthrow the narrow- mindedness oftentimes found on the streets of reality. Noel Barrion, Asian American Student Union president, observes this difference eac h and everyday he looks to see who is sitting next to one another in the school cafeteria.Racial discrimination is out there. People just arent aware (Kohen, 1998 PG). Barrion says the AASU works hard to bridge the gap that separates the races as they exist on campus. Naima Stevenson, Black Student Union President, says the solution to combating racial discrimination (Kohen, 1998 PG) is to keep the lines of communication as wide open as possible in golf club to confront the complexity and richness of in the United States (Delgado, 1997 39A). Because of this forward moving attitude, the relationship between the two campus racial organizations is in good standing.Says Barrion The vehicle between us becoming friends is the desire to be involved (Kohen, 1998 PG). Both Stevenson and Barrion admit to the difficulty of establishing just how much race relations have changed for the worse or better during their short stay at college, but they both have reason to remain positive that future change will be for the better. For Stevenson, aspect back after several years to find a marked improvement in campus race relations would be ideal. They both believe that if relations continue in the manner they currently are, this would not be such an unexpected occurrence (Kohen, 1998 PG).However, it is not uncommon to find just the opposite opinion from other students. The USA TODAY poll revealed that far more African-Americans sense the negativity with regard to race relations than does any other race. Yet condescension actions in place to bridge the racial gap, those like Barrion and Stevenson believe far more can be done than the efforts currently available on American college campuses. While the opportunity is there for expansion, there is just not enough diversity on campus (Kohen, 1998 PG).It looks like it will still be the same problem going into the new millennium. Theres plenty of opportunity to meet someone of another culture or that you would have never known about b efore (Kohen, 1998 PG). President Clinton has set his sights on bridging the racial gap in an effort to improve the countrys deteriorating race relations (McFeatters, 1997 68). By using his clout as Chief administrator and standing behind the affirmative action policy, Clinton hopes to turn around some of the prejudice that continues to spread across the land.A speech he gave at the gazillion Man March in Texas in 1995 effectively forecasted Americas situation as one where an inordinate number of people fear deep down deep down that theyll never quite be able to see each other as more than enemy faces, all of whom carry a sliver of bigotry in their hearts (McFeatters, 1997 68). Clinton contends that America must clean its house of racism that a house divided against itself cannot stand (McFeatters, 1997 68). While these words ring true, it is not clear as to what the President intends to do in the long run to curb racism in the United States.One thing he does nominate is a more fair system of dispersing wage earnings among African-Americans, of who only one-fourth make upwards of thirty-five thousand dollars a year compared to half of all Caucasian Americans (McFeatters, 1997 68). Speaking on the topic of integration, President Clinton agreed with Franklin who proposed the only way to clear the cloudy air of racism was to encourage open and honest dialogue (McFeatters, 1997 68) among the races that it was, indeed, the critical first step (68) in the direction of genuine racial integration.Other critics say it is time to end the reliance on racism as an explanatory concept (Wortham, 1996 253) for all racial problems and move beyond the black-white paradigm (Gold, 1998 B-2) when the topic turns to race relations. When we say true integration, we mean the opportunity of every American to develop to the fullest extent of his capacity. We mean that every individual regardless then of regardless of religion, regardless of ethnicity, every American has an oppor tunity, should have an opportunity to move forward as rapidly as his talents, his or her talents, and as rapidly as the opportunities open (Page et al, 1998 PG).BIBLIOGRAPHY Introduction to Psychology Inner macrocosm, Outer Reality in Diversity, Jennifer Iljas ISBN 0-7575-2864-3 Anonymous (1997, June). Poll finds pessimism on status and future of U. S. race relations// Perceptions are black and white. Star Tribune, pp. 04A. Delgado, Richard Perea, Juan F. (1997, November). Racism goes beyond black and white. high-strung luck News, pp. 39A. Farley, Christopher John (1997, November).Society Kids and race A new poll shows teenagers, black and white, have moved beyond their parents views of race. TIME, pp. 88+. Forna, Aminatta (1998, August). Bridge over churning water. Independent on Sunday, pp. 1, 2. Gold, Matea (1998, February). L. A. shares its experiences with race relations panel Diversity Video points out what the city has learned and seeks to widen presidential advisory grou ps discussion beyond black-white issues. Los Angeles Times, pp. B-2. Green, Sharon (1998, May).Washington, DC, Presidents initiative on race Progress. Talk of the Nation (NPR), pp. PG. Kohen, Rochelle (1998, February). USA Today survey reveals poor perception of race relations. University Wire, pp. PG. McFeatters, Ann (1997 May). Clinton hopes to close racial divide. Rocky Mountain News, pp. 68A. Page, Clarence Hansen, Liane (1998, June). Race Initiative. Weekend Sunday (NPR),pp. PG. Wortham, Anne (1996, January). Distorting the Dilemma. The World I, vol. 11, pp. 253.