Race is a concept of human classification scheme based on visible features including eye color, skin color, the texture of the hair and other facial and bodily characteristics. Through these features, humans are ten categorized into distinct groups of population and this is enhanced by the fact that the characteristics are fully inherited.
Across the globe, debate on the topic of race has dominated for centuries. This is especially due to the resultant discrimination meted on the basis of these differences. Consequently, a lot of controversy surrounds the issue of race socially, politically but also in the scientific world.
According to many sociologists, race is more of a modern idea rather than a historical. This is based on overwhelming evidence that in ancient days physical differences mattered least. Most divisions were as a result of status, religion, language and even class.
Most controversy originates from the need to understand whether the beliefs associated with racial differences have any genetic or biological basis. Classification of races is mainly done in reference to the geographical origin of the people. The African are indigenous to the African continent: Caucasian are natives of Europe, the greater Asian represents the Mongols, Micronesians and Polynesians: Amerindian are from the American continent while the Australoid are from Australia. However, the common definition of race regroups these categories in accordance to skin color as black, white and brown. The groups described above can then fall into either of these skin color groupings (Origin of the Races, 2010, par6).
It is possible to believe that since the concept of race was a social description of genetic and biological differences then the biologists would agree with these assertions. However, this is not true due to several facts which biologists considered. First, race when defined in line with who resides in what continent is highly discontinuous as it was clear that there were different races sharing a continent. Secondly, there is continuity in genetic variations even in the socially defined race groupings.
This implies that even in people within the same race, there were distinct racial differences hence begging the question whether the socially defined race was actually a biologically unifying factor. Biologists estimate that 85% of total biological variations exist within a unitary local population. This means that the differences among a racial group such as Caucasians are much more compared to those obtained from the difference between the Caucasians and Africans (Sternberg, Elena & Kidd, 2005, p49).
In addition, biologists found out that the various races were not distinct but rather shared a single lineage as well as a single evolutionary path. Therefore there is no proven genetic value derived from the concept of race. Other scientists have declared that there is absolutely no scientific foundation linking race, intelligence and genetics.
Still, a trait such as skin color is completely independent of other traits such as eye shape, blood type, hair texture and other such differences. This means that it cannot be correct to group people using a group of features (Race the power of an illusion, 2010, par3).
What is clear to all is that all human beings in the modern day belong to the same biological sub-species referred to biologically as Homo sapiens sapiens. It has been proven that humans of different races are at least four times more biologically similar in comparison to the different types of chimpanzees which would ordinarily be seen as being looking alike.
It is clear that the original definition of race in terms of the external features of the facial formation and skin color did not capture the scientific fact which show that the genetic differences which result to these changes account to an insignificant proportion of the gene controlling the human genome.
Despite the fact that it is clear that race is not biological, it remains very real. It is still considered an important factor which gives people different levels of access to opportunities. The most visible aspect is the enormous advantages available to white people. This cuts across many sectors of human life and affects all humanity regardless of knowledge of existence.
This being the case, I find it difficult to understand the source of great social tensions across the globe based on race and ethnicity. There is enormous evidence of people being discriminated against on the basis of race. In fact countries such as the US have legislation guarding against discrimination on basis of race in different areas.
The findings define a stack reality which must be respected by all human beings. The idea of view persons of a different race as being inferior or superior is totally unfounded and goes against scientific findings.
Consequently these facts offer a source of unity for the entire humanity. Humanity should understand the need to scrap the racial boundaries not only for the sake of peace but also for fairness. Just because someone is white does not imply that he/she is closer to you than the black one. This is because it could even be true that you have more in common with the black one than the white one.
Reference List
Origin of the Races, 2010. Race Facts. Web.
Race the power of an illusion, 2010. What is race?. Web.
Sternberg, J., Elena L. & Kidd, K. 2005. Intelligence, Race, and Genetics. The American Psychological Association Vol. 60(1), 46–59. Web.
Equity basically involves the perceptions of fairness in a broader context involving a number a concepts such as gender equity, equity in the distribution of resources, racial equity and many more. The equity theory is normally based on the principle of fairness. This essay attempts to evaluate the work of Stuart Hall, “Gramsci’s relevance to the study of race and ethnicity”, with a key analysis of its relevance to equity.
Stuart focused on racial equity, and an evaluation of the theoretical frameworks that are applied in social sciences to provide explanations for equity. Stuart is of the opinion that Gramsci did not provide adequate theoretical foundations towards the analysis of social phenomena in the context of equity (411).
Gramsci is more of a political and social activist, rather than a social theorist. His theoretical explanations were primarily based on the fact that he was more involved with his society during his times; his major goal was his intentions to serve, not formulating the social theories for academic reasons, but to put a check on the political practices of his times (Stuart 413).
This therefore implies that Gramsci’s theories can be used to provide explanations in the political context rather than the in explaining the social problems (412). Gramsci concepts were basically a redefined approach to the Marxists theories, within which there were limitations of in the Marxist’s theories. This means that Gramsci was not a Marxist, arguing from the historical point of view.
According to Gramsci, equity in the social context involves the practice of open Marxism, which basically entails the application of the existing human sciences theories and paradigms. Equity is fairly demonstrated if what an individual does is equated to the prospective expectations which the individual is entitled to. Primarily it is a matter of evaluating the levels of satisfaction and the corresponding dissatisfaction (Stuart 417).
According to Stuart (412), Gramsci work cannot be argued to provide sustainable contribution to social work, as of the works of Emile Durkheim. From his essays, it can be noted that Gramsci was a political activist and a creative political journalist. The conceptual approach of Gramsci to social science can be said to be applicable to the concrete and historical specificity.
His work is considered as too analytic and more limited to the time-bound context. This therefore implies Gramsci theories can be applied on only specific historical and political contexts. Gramsci argued, in order for one to have an insight on the social balances that affect equity, one must have an in depth understanding to the structures and objective relations that exist in a given society.
It also requires an insight towards the understanding of the degree or the phase of development of that society under consideration. This views equity from the economist and ideologist perspectives. In both cases, equity is always at the extreme end, it is not practically possible to view equity from both the perspectives, because one always turns out to favor the other.
Gramsci also argues that equity is subjective to social forces in a society. The social forces that come to play in determining equity usually are usually evaluated basing on their tendency to favor or not to favor a particular subject. At the end of it all, it is usually the need to attain social equilibrium that significantly matters (Stuart 423).
Social equilibrium is usually subjective to the historical contexts. Gramsci also views equity from establishing a distinction between the state and the civil society. In order for equity to exist, the state should at least practice moral leadership that is based on educative principles. One such approach is the establishment of political regimes that are democratic.
In conclusion, equity is majorly based on the structures of ideologies, the cultural orientations of the society, the nature of the political systems. Despite the small deviation from the social context, Gramsci succeeds in the demonstration of theoretical approach to equity, the establishments of necessary paradigms to evaluate the social arena, and in particular, the social contexts that are racially structured (Stuart 440).
Work Cited
Hall, Stuart. critical dialogues in cultural studies. New York: Routledge, 1996. Pp 411 440. Print.
By offering favors, the machine politicians were able to win loyalty from the immigrants in the US. For instance, in New York City, “Big Tim,” an Irish leader, was able to have dominion over Lower Eastern Side in early 1910 when 85% of the area encompassed Jews and Italians (Judd and Swanstrom 62). “Big Tim” and other Irish lieutenants offered foodstuff, coal, and rent money to the impoverished Italians and Jews in the Lower East Side.
Some police stations in this area were also set aside to serve as temporary shelters for the homeless immigrants. Also, the leadership expedited the acquisition of business licenses to the immigrant shop owners. By making life better, the machine politicians were able to win the hearts of the needy and homeless immigrants, which could later propel them to be politically influential in their areas of residence. Ethnicity and race have significantly impacted the politics in the US municipalities, with the majority-minority groups gradually becoming more politically significant than their counterparts.
Political leaders played a significant role in the assimilation of millions of poor immigrants into a hostile society to all new ethnic groups. The politicians who were opportunists, referred to as the machines, aided the assimilation of the immigrants and helped them have a sense of belonging in the new areas of residence(Judd and Swanstrom 61). The political leaders sponsored sports, music, and picnics among the immigrant groups to help them feel accommodated. People of color were sidelined during resource allocation, and only the majority groups benefited most. In the long run, white-collar jobs were mainly taken by the majority races, and the employed people favored their respective races, thus disadvantaging people of color (Browning et al. 219).
According to Judd and Swanstrom (67), cities were outright magnets for many immigrants, resulting in unprecedented racial and ethnic competition for political influence. The immigrants were eventually compelled to come up with ways to remain politically influential in different areas. It was apparent that the machine politicians took advantage of the impoverished immigrants by devoting vast resources at their disposal to meeting the needs of the immigrants within their areas of jurisdiction.
Lack of political representation of minority groups within the areas where immigrants resided was a challenge. According to Browning et al. (219), resources were not evenly distributed amongst the immigrant population comprising people of color. In the 1970s, there was a demographic change in urban settlement areas. There was a notable rise in Latino and Black populations in these cities. The upsurge of Civil Rights movements and Great Society programs served as a stepping stone for the many African-American and Latino activists when pursuing politics. The revolution triggered literature that focused on how ethnic groups mobilized and sought common ground in cities such as New York and Los Angeles.
The abovementioned literature highlighted the electoral legislation concerning racially mixed towns for at least twenty years. The literature made European-Americans start accommodating demands from the Latino and Black activists (Browning et al. 219). The inception of literature about politics in cosmopolitan areas augmented the accommodation of politicians from minority groups.
Many European Americans were predominantly living in the suburban areas of the US as the large minority groups overwhelmingly lived in cities. Oliver (317) records that in the 1960s, many whites started moving from towns to the out-of-town areas of the US. At the same time, the majority of the minority groups mainly resided in the city centers. Even to date, the largest population in the US cities is non-whites.
People usually migrated to areas that had many people of their ethnicity. African Americans, for instance, moved to cities that had high numbers of blacks than where whites are predominant. Initially, as Oliver (318) records, Central towns served were the key areas where machine politicians operated. The scenario mentioned above explains why many cities have African American mayors who are usually reelected or replaced by other blacks. Since African Americans and other minority ethnic groups live around cities compared to the white who initially settled in suburb parts of the US, politics in the cities have become significantly and ethnically controlled by the main minority groups.
Literature also played a significant role in making blacks and Hispanics influence local government. According to Browning et al. (220), the literature delved into emphasizing the American community to incorporate the minority groups in politics. The literature complained that there were very few members from minority groups in authority which was a shred of evidence that they were not well represented. Though the elected leaders had marginal influence in decision-making in a European-American-dominated political setup, the ascension of Blacks and Hispanics to political power was a milestone achievement. Gradually, Blacks and Hispanics started to be politically incorporated, and the literature kept on challenging the American society to integrate individuals from minority groups in metropolitan decision-making.
Black demonstrations and civil rights movements played a significant role in making minority groups have more political influence in metropolitan parts of the US. From the late 1950s to the mid-1970s, there was increased turmoil of political revolutions, demands, and demonstrations- at times peaceful, though mostly violent, were experienced in most areas in the US (Browning et al. 220). African-Americans relentlessly mounted aggression on the pre-existing structures that propagated ethnic profiling and exclusion throughout the US, where blacks were many. Latinos also joined the fight for civil rights since they were also facing racial discrimination in the US.
The revolution started with the civil rights movements that challenged the sidelining of African Americans in US politics, government, and education. In the mid-1960s, there was mass violence in Newark, Los Angeles, Detroit, and other major cities. The riots were meant to fight for equal representation of the minority groups in the US (Browning et al. 221). African Americans and Latinos staged demonstrations to augment their access to education and political power.
African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and other marginalized groups were denied rights to access government services at the local levels and thus were compelled to fight for their rights relentlessly. According to Browning et al. (226), the major marginalized races in the US yearned to end the increasing exclusion when trying to access political and government resources and processes. These groups advocated for respect from the government and started to enjoy the privileges of different policies and programs that could empower them. The groups wanted to have an equal share of the government resources and end discrimination.
They wanted more minority groups to ascend to top city jobs and to get city contracts. However, racism was quite pervasive in the 1960s since mainly European Americans controlled the city governments. The struggle by the minority groups took longer since the whites were not willing to give up their control of the metropolitan government. Though white supremacists made it hard for the minority groups to fight for their civil rights, these groups did not relent in their endeavor to fight for positions that could help them shape city policies.
The minority groups sought representation in the city governments by embarking on being politically powerful. According to Browning et al. (225), the most prominent cities in the US had a composition of 20-55% of whites. The remaining population, comprising of the minority groups, has momentously influenced elections in the US. Gradually, following the relentless efforts of activists, many people of color have worked as mayors, senior politicians, and other government officials, but the representation is deemed not sufficient. Since African Americans in the US offices are not satisfactorily advocating for substantive demands, other minority groups are brought on board to control the political realms amid the opposition from the white supremacists (Browning et al. 226). In the quest for immense political control in the cities, the minority groups form a governing coalition to hold and retain mayor positions for a long time in the face of opposition. Since the minority groups have good numbers, they have associations that help them attain most of the top city government posts, making them more politically influential in the metropolis.
It is worth noting that the African American race leaders have high chances of retaining their political seats. Hajnal (188) carried research focused on the reelection bid during the twentieth century concerning the African American mayors in all major US cities. The researcher reports that African Black mayors mostly won in these cities, whereby since 1965, they have won by 78% in their reelection bid, that is, 98 out of 126 cases. The research records that Black mayors have high chances of being reelected than their white counterparts. Hajnal (188) shows that white and black incumbent mayors are treated equally with the American electorates. The researcher notes that most African American mayors represent cities that black people are more than whites. African American voters tend to favor their black mayor candidates over white candidates. Black mayors are voted due to the immense voting unity from the black people and not the increasing support from the European Americans.
African American city leaders have a high tendency of reelection, even in black minority cities. According to Hajnal (189), in the minority black cities where it can be presumed that whites have a significant influence on the outcome, black incumbent mayors had an 80% reelection chance. It is worth noting that Blacks did not win the elections in these cities because the white electorates were compelled to elect them. The author records that even in the black minority cities where the black incumbent mayors faced stiff competition from a white competitor, the black incumbents had a 73% reelection possibility. The black incumbent mayors had incredible results when competing against white counterparts than against black competitors. Gradually, minority groups have significantly gained more political influence in metropolitan areas, with African Americans being more reelected than European Americans.
Cuban Americans had a voting pattern that was aligned to the Republican Party in the US. The Cubans from Miami voted ethnically in favor of the Republican Party due to the immense benefits they got from the party (Rae & Moreno 200). The Republican Party had played a significant role in uplifting the abovementioned group’s socioeconomic status, thus serving as an instance of the ethnic voting pattern in the metropolitan parts of the US.
The Cuban American race offered overwhelming and passionate support to politicians identified with the Republican Party. The aftermath of this scenario is that even though Cuban Americans were a minority group in the US, politicians inclined to the Republican Party sought their support and made the group influential politically. The Cuban Americans voted as a block in favor of the Republican Party since it had been of help to them, thus showing that ethnicity is eminent in political status in the US.
Political parties form coalitions with particular ethnic groups in the quest for victory during elections. According to Rae and Moreno (200), in the 1990 elections, Cuban-Americans’ coalition with the Republican-allied politicians successfully propelled Ros-Lehtinen to victory. Cuban Americans unanimously voted for Ros-Lehtinen, who was affiliated with the Republican Party Ros-Lehtinen’s victory is a clear indication that ethnic voting is eminent in metropolitan parts of the US. In the 1980s, ethnic voting was also evident among the Jewish electorates who overwhelmingly supported Jewish candidates than those from other ethnicities.
The continued migration of newer ethnic groups into the US from Southern and Northern parts of Asia and Latin America is highly likely to erupt unprecedented ethnic voting and conflict of interest soon (Rae & Moreno 202). Cuban Americans and Asian Americans are also not left out in ethnic voting since they unanimously vote based on parties that have ever contributed to helping them.
Conclusion
The US municipality politics are mainly influenced by race and ethnicity, and the majority-minority groups significantly impact the results of the elections in these cities. Politicians played a significant role in helping immigrants settle in the US cities in the early 1900s. The machine politicians ensured that the immigrants got privileges and, and in return, offered loyalty in their politics. Many immigrants settled in the urban areas while the whites started moving from towns to the suburbs. With time, immigrants started feeling discriminated against when trying to access government services. African Americans, the majority-minority group in the US, held demonstrations fighting for their rights.
With time, Hispanics and Latinos also joined the civil rights movements. For a long time, the minority groups were disadvantaged. In the 1970s, cities mainly constituted the Latinos and Blacks, which motivated their interest in seeking political influence. Literature also played a significant role in making some Americans embrace the African American activists’ ideologies. Gradually, African Americans and Hispanics rose to power, and this was a milestone in making them more politically influential.
Though minority groups were becoming more politically influential in the metropolitan areas, white supremacists still influenced the city government. As the activists progressed with compelling the government to recognize the minority groups, some of them sought elective positions and won. Many blacks became mayors in many cities, which helped African Americans have more political influence. It eventually came to happen that incumbent black mayors had high chances of being reelected than their white counterparts. African American competitors, in most cases, beat Black mayors during elections than whites. Eventually, blacks became more politically influential in cities. The US elections are mainly based on race and ethnicity, whereby minority groups support candidates from their race or ethnicity.
Works Cited
Browning et al. “Can People of Color Achieve Equality in City Government? The Setting and the Issues from Racial politics in American Cities.” 2003, pp. 221-229.
Hajnal, Zoltan. “Black Incumbents and a Declining Racial Divide.” 2007, pp. 184-197.
Judd & Swanstrom. “Party Machines and the Immigrants.” n.d., pp. 48-74.
Oliver, Eric. “Paradoxes of Integration.” 2013, pp. 198-214.
Rae, Dario & Moreno, Nicol. “Ethnicity and Partnership: The Eighteenth Congressional District in Miami.” 1992, pp. 186-203.
The earliest of William Shakespeare’s ten tragedies Titus Andronicus has been dated between 1589 and 1592, written when Shakespeare was in his mid to late twenties. The young dramatist chose the traditionally embraced form of the revenge tragedy to launch himself as a commercial playwright, a style of theater popular in his time on account of playwright Thomas Kyd hugely successful The Spanish Tragedy which debuted in 1585 (Blake 2010).
The revenge tragedy represents a bloodthirsty form of theater – the equivalent of today’s slasher flick – and as a revenge tragedy, Titus Andronicus is stunningly bloody and violent. Critic Albert H. Tricomi called it “a significant dramatic experiment” full of “spectacularly self-conscious images that keep pointing at the inventive horrors in the plotting” (Tricomi 1974).
This essay will approach the revenge tragedy Titus Andronicus as a historical document that offers detailed experience and insight as to how the Elizabethan audiences of Shakespeare’s time viewed the other races represented in the play, namely through the black character Aaron and the Goth or “barbarian” characters Tamora, Alarbus, Demetrius and Chiron.
In Titus Andronicus it is not entirely clear whether or not the Goths and the Moor Aaron are complete villains, or whether or not the dramatist has a deeper more subtle message in mind which he explores through the action of the play.
Given that the play is a revenge tragedy, how Shakespeare treats the Goths and Aaron the Moor, and how he subtly compares their actions to the actions of the Romans, creates a murky distinction as to whether or not the acts of revenge committed by both sides are justified.
This essay furthers the thesis that Titus Andronicus functions ultimately as an indictment of revenge, since the barbarism occurs and escalates apace among the “civilized” Romans and the “barbaric” Goths. In essence both parties become equally deplorable in Titus Andronicus.
Though an Elizabethan audience certainly enjoyed a good performance of excessive violence, Titus Andronicus “ran the risk of disgusting the audience,” (Blake 2010).
Particularly in the story of Titus’ daughter Lavinia and the rape and mutilations she endures at the hands of Tamora’s sons, the language and the scene it describes would have appalled even the most hardened Elizabethan: “what stern ungentle hands/ Hath lopped and hewed and made thy body bare/ Of her two branches” and “a crimson river of warm blood/ Like to a bubbling fountain stirred with wind/ Doth rise and fall between thy rosed lips” (Shakespeare 1887).
In Titus Andronicus, the reader witnesses the dramatist’s view that any act of revenge necessarily dehumanizes its participants, to the point that civilization completely erodes. The play stands as a warning that civilized Elizabethans could end up on the same footing as their “barbaric” conquests, if they allowed themselves to be overtaken by bloodlust and descend to the level of vengeance.
The inciting incident of Titus Andronicus is Titus’s inflexible sacrifice of Alarbus, the eldest son of captive Goth queen Tamora, to his soldiers, an action which forms the engine of the narrative and the justification for the ensuing outrage against Lavinia in the play’s later acts.
Tamora begs for mercy from her captor: “Stay, Roman brethren! Gracious conqueror, Victorious Titus, rue the tears I shed, A mother’s tears in passion for her son: And if thy sons were ever dear to thee, O, think my son to be as dear to me! Sufficeth not that we are brought to Rome, To beautify thy triumphs and return, Captive to thee and to thy Roman yoke, But must my sons be slaughter’d in the streets, For valiant doings in their country’s cause? O, if to fight for king and commonweal, Were piety in thine, it is in these (Shakespeare 1887).
We witness in this passage the appeal to the commonalities that exist between all humans – captive and captor – the desire to save one’s children at all cost.
Titus, however, sides with his soldiers, and this decision to essentially forego fatherhood and facilitate barbarism becomes his undoing. Interestingly, at this early stage of the play Shakespeare also intersperses some ironic discussion of the theme of the barbarism presumed inherent to the Goths, as Tamora’s sons marvel at the viciousness and heartlessness of their captor in the face of their mother’s pleas.
Chiron remarks “Was ever Scythia half so barbarous?” while Demetrius sews the seeds of revenge in his brother’s heart: “Oppose not Scythia to ambitious Rome, Alarbus goes to rest; and we survive, To tremble under Titus’ threatening looks, Then, madam, stand resolved, but hope withal, The self-same gods that arm’d the Queen of Troy, With opportunity of sharp revenge, Upon the Thracian tyrant in his tent, May favor Tamora, the Queen of Goths, When Goths were Goths and Tamora was queen, To quit the bloody wrongs upon her foes” (Shakespeare 1887).
Thus begins the slow descent into rape, murder, mutilation and cruelty as “avengers and victims become indistinguishable…and are alike destroyed in the cruel and ultimately mindless bloodbath that follows Alarbus’s execution” (Blake 2010).
Titus, once a sane and respected leader of his people, loses his mind, his rule, his authority and his daughter. The state of Rome implodes, until order returns – again, in a highly ironic fashion – restored by the “barbaric” Goths deemed incapable of any such civilizing activity at the play’s inception (Shakespeare 1887). In the words of the critic Robert Blake, Titus Andronicus “is a powerful testament to the irrationality of revenge, or even of justice untempered by mercy, as a moral imperative” (Blake 2010).
In order to understand how the play treats the different ethnicities represented within it, it is important to locate the play in its historical context. Shakespeare was very much a writer of his time – he wrote about the world around him – thus Titus Andronicus stands as an important and vital time capsule that sheds light on the racial attitudes prevalent in Shakespeare’s day and among his contemporaries.
As the critic and scholar Imtiaz Habib points out in Racial Impersonation on the Elizabethan Stage: The Case of Shakespeare Playing Aaron, Shakespeare himself would have played the Moor, and “in the racial discourse of an early colonial environment, a key crowd winner is the impersonation of a racialized life on the stage, as is witnessed by the fact that according to the payment records in Henslowe’s Diary Titus Andronicus was performed five times between 1593 and 1594, with the fattest takings on his hosts for each of those occasions, including sometimes three times per week” (Habib 2007).
Racialized depictions of exotic colonized cultures and their inhabitants represented a lucrative source of revenue for theater producers, and there was also a lesser obvious but equally vital political relevance to the activity of representing the black culture as well as the barbaric cultures – the Irish, for instance – as beyond the ken of civilization on the Elizabethan stage.
This was a time of high colonial expansion; the Elizabethan conquest of the Americas was afoot. Thus, as McVeigh and Rolston (2009) aptly observe, civilization became a euphemistic term applied to economic expansion and colonialism, and the appellation of the term “barbaric” to the peoples whose lands and resources the English were stealing served the ideological and political interests of the crown and the rising merchant class (McVeigh & Rolston 2009).
In the words of McVeigh and Rolston (2009): “construction of civilisation is [hardly] neutral – civilisation only makes sense as a dialectical concept which carries with it an ‘uncivilised’ other.
It immediately denies ‘complexity’ to other societies….These constructions of civilisation and barbarism were at the heart of colonial domination, justifying expansion and control (McVeigh & Rolston 2009). The Elizabethan audience watching Titus Andronicus would have witnessed “haphazard attempts made by the authorities” to adapt to the company of Africans within their society (Ungere 2008).
Of particular import to these audiences was the issue of miscegenation. As Ungere (2008) asserts, the presence of blacks in and among the Elizabethans “raised anxieties about interbreeding that asked to be addressed,” particularly in the years between 1592 and 1594, when Titus Andronicus was written, and the British government was simultaneously involved in numerous scandals instigated by the slave trade and the “illegal importation of slaves from Guinea” (Ungere 2008).
Habib (2007) observes also that the Elizabethan audience watching the play would have had some experience and familiarity with the “travel writings of Richard Hakluyt, Richard Eden, and others…as well as the more novel experiential encounters with the small but growing numbers of captured African populations in London” (Habib 2007).
Shakespeare’s Aaron, universally understood as the dramatist’s first villain, is characterized as a merciless savage who laughs at the torments that befall his captors. Both Aaron and Tamora “laugh…gleefully as [they] picture…chaste Lavinia being ravished and mutilated by Chiron and Demetrius; the rapists in turn express their pleasure when they have violated and mutilated her” (White 1996).
This “pleasure” would have sent ripples of fear through Shakespeare’s audience, and further justified the subjugation of the blacks, Irish and other conquered peoples that the crown and state were busy uprooting at the time. The “demonizing” of Aaron then “functions obscurely as a kind of virtual solidarity with the marked-down black subject who is by that very representation added to the protocolonial English society’s circuit of visibility” (Habib 2007).
The demonizing performance of the black savage would have “taught” the audience how to treat the blacks in their midst, while simultaneously informing the blacks and the Goths of their place in Elizabethan society.
These ideas about civilization, and the inherent barbarism of non-European peoples, have persisted since the inception of imperialism, and evolved to largely underpin and sustain the ideological structures of discrimination which continue to shape the mindset behind power relationships to the present day (McVeigh & Rolston 2009).
The treatment of the black and Goth peoples and culture in Titus Andronicus therefore formed the core structural basis for the validation and rationalization of colonialism.
References
Blake, R.G. (2010). Titus Andronicus. Masterplots. 4th ed. New York, Salem Press, 1-5.
Habib, I. (2007). Racial impersonation on the Elizabethan stage: The case of Shakespeare playing Aaron. Medieval & Renaissance Drama in England, 20, 17-45.
McVeigh, R. & Rolston, B. (2009). Civilising the Irish. Race Class 51, 2, 3-20.
Shakespeare, W. (1887). Titus Andronicus. London: J.B. Alden.
Tricomi, A.H. (1974). The aesthetics of mutilation in Titus Andronicus. The Cambridge Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare criticism. C.M. S. Alexander ed. Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press.
Ungere, G. (2008) The presence of Africans in Elizabethan England and the performance of Titus Andronicus at Burley-on-the-Hill, 1595/96.(Report). Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England 21, 19-56..
White, J.S. (1996). Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus. Explicator, 54, 4, 207-210.
Racism and ethnicity have been critical issues in the society with several blacks and non-whites suffering prejudice in some European countries. Since the world came to acknowledge these antisocial practices as core perpetrators to global social justice, research and social studies have considered the two issues as part of the most important aspects to cover.
In a bid to restore social justice and educate the society on the impacts of racism and ethnicity, several literal sources have emerged. In this context, this essay compares Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer (1978) and What It’s like to be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith (1955).
The works of these authors explore various themes such as race or ethnicity, prejudice, the quest for freedom, and inequality in different societies. The focus of this essay is on the theme of race or ethnicity that both Gordimer and Smith explore in their works. The essay shall compare and contrast the two works with regard to literary style, form, and content.
Overview of Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer
Gordimer has written several novels and short stories. The author has the ability to create a short story with well-informed themes, which engage the readers. In Country Lovers, Gordimer portrays the struggle of a black woman during the Apartheid epoch in South Africa and the harsh realities that black women tolerated during these dark moments.
The story uncovers a forbidden relationship between Thebedi, an African black woman and her white master’s son, Paulus. Country Lovers’ central theme revolves around the tough and traumatizing moments that Thebedi experienced. The story reveals several inconsiderate behaviors practiced by the white bosses in South Africa during the Apartheid regime including racial prejudice, characters inner struggles, and confusion.
Gordimer manages to capture several ways in which people suffer in a racial discriminative society as they undergo and endure catastrophic moments. Gordimer uses the theme of racism and ethnicity in order to provoke high-levels of human emotions within few pages of the story.
Gordimer presents the story of love between a white skinned Afrikaner and a black skinned girl in a farm setting. Gordimer notes, “The trouble was Paulus Eysendyck did not seem to realize that Thebedi was now simply one of the crowds of farm children down at the kraal, recognizable in his sister’s old clothes” (Gordimer, 1978, p.332). It is obvious that Paulus developed a love for the black, Thebedi.
The author writes, “The schoolgirls he went swimming with at dams or pools on neighboring farms wore bikinis, but the sight of their dazzling bellies and thighs in the sunlight had never made him feel what he felt now when the girl came” (Gordimer, 1978, p.333).
The society and the law did not approve of such relationships in South Africa during the Apartheid era. Paulus reminded Thebedi about their forbidden relationship, he told her, “each time, when they would meet again because they cannot be seen in public together” (Clugston, 2010, p. 45).
During the apartheid regime in South Africa, the laws of that nation considered the relationship between white and the black as an offence that bordered on immorality. Immorality Act 1950 to 1985 of the Apartheid prohibited all forms of sexual relations between blacks and whites, including any sign of an existing relationship in public.
Another law of 1949 known as the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act banned all interracial marriages in South Africa (Tyson, 1999). Such laws caused serious problems for Paulus and Thebedi because their secret love affair was against the Immorality Act. It was against the South African laws for the two lovers to express their affair in public and thus they decided to keep it as a secret affair.
Gordimer notes, “She had to get away before the house servants who knew her came in at dawn” (Gordimer, 1978, p.334). Thebedi and Paulus kept their affair going despite harsh laws discouraging interracial relations.
Gordimer notes that both black and white children would play together when they were young, but when the whites attend school, “they soon don’t play together anymore” (Gordimer, 1978, p.332).
This assertion implies that racism had minimal influences on children and reveals the forbidden relationship between the two races, with white leaders living in South Africa fearing that the school relationship would result in unintended social affairs.
This aspect marks the spread of racism among children. It shows that boarding schools created a sense of superiority among whites and consequently blacks referred to their former friends as “missus and baasie”. The racial inequalities and injustices existed even in the most human contemporary issues including formal education (Clugston, 2010).
It is eminent throughout the story, especially between the two main actors who were lovers, that Blacks and whites had different levels of education. The level of education between Paulus and Thebedi was distinct, with the African woman having very little education compared to her lover, Paulus.
Overview of What it’s like to be a Black Girl, by Smith
The poem, What it’s like to be a Black Girl, is one of the credible works of Patricia Smith. Patricia Smith was born in 1955 and is a renowned American poet, a playwright, credible books author, an intellectual writing teacher, verbal word performer, and a former journalist (Lazar, 1993). The poem, What it’s like to be a Black Girl explores the issue of racism in a jagged society.
The persona (a black girl) is at the threshold of puberty and feels a sense of discomfort with her changing physical body and mind as she hopes for better changes. Smith uses narration in order to drive her point of racism to readers in the first three lines of the poem.
The style relies on “jagged sentence structure” (Pfeiler, 2003, p.48) coupled with a language of profanity to show her readers the seriousness of the poem. Thus, one can understand young black girls’ lives in 1950s when she wrote the poem.
Smith explores how racism affected black women in her time. Racism went to the extent of affecting health of women in society. For instance, transition into womanhood was an ordeal for black girls in a racial society, “it’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence” (Smith, 1955).
Consequently, black girls embraced puberty with a sense of confusion and sadness, scared of the social torments that affected their social life; the persona admits, “First of all, it’s being 9 years old and feeling like you’re not finished, like your edges are wild, like there’s something, everything, wrong” (Smith, 1955).
Every teenage girl experiences such thoughts. However, Smith introduces the idea of racially jagged society and its pressure on girls by using a “black girl”. The society is changing for young black girls. As a result, young girls have to find means of fitting in a racially jagged society using several ways.
The black women in the racial affiliated society adopted alternative means for survival to enable them to fit and survive in these societies. In her poem, Smith postulates, “It’s dropping food coloring in your eyes to make them blue and suffering their burn in silence. It’s popping a bleached white mop head over the kinks of your hair and priming in front of the mirrors that deny your reflection” (Smith, 1955).
The usage of “food coloring in eyes and hair bleaching” (Smith, 1955) show how a young black girl would struggle to grow into acceptable woman in a racial society in a bid to look like the whites who had hazel eyes and brownish hair.
She aims to be like white women, who have white skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes for men to admire her. Black women had the perception that during this moment the white nature was attractive to men.
Comparative analysis of the stories
History-Historical analysis requires readers’ knowledge of historical events of the time (Tyson, 1999). This aspect enables readers to understand the form and context of literary works in the context of history. Therefore, one can understand both Country Lover and What It’s like to be a Black Girl in the context of history.
The two stories connect with the historical life of the African people during the harsh time of colonization, where the whites practiced injustices during their stay in Africa. Readers can only imagine what blacks experienced at the time of Apartheid and its effects on mixed raced relationships.
For instance, Gordimer notes the common conversation between Paulus and Thebedi in their affair as the man kept on reminding his lover about their forbidden affair, “He told her, each time, when they would meet again because they cannot be seen in public together” (Clugston, 2010, p.45). Such statements really affected Thebedi as a black woman.
From the above sentence, one can understand why the relationship between Thebedi and Paulus was socially wrong. The Apartheid laws prohibited such relationships between mixed races, which is a clear indication of how the situation was during the apartheid regime in South Africa.
A reflection of history is clearer where a part from typical social affairs, the colonial rules intended to oppress most African children, who seemed to access little or no education during the critical colonial era. The white people controlled most aspects of social life in South Africa including rights to formal education (Lazar, 1993). Their children attended best schools and learned ideas about racial segregation in society.
On the other hand, blacks learned to respect white people as they grew up, which formed part of their social growth. Therefore, understanding the historical context of Country Lover enables readers to understand the position of a black woman when Paulus murdered the baby.
Form of writing (Short story and Poem)
Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer (1978) and What It’s like to be a Black Girl by Patricia Smith (1955) exist in different forms of writing and style, but carries similar themes. Both the poem and the short story show historical forms and settings. Gordimer and Smith wrote their works at a time when racism was a dominant factor in the relationship between whites and blacks.
Apartheid reflected racial discrimination in South Africa, whereas sense of skin color discrimination showed racial discrimination in the American society. Both works show that racism and ethnicity influenced all aspects of life including individual appearances and interracial marriages.
In the case of Thebedi, racism denied Thebedi justice following the murder of her child. Within the historical context, Gordimer aims to invoke social protest using her short story. She highlights and draws readers’ attention to contemporary social problems in South Africa as she hopes for change (Lazar, 1993).
On the other hand, the poem depicts a black girl struggling to fit in a racial society (Smith, 1955). Therefore, one can only understand lives of Black Americans during racial segregation and discrimination based on skin color. In the poem, one can relate to the struggle of a young black as she struggles to grow into an acceptable woman in a racial society (Pfeiler, 2003).
Smith uses the form of confessional poetry in which she explores experiences of black women with unusual frankness. This aspect underscored the 1950s when writers condemned social issues in society.
Smith aims to bring readers’ attention to social pressures that black women experience in order to gain acceptance in a racial society. Smith also uses her poem as a form of social protest with the hope that social circumstances will improve as she notes, “it’s finally have a man reach out for you then caving in around his fingers” (Smith, 1955).
Content and style of the writing
The contents of What It’s like to be a Black Girl and Country Lover have women to depict racism in societies as they deal with unfairness in societies as protagonists of the story. Both writers use black women because such acts mostly affect them in society. Smith uses vocal style to express her feelings in the poem. This style of expression enables readers to understand that being a black woman in a racial society is tough.
The author uses words, which arouse a sense of sadness and indignation such as “everything wild” and “suffering their burn in silence”. Thus, a black girl must engage in activities, which will make her to look like a white woman for social acceptance.
The sense of bitterness drives the poet to use profane language in her poem; for instance, “it’s learning to say fuck with grace, and fucking without it” (Smith, 1955). This aspect symbolizes the way a black woman feels in a racial society.
Gordimer presents her work from a third person point of view, which means that the author utilized third person to express and refer the characters in their social setting. Writing in the third person means that apart from using the characters’ names, the writer used words like he or she and him or her to refer to individual characters in the story.
Another important issue to note in the story about the third party view is that the narrator does not participate in the story. The narrator sometimes avoided using real characters’ names during the writing of the story, in that sense.
The narrator acts only as an implied character, whose participation only relates to the audience. This style enables the writer to present the story in an unbiased manner without authorial bias, noting very well that the author in the context of self defense might write stories in their favor.
Gordimer and Smith show that children do not understand differences in society due to racism. For instance, in the poem, the black girl has “a sad tone and does not understand why she is different” (Pfeiler, 2003, p.50). On the other side, the short story shows that both white and black children play together when they are young.
However, as they grow up, racism influences their actions and feelings, which is a clear indication of ethnicity and racism in the current world. Paulus ends up killing Thebedi’s child while the black girl has to endure suffering in silence because she has to end up in an affair she did not like.
The authors show that racism is destructive irrespective of where it occurs. From these female characters, one can understand what it meant to grow up during the Apartheid era in South Africa in the 1970s and in the US in 1950s during racial segregation and discrimination.
Conclusion
It is easy to conclude that the two literary works present historical realities of racism in different settings. It is evident that racial and ethnical bias has existed in the society from a historical point of view. Despite several literary works that have been enhanced by writers in the current world, the racial situation has existed to the latter. Historical circumstances shape events of these literary works (Clugston, 2010).
Therefore, these literary works use women protagonists in order to expose harsh realities, which black women experience in racial societies. Societies of the 1900s regarded interracial romance as a taboo due to racial prejudice at the time. Consequently, such racial prejudice could only lead to devastating consequences.
The style, form, and content of both works show how whites in South Africa and the US heightened racial tension in which blacks suffered in most cases. Therefore, one can learn of social stigma of being black as a social reality of the problem at the time.
References
Clugston, R. W. (2010). Journey into literature. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Gordimer, N. (1978). Town and Country Lover. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press.
Lazar, K. (1993). Feminism as Piffling’? Ambiguities in Nadine Gordimer’s Short Stories. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.
Pfeiler, M. (2003). Sounds of Poetry: Contemporary American Performance Poets. Tubingen, Germany: Gunter Narr Verlag.
Smith, P. (1955). What It’s Like To Be A Black Girl (for Those of You Who Aren’t). Web.
Tyson, L. (1999). Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide. New York, NY: Garland Publishing.
Despite being one of the foundational principles of the American legal standards, the notion of every ethnicity and nationality having legal rights in the American legal context was quite hard-won. Due to the landmark case of Hernandez v. Texas, the notion that every single citizen of the U.S. despite their unrelated characteristics was entitled to the same amount of legal protection. Thus, the court ruling established the principles of equality and, more specifically, the idea of equal protection as the principal American right to which every citizen was entitled.
Main body
The case in which Hernandez participated was rather simple; according to its details, required that a Mexican American should receive the same extent and number of rights that an average American does (“Hernandez v. Texas (1954)”). Specifically, the case involved a murder trial during which Hernandez strived to prove that him being Mexican American should not impact the jury’s decision in locating the murderer of Joel Espinoza, as the man whom he allegedly shot (“Hernandez v. Texas (1954)”).
Despite the presence of strong evidence that indicated that Hernandez was to blame for the death of Espinoza, the fact that his conviction was initially based purely on his ethnic identity served as the starting point for the case to be launched (“Hernandez v. Texas (1954)”). Therefore, the fact that his nationality served as the main factor in arresting him made it possible for Hernandez to appeal for the reconsideration of his case.
The case of Hernandez v. Texas represents the ideas expressed in the 14th Amendment quite accurately. Namely, the 14th Amendment argues that every citizen of the United States is entitled to the same number of rights, no matter what the race, personal beliefs, or any other personal characteristic might be (“Hernandez v. Texas (1954)”). Therefore, as a Mexican person, Hernandez had the right for his ethnicity and culture to be represented among the jury members to ensure the fairness of the trial. Without the ethnic perspective added to the jury, the decision thereof would have been rather biased and could not have reflected the actual situation.
The case of Hernandez v. Texas illustrates quite graphically how the U.S. perceived the notions of race and ethnicity in the 1950s. Specifically, the very fact that a case like Hernandez v. Texas exists indicates that the justice system of the U.S. of the 1950s was two-class-oriented. Specifically, the legal standards set by the Constitution and the amendments implied the presence of two key races, which were European and African American, thus excluding the ethnicities such s Mexican (“Hernandez v. Texas (1954)”).
The resulting failure to recognize the rights of the specified ethnic minority and other ethnic groups underrepresented in the U.S. led to major misunderstandings and infringements upon the rights of minority groups, as in the case of Hernandez. Texas showed. Thus, the case under analysis became a landmark due to the focus on equality for every ethnic minority in the U.S.
In light of the statements made above, the court ruling in the case under analysis indicated that major change was taking place in the American legal system. Recognizing Hernandez’s claim as valid and allowing for a retrial that involved a team of jury representatives of Hernandez’s ethnicity, the verdict showed that the importance o diversity and representation was finally being recognized. Therefore, the court ruling in Hernandez v. Texas should be considered a crucial step in fighting for equal rights.
Conclusion
Although the case of Hernandez v. Texas is quite easy to underestimate, it laid the foundation for the effective teaching of diverse groups. By pointing out the flaws in the American legal and educational systems, Hernandez created a safer setting for receiving appropriate medical services. Namely, the author emphasized that, even with an all-white jury, Hernandez managed to win the case and prove that his skin color had nothing to do with the murder for which society wanted to hold him accountable.
Justice is crucial for the sustainability of the society norms and laws. In addition, it helps in punishing the law offenders in the society. The justice system ought to be fair to all the people in the society to ensure that all the accused are treated the same in courts (Lewis 113). The following discussion indulges in ethnic and racial disparities effects on the accused and suspects’ treatment in the courts.
Legal Improvement on Equality
The American justice system has continued to improve over the years by ensuring that all races and ethnic groups are treated the same. Crucial achievements have been seen in the voting and employment laws where individuals are treated the same (Hudson 87). However, equality in all sectors of the government is yet to be achieved. The judicial system has been criticized for its turf stance on the Africa-America race in the country (Lewis 211).
In addition, the courts have been on the spot due to their ruling and treatment of certain suspects based on their ethnic background, especially on the basis of their religion (Pincus 65). The criminal trials injustices are seen as a threat to the achievement made in other sectors of the society and the government organs. Prison statistics show that three out of ten African American men are serving prison terms in the U.S. correctional facilities. This has made many critics of the courts and the government argue that the prisons are meant for the blacks (Rice 45).
Rights of the Minority
In 1965, the American Congress passed a registration, which gave voting rights to all American citizens. However, current statistics show that over 1.4 million African American individuals do not have voting rights due to previous felony charges that prohibit them from participating in voting (Gallagher 164). Denial of voting rights illustrates that the judicial treatment of people in the country is unfair to the minority who need to be protected by law to enable them to enjoy their rights (Pincus 109).
Criminal Trial Proceeding
Racial difference in the courts affects individual fundamental rights that have to be determined by a court of law. These rights relate to bail and freedom where those charged are denied bail based on their racial and ethnic differences (Cooper 109). In addition, most of the suspects charged with violent crimes are from African American society. The treatment of minority in criminal proceeding illustrates that the courts do not treat all suspects the same (Hudson 132).
For instance, in the case of Timothy Foster versus the state of Georgia, in 1987, the case raised concern due to the prosecutor’s action of disqualifying all the black jurors in a criminal court. The case involved a black teenager who was accused of unlawfully killing a white woman. The Supreme Court judges in the state raised their concerns for such action since they believed that the black jurors were intentionally removed from the case to force a conviction (Gallagher 109).
The suspect was later convicted by the jurors who were all white for murder. He received the death penalty as requested by the prosecutor. This case shows a clear indication that the court process has been abused to punish specific racial and ethnic groups. Ethnic groups such as Asians, Hispanics, and Latinos have complained due to their unfair treatment in the courts, especially in cases involving immigration enforcement (Cooper 76).
Conclusion
Unfair treatment of defendants and suspects in court has raised concerns over the implementation of the rights to equal treatment act. Some courts have failed to show leniency in cases involving the minority in the country. The injustices are perpetrated by the prosecutors and court judges in cases involving minorities are major concerns in the modern society. The justice system needs to be improved to ensure that all people are treated the same despite their ethnic and racial disparities.
Gallagher, Charles A. Race and Racism in the United States: An Encyclopedia of the American Mosaic. California: Greenwood, 2014. Print.
Hudson, David L. Race, Ethnicity, and the American Criminal Justice System: A Resource Guide for Teachers. Chicago: American Bar Association, 2005. Print.
Lewis, Amanda E. The Changing Terrain of Race and Ethnicity. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004. Print.
Pincus, Fred L. Reverse Discrimination: Dismantling the Myth. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2003. Print.
Rice, Stephen. Race, Ethnicity, and Policing: New and Essential Readings. New York: New York University Press, 2010. Print.
Wage disparity is used to refer to the differences in earning for two different groups of people, working in similar set up or their wages are arbitrarily different in the labour market. Wage disparity is mostly used in relation to describing the uneven spread of income across gender, race, and ethnic groups, which can lead to social inequalities and other problems in the workplace especially when the disparity is much pronounced.
Various research studies have been undertaken on the wage disparities by many researchers to examine various parameters of wage inequalities since they contribute a lot to the labor-market inequalities. Majority of the studies relating to wage disparities are quantitative in nature and involve measurements and comparison of wages and salaries.
These studies are mainly intersectional, trying to explain the wage inequalities using survey data to evaluate the differences based on gender, social status, and racial/ethnic groupings.
Wage disparities exist due to a variety of factors and the leading contributor to these wage gaps is the fact that many women and racial discriminated people are still secluded in the low paying occupations, with more than half of the all women workers holding sales, office administration entry-level jobs, and service jobs.
In addition, most female dominated jobs are low paying compared to male dominated jobs (Howard, 2004). The issue of privileges also appears to affect wage disparity in the work place. Privileges refer favors that are allowed to certain people or a particular person and are not allowed to other people in set up such as a work place.
These privileges are earned through achievement or are allowed to a certain grouping of people within most organizational structures.
In workplace, some organization members are allowed some privileges based not on merit, but on their ascribed status due to their association with certain groupings such as race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, and physical ability and this status is mostly influenced by external factors that are beyond the person’s immediate control (Karsten, 2006, P.254).
These unearned privileges have been shown to play a role in contributing to wage gaps among employees of the same level or in work of equivalent magnitude. Wage disparity due to any form of discrimination against certain groups in the workplace are common recipe for hatred, tensions, low level of motivation among workers and reduced productivity of the entire organization.
In this research paper, issues of unearned privileges will only be discussed in the context of race and gender. This research paper seeks to explore the issues of wage disparity across gender, race, and ethnicity in the American workplace set up. In the next sections of this paper, the following two relationships will be explored based on studies carried on them:
Wage disparity and gender.
Wage disparity and race/ethnicity issues.
Wage disparity and gender
Since time in memorial, there have been noticeable salary gaps between the two genders in majority of the existing occupations. Although there have been some level of salary parity between male and female in professional occupations, the level of wages gaps are still high between the two groups.
Studies have clearly revealed that, generally, men earn higher salaries than women even when at the same job group and mostly female dominated jobs are low paying compared to male dominated jobs, which pay better wages and salaries. According to the analysis carried on the Bureau of Labor Statistics data in 1998, it was revealed that gender salary disparities continue to persist.
In this case, “the median weekly pay of full-time working women being 75 percent of the median pay for men in 1996; though women began closing the wage gap in 1980s, the earning for women in salaried full-time year-round positions reached 71 percent of men’s earnings in 1991 after a long stagnation period” (Gibelman, 2003,P.25).
One of the contributing factors to low earning among the women is the occupation choices they make. Generally, women are more tied with family obligations such as looking after the children. Though men are increasing being more involved in child upbringing, this area of family life is still considered female oriented.
In order to cope with family obligations and work necessities, many women tend to work in part time jobs, which mostly pay lowly and lead to low pay increments; with studies showing that in 2002, 32 percent of women compared to 10.8 percent of men worked part-time, thus the income disparity pitied women against the men (Anon, 2003).
Other factors that may limit women’s choice include “lack of affordable child care, a spouse’s unwillingness to share family responsibility, lack of flexible working schedule, and lack of well paying part-time jobs, which cause women to drop out of the workforce for longer periods than men, hence eventually they losing their career momentum and needed experience leading them to end up in jobs that pay less” (Howard, 2004, P.19).
A women choice is just one of the many complex factors that are put forward by scholars in trying to explain the continued wage disparity between men and women.
The position of authority at work is always associated with better pay and room for advancement in ones career path. Research on authority at work place mainly relate to its attainment and returns associated with the authority. Several studies conducted by sociologist and economist have concluded that women are less likely to ascend to positions with much decision-making power and they receive lower authority returns than men.
Thus, women reap little authority returns from education and experience compared to men, even though education produces a lot of positive results for women at lowest levels of authority, while for men education enable them to reap more benefits at highest levels of authority (Romero, & Margolis, 2005, P. 175). Between the male and female dominated occupations, gender seems to play a significant role in determining the occupants of the position of authority in the workplace.
Several research studies have revealed that jobs dominated by women are mostly characterized by lower level of authority, with male dominated jobs experiencing little authority gaps between the two groups.
However, in jobs with many women, there is reduced room for progress for both men and women, though men are more likely to climb to decision-making authority in that set up (Romero, & Margolis, 2005, P. 175). The level authority thus has also contributed to the wage disparity between male and female employees of same qualifications.
After many studies being undertaken, still the wage disparity between men and women cannot be completely explained or be solved in most of occupations.
According to the analysis conducted by the General Accounting Office study, after taking care of all major factors that affect wage gap, majority of women earned 80 percent of what men earned in 2000, and the evaluation was unable to account for the remaining 20 percent earning gap, even if the other factors contributing to discrimination which can cause wage gap were considered (U.S. General Accounting Office, 2003).
Further, studies have shown that wage disparity between men and women are historical in that, even in situations where men and women occupy same job group and work in similar conditions they still exist. According to studies carried on wage disparities in the profession of social workers, the salaries of social workers who are members of NASW supported the historic trend in wage gaps, since in 1995, still the gaps existed with the median income of female respondents being $ 34,135 and $ 37,503 for male respondents (Gibelman & Schervish, 1997).
Wage disparity and race/ethnicity issues
The Civil Rights Act clearly prohibits discrimination of employees by the employers based on race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and background. Though these laws are there to protect the employees against racial discrimination, up to date studies show that there are significant wage gaps between the whites and the African Americans and other minority groups.
Researchers have mainly identified two factors that they have based their arguments in, trying to explain the continuing wage disparity between the two groups. These two factors include racial discrimination and level of expertise between the two groups at their workplaces. The issue of racial discrimination in the work place is still common, with some employers acknowledging that they practice it.
According to studies carried out by Kirschenman and Neckerman (1991), it was revealed that several of Chicago employers they involved in the study discriminated against the African Americans and workers from the inner city, and around 74 percent of the employers had negative attitudes towards the African American young men (Coleman, 2003, p.894).
Through studies involving use regression method, researchers have been able to show that wage gaps among different race groups in a workplace can mainly be attributed to discrimination rather than lack of skills. According to Coleman (2003), the African American men and women still face more discrimination in wage increment and promotion than whites after all factors have been accounted for, and they also earn less compared to the whites working in the same organization, implying that racial discrimination continues to exist in the workplaces.
According to the regressions studies carried out by Mason to evaluate the lack of skills issue in relation to wage gaps, he found out that “whites received larger returns on job tenure than blacks or Latinos; white Latinos, whether immigrant or native, have higher wages than nonwhite Latinos, immigrant or native” (Mason, 1999).
The race factor in wage disparity is not a gender issue, but rather, it ascribed by the discrimination that exist among the groups that are working in the same workplace. Browne and Misra, while conducting studies to determine earnings gap based on race and gender found out that, “White women earn more than most Latino men, and Asian women earn more than White women and African American men” (Romero, & Margolis, 2005, P. 171).
Several studies have been conducted to evaluate how job mobility may affect wage gaps among the different groups yielding varied results. One of the profound studies is the research that was carried out by Alon and Tienda to determine how young women’s job mobility affects racial and ethnic wage growth gaps. They found out that African American and Hispanic women experienced less job mobility compared to the white women.
Secondly, the unskilled women who made several job changes in the first four post school years had better wage returns, but beyond that, the returns dwindled. Lastly, the job changes do not appear to improve wage growth for the skilled women (Alon & Tienda, 2005). This study, coupled with other studies, indicates that job mobility can cause wage disparity among different group, especially in unskilled sectors were mobility appear to favor Whites against other groups.
Recommendations
Wage disparity across gender, race, and ethnicity has been one of the predominant social problems facing our society since ancient times. Though eliminating wage disparity across these areas is quite difficult to achieve, significantly reducing these disparity can be achieved through various remedies. The following recommendations can significantly help in reducing wage gaps brought about by gender, race, and ethnicity issues.
First, the government, the civil societies, and other stakeholders should press the congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act bill that has been pending many years. The Civil Rights Act outlaws various form of discrimination but still it lack some provision that would tackle issues of all forms of discrimination appropriately. This bill would ensure that women get equal pay they deserve for the equal job they do.
They “put gender-based wage discrimination on par with other forms of wage discrimination, such as that based on race, by allowing women to sue for compensatory and punitive damages, rather than just for back pay; Limit the legitimate reasons employers can give in court for wage disparities; and, Prohibit employers from retaliating against employees who discuss their wages” (Hall, 2010).
This bill will empower legal and organizational mechanisms for addressing wage disparity across gender, race, and ethnicity, something that will enable workers to earn what they rightfully deserve, enhancing their economic security, and gradually aiding the country’s economic recovery.
Secondly, the government and the community at large should empower existing or come up with programs that can enlighten people about their rights, offer career mentoring, and improve the financial literacy of all workers. These would be powerful tools in ensuring that workers are able to advocate for equal pay for equal job, making right career choices or move, and investing in what they earn for their future and that of the country.
Thirdly, professional bodies should regularly sponsor and organize forums involving all stakeholders from local to national level, to discuss and evaluate the gender-related issues and to formulate ways of eliminating wage disparities in the work place (Gibelman, 2003, P.28). Lastly, the government should encourage more women to venture in male dominated careers such as engineering, architecture, in efforts to earn better pay and bridge the wage gaps between the two genders.
Conclusion
Government through it programs for monitoring wage discrimination and other form of employment discrimination should be conducting several checks in all workplaces and ensure that these vices are eliminated and these programs should always be on going to ensure that wage discriminations has been eliminated and it does not resurface.
Wage disparity being a social problem all the involved parties’ i.e. employers, employees, government, professional bodies and the community should cultivating a culture of continued engagement among all the parties to ensure that issues of wage disparity are addressed in all places. Since wage disparities cannot be accounted by the differences in skills, all organizations embrace proper unbiased performance appraisal systems for their employees, which will reward only the deserving individuals rather than an ascribed group of individuals due to their association
References
Alon, S. & Tienda, M. (2005). Job Mobility and Early Career Wage Growth of White, African-American, and Hispanic Women. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 86, p1196-1217, 22p. Web.
Anon. (2003). Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2002, 2003. U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Coleman, M. G. (2003). Job Skill and Black Male Wage Discrimination. Social Science Quarterly, Vol. 84(4), p892-906, 15p. Blackwell Publishing Limited. Web.
Gibelman, M. (2003). So How Far Have We Come? Pestilent and Persistent Gender Gap in Pay. Social Work, Vol. 48 Issue 1, p22-32, 11p. Web.
Gibelman, M. & Schervish, P. H. (1997). Who are we: A second look. Washington, DC: NASW Press.
Hall, M. (2010). Obama to Push Congress on Pay-Fairness Bill. USA Today. Web.
The idea of race and ethnicity have been a rather complicated topic for centuries. Multiple groups underwent changes in classification in accordance with the US Census throughout the country’s history. What makes the issue difficult is that race is a social construct and society’s perception of the matter changed with time. The following paper will review the classification of two groups and how it changed before and after the Civil Rights Movement.
During the development of the classification, there were only two groups, whose perception has been stable throughout the entirety of American history: white and black people. However, the other ethnicities varied in reference to the country’s social, economic and political concerns. Native Americans were only considered in case they lived with whites and were required to pay taxes. They were not classified in accordance with the one drop rule, as opposed to black people, and were labeled by the dominant ethnicity in their residence (Strmic-Pawl et al., 2018). The twentieth century marked their inclusion to the five main groups alongside black, white, Hispanic and Asian people. The ethnicity’s existence was first acknowledged in Directive 15 of 1977 as American Indians and Alaskan Natives, and they were included in the census of 1980 as Indigenous. In the 21st century, Natives were given the opportunity to specify their tribes. The last change helped abolish the homogenisation of Indigenous people, acknowledging the multiple cultures and groups that exist within their community.
Asians have had a more unusual history of classification. They were not mentioned until 1860 and were then labeled as Chinese. This group was first featured because of the concerns surrounding immigration numbers. As mentioned earlier, Asians were featured with Pacific Islanders in Directive 15 and then were included in the census of 1980. The latter, however, erased the distinction between the two ethnic groups. The 21st century granted the ethnic group with six options to specify their identity. Moreover, since that time, Asians were no longer homogenized with Pacific Islanders like they were in 1980. Thus, the classification has become more detailed and more considerate of various nationalities and tribes within the same racial or ethnic group.
Reference
Strmic-Pawl, H. V., Jackson, B. A., & Garner, S. (2018). Race Counts: Racial and Ethnic Data on the U.S. Census and the Implications for Tracking Inequality. SagePub. Web.
The key resource on the current cardiovascular health of the U.S. residents is the American Heart Association, which produces annual reports on the prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and stroke across the U.S. population. For instance, the 2016 report states that cardiovascular diseases account for 30.8% of all deaths in the U. S., even though the death rates attributable to CVS declined by 28.8% between 2003 and 2013 [1].
The risk factors for CVD include cigarette smoking, physical inactivity, high lipid values, and excess weight [1]. The concept of ideal cardiovascular health was invented by the AHA in 2011 to outline the goals of the organization in the ten-year period. The ideal cardiovascular health is indicated by seven metrics, which include health behaviors and individual health factors, as well as by the absence of clinically manifested CVD [1]. The seven metrics of the ideal CVH include “not smoking and having a healthy diet pattern, sufficient PA, normal body weight, and normal levels of TC, BP, and fasting blood glucose in the absence of drug treatment” [1].
The study by Mujahid et al. aims to determine the differences in ideal CVH across the different neighborhoods, races, and ethnicities. The AHA mentions that certain cardiovascular health predictors vary significantly between different neighborhoods, as well as ethnic and racial backgrounds [1]. The role of race and ethnicity in cardiovascular health has been addressed in several recent studies; however, Mujahid et al. consider the racial and ethnic differences in the light of neighborhood factors, thus offering a new way of looking at these differences [2].
Methods
The researchers use secondary data from the 2002 Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis baseline sample (MESA). The study sample included 6191 participants who consented to participate in the ancillary MESA Neighborhood Study. The authors examined the seven indicators of the ideal CVH among the participants, referring either to the clinical test results or the self-reported questionnaire data. Stata version 12 was used to analyze the data. The key independent variables addressed in the study included race, ethnicity, and neighborhood characteristics. The dependent variables included the seven individual components of the ideal SVH and the overall CVH score.
Results
Overall, the study showed that ideal cardiovascular health was only experienced by 4.1% of the study sample, which varied in terms of age, education, and neighborhood characteristics, although the prevalence of ideal CVH was highest among younger participants with high levels of education and family income [1]. In terms of race and ethnicity, ideal CVH was more prevalent in white residents (6.5%) than in Hispanic (2.2%) and Black participants (2%). Poor overall CVH, on the other hand, was most prevalent among the Hispanic participants (66.9%), followed by Black (64.9%) and white respondents (46.5%). The authors note that “Adjustment for neighborhood context slightly reduced racial/ ethnic differences, but differences remained statistically significant” [1].
Strengths and Limitations
The main strengths of the study are its large scope and the methods of analysis. The authors provided a detailed description of all the stages in analysis and made appropriate efforts to ensure that the results are reliable and presented in a clear and coherent manner. The tables that illustrate the racial and ethnic differences in the health factors and behavior are useful in reviewing the results of the study.
The procedures chosen by the authors were appropriate to the study design and worked to eliminate the bias where possible. It is also important that the authors addressed a variety of different neighborhood characteristics, as well as individual variables, including education and income level, as these differences proved to be statistically significant in predicting better cardiovascular health outcomes.
The primary limitation of the study, however, is that it uses secondary data collected in 2000-2002. Although it allows for a higher magnitude of the research and it is unlikely that the correlations between individual factors and health outcomes have changed over the past years, using recent data would help to avoid bias and ensure that the results are reliable and relevant to the current population. Another important limitation of the study is that the authors do not discuss the demographic characteristics that could affect the applicability of the research to the current settings. For instance, the authors could have addressed the neighborhood changes that occurred in the sample neighborhoods since 2002, thus suggesting how these changes would affect the results of the research.
Relevance
Overall, the study adds to the existing research on the differences in cardiovascular health between different backgrounds. The study is relevant to the epidemiology of cardiovascular diseases as it suggests that certain population characteristics, such as the level of income and education, as well as racial and ethnic differences, predict the state of people’s cardiovascular health. However, the findings of the study are mostly in line with the current knowledge of cardiovascular health predictors, as outlined by the AHA [1].
One of the possible ways to improve the applicability of the study to the current healthcare settings is by conducting primary research with similar aims and variables studied. This would ensure that the findings and conclusions discussed by the authors still apply to the various U.S. populations and can be used in health policies to promote the AHA cardiovascular health goals.
References
Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, Arnett DK, Blaha, MJ, Cushman M, Das SR, de Ferranti S, Després JP, Fullerton HJ, Howard VJ. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2016 update. Circulation. 133(4):38-360.
Mujahid MS, Mooreb LV, Petitoc LC, Kershawd KN, Watsone K, Diez Rouxf AV. Neighborhoods and racial/ethnic differences in ideal cardiovascular health (the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis). Health & Place. 44(1):61-69.