The Issue of Race and Ethnic Classification as a Crucial Topic of Interest in the United States

The issue of race and ethnic classification remains a crucial topic of interest in the United States. Different minority groups continue to express their outcry over being marginalized based on their ethnicity and skin color.

Race lacks any biological characteristics or a definition that can make it acceptable in society and real. A race is not real and lacks measuring standards (‘Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 Minutes’). Racism discriminates against people concerning their skin color, and the unfortunate thing is that some skin tones are considered superior to others.

Race emerged through social order construction by colonials when they decided to shift the perception of African slaves as people not worthy of any civilization and denied them rights that were available for their masters. To further their agenda and suppress the enslaved Africans, they developed a social order by raising the status of the whites through land allocation further alienating them from the slaves (Race, Ethnicity, and Class 256).

Many advertisements and commercial ideas in the media focus on being “white,” which leads to further suppression of those of different skin color. Beauty creams and products use the faces of white people, thus lowering the self-esteem of people of color who conceptualize the message to indicate a race towards changing their physical appearance to match that of the white. These ideas on beauty reinforce racial hierarchies by portraying one skin color as the dominant color amongst the rest. Google searches, according to the video extract, indicate that results from multiple searches on beauty show a higher representation of whites, which is wrong as it shows how much the message of racial superiority is communicated in society.

I agree with Dr. Black Hawk (DeBosi) in that as we dig deeper into marginalized communities, you will find that they have in some way accepted their position in society. This acceptance can be demonstrated by scenarios of parents feeding negative information to their children concerning certain features such as hair. In addition, individuals who have done better in society often end up playing the racial card against their kin, as indicated by the case of Dr. Valerie Johnson (DeBosi) who was turned down for a job by a fellow member of the African-American community because of her hair. A community might find itself complicit in the same treatment it receives from society by despising and abandoning their culture (Boswell), to fit into a world they perceive as superior.

In her Five Tips to Being an Ally, Chescaleigh describes the term privilege to anyone who might feel inclined to assist the minority groups in fighting for their rights, even if the helper does not belong to any of the marginalized groups. The privilege she talks about is not experiencing certain life events because one belongs to a group held superior by society. She gives a great example that though one might want to offer help to people, it is best first to figure out the rights that one enjoys that those they are providing their support to do not possess. Greenberg provides insight through examples of how white privilege is a real issue in society, whereby the law is stricter on African-Americans than on whites. Society is lenient when white privilege is put to the test, thus indicating that the culturally constructed order that places whites at the top of the racial hierarchy is real. The privilege is a cultural worldview since the treatment of minorities remains the same throughout the land.

Rahman narrates the story of reverse racism humorously to indicate how whites can use stand-up comedy and humor to communicate racism. Since they do not understand the pain that minorities went through, going back in time and subjecting them to what the minorities were subjected to by the colonial masters would be the only ideal way for whites to walk in the shoes of the minorities. By using humor and empathy, society can be made aware of the effects of racism (‘Aamer Rahman (Fear of a Brown Planet) – Reverse Racism’).

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