American society has not yet got rid of the manifestation of discrimination and stereotypes. Although the situation has become much better than the last century, the white population still enjoys white privilege. Non-whites can experience inequality and a negative attitude toward them everywhere, from school to work. People from racially stigmatized and minority groups experience inequalities which they need to counter in the united move against stereotyping and discrimination.
Without knowing it, non-white people can experience various types of discrimination. First of all, it is needed to refer to statistics to understand that American society is ill with institutional and systemic racism. According to US Census Bureau, the average black worker earns 62% of the average white worker’s salary (Gal et al., 2020). Consequently, the “American Dream” of leaving children in better economic conditions than parents were in is less attainable for Blacks, as Opportunity Insights report (Gal et al., 2020). Another critical part of structural racism is the overrepresentation of black people in prisons. Bureau of Justice Statistics data shows that blacks are the third part of the prisons population, with only 12% of the US total population (Gal et al., 2020). These facts support the position that systemic racism plays a fundamental role in the lives of non-whites, especially blacks.
Non-whites also suffer from more direct forms of discrimination. One of the most common forms is the belief that one type of skin color is superior to another. These people try to attach meaning to physical characteristics, expressed in biases and a sense of superiority (Schaefer, 2019, p. 186). In a formal sense, such kind of discrimination is called colorism. For example, if some employer considers that the blacker the people, the worse they will perform duties in the workplace, it is colorism. Such social significance of skin color makes the life of non-whites more covered with injustice and inequality.
Finally, non-whites suffer from the existence of white privilege. The main idea is that white people have an invisible package of unearned immunities and privileges only because they are white. White people don’t need to think that their skin color matters. Consequently, white people are often unaware that they have white privilege in society. Every non-white person can draw on their personal experience to explain these privileges. Starting from school, white students often have more positive and warm relationships with white teachers. The school curriculum is built upon the history of white people and their achievements, while the history of non-white communities is discussed marginally. Later, in after-school life, non-white people notice that white citizens have more positive relations with local police officers. The list can be long, so it is impossible to reject the existence of white privilege in modern American society.
One of the shifts is that the US population is becoming more diverse. According to the report published by New York Times on August 13, 2021, people who self-identify as white account for only 58%, down 11% from 2000 data. Another peculiarity is that 13,5M Americans identify as non-Hispanic and of more than one race (Tavernise & Gebeloff, 2021). Finally, the report indicates that the white population declined for the first time in history (Tavernise & Gebeloff, 2021). All these data underscore that American society is faced with an extremely diverse number of cultures, religions, views, and races. One of the methods to reduce tensions and prejudice is to implement ideas from interactionists’ contact hypothesis (Schaefer, 2019). As for me, I think that cooperative contact between races is possible. The main requirements are equal status, tolerance, and cooperation between races based on common goals.
To sum up, the non-white population experiences a great deal of injustice and inequalities based on discrimination and racism. To a large extent, the colored population of the United States is experiencing the consequences of systemic racism based on economic and social disadvantage. One of the main features is the white population’s higher wages, social status, and security. Black people also face the challenges of colorism when white people consider their skin color more superior. Another inequality is the existence of white privileges. People gain some rights and benefits only because their skin is white. American community should unite on the principles of contact hypothesis to defeat prejudices and biases.
References
Gal, S., Kiersz, A., Mark, M., Su, R., & Ward, M. (2020). 26 simple charts to show friends and family who aren’t convinced racism is still a problem in America.Insider. Web.
Schaefer, R.T. (2019). Sociology Matters. McGraw-Hill Education.
Tavernise, S., & Gebeloff, R. (2021). U.S. grew more diverse during the past decade. The New York Times, A14.