Summary Of The Documentary Race: The Power Of An Illusion

Instead, the opposite appears to have happened. When the emphasis is placed on aiding people with certain skin colors or ethnic backgrounds, affirmative action sets the races further apart than before. Could this be just another form of segregation? The attempts at boosting minorities to the level of the others have grotesquely failed. To raise minorities the government has pushed down the majority group, fueling racial conflicts. In addition, lowering the bar for minorities for admission into jobs or schools has created a harmful atmosphere for them. Because some of them could not originally qualify on merit and skills, many face failure or extra hardship when they get ushered into their job or school. As Charles T. Canady said in his speech at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D. C., "Preferences do nothing to help develop the skills necessary for the economic and social advancement of the disadvantaged" (43). Meanwhile the majorities receive punishment because of their lack of a specific skin tone or origin. "Entitlements by race, sex, ethnicity and sexual orientation-categories that in no way reflect merit-" Shelby Steele described, "are at the root of the great social evils in American life" (175). It is unfair to reward or turn away applicants because of something that is only theirs by ascribed means. When prospective college students or job applicants are considered, the competition should be solely based

The PBS series “Race: The Power of an Illusion” effectively works to expose race as a social construct and deconstructs the false notions that race is a biological marker. The series first discusses that all human beings originated from Africa but dispersed about 70,000 years ago to various places in the world. As a result of this migration, people were spread to different locations throughout the world with different environmental conditions that affected their physical traits. It was many years after the migration in which people began to display these new physical traits such as slanted eyes, fair skin, and differing hair textures. While the series notes the physical changes that occurred during the migration it also emphasizes that race while it may seem apparent in skin color and other physical features has no real biological basis.

Bill of Rights of 1944 was signed into law as an expansion of welfare for people who have served in the armed services with three major tenets: 1) government guarantee of loans for homes, farms, and business, 2) tuition and stipend for veterans able to get into college or a job training program, and 3) health care (if injured in active line of duty). While he does not refute the idea that the GI Bill created a more middle-class society, Katznelson explains it is almost exclusively for whites. He argues that the people who benefited the most from the government guarantee of loans were white Americans due to redlining. How did this happen? Economic security was determined by home ownership, but banks would not give out loans to people who lived in areas on a map that had been redlined, which were neighborhoods determined by race. In terms of education, the gap between whites and blacks widened. Black veterans were denied admission to universities and job training programs in both the North and South. And although the doctrine of “separate but equal” had been upheld by Plessy v. Ferguson, black colleges were not created equal. Limited to education, theology, and various trades, it was nearly impossible for blacks to participate in graduate or professional training (133). However, Katznelson does mention that “it is indisputable that the G.I. Bill offered eligible African Americans more benefits and more opportunities than they possibly could have imagined in the early

Throughout the video, Race: The Power of Illusion, it describes how the human eye identifies race by physical appearance, which includes skin color, hair texture, and body shape. However, in this video, we learn that genetics can tell us something completely different. Our genetics can help determine that an individual can have a genetic makeup of more than one race. Alan Goodman, an anthropologist, said the following, “to understand why the idea of race is a biological myth requires a major paradigm shift.” I do agree with his statement. Our society is so focused on race and that a person’s skin color automatically associated them to one specific race. After watching this video, I believe that this is false. People have genetic makeups of

The episodes “Race: The Power of an Illusion” illustrates that we as humans are more similar than we think. Additionally, these videos would demonstrate that as humans we carry about “85%” similarities within our genes, and yet “African Americans only make 1/8 of what whites make.” Nevertheless, several Americans felt that the country would later blend through what was coined as a melting pot approach, which Eduardo Bonilla-Silva would describe as “assimilating into American hood and would later become Americans” (PBS, 2016). In spite of that, there would be several individuals like Mr. Takeya who would try to redefine themselves to gain the full benefits of this country. Additionally, each of these individuals would approach their case through

During our spring we were asked to watched a movie “Race the Power of an Illusion" was a three-part series and investigated race in society, science and history. It's true that race has always been with us, right? Wrong. Race is one topic where we all think we're experts. Yet ask 10 people to define race or name "the races," and you're likely to get 10 different answers. A person's race affects how they are treated in society. The skin color of a person will be used against them at every turn, a black person will always be seen in a slightly negative light, Asians will always will be looked at slightly more positive and white people will always be seen as the people of privilege. There is no equality unless there is darkness or blindness. Color

In the film, “Race the Power of Illusion: The House We Live In,” they were talking about how the whites were being racist to the non-whites. Do you think people should continue to be racist? If not, what do you think we should do? I think everybody should be treated equally and not differently. There are people that think that just by looking at your skin color, they can tell what kind of person you are.

Many people ignore the blinding facts that support white privilege but are aware that it exists in society. White privilege impacts every decision made within the educational system. When applying to colleges, a white student is 78% more likely to get accepted than a student of color with identical successes. A study done in 2011 by the US Department of Education suggests that whites are not only more likely to get accepted, but are more likely to receive their bachelor’s degree once they enter (2011 US Department of Education). This recent study demonstrates that white privilege is still relevant in society and must be altered. Even if the education system is not consciously making an effort to support white privilege it is evident that it

President Trump signed an executive order on January 27, 2017 to ban more than 130 million people from the US majority including Muslims and refuse entry to all refugees. This has caused widespread chaos and disruption throughout US airports, American law enforcement agencies, and foreign countries trying to comprehend the new policy. Trump quoted the executive order, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States.” President Trump and the people of this country who support him are slowly changing this country from pluralism to strictly assimilation towards Muslims. On a 7-point scale pluralism vs. assimilation, we are currently on a 7, which is basically not letting a group into this country.

Though much of what Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of in 1963 has been realized in American society since, there still exists discrimination against minorities, especially around the area of economic equality. In the 1960’s, an African-American citizen's "basic mobility [are] from a smaller ghetto to a larger one" (King 210). This is still the case for many, despite great changes in race relations. The three main problems that minorities face in economic terms are higher unemployment rates than their white counterparts, wage gaps between white and African-American employees, and occupational segregation within career fields and companies based on race.

Throughout all of American history race has been seen as a social construct to varying degrees of intensity. Race is commonly seen as a way to categorize the human kind and assign usually false stereotypes. Our society is comprised of these individuals who share similar misconceptions on the topic of race. Overall these common misconceptions have led to institutional discrimination that has created discrepancies as it relates to health and home ownership.

They included the G.I bill, the war on drugs, and the suburban shift. The G.I. bill, which was passed in 1944, provided numerous benefits to World War II veterans. This bill aimed to assist returning veterans by offering them benefits, such as financial aid to pursue education, low-cost mortgages, and low-interest loans so that they could conform to civilian life. However, many African American veterans did not profit from this bill like their White Americans counterparts. Although the bill did not explicitly advocate racial discrimination, it was interpreted differently for both races and it somehow simulated the Jim Crow laws. For example, mortgage agencies and banks refused to lend loans to African American veterans after they returned from war, making them face poverty (page 308).

Racial inequality and discrimination is a major factor that is still present in America’s society today. Considering the fact that America’s history of racial complications is still an issue in today’s society. Minorities (African American, Asian Americans, Hispanics/Latinos) which is accounted for almost half of the population if combined, are the ones that face discrimination the most, typically everywhere they go and especially in the workforce. They are not treated as equally as everyone else and for that, it is a problem that should never be overlooked.

In education, white people have always been at an advantage compared to other races. African-American have had quite a setback in prior years. There was a time when African-American weren’t even allowed to learn how to write or read in our country just because of the color of their skin. There has been quite the improvement from those times in terms of African-Americans obtaining an education. According to Essentials of Sociology, only about 20 percent of African-Americans had a high school diploma in the year of 1960. The number has increased significantly to roughly 82 percent in 2013. That percentage represents a significant change that shows how our nation has progressed throughout the years. However, you are still at a set back if you aren’t white. “Black students were expelled at three times the rate of white students” (Hsieh, 2014).

As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an