Cultural Diversity

Thesis Question: Has racism affected employment and decent housing in United States of America?

Thesis Statement: Racism affects poverty in America as most minority have a difficulty securing well-paying jobs and/or decent housing thus living in poor neighborhoods and working in low paying jobs. Such barriers have affected the ability of the minority to secure an equal opportunity in pursuing the economic opportunities and better housing.

I. Introduction 

The historic and present reality of racism on ethnic minorities are inexplicably affected by poverty due to groups being discriminated against such as African Americans, immigrants, indigenous people, and refugees in all regions of the world. This leads to institutional racism that exists in employment and housing in our country.

a. Problem statement 

Historical forces were mainly blamed for poverty race related poverty, but modern forces too are associated with disconnection from economic opportunity networks as well as upward mobility avenues. Millions of Americans still are denied opportunity on racial grounds. Aspects such as decent jobs and housing determine one’s economic strength. However, it’s in such areas that discrimination on racial grounds is rampant with the minority races not being able to secure decent housing and jobs. The study will thus seek to establish a correlation between poverty and racism thus determining if race affects poverty.

b. Thesis question 

Has racism affected employment and decent housing in United States of America?

c. Thesis statement 

Racism affects poverty in America as the most minority have a difficulty securing well-paying jobs and/or decent housing thus living in poor neighborhoods and working in low-paying jobs. Such barriers have affected the ability of the minority to obtain an equal opportunity in pursuing the economic opportunities and better housing.

II. Relation between racism and poverty

b. Definition 

The race is the distinct feature that identifies a group from the others owing to genetic or physical traits of that particular group. Poverty is the incapability of a person to meet the minimal measure of well-being in a given society due to limited financial resources. In the USA, most of the minorities are limited regarding financial and economic resources due to their color. It, therefore, follows that such persons can hardly secure better housing thus living in a well-off neighborhood with security and good houses (Sugrue, 2014). These individuals are also unable to secure jobs in the corporate world, especially where the dominant are persons of a different race from theirs (Ross, 2013). If such a person secures an employment, it will be in the departments that belong to the lowest hierarchy in the organization. Leading a better life for such individuals is thus a bit cumbersome.

c. Effect

With the race being a factor in securing housing and employment, the minority is forced to go for low-quality housing and jobs opportunities. That happens as there are limited chances of competing with the majority in the employment arena. The poverty levels are thus high among the minority with many doing jobs that are not well paying in comparison to the majority.

d. Example

In the USA, 53% Africa-Americans and 43% of the Latino community has a higher likelihood of receiving high-cost mortgages in comparison with Caucasians counterpart. That means the possibility of securing a good house is relatively lower in the minority. Moreover, average earnings of African American are 72% in comparison to Caucasian counterparts meaning they earn 72% while Caucasian earns the 100% (Ethnic and Racial Minorities, 2015).

III. Barriers to reforms 

a. Existence of color blind racism

b. Definition 

In its sense, color-blind racism occurs not in the open but often coated in other sense. As such, racism is not seen as an issue in the present society and often ignored. It will thus be a little bit harder to bring out a race-related component. It’s perpetuated by bringing in aspects of people of the minority in the various organizations thus making it impossible to raise a race question.

c. Effect

The effect of such racism is that racism is not yet over; instead, it has been modified to seem not to exist, but it’s still there. A person from the minor race will face racism, but it’s not open as it used to happen during the slavery days.

d. Example

A good illustration would be having a hiring department led by a person of the minority community or has a majority of the minority race, but these individuals are not the ones who hold the final say in hiring. That means a person of the minor race cannot attribute being not hired to their race as the hirers belong to the minority race. Another example would be a real estate agent misleading or withholding information that would make a minor rent or buy a particular house in a neighborhood dominated by the major Caucasian community.

IV. Overcoming the barriers

a. Enforcing discrimination laws

b. Definition 

Discrimination laws are normally not well enforced since its deemed race is a past concern. That means if an institution has hired a couple of persons, it was past the racial scrutiny and deemed to have exempted itself from racial related concerns. However, racism does not stop to apply since a person of the minority is in charge of the laws (Muhammad, 2017). It should be followed down to the nitty-gritty detail.

c. Effect

The minority will still have an avenue to raise their concern. The present USA society has worked to silence the racism but not to address it. For instance, hire a minority just to ensure that the race is balanced in the organization but pay no close attention to any racial related issue such as in promotion. If discrimination laws were observed, it means that the organizations and the society will make sure that the race concern is eliminated.

d. Example

An example would be prosecution of any race-related concern regardless of the perpetrator's race. Moreover, scrutinizes to ensure that minority is not used to shield racism taking place in a given setting.

V. Conclusion 

In conclusion, the race is still an issue that has not been addressed in the USA society. It calls for the attention of the of law enforcement agencies to be enforced. The race had led to the poor housing and low living standards with the racism mechanism denying opportunity for better jobs and decent housing. Enforcement of discrimination laws would act as a perfect tool to address the issue. That happens as a race has been covered to depict its inexistence, but it’s still going on in the society. As a result, poverty associated with race will become a question of the past.

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