Posted: September 7th, 2024

Race and Power in American Society Essay

Race and Power in American Society,

Race is defined as the cultural immutability or the biological concept of a group who have been accredited to sharing a common general origin while Ethnic is the particular identification of a culture in its ways of life or the classification based on the historical concept of origin. These two concepts often overlap but differ in their social implications. The racism makers include language, culture or territorial rights. These factors serve as visible markers for discrimination and exclusion in many societies. Race and ethnicity are not biologically specified but a socially constructed means of differentiating people. They have been used historically to create social hierarchies. The purpose of this paper is to describe how the formation of racial categories has changed, where the lines have been drawn and who is delineating where the lines begin and end, also explain why race still remains salient in an allegedly post-racial society. This topic is particularly relevant in understanding modern social dynamics in America.

Changes of the racial categories in the American Society
In the United States, the racial and ethnic composition of the people is in fluctuation. These changes reflect broader global trends in migration and identity. The racial and ethnic social bonds, conflicts, and divisions are the miscellanies of a preindustrial arrangement that has significantly declined in the modern period. Despite this decline, some of these divisions persist today. The racial theory has been encompassed by three model approaches that include ethnicity, class, and nation with ethnicity being the most dominant racial model. These approaches frame how individuals and groups are categorized and treated. The racial formation is the outcome of the relations of racial projects on a society broad level. Racial projects define the political and social meaning of race in different contexts. In the United States, races are separated differently because of heavy racism in the past relating to anti-miscegenation laws and slavery. These laws and practices have left a lasting impact on social and political structures. The racial categories have changed, and they are now classified as White Americans, Black Americans, Native Americans, Asians American, and Native Hawaiians, and there are two ethnicity categories that include Hispanic or not Hispanic. These categories reflect both self-identification and social recognition. The Supreme Court ruled that race is not limited to the “race questions” but to all ethnicities that include Jewish, Arabs, Hungarian, Zulu, and Laotian. This ruling broadened the concept of race beyond simplistic binary notions. The racial changes have also affected the composition; white Americans are still considered to be the racial majority, making up 72.4% of its population, while African Americans are the leading racial minority, making up 12.7% of the population, Asians make up 4.8%, and Native Americans are the least minorities. These demographic shifts highlight the growing diversity of the population. The main ethnic minority is the Latino American, making up 17.8% (Graves 2001). Latinos have become a significant cultural and political force in the country. The white, non-Hispanic ethnicity makes up 61.3% with the total population for whites being at 76.9%, white Americans make up the majority in all regions except Hawaii during the census. These percentages reflect historical patterns of immigration and settlement. The American society has definitely changed over the years as its composition has included more races that included Black Americans, Asian Americans, White Americans, Native Americans, and Native Americans. The evolving demographic composition is reshaping cultural and political landscapes.

The lines of Race and Ethnicity
In American society, classical civilization is delineated by the society that tends to divide people according to their physical characteristics with moral and psychological qualities, usually by conveying the highest and best qualities to their own people and the lowest and poor qualities to the other individuals who are either outsiders or lower class. This practice reinforces social stratification and discrimination. The white Americans have always drawn a line to differentiate themselves from individuals of other races, causing segregation in American society. These divisions have persisted despite efforts toward equality. In Roman and Ancient Greek, the notion of human diversity was believed that the physical differences in appearance could be explained by environmental factors. These early ideas laid the groundwork for later theories of race. Despite the fact that the ancient people had no knowledge of genetic variability or evolutionary theory, their race concept can be described as malleable. This flexibility contrasts with modern rigid racial categorizations. The main environmental cause of individuals’ physical differences was believed to be geography and climate. These explanations were seen as natural rather than socially constructed. However, in ancient civilization, thinkers recognized that different populations had different physical features, and their common consensus was that all non-Greeks are barbarians; one can change the status by adopting the Greek culture (Graves 2001). This perspective showed an early form of cultural assimilation as a solution to otherness. Among the years, scientists made some claims about race: races are precise, a natural distinction of humanity; this is a strong relationship between human phenomena (culture and interpersonal relations) and biological races; race is a legitimate scientific category that predicts and explains the behavior of individuals. These scientific claims have been discredited but still influence public perceptions. Races were generally considered to reveal group differences in moral attributes and intelligence. These beliefs underpinned systems of segregation and inequality. The lines of race and ethnicity are clearly delineated by the individuals in the American society that tends to segregate people by race, class, and their ethnicity. These divisions continue to shape social hierarchies today.

Reasons why race has remained salient in a post-racial society
When the majority of American society elected President Barrack Obama to be the 44th president of the United States of America, it was believed that the American society had become a post-racial society that does not segregate its individuals according to class, race, and ethnicity. This was seen as a turning point in racial politics. Barrack Obama was a Black-American president, thus it was believed that he would bring an era of post-racialism bringing change in American society as they overcome their racial and ethnic differences. However, the persistence of racial issues indicates deeper societal problems. The post-racialism era was supposed to solve racism and bring equality in American society. Despite this, structural inequalities remain embedded in social institutions. There has been a significant reduction of racism in the US, although the minorities in American society continue to suffer in manners such as mass incarceration, where individuals from other ethnicity and races tend to face mass imprisonment, unlike White Americans, which challenges the notion of a post-racial society. These disparities highlight the ongoing relevance of race in social and legal systems. Despite being in a post-racial society, Black Americans are still seen as a threat to American society as they are seen to be drug peddlers and thugs. This perception perpetuates stereotypes that lead to racial profiling. This has led to many young black men being gunned down by the police; in many cases, they are killed without probable cause but by the mere fact that they are racially different. These incidents spark national debates on race and justice. Arabs and Muslims are also considered to be terrorists and are physically harassed when in public places such as airports where they undergo unnecessary and strict checkups, unlike the White Americans who tend to have a smooth and easy time. This discrimination reflects broader fears and prejudices following events like 9/11. The post-racialism era still tends to be challenged by the notion that the American society still tends to segregate people with their class, race, and ethnicity despite being in a post-racial society, making race salient in American society. This shows that race remains a central issue in contemporary social relations.

Baker, D. G. (2024). Race, ethnicity and power: A comparative study. Taylor & Francis.
Fitzgerald, K. J. (2023). Recognizing race and ethnicity: Power, privilege, and inequality. Routledge.
Thurber, T. N. (2023). Republicans and Race: The GOP’s Frayed Relationship with African Americans, 1945–1974. University Press of Kansas.

Order | Check Discount

Tags: Ethnicity and Identity, Post-Racial Society, Racial Categories, Social Segregation, Systemic Racism