Category: Inequality

Introduction

Social inequalities seem to typify the American society. The federal government is desperately attempting to raise the debt ceiling to cover up for high debt due to insufficient revenues. That notwithstanding, it is now apparent that myriads of billionaires and millionaires rarely pay their income taxes.

This is despite making huge incomes from their investments. Conversely, tax evasion amongst the middle and lower class is an offense that invites horrendous punitive measures (Kourvetaris, 1997). How do the rich avoid paying income tax to the government? Have people banded together to counter this source of social inequality?

Tax Avoidance by Billionaires

There are various ways that the rich are able to avoid taxation. In 2009, the IRS revealed that almost 1,500 billionaires and millionaires in the country did not pay a single dollar as income tax (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). First, the billionaires seem to be very philanthropic by contributing to charities and donating to worthy causes.

However, the tax regime dictates that such amounts that go directly to charity and other philanthropic activities are not subject to tax. Hence, many billionaires use this loophole to evade some significant percentage of their income from inviting taxation. Philanthropy has now become a way of improving the billionaires public image. Since they are the faces of their establishments and companies, they begin to make more sales and subsequent more profit in the name of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

On the other hand, the middle class seldom make enough income to direct huge amounts to charitable events and organizations. The little they donate contributes a meager percentage of their income implying that the larger portion of their income is subject to taxation. According to Wilkinson & Pickett (2009), a middle class and lower classes are subject to an estimate of 35% in tax rate while the wealthy individuals only pay amount less than 17%. Besides, the middle and lower classes are not endowed with incredibly huge business ventures and companies that can invite higher returns because of improved public image (Chowning, 2001). This depicts the class disparities that fuel social inequalities within the American society.

The billionaires also evade income taxation by investing in foreign countries. In fact, they are well advised to which country they ought to locate their business. Mainly, they consider countries that charge least amount of income tax on their companies (Shapiro, 2004).

According to economists and tax experts, a company operating in foreign land pays the income tax to the host country and is not subject to paying tax in the United States (Bhim & Salvatore, 2009). The rationale is that a single company cannot pay twice in terms of income tax. They claim that, if that were to happen, it would result to double taxation.

Sidaneus & Felicia (1999) explain that the billionaires capitalize on this loophole and invest in countries with high return on investments and low income tax on foreign direct investments. This does not only increase their wealth, it also exempts them from income tax.

Take a scenario of a middle and lower class citizens whose wealth cannot allow them to invest in foreign countries. Hence, they invest locally where tax regime is significantly high. They end up paying more income tax for their companies (in terms of percentage of their income) than the billionaires and millionaires.

Third, the rich have a tendency of investing in statutory and government bonds. Bhim & Salvatore (2009) explicate that such investments bring immense income for the billionaires in the long term. However, the income is not a subject of taxation and therefore, all the millions that the wealthy make go untaxed. It is worth noting that the government and treasury bonds are very expensive costing millions of dollars.

This is dependent on their nature of the bonds. Subsequently, the low-income earners and middle class are unable to afford such bonds that are never a subject of tax (Wilkinson & Pickett, 2009). As such, the wealthy continue to become rich while the poor continue to struggle with high rates of inflation, unemployment and high tax rate. This is a source of social inequality.

Finally, the billionaires continue to wield huge influence on the policy making process of the government. While government economists and tax experts agree that there is a need for a change in the tax regime, there has been a momentous challenge in introducing the bill to the house.

In fact, Presidents Obama articulated that it is only reasonable that the billionaires pay more tax than the lower income earners. The unseen hand of the billionaires has been apparent, owing to their resistance to agree with Obamas assertion. The Republicans have opposed the move vehemently saying that it is sparking class wars. This has been acceptable amongst the societys rich who find no problem with the continued social inequalities that are clearly entrenched in the current tax regime.

Have the people banded together against this inequality?

At the outset, numerous citizens mainly from the middle and lower classes have criticized the tax regimes. In 2011, numerous civil rights groups announced Occupy the Wall Street Campaign. There have been other calls to protest against the influence of the rich on the American society.

While the campaigns have been hugely unsuccessful, there has been debate about the authenticity of their protests. The budgetary team following the continued calls for change in government and tax policies came with budgetary estimates that seem to have the billionaires pay more taxes than the lower class and poor people in the society.

Although this is an indication that the people might win the war in the end, huge challenges remain on the way. The rationale is that not all the billionaires are in agreement with the governments new directive. This means that they will continue to manipulate the policy-making processes.

Conclusion

In sum, the United States tax regime is a characteristic of social inequality. While the middle and the lower classes of the society struggle to make ends meet, they pay more taxes than renowned billionaires and millionaires. The billionaires have invested in foreign countries where income tax is low and the return on investments is extremely high. Thus, they evade paying income tax to the federal government due to the current tax regime principles of no double taxation.

Besides, they contribute significantly to charitable organizations and give donations, none of which is subject to tax. The billionaires continued investments in statutory and government bonds have seen them make more income that is not taxable. All this coupled with their growing influence on the policy making process has seen massive protests against the rich. The most notable one was Occupy Wall Street Campaign.

References

Bhim, A. & Salvatore, D. (2009). Social Inequality, Local Leadership and Collective Action: An Empirical Study of Forest Commons. European Journal of Development Research, 21(2), 178-179.

Chowning, D. (1971). When Men Revolt and Why: A Reader in Political Violence and Revolution. New York: The Free Press.

Kourvetaris, G. (1997). Political Sociology: Structure and Process. Boston, Massachusetts: Allyn and Bacon.

Shapiro, T. (2004). The hidden cost of being African- American. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sidaneus, J. & Felicia, P. (1999). Social Dominance: An Intergroup Theory of Social Hierarchy and Oppression. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wilkinson, R. & Pickett, K. (2009). The Spirit Level: Why More Equal Societies Almost Always Do Better. Boston, Massachusetts: Allen Lane.

Current Event that Highlights the Issue

The current event that was chosen was the recent rally that occurred in Connecticut wherein parents rallied for the implementation of education reform in order to give students from low income families a better shot at life through better standards of education. The focus of the rallies were to highlight what they believed was a social and civil rights issue due to what they perceived as a systemic issue that adversely impact children from low income households. One of the more noticeable aspects of income inequality can be seen in the impact that it has had on the current system of education within the U.S. Duncan explains this issue by showcasing the difference in performance between children from low income families and those from families that are from mid to high income ranges (Duncan 8). Simply put, children from the middle and upper class outperform their counterparts when it comes to the rate in which they are able to understand lessons, their method of creative thinking as well as aspects related to intuitive problem solving.

Income inequality can be viewed as the unequal distribution of wealth and opportunities among different social classes. This can manifest in a variety of different instances such as the rich getting richer due to the opportunities given to them, while the poor get poorer due to the lack of possible opportunities that they can avail of. It is due to this that income inequality has become a hotly debated topic with multiple viewpoints regarding how it has negatively impacted society. The reason why this perspective was chosen as an example was due to its long lasting effects on the general population which can be traced to not only greater access to educational materials (i.e. iPads with educational applications, tutors, etc.) but also in the way in which they are children are taught differently.

Private schools for the upper and middle class have been noted as having a far better standard of education resulting in the implementation of teaching practices that places a considerable emphasis on creative thinking and intellectual development as compared to the public school system that focuses more on rote learning techniques (i.e. memorization) due to the desire of local school systems to obtain high general evaluation scores when it comes to standardized tests for their students. This ends up being the perpetuation of income inequality since students from high income families become more likely to get into college and attain jobs with large salaries as compared to their working class counterparts. It is due to this obvious trend that protesters in

Moral Issues Involved with the Problem

The moral issue in the case of this issue is the issue of the denial of opportunity that people face when confronted with income inequality. As seen in the example shown above involving the issue of education in the U.S., income equality creates an adverse cycle in society that perpetuates discrimination and economic limitations on a select group of individuals. The problems stem from how the current social system is ordered wherein, by virtue of their birth, people are categorized into different social classes and are thus subject to the opportunities and limitations under their respective categories (Nakamura 520). From the perspective of the Catholic Church, we are all equal under God and, as such, the perpetuation of a cycle of inequality due to something that is out of a persons control can be considered as being somewhat immoral especially when taking into consideration the fact that a lack of opportunity in one generation of individuals perpetuates itself into the next generation.

What the Catholic Church Teaches about the Problem

When it comes to addressing the issue of income inequality, the view of the Catholic Church on the issue is that addressing the problem is a joint social responsibility. What this means is that merely leaving the problem up to politicians is not feasible enough to actually address it. Income redistribution through taxation merely results in resentment since those being taxed adversely (i.e. the rich) would see that their efforts at earning money is merely being expended towards an endeavor that does not benefit them in the slightest (i.e. creating a better system of education for the poor). It is based on such a perspective that church views the issue as a form of joint social responsibility wherein it is necessary to impart the idea that the concept of self-benefit should be eclipsed by the notion of social good (National Conference of Catholic Bishops 15). This viewpoint focuses on the idea that people would help others not because it would benefit them in the end, rather, they do so simply because it is the right thing to do and creates a form of general benefit towards society as a whole (National Conference of Catholic Bishops 40).

The denial of opportunity seen in the case income inequality creates a societal problem that propagates itself into a cycle where those who are denied opportunities beget individuals who are similarly placed in the same situation. The end result is that one sector of society tends to benefit and progress while the other merely relapses into stagnation. The inherent problem with this is that societal regression, even if it is in just a single sector, can have dire implications for society as a while. As such, the Catholic Church advocates looking beyond the self and looking at society as a while and understanding how implementing the virtues of generosity, piety and love for ones fellow man would result in societal progression not only for a single sector but for the entirety of society. The result would be a far better system than the one that currently exists since everyone would benefit instead of merely a select few.

Possible Solutions to the Problem and Methods to for teenagers advocate for social justice based on the teachings of the Catholic Church

While there are no concrete solutions to addressing the issue of income inequality outright, one of the possible ways that this could be done would be to address the issue of the lack of opportunities people from lower income families encounter. For instance, as seen in the first section of this paper, there is the current issue involving the education of children within the U.S. and how income inequality has resulted in a systematic regression when it comes to educational achievement for children from lower income families (Alves 916). One way of addressing the issue would be to allocate more money towards improving the state of public education in the U.S. which would result in the children getting better opportunities for themselves. Based on what has been presented so far, it is recommended that the prime method of social justice for teenagers to implement should focus on showcasing how all of society would benefit from the aforementioned strategies.

Works Cited

Alves, Nuno. The Impact Of Education On Household Income And Expenditure Inequality. Applied Economics Letters 19.10 (2012): 915-919. Print.

Duncan, Greg J., and Richard J. Murnane. Growing Income Inequality Threatens American Education. Phi Delta Kappan 95.6 (2014): 8. Print.

Nakamura, Hideki. Wages Of Regular And Irregular Workers, The Price Of Education, And Income Inequality. Journal Of Economic Inequality 11.4 (2013): 517-533. Print.

National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Economic Justice for All: Pastoral Letter on Catholic Social Teaching and the U.S. Economy. USCCB 1.1 (1989): 1-89. Usccb. Web.

Introduction

Nowadays, practically no single day goes by without Western countries politicians indulging in populist rhetoric on the subject of artificially created inequality, in order to win support of marginalized masses. However, as famous Orwellian saying goes: all people are equal, but some of them are more equal then the others. The reason to this is very simple  humans are the subject of biological evolution, just as plants and animals. In other words, homo sapiens is nothing but intermediary link between apes and super-men. Organic life and consequentially the intelligent life is universes tool of dealing with the spread of energetic entropy. The increasing complexity of living organisms prevents the establishment of energetic balance in cosmos; therefore, it is in the core of human nature to strive towards higher existential complexity, which eventually results in establishing preconditions for evolutionary jumps. The ultimate purpose of biological evolution is to create God-like specie, which will be able to manipulate with laws of thermo-dynamics, thus averting the energetic collapse of universe. This is the reason why various socio-political theories that promote peoples equality are best referred to as utterly unscientific, because equality is nothing but euphemism for death, as it implies the establishment of energetic stalemate on social level.

Main Text

Today, people in Western countries are being forcibly required to celebrate diversity, or to face the threat of being fired from their jobs and even consequently persecuted, simply because they happened not to be as tolerant as hawks of political correctness would like them to appear. However, the inconvenient truth about the policy of multiculturalism has proven itself as being just too obvious to be effectively hidden from public attention. This truth is very simple  the percentile ratio of White people in population of every particular country, corresponds to this countrys civilizational attractiveness. This is because the evolutionary laws of nature are objective in their essence. The reason why it were namely White people, who had proven themselves capable of pushing cultural and scientific progress forward, throughout the centuries, is because they are entitled with the inborn ability of operating with highly abstract categories (high IQ rate). Such their ability had created metaphysical preconditions for the emergence of culture and science in the first place, whereas African Blacks of Australian aboregenees, for example, were never able to evolve beyond the Stone Age, before they had encountered White Gods for the first time. It is only through establishing social contacts with White people that natives were able to advance themselves socially, regardless of whether they lived in Africa, Asia or South America, which points out at them as representatives of fully specialized human sub-specie. However, once the White settlers were forced to leave post-colonial countries, after having built railroads, hospitals, schools and churches, the Darwinian laws of evolution had immediately reduced non-White natives back to their natural status of primeval savages, driven by animalistic urges. For example, it has only taken ten years for South African Republic, under the Black rule, to be reduced from the most culturally and technologically advanced country in Africa, to the Third World slump, with the highest crime rate in the world, and with 90% of countrys citizens being infected with AIDS. Thus, the existence of inequality among people is absolutely objective in its very essence, as it has its roots in biology rather then in inefficiency of euro-centric political doctrines. The reason why, after the end of colonial era, Africa was being turned into the arena of never-ending tribal war, just as it was the case before the arrival of European explorers, has nothing to do with the legacy of apartheid or with historical injustice, but solemnly with the fact that African Blacks average IQ rate equals 60 (as it is being illustrated in Richard Lynns book IQ and the Wealth of Nations), whereas White people who score lower then 70, during the course of IQ tests, are being declared as mentally deficient. Before politically correct censorship began to undermine the empirical value of Western socio-political theories, it would never occur to European intellectuals to think of themselves as being fully equal to African cannibals, for example, because there is plenty of anthropologic, historical, psychological and etymological evidence as to the fact that, in terms of evolutionary development, Black race is at least three million years behind the White race. We can deny this all we want, just as we can deny that it is Earth, which revolves around the Sun and not the other way around, but it will not change the fact that peoples social inequality is simply a reflection of their biological value. As the utter ideological failure of Marxism and neo-Liberalism has proven, people cannot be made equal by government passing legislations that are meant to eliminate racial or gender discrimination, with the mean of declaring such discrimination as immoral. The attempt to forcibly impose peoples equality constitutes a transgression against the laws of nature and therefore, can only lead to death and destruction. Before the outbreak of WW2, the Communist promoters of universal brotherhood had managed to slaughter sixty million Russians, simply because they belonged to a wrong social class  all in the name of equality. Nowadays, the spiritual and often biological descendants of Bolshevik commissars, under disguise of Liberals, are actively striving to put an end to Western civilization, as we know it, by promoting degenerative ideas of multicultural equality. The consequences of such their activities can be observed even today  the worsening of criminological situation, the lowering of educational standards and the rapidly widening gap between rich and poor.

As we have shown earlier, it is simply impossible to effectively address the issue of peoples existential inequality, without possessing a scientific racially-biological worldview. However, once we embrace such worldview, the solution how to end such inequality will become obvious  governments would have to simply restore a racial homogeneity of Western societies. After this, a comprehensive eugenic program would have to be given an official status, as the ultimate tool of improving peoples biological value from generation to generation. Citizens physical and mental inadequacy will be dealt with in swift and effective manner. In its turn, this will eliminate genetic preconditions for existentially deviant individuals to be born in the future. As a result, citizens legislated equality will eventually begin to correspond to their actual worth. This will allow policy-makers to take a full advantage of the concept of national solidarity, within a context of building a truly fair and just society. People would be able enjoy the liberty of private entrepreneurship for as long as their commercial activities will not undermine the well-being of a nation, as whole. The notion of private ownership will remain undisputed. State will provide young families with free housing and will also take care of elderly people. It is citizens labour, and not the monetary capital, which is going to represent the greatest economic value, regardless of whether we discuss it within a context of their physical or intellectual activities. The means of production and capital will be referred to simply as tools of insuring citizens prosperity. The main function of a State would not be the reconciliation of peoples existential inconsistencies, but utilization of their biological potential, to insure that the process of evolution stays on its natural course. However, even then, a certain forms of social inequality would still exist, as a side-effect of people continuing to be subjected to Darwinian laws.

Bibliography

Dawkins, Richard The Selfish Gene. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1976.

Darwin, Charles On the Origins of Species. 1872. Internet Infidels. 2008. Web.

Freud, Sigmund Civilization and Its Discontents. UK, London: W. W. Norton & Company, 1989.

Lynn, Richard IQ and the Wealth of Nations. UK, London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002.

Spencer, Lee Apes, Apemen and Men. 2004. Earth History Research Centre. 2008. Web.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the available research on the issues of racism within the National Health Service of the United Kingdom. Currently, numerous accounts indicate a high level of racial inequality in this healthcare system. Specifically, the scoping review will focus on the expecting mothers belonging to ethnic minorities. Overall, this review should accomplish two objectives, the first of which is ascertaining the impact of racial inequality on the childbirth experiences of the aforementioned women. The second is finding the ways, the NHS uses to address these racial issues.

Over the course of the review, seven academic databases will be used: Google Scholar, JSTOR, Project Muse, Science Direct, Springer, ResearchGate, and Microsoft Academic. Furthermore, sources from the non-academic literature will also be included, as the issues of racism are not often documented. The methodology for this review includes the collection and synthesis of the available evidence of racial inequality in British maternity care. As most of the data will not be numerical a qualitative research design will be used, particularly, the collection of secondary data is the primary method.

The conceptual framework is represented by a critical race theory. It is an academic approach that emphasizes the centrality of race, racism, and White supremacy in describing educational structures and social practice (Sablan, 2019, p. 178). The basic tenet of critical race theory is that laws and rules have been primarily written by people of white descent. Subsequently, there are few methods of monitoring the cases of discrimination, which forces the researchers to rely on stories and accounts as evidence for the fact of white supremacy. While it constitutes a fully-fledged qualitative research methodology, the sources of the evidence can be considered not credible.

The same problem applies to the area of maternity care. As most of the interaction during the delivery is not protocoled, testimonies of women serve as the major source of evidence, which compromises the capabilities of the evidence base (Betron et al, 2018, p. 4). This conflict is further exacerbated by the fact that maternity care personnel are primarily white people. Therefore, the intersection of opinions is expected to occur and lead to controversial claims. However, due to the lack of any real meaningful documentation of cases of racial injustice in maternity care, the analysis of claims and accounts is the only available method of ascertaining the truth.

The deficit of means of monitoring is also caused by the apparent ignorance of white people towards the struggles and discomfort of minorities. Whether it is a conscious decision to ignore the problems of other ethnicities or a simple lack of awareness, many people have no knowledge of the issues of inequality in many areas (JMag Karbeah, 2019, p. 3). This expression of indifference has two implications. First, policymakers do not initiate laws, which would help ameliorate the situation. Second, there is little feedback concerning the inequality because minorities themselves do not hold trust in the capabilities of the government or the possibility of change.

Healthcare presupposes working with people who are at risk of health deterioration. Although it may seem as judgmental, there is always a possibility of patients death during the delivery, prenatal care, or any other stage of childbirth. An excessive amount of potential complications creates risks for expecting mothers lives. Yet, it also creates a valuable excuse for the medical personnel with ethnic prejudices, who can use the complications as an excuse for negative patient care outcomes. Moreover, considering the overall restriction that women experience during prenatal care, their opportunities are limited both legally and biologically. As a consequence, expecting mothers are extremely vulnerable, especially if they belong to an ethnic minority.

As a result, maternity care is a substantial blind spot both in terms of healthcare and race equality. The mortality rate of black women in childbirth is four times higher than the same indicator for white women (More deaths, worse care: inquiry opens into NHS maternity systemic racism, 2019, p. 43). What is more, this tendency has persevered for several years, which implies the absence of any effective involvement in these affairs. Therefore, it is important to accentuate the available means of reporting inequality and maltreatment in the study of the problem of maternity care in the United Kingdom.

Over the course of the scoping review, several themes have been identified. The first one is race-based death rate inequality. There is evidence, which has been accumulated over the years about a drastic difference in complications during childbirth between white women and mothers of other ethnicities (Henderson & Redshaw, 2017, p. 38). Despite the advancement of technologies, which make the procedures related to child labor, non-white females continue to have more complications than anyone else.

The second theme is the normalization of problems during childbirth. Statistically, women belonging to ethnic minorities are more likely to experience complications, as their mortality rate is higher. Women report that many medical workers use this explanation when faced with controversies surrounding such a discrepancy in patient outcomes (Betron et al., 2018, p. 8). Even though the causes of such statistics may lie in prejudices and selective incompetence, such an excuse is a frequent one.

The third theme can be labeled as the absence of control. As has already been stated, the extent of womens abilities during prenatal care is limited. Interactions between the personnel and patients are not documented. Based on the stories told by the mothers belonging to minorities who delivered in British hospitals, if a racially-biased nurse is assigned to an expecting mother of Asian descent, the nurse is practically free to abuse the patient or deliver insufficient quality care without any fear of sanctions (Kozhimannil, 2021, p. ). Essentially, there is no way to prove the fact of racial inequality because the conduct regarding interracial communication is not monitored.

The fourth theme is the constantly forgotten need for change. Many publications accentuate the existing problem and emphasize the necessity for greater control and larger awareness, yet there are no visible effects of such appeals. As the independent report Saving Lives, Improving Mothers Care (2019) showcases, this stalemate is not new and has been present for years. Whether it is a conscious decision to ignore this problem or indifference born of ignorance, the government does not launch any meaningful initiatives. It is no surprise that the statistics remain the same in spite of all the complaints and appeals.

Altogether, this review has identified four main themes, which are present in publications. Critical race theory was used as a theoretical framework for the qualitative research of racial inequality in the sphere of British maternal care. Research in this sphere most frequently revolves around the alarming statistics of unequal mortality rate, lack of control, social indifference, and the absence of changes. Subsequently, the major problem behind this issue is that the base of evidence consists of reports of women who experienced maltreatment during childbirth, yet these accounts cannot be objectively verified.

Reference List

Betron, M. L. et al. (2018) Expanding the agenda for addressing mistreatment in maternity care: a mapping review and gender analysis, Reproductive Health, 15(1), pp.1-13.

JMag Karbeah, M. P. H. (2019). Applying a critical race lens to relationshipcentered care in pregnancy and childbirth: An antidote to structural racism, Birth, pp.1-5.

Henderson, J. and Redshaw, M. (2017) Change over time in womens views and experiences of maternity care in England, 19952014: A comparison using survey data. Midwifery, 44, pp.35-40.

Kozhimannil, K. B. et al. (2021). Racial and ethnic diversity in the nursing workforce: a focus on maternity care. Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice.

More deaths, worse care: inquiry opens into NHS maternity systemic racism (2021). Web.

Sablan, J. R. (2019) Can you really measure that? Combining critical race theory and quantitative methods, American Educational Research Journal, 56(1), pp.178-203.

Saving lives, improving mothers care (2019). Web.

Injustice

A substantial number of people may think that the world is diverse and worth discovering every day like a box of chocolate, and chocolate, in general, is good. Unfortunately, the fact is, the world is frequently disenchanting and not fair. There are multiple examples of injustice that may be observed in history. As history repeats itself, continuous movements for civil rights and equality of all people did not eliminate racial or gender prejudice worldwide. The majority of stereotypes appeared centuries ago though they are still highly challenging.

At the present day, people may receive unequal treatment from others on the basis of their race or nationality. Racial injustice or discrimination is regarded as an inappropriate practice when a persons skin color or ethnicity unfairly becomes a single and crucial factor that shapes the perception of the majority. Racial discrimination may even implies prejudiced attitude towards individuals who are married or associated with people of certain nationality or race.

Human history knows an immeasurable number of racial injustices such as slavery and colonization. However, civilization has escaped football industry as teams keep selling and buying players. Anyway, colored people were frequently regarded as filthy, contaminated, and immoral due to their race. Unfortunately, ethnic minorities still feel that they are discriminated by the white population or ethnic groups that are prevalent in a certain country. However, minorities occasionally make a retaliation strike, and reverse discrimination characterized by unfairly favorable treatment to them takes place as well.

Racial minorities may experience a biased attitude from law enforcement services. Members of ethnic minority groups are frequently stopped and frisked by the police that may even unfairly charge them with irrelevant crimes. In general, the majority of people of other nationality or skin color face unreasonable stereotypes from the white population due to the media that may encourage racism and discrimination as well. The demonstration of biased opinions through official sources instigates racial prejudices, and people start to be blamed and discriminated for their culture, skin color, language, or religion. Similar to women, ethnic minorities may have limited access to education, job promotions, and respectable wages regardless of governmental attempts to reduce discrimination on the legislative level.

In addition, racial harassment is a specific and unlawful type of racial injustice and the result of inequality. Racial harassment is characterized by the demonstration of racially-offensive symbols and derogatory or offensive remarks about an individuals nationality, race or color. In this case, chess starts to be a hazardous game as the victory of whites may be regarded as the demonstration of racial discrimination. Although law enforcement system does not punish simple teasing, non-severe isolated incidents, and humorous comments it interferes in case of seriously offensive attitude that may provoke race hatred on a nationwide scale.

Injustice is a global problem in all spheres of life, and it may affect any person. In any society across the globe, there is a division between poor and rich people as the distribution of wealth has never been equal. One person may require food, housing, education, and employment, while another individual buys three mansions for his or her pet dog. Women are frequently regarded as less important individuals due to their gender. The representatives of ethnical minorities do not get jobs, medical help, education, and even equal rights with white individuals. Governments should work long hours at multiple laws and regulations that will help to defeat all kinds of injustice. Although it appeared together with human society and has a rich history, people may try to cooperate at least one time and focus their effort on fighting injustice. However, this issue currently remains so complex and unmanageable that the separation of people between different planets according to their races and skin colors seems to be an excellent idea.

Introduction

Social inequality is inevitable in every community. There will always be individuals that have more social status than other. Historically, this gap has been perpetuated by numerous factors. Communities maintain these racial and gender differences through laws and policies. Aside from mandates, inequality becomes a part of socialization and social reproduction. The media has a crucial role in advertising which only widens this gap of inequality. All of these factors lead to developing individual and mass stereotypes which affirm the inequality within a community.

Main body

Laws are created to establish the groundwork on which societies and communities are to be built. At times, however, they do serve as catalysts to promoting inequality throughout the same society. A societys decision to enforce separate public facilities, as was the case during the 1950s and 1960s in America, is an example of policies designed to promote social inequality. Laws, both national and international, have been designed to continue this concept of social inequality. Decision makers, though, paint a much different picture when discussing these measures. There excuses could be that these laws are needed due to risks of harm to a societys population. Furthermore, policymakers continue the support for these laws using the same premise.

In order to understand this key area, Adler and Sanchirigo (310) discuss the connection to this area, ex ante laws and ex post laws. Ex ante laws are those designed to affect the desired outcome while the social conflict is still in the risk stage. Ex post laws, on the other hand, retroactively seek changes. One important difference between the ex post and ex ante approaches is this: the ex post policymaker is willing to go farther than her ex ante counterpart in alleviating hazards that expose many to risk, but few to actual injury. Both policymakers may find intervention worthwhile for the usual reasons: externalities, market failures, paternalism, etc. But in the narrow incidence of actual harm, the ex post policymaker sees an additional equity problem deserving of additional attention, which her ex ante counterpart, focused as she is on the relative equality of prospects, does not recognize. This will induce the ex post planner to push harder for costly prevention measures that avoid or negate such solely ex post inequality, state Adler and Sanchirigo. (351). Therefore, ex ante justification for not allowing African Americans the same facilities as others would be that doing so prevents certain actions or reactions that adversely affect the given society. Ex post justifications would state that since risk turned to reality when a societal norm is broken, African Americans must use separate facilities.

Moreover, social inequality is a product of the process by which learning of an individuals culture takes place. Also known as socialization, this process produces the ways in which people will view inequality and its affects on society. Therefore, inequality remains if societys members are taught that separate facilities are used based on social conditions, such as race and gender. The members of society have no idea of the problems with their way of thinking or how they act. Since their thoughts and actions are connected to the learning process, there must be a system established to unlearn. Once this process takes place, there is no reason to believe inequality could not be handled. In addition, socialization is a process that happens through all concerned parties of a given population within a society. Thus, parent, teachers, and other students must be very involved in the unlearning of social norms and laws which prolong inequality.

Socialization has its greatest affect with respect to education. Since the interaction between students and teachers as well as student themselves is very influential, it only stands to reason that the most profound inequalities are found in the school walls. Costello explains, According to a persistent stereotype, African American women are insufficiently deferent and are matriarchal. Hence, a female law student of African descent is caught in a double bind: penalized professionally for her gender when she appears feminine, but penalized due to her race when she does not. (142). Perhaps these stereotypes are not taught inside the classroom, instead they are viewed as taboo for discussion and resolution. Even if this is the case, a society which stands by and continues to allow this has the same responsibility as those which actively teach this mentality. Unlearning is also a process of socialization and it begins with educating citizens on inequality.

Even though laws and socialization are present in all known societies throughout history, only recently has the media created such a prominent role influencing society. However, that influence is so widespread that is seems to be making up for the past. With technological innovation in electronics and communications fields, the media has been able to sustain inequality through a number of ways. The images shown on television of inequality sends the same message as telling the students that racial inequality must remain intact so that risks do not turn into reality. Again, the fact that so many homes own a television set and computer carry on this state of mind. The same can be said for those homes that have neither television nor computer, but own a radio.

Additionally, some people believe that a picture can tell a thousand words, or so a famous euphemism goes. Like radio messages, images can evoke emotions in people that are acted upon. Lippmann clarifies, The pictures inside the heads of these human beings, the pictures of themselves, of others, of their needs, purposes, and relationships, are their public opinions. Those pictures which are acted upon by groups of people, or by individuals acting in the name of groups, are Public Opinion with capital letters. (18). Since, public opinions fuel social inequality, images and radio are highly influential. This influence can be highly dangerous because oftentimes society does not realize what it is taking in. Berger emphasizes, We are now so accustomed to being addressed by these images that we scarcely notice their total impact. A person may notice a particular image or piece of information because it corresponds to some particular interest he has. But we accept the total system of publicity images as we accept an element of climate. (131).

Besides the medias role in socialization, they also help to affirm stereotypes which maintain the actual inequality in society. These stereotypes affect responses to the larger community and belief in the much larger social order. Stereotypes, in particular to other forms of social inequality, repress social change to the existing forms of inequality. Although stereotypes serve the basic function of making people feel superior to others or releasing frustration, there is a belief that they are also a part of a broader context in which they justify social inequality. (Wachtel, 48). The existence of the cause and effect relationship of stereotypes as well as other agreements is undeniable. For example, people often say that someone can be poor, but happy. Also, they can labeled rich, but unhappy. Therefore, economic inequalities present within a society are justified, since happiness seemingly has no price tag. Thus, the social change needed is disregarded and the perpetual cycle of inequality remains.

Stereotypes are common ways in which inequalities in any social system become self-perpetuating. Societies are much more likely to support status quo following exposure to complementary stereotypes, regardless of the fact that stereotypes strengthen inequality. (Brezina and Winder, 414). Traditionally, stereotypes have been used for focusing the blame on a victim for various perceived violations of social norms. Currently, stereotypes demonstrate a justification to the current social order of a given society through compliments. Consequently, stereotypes have become more appealing to larger populations within societies. Those inside a given society might not witness this occurrence; however, outsiders would not have a difficult time.

Furthermore, stereotypes serve little purpose beyond establishing prejudice to create a self-affirming function for individuals. Conversely, it stands to reason that providing people with another means of accomplishing this should reduce their desire to make stereotypes. However, Wachtel says this isnt the case. Although people should reduce this desire, we often find that they only build on this desire as a means of coping through ongoing personal problems, he says. (49). This approach can be added to the laundry list of others, to include: frustration and aggression theory, scape goat theory, and the downward social comparison theory. (Brezina and Winder, 419). Stereotypes provide the user with the needed information to restore their positive self image. Given the frustration and aggression theory, stereotypes serve to release those feelings which adversely affect the user. The scape goat theory is simple. Stereotypes are used in order to blame the victim of violating a social norm. The downward social comparison theory states that stereotypes are the basis for making social comparisons between groups within a society. Only a self affirmation perspective suggests stereotyping serves an internal function that is individual in nature and not shared among society. Of course, this thesis does share some assumptions with the aforementioned theoretical positions.

Conclusion

Inequalities are an inescapable portion to any society. These inequalities, however, do not have to perform a destructive function. The theories out there for social indignation of other groups are many. The theories seek to explain why societal members constantly hold prejudice against one another. However, these theories do not attempt to solve the social inequality problems or even to provide relief for those being persecuted. The laws and policies of a society also perpetuate the cycle. Since they allow these prejudices to continue, the offenders may carry on with whatever that pleases them. On the other hand, though, there is not legal recourse for the victim. At least, the legal recourse falls on the ability of the victim to convince there has been a legal violation. The socialization process is the beginning to social inequalities. Since most of this influence can be found within the classroom, it stands that the classroom must also begin the unlearning process. Preventing the unlearning process, though, is the powerful affect of the media in this process. Through advertising, people often unknowingly, play into the hands of social inequality by allowing the images and audio bites to persuade their decisions. Finally, people also develop and perpetuate stereotypes through this process. Stereotypes do affirm the actual inequality present in a society. Although there are a multitude of purposes for stereotyping, perhaps the most widely used is self affirmation. People can always make themselves feel better by degrading others, then, they wake up and feel the same.

Works Cited

Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. London: Penguin Books, 1972.

Brezina, Timothy and Kenisha Winder. Economic Disadvantage, Status Generalization, and Negative Racial Stereotyping By White Americans. Social Psychology Quarterly 66.4 (2003): 402-20.

Costello, Carrie Y. Changing Clothes: Gender Inequality and Professional Socialization. NWSA Journal 16.2 (2004): 138-56.

Lippmann, Walter. Public Opinion. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1922.

Sanchirigo, Mathew D. and Chris William. Inequality and Uncertainty: Theory and Legal Applications. University of Pennsylvania Law Review 155.2 (2006): 279-377.

Wachtel, Paul L. The Roots of Racism: A Psychoanalytic Perspective. Black Renaissance 5.1 (2003): 45-50.

Social Inequality in the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

The Gilded Age was one of the United States most prosperous eras. Between 1870 and the early 20^th century, the country amassed wealth at a meteoric rate. The nation seemed headed in a path of economic stability, with everyone welcome to tag along, but this was a fallacy. The Gilded Age was glorious on the surface but full of rot underneath. It bled into the Progressive Era that aimed to correct the wrongs of the Gilded Age with arguably considerable success. It was a period of heightened social activism. In this paper, I look at the social injustices suffered by minority communities in these eras, how they sought to solve them, and the coverage of these critical periods of American history in the textbooks.

Social Inequalities Experienced by Minority Groups

One of the hallmarks of the Gilded Age was widespread inequality. This form of injustice broadly took two forms; social and economic (Cashman, 293). With the rise of corporations that offered jobs for everyone willing to work, streaming millions of immigrants from Europe and the Far East was a welcome sight; or so it was supposed to be. It led to the advent of the deplorable state of workers in the republic. The number of workers was more than the jobs, and mass unemployment followed. The majority of the migrant population was unskilled, and the lack of factory jobs meant no income.

Getting a job was not glorious, maybe just the lesser evil at best. Workers in these companies run by overly shrewd businessmen who held productivity above all else were paid meager wages for their troubles. They had to endure dangerous working conditions without compensation for injuries incurred while on the job. This, coupled with the high rent charged by landlords, made the cost of living for the immigrants fresh off the boat. So high was this cost that most immigrants were forced to live in crowded and sanitary and crime-riddled tenement yards, all in pursuit of the American Dream.

Most of the social injustice during the Gilded Age was propagated by trusts and companies running monopolies and the robber barons who wanted to effect full-scale capitalism. Andrew Carnegie, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and JPMorgan are among them. To say that wealth distribution in the US was uneven will be a significant understatement. Four thousand families, which formed 1% of the population, controlled as much wealth as 11.6 million. The financial moguls that made their fortunes in various sectors of the economy insisted on production at whatever cost, a cost borne mainly by the working man. The stories, such as one of Carnegie releasing a small army on his workers, are quite scary.

Efforts to Address the Inequalities

With the Progressive Era came reforms; people were teaming up to end the social injustice they had been under for so long. The populist movement of Agrarian reforms, the antitrust movements, and the progressive movement of urban social reformers came up. It became evident that the only way to be hard was not by individual action but by a coalesced effort to seek rights and fair treatment (Cole, 297). Many policies to curtail inequality were formed and voiced. The guidelines problem was that no infrastructure or groundwork was laid to make them politically feasible and practical.

Loewens Assessment of the Coverage of these Inequalities in Textbooks

Loewen is quite critical of how textbooks today and in the past have presented the issue of class. It is evident in Lies my Teacher Told Me. He says there is a general absence of class analysis in American History textbooks. It is almost impossible not to present class bias negatively; to avoid this and the controversy that would follow, textbooks give blandly positive accounts of history, sometimes not as it happened. This is a conscious effort to propagate the notion of the American dream.

Immigration which has been a crucial part of the nations journey since independence from Great Britain is given an unfair and shallow chunk of the history textbooks. They handle the topic in numbers, expressing statistics and non-descriptive information on the immigrants. Their issues in their voyages to America and their new life on the continent take a back seat. The only immigrants whose lives we get to know about are those that rose to fame by some act. The same is true for African Americans and does nothing but further cement the rags-to-riches narrative, which, while motivating, finds itself blaming the poor man for his poverty.

Loewen also implies that class bias in textbooks has been used as a tool to keep the rich getting their pockets deeper as they deserve it and for the working class to accept their position in society. In a bid to discredit class bias, textbooks bring it out as meaningless old disputes unworthy of remembrance (Loewen, 137). Even the bills that strengthen the rich mans position are downplayed at the expense of the poor. In chapter 7, Loewen blames society for class bias in textbooks. Until recently, authors were labeled as Marxists for featuring class issues in their books. With todays society looking ever so close to being a second gilded age, textbooks should be at the front of ensuring that social inequality does not recur.

Progressive-era policies contributed to the deterioration of blacks, migrants, and workers. Instead of reducing monopoly and inequality, the state created a super monopoly and elevated the struggle for privilege and rent-seeking as a principle. Not everything is described truthfully in textbooks about how life was organized at that time. Therefore, to avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, modern textbooks must contain accurate information to avoid the mistakes of the past.

Works Cited

Cashman, Sean Dennis. America in the Gilded Age. NYU Press, 1993.

Cole, Peter. Wobblies on the Waterfront: Interracial Unionism in Progressive-Era. Philadelphia University of Illinois Press, 2010.

Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. The New Press, 2008.

There is an established public belief about equality of political, economic, and socio-cultural possibilities for the representatives of different social groups in the modern United States. Such a view is based on the legal system, which states that the rights of all people have to be considered and protected equally. However, uneven distribution of wealth, income, and social respect in society, based not on the individual characteristics, but the belonging to a particular group, is experienced by people, as well as recognized by sociologists. This paper will focus on racial inequality in the United States, in the context of the system of social stratification.

Initially, the concept of a race was connected to ancestry, as well as geographic belonging; however, at present, it is more connected to physical appearance. A person is usually classified as a representative of a race-based on socioeconomic assumptions, illuminating that the understanding of race is removed from biological qualities (Rice University 2017:226). As a consequence of such existing assumptions, the representatives of different races have unequal access to education, the employment market, political power, and social facilities. Racial discrimination may be experienced, as it is demonstrated by the statistics, in legal processes.

If to consider the idea of stratification, it might be observed, that the concept of social class is connected, to a high degree, to the concept of racial inequality. Despite being legally recognized in the United Stated for social mobility, the members of particular races usually cannot reach the position of the upper or even upper-middle class. To conclude, it could be stated that racial inequality is still present in the minds of the people in the form of prejudice and stigma. However, the realization of its limitation is the step towards eliminating it.

References

Rice University. 2017. Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. Houston, Texas: Openstax.

In many nations, ethnic minorities struggle to be as academically accomplished as the major ethnic groups. This performance gap has gained the attention of educators, researchers, and policy-makers due to its unfavorable implications. Education is one of the determinants of quality of life as it affects a persons job prospects, income potential, the circle of friends, and even their self-image. Peterson et al. (2016) name education as one of the factors that predict socioeconomic status (SES). The scholars describe a mechanism that seems to keep communities in a cycle of academically underachieving and failing to support their children with material goods or moral guidance (Peterson et al., 2016). However, as recent longitudinal studies suggest, academic achievement gaps cannot be fully ascribed to SES, which makes it compelling to research other possible predictors.

The Bible does not provide a clear stance on social justice and racial inequality. Yet, its position can be inferred from the Holy Scripture. For instance, Galatians 3:28 states that [people] are all one in Christ Jesus, which shows that God does not discriminate by any traits and accepts all. According to Proverbs 6:16-19, one of the things that the Lord hates the most is a person who stirs up conflict in the community. It may also refer to those who express hatred and hostility to people of other races, and such behavior is clearly frowned upon by Christians.

In terms of strategic communication, any organization cares about its reputation. Public image is fragile as even one incident may turn even the most loyal clients away from a company. It is especially true for educational institutions as they bear the burden of public expectations and are held to high standards. For this reason, institutions need to tackle social justice issues from within and identify the roots of racial inequalities. Therefore, the research question is as follows:

Does the academic staffs explicit and implicit racial bias result in poorer academic achievement in ethnic minorities?

Reference

Peterson, E. R., Rubie-Davies, C., Osborne, D., & Sibley, C. (2016). Teachers explicit expectations and implicit prejudiced attitudes to educational achievement: Relations with student achievement and the ethnic achievement gap. Learning and Instruction, 42, 123-140.

The Ethics of Living Jim Crow

The reading provides a detailed narrative of what lessons and precautions a Black person had to take to stay safe in a predominantly White society of the 20th century. Wright (1968) writes that his teachings began in early childhood when White neighbors wounded him and continued into adulthood at multiple jobs. This story is remarkable in a way it uncovers many limitations that a Black person faced when living in a structurally unequal society. These ethics of living as a Black person made the author feel less human and lacking human rights, making him a target of unprecedented violence and cruelty. Although this text was written around 50 years ago, the abuse imposed onto Blacks is still present in police mistreatment, proving that a Black person still has to adjust to the White world.

The Nadir: Incubator of Sundown Towns

The text challenges the commonly accepted notion of continuous societal progress in the US. It provides the historical background of discrimination in the context of the Civil War, post-war, and Nadir period. Loewen (2005) argues that, contrary to popular opinion, racial equality was never fully implemented, which is evident from the period when African-Americans returned to being non-citizens. This belief is still dominant in American society: most people ignore the historical complexities of discrimination and believe that racism is a long-gone issue that is still discussed with no apparent reason.

Planned Destruction: The Interstates and Central City Housing

The reading documents how the National Highway Program reinforced the housing and social discrimination of the Black population in post-war America. To connect cities and states, highways had to go through low-income areas and, consequently, destroy them (Mohl, 1999). National Highway Program ruined numerous low-income housing districts and rearranged the composition of urban and suburban areas in a way that indirectly discriminated against and evicted the African-American population. The highway project may be addressed as an act of social lynching and is proof for building White America at the expense of Black stability.

Exquisite Corpse

The chapter explores the culture, explanations, and implications of the historical consequences of lynching. Rushdy (2020) describes the practice as a way to impose racial justice and reinforce social hierarchy with White males on the top. These mystical and overtly violent mutilations of the Black peoples corpses were meant to be a public spectacle for White people to justify their dominance and for Black people to fear. Lynching is horrific historical evidence for racial oppression: although Whites claim that African-Americans are violent, they cause mutilations to the dead bodies to make a political statement.

Autobiographical Narrative

The chapter tells the story of Fannie Lou Hamer, a Black woman who fought for Afro-Americans voting rights. In the autobiographical narrative, she describes how she changed since she first heard about the newly gained right to vote. One of the first to register, she transformed from a person who did not understand what rights were to a teacher of citizenship class who enabled others to gain the right to vote too (Hamer, 2020). The abuse that she experienced from the side of White supremacists shows that the time that many people now regard as revolutionary for equality was just as dangerous as the period of slavery.

Video Shows White Teens Driving Over, Killing Black Man

The article shows the modern reflection of the deeply rooted racism and violence that it is associated with. Griffin and Bronstein (2011) write that a group of teenagers has repeatedly beaten and ran a Black man over in an attempt to express White superiority through lynching. Cases like these are not unique, as evident from the contemporary social issue of police officers overusing their power. Thus, Black people often suffer as a result of structural inequality and historically imposed oppression.

References

Griffin, D. & Bronstein, S. (2011). Video shows white teens driving over, killing black man, says DA. CNN Special Investigations.

Hamer, F. L. (2020). Autobiographical narrative. In J. Benjamin (Ed.), Race and ethnicity: difference and decolonization (pp. 71-78). Kendall Hunt Publishing.

Loewen, J. W. (2005) The Nadir: Incubator of Sundown Towns. New Press.

Mohl, R. A. (1999). Planned destruction: The interstates and central city housing. In J. Bauman et al. (Eds.), American Housing Policy (pp. 1-28). Penn State University Press.

Rushdy, A. (2020). Exquisite corpse. In J. Benjamin (Ed.), Race and ethnicity: difference and decolonization (pp. 65-70). Kendall Hunt Publishing.

Wright, R. (1968). The ethics of living Jim Crow. In A. Chapman (Ed.), Black Voices (pp. 288-297). Signet.