Has Institutional Racism held minorities back from success?
The cultural implications of globalization are enormous, and now is the time to look at the question of racism and discrimination in the analysis of people’s progress. The debate of ethnicity and culture raises by globalization stems from pressures built by global market opportunities and attitudes. The latter is due to the predominance of materialistic values like competition, consumption, as well as from erosion of religious values. Such disturbing changes create sensitivity about how people identify themselves and heighten the awareness of people, nations, or communities alike. Critically, the universe as a global village has produced many villages with more insularity compared to the overall consciousness. From such as ground, issues like racism and discrimination draws sustenance, they grow and become propagated in a way that they are commonplace. When the situation gets at that point, a significant concern is to the minorities who have limited chances to prosper in society. The purpose of this paper is to support that Institutional racism has held minorities from attaining success.
Overview
Before delving into how the success of minorities is hindered by institutional racism, it is paramount to understand racism and the individuals at the question. Historically, the concept of race has transitioned across eras and cultures such that it is less connected to familial or ancestral ties. Today race is more concerned with superficial physical attributes (Lesliee 00:24min). Initially, theorists posited race categories based on geographical regions, skin color, ethnicities, and more. Something to note in recent times is that race is a system of labelling that gives a source of identity. According to sociologists, minority groups refers to a group of individuals who, due to their physical or cultural features are singled out form the rest population in the community they live (Clair and Denis 5). Such people receive unequal treatment, and they regard themselves are objects of collective discrimination. Well, there are various ways in which minority people have attained less social, economic, or political progress due to the sort of discrimination they experience in different settings.
Racism in Institutional Settings
Ironically, the systems that promise equality of opportunity to all people have turned back in the face of minority people. Example of these systems includes the media as well the criminal justice system, which is supposed to expose injustices but burdens the lives of minorities in a state like America. Media, in particular when it broadcast news, it caters to stereotype non-white people by over-representing minority groups as propellants of crimes. Such practices are detrimental to the advancement of any person who identifies as a minority member of the community. In today’s realm of communication, it is clear that citizens learn about the world beyond the immediate experiences via broadcasting channels. From findings that people rely on information from television news, many researchers have attempted to focus on effects and the cause for the shifting from print media to television (Desmond 115).
Even though television is such a dominant source of information, there has been an increased shift in the consumption of news programming. Today most people are relying on information provided by local, new programs in the various network. Also, the immense change in audience for news in the locals has caused television programing to change in how they air information. For example, in terms of schedule, like morning, afternoon, and evening or late at night. The total number of news hours devoted by television programs have changed with an increase in the mass consumption of information. For example, new programming in Los Angeles takes 97- total number of weekly hours while New York utilizes 91 hours. As the domination of news cover trends, the central focus shift to the appropriate content aired. The high prevalence of crimes in the states gives the local news tendency to report whereby the media portray non-white individuals as the perpetrators. In that way, this raises questions on the media effects, which include agenda-setting or framing.
In American, crime is considered to be a critical problem that challenges the nations. About this, it is questionable what role media has played to induce public fear of crime. Alongside side, there are targeted individuals captured as threats to the public when it comes to crime-related matters, and this has a significant impact on them. Not only is the violent crime a primary issue to local media coverage, but the style of reporting indicates that news is specific on what crimes and who are the perpetrators. Nearly, about 60% of crimes reported by the local channels give insight about the prime suspects. The episodic frame of news draws the attention of viewers in people instead of societal conditions. For instance, poverty is being understood as a result of insufficient effort. Also, crime and terrorism can be captured as a lack of laws or less concern about human life. Any time people get confronted with news about a crime or other complex issues, they rush to reason on the assumption that the deep-rooted economic situations create poverty or crime. In that way, shaping people’s attribution of causal from crime somehow influences crime-related attitudes. A common tendency with the media in this context of crime is associating the latter with race. Local news, deliberately or unknowingly, interjects stereotypes into the public on how to understand crime. Most viewers are compelled to evaluate how they believe about race in light of what is revealed as reality (Carthen 00:27min). When such is the case where people’s beliefs have been influenced negatively by the wrong perception of certain people, it becomes a barrier for perceived perpetrators to grow socially. People need each other, economically or socially, to grow in one way or another. However, it becomes a challenge for some people to interact in unwelcoming environments.
The exposure of people to crime-related news not only does it influence minds or attitudes, but it serves as a basis for increased racial stereotypes. People start to judge others on the grounds of what they hear, see or witness from the news sources. The performance of elected officials or for choosing candidates in elective office is an exemplary way that informs the extent to which media institutions can affect progress. Politicians who identify themselves with certain minority groups receive criticisms questioning their competencies and accountabilities. The experience that challenged President Barack Obama when running for the presidency is a good picture of how institutions can limit progress based on racial bias.
Another way institutional racism portrays itself is in the criminal justice system, where most black people are mass incarcerated and isolated from advancing in life (Cobbina 122). Statistically, the majority of incarcerated persons are those who identify with minority groups like the black community (Lockhart 221). Once they are released, it becomes hard for them to integrate and keep up with the rest of the world due to stereotypes, discriminations in the area of opportunities. At some point, ex-offers, who are minority groups, have reported being denied employment opportunities due to criminal records. Looking deep into the matter, some of these individuals are not to blame for missing economic opportunities, but the record set by the criminal justice system. In the first place, these people are incarcerated even for minor crimes. When people of color are targeted disproportionately by police and get incarcerated, it leads to a disadvantage in other areas of life like health, employment, family, and political power (Cobbina 117). Some studies have shown that people or f color have less privilege compared to whites when in matters like plea offers and sentencing of incarceration (Syed 6). The effect is, even more, sever for black people who are charged with a felony or drug-related crimes. A survey conducted recently showed that high school dropouts in these minority families were incarcerated in a large number (Cobbina 217). Post-incarceration is a significant effect on such people because it takes time for ex-prisoners to adjust in life based on the period of serving a sentence. Employment, for example, is the key determinant to whether those go back to prison.
Institutional racism in the American health system causes racial minorities to face disproportionate barriers to accessing care and low-quality services. Cist barriers, for example, is a big hit to the communities of colors compared to white individuals. Studies show that health trauma centers the number of visits for emergency services in places with the black population (Holroyd 31). Nations with a high population of black people are less likely to have treatment services for substance abuse or facilities that accept related insurance covers. Substance use disorders are prevalent and have advanced consequences in American, but treatments are very low. Unlike mental or physical health problems, treating substance use is considered different and is heavily financed. Public policies like the expansion of Medicaid can be an excellent way to enhance the provision of care for a patient population with a substance use problem. However, the debate over effectively expanding this policy in the US is lengthy, with claims that there have to be better infrastructures to serve new enrollees (Eaton 00:31min). As such, it implicates the substance users who are in critical condition and need for urgent care are not less served. In most cases, this situation happens to affect the minority groups who associate with drug problems. Access to better health care services is paramount since nothing can be done constructively when someone is not in good shape.
Housing Issues
The US lending practices created a problem that still exits today. A set of maps was commissioned by the federal home loan bank many years ago as a way to direct opportunities for hosing in the coming years. A map that was created led to the separation of cities in different areas ranked to the desirability for growth opportunities. The least desirable places in the regions defined turned out to be the site where the majority of black neighborhoods dwell. As such, people in those least ranked regions found it hard to get credit services or mortgage for proper housing. Although the fair housing act corrected the issues, it did not completely solve the problem. Some current court cases indicate the battle of discriminatory developments, and perhaps it is high time policymakers need to establish measure like mobility vouchers to enables minorities to sustain themselves
Education Sector
A common prevalent of institutional racism is seen in the education sector, the very which area that supports people’s life advancements. Some schools in America are still in substantial segregation by race. One way that schools remain racially segregated in the whites’ progress to private schools or charter learning institutions. The prevalent racial bias has a detrimental impact on the performance of learners from minority groups. In pre-school, for example, black kids are far more likely to get suspensions compared to white children, and this denies them opportunities to be in class at the right time. In K-12, black children have high chances to get suspensions compared to white counterparts. Disabled kids, too, are victims of institutional racism. A study covered in a particular new article informs that black Caribbean pupils are as well subjected to institutional bias in English school, which consequently undermine the chances of academic progress (Desmond 107). According to research, teachers routinely underestimate the abilities of black students, pointing to the assumption that behavioral problems overshadow their academic talents (Chacko 00:24min).
Students find it hard to excel academically as they are disproportionately treated through heavy punishments. Sociological models show that this problem is extensive than it was previously assumed ad impacts serious effects that go beyond the classroom. Suspension, for instance, explains a considerable proportion of disparities in academic performance when comparing white kids and blacks (Freire 114). When that happens, it means there re limited opportunities for minority students to graduate. Institutional racism does not end there, and although minority pupils in schools are segregated, a small percentage make it t graduation time only to be discriminated in the market.
While it can be tough for all college grads, studies show that African-American experience a hard time when finding jobs after school (Wyatt-Nichol and Seabrook, 26). The rate of unemployment for recent college grads who identify as black was almost twice that of the overall population. Even those who secure employment positions, discrimination based on race reflect in workplace treatments such as lack of promotion or underpay. The 1964 civil rights act illegalized employment discriminations on the grounds of race, but hiring decisions according to research have consistently pointed evidence or racial bias (Desmond 125). Typically, discrimination help explain the wage gap between white and blacks. Generally, it is acceptable that equal opportunity, especially in employment decisions, is fair when equality is enhanced for all. The term equally opportunity in employment- as the vital sector of growth, refers to decisions like appointments, selection, or promotion, which need to be pure merit. An equal opportunity guarantees fair treatment, which implicates better outcomes like success. When denied privileges to advance economically or socially, minority people who identify with race do not stand a chance for success.
Tackling the Issue of Institutional Racism
To see the success of minorities in various settings, institutions like schools, hospitals, private and public organizations must-see racial discrimination to end. The approach requires coming up with effective policies and enforcing them in the right way. The issue of immigration policy, for instance, can be dealt with by the nation’s president to ease institutional racism. In history, immigration laws have bee applied to categorize and eliminate individuals based on race. Today the policy of immigration is not any different. Federal measures were put targeting the Latino people, especially after the US border protection. In that way, Mexicans are pointed for crossing the boundary illegally, which charges of felony. When immigration law gets intertwined with criminal regulations, it results in dangers to people who attempt to set foot on the US land. The foreigners who are already in the country legally are ascribed as outsiders, creating a perception that cultivates discrimination.
Some steps can help resolve the issue of racial discrimination in the employment sectors and see the minorities to succeed like the rest population in the country. For instance, one approach is using the fair employment protection act that was established in the year 2012. By enforcing this law, it would remove barriers to employees who seek to file lawsuits. Second, the fair pay act of the year 2013, can amend the standard o labor to prevent discrimination on payment on account of race. Punitive monetary fines against employers would help low racial bias in the institutions and help make the anti-discrimination laws effective.
In conclusion, Institutional racism has held minorities back from achieving success, and although this problem cannot be solved overnight, rethinking the intervention approaches must be considered. To improve the lifestyle for minority people is paramount for numerous reasons like it will help resolve inequalities and better the worsened socio-economic conditions. To support that institutional racism has hinder minority groups from success, the paper has stipulated the various institution dimensions where and how racial bias practiced. As such, it is easy to recognize the intersecting ideologies or cultural elements that hinder minorities from development and how to approach the issues.
Works Cited
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