Racial Inequality in America

The United States has been struggling with racial inequality for decades, and the media has been paying more attention to this issue. Race can impact the likelihood of graduating high school, attending college, or even maintaining a livable income as an adult (Back and Solomos, 2020). An individual's racial ethnicity is a factor when determining these outcomes and is worth noting. If you are skeptical of your race's role in the number of options you have, look no further than statistical evidence.

There is a considerable gap between races regarding employment, wealth, being convicted, and even the chances of getting a high score on standardized tests. Racial inequality in America has been manifested in various forms. For example, as this statistic points out, a black man is more likely to be convicted or serve longer in jail than a white man. According to Maltby (2017, p. 39), a study by The Sentencing Project shows that African-American and Latino people are more likely to drop out of high school. In contrast, the statistics show that black men are less likely than their white counterparts. Moreover, African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans are more likely to be born into a family without wealth, less educated, and lower income. In the United States of America, minority groups are disproportionately unemployed - a fact that black men face more often than those who are white, for comparison purposes.

Compelling research evidence has found that minorities - Asians, non-Hispanic whites, Hispanics, and blacks - are unemployed due to racial segregation. Racial segregation pushes minorities out of the workforce and removes their ability to make a living. One example of this geographic movement is the creation of suburbs. The more suburbs are built, the further it is from where black Americans continue to stay in central cities, which leads to limited job opportunities (Frost, and Edgell, 2017, p. 289). The lack of workforce transportation in the suburbs leads to a significant amount of racial segregation. It leads to a higher unemployment rate among the Hispanic and Black populations. The racial disparity has contributed to the big divide between black and white Americans. The fact that white Americans have been gaining a lot of wealth at the expense of other minority groups is a significant factor in this inequality.

Blacks and Whites have historically had different opportunities in the job market, and the situation is one that still exists in many modern societies. The United States is specific in its white supremacy culture, which rewards whites over any other race. It leads to a higher number of African American unemployment in America. It is due to the lack of academic success among many African Americans, leading to employment inequality. Kuhn, Schularick, and Steins (2020, p. 3498) assert that African Americans face racial discrimination in the job market. They face barriers that cannot always be overcome, such as not having the right skills or education to enter the modern workforce. But there are ways to overcome this, and they can usually improve with dedicated effort and by reaching out to people who can help them grow their portfolio and give them some advice on what they should do.

 Racial inequality exists in America, and it is a large part of why the wealth of black Americans and Latinos is lower than that of whites. It is not uncommon for black Americans to have less access to financial institutions which can help them accumulate wealth – it is an issue that America faces. As a result, many families experience low wealth since they often cannot afford to save or invest as much. Black American workers have historically been subject to racial inequality. Most Blacks experience the same educational barriers, including funding from property taxes (King, 2017, p. 371). Racial segregation in America means that some schools are predominantly white and some predominantly black, leading to a disparity in their education - blacks face more obstacles. Over time, the tax wealth of black communities has decreased and is comparable to that of neighboring districts. It leads to inadequate school funding, affecting many blacks living in central cities. Racist inequality between blacks and whites is significantly impacting American education quality.

African Americans tend to earn less than their White counterparts. It can also cause income disparity amongst families, depending on how much education the family members have and how high their salaries are. African-American and Latino students are more likely to drop out of high school. Some parents view poverty as the cause, while others see racism in school policies. Access to education can be challenging for these families. The fact that the Americans are poor makes it hard for them to educate their children. The funding of the district where they live, as well as property tax, often prevents them from supporting an adequate education. It makes the children drop out of secondary school. That racism reinforces poverty for black Americans is a frightening reality. According to Donnelly (2017, p. 13), most of the time, a black man will be jailed or convicted more often than his white counterpart. Then, you have to consider education as well. The African-American community has fewer resources to spend on education than whites, so schools are not accessible for some of the world's most prominent ethnicities.

In a sample criminal case, Tuner was a student-athlete at Stanford University and was convicted of sexual assault. Tuner's sentence would have been fourteen years, but the prosecutor submitted an advisory recommendation to the presiding judge that it should be six years. It shows how justice inequality in America, to which this case belongs, makes black Americans take longer sentences for more minor crimes than white Americans for more significant crimes. Racial inequality is still a severe issue today. Whites have a lot more wealth than blacks in America; this is attributed to poverty among black Americans. According to a Mazzocco (2017, p.67), blacks are more prone to discrimination in the job market. They are paid less than whites, leading them into poverty. Instead, income inequality has increased over the past 20-25 years. Since many whites live in the suburbs and not cities, minorities are often left to end up in poor urban areas with limited opportunities. It is mainly racial inequality that leads to this situation where those minorities who find themselves in jobs or businesses tend to be situated at the bottom of the social ladder.

Moreover, white residential places have better educational opportunities than those in the inner city because of their financial resources. It is a problem in the US, where schools that offer inferior education tend to be focused on disadvantaged populations. Property tax revenue is mainly used to fund education in the US. However, the city cannot afford to provide for all students equally in impoverished neighborhoods. It leads to inequality between black children and white children. Ultimately, blacks in America experience racial inequality, adversely affecting their lives.

Reference List

1. Back, L. and Solomos, J. (eds.) (2020) Theories of race and racism: A reader. Routledge.
2. Donnelly, E. A. (2017) “The politics of racial disparity reform: Racial inequality and criminal justice policymaking in the states,” American journal of criminal justice: AJCJ, 42(1), pp. 1–27. doi: 10.1007/s12103-016-9344-8.
3. Frost, J. and Edgell, P. (2017) “Distinctiveness reconsidered: Religiosity, structural location, and understandings of racial inequality: Distinctiveness reconsidered,” Journal for the scientific study of religion, 56(2), pp. 277–301. doi: 10.1111/jssr.12334.
4. King, D. (2017) “Forceful federalism against American racial inequality,” Government and opposition, 52(2), pp. 356–382. doi: 10.1017/gov.2016.52.
5. Kuhn, M., Schularick, M. and Steins, U. I. (2020) “Income and wealth inequality in America, 1949–2016,” The journal of political economy, 128(9), pp. 3469–3519. doi: 10.1086/708815.
6. Maltby, E. (2017) “The political origins of racial inequality,” Political research quarterly, 70(3), pp. 535–548. doi: 10.1177/1065912917704518.
7. Mazzocco, P. J. (2017) “The reality of racial inequality in America,” in The Psychology of Racial Colorblindness. New York: Palgrave Macmillan US, pp. 59–72.

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