Ending Racism in America

Ending Racism Will Greatly Impact the Black Family- An ESSAY

Racism has influenced politics for decades. White middle class values overrode black family values even with World War II, where the economy favored whites and progress was given over to white majority. One of the values of the white middle class was males being the breadwinner of the household. The black family had to survive in poverty with kin networking. The war was supposed to bring the country together and bring equality, yet racism kept the divide. Some whites did not want to be considered equal to blacks. Jim Crow laws in the South and ghettos in the North oppressed the black family. The Jim Crow laws would instill fear into the black family, which made them give in to racism. Racism prevailed in the country, and it greatly impacted the black family. They were seen as second-class citizens until the civil rights legislation, which ended this status. Moynihan diverted attention to the black family structure with his report entitled The Negro Family: A Case for National Action. Moynihan in his report stated that the black family was a pathology, which was racist because he did not take the time to understand their culture and the environmental factors that influence their lives. Education, wealth and income inequity, and sexuality were influenced by racism, therefore ending racism is a solution that will greatly impact the black family.

Research and policy have both failed the black family as they continually used negative evidence to support them. Research has failed specifically by allowing racist reports to influence their outcome. Researchers kept using material from old reports that were biased toward the black family. Researchers have been and are still looking at the wrong evidence, and they are not putting the evidence in historical context to positively view the black family. Researchers are paid by the government and policy makers to answer such questions as to what is wrong with the black family, and they refuse to see the black family as equal and different supported by Carol Stack. Stack concluded that there is nothing wrong with the black family. Daniel Geary supported that Moynihan’s report should be torn up because it is historically inaccurate. Policymakers should not be using reports such as this to make decisions on the black family, yet they are still using those old reports to stir up controversy for the black family, and this can be concluded as racist.

Equality is built on ending racism because it simply states that all people should be equal regardless of their background. Martha Bailey and Susan Dynarki discussed massive inequality in their article, which we went over in class. This inequality is unacceptable because college acceptance outcomes are determined by family income. There should be policies that would decrease the gap. Scholarships are not good enough. Schools should hire more teachers that look like their students because they understand where their students came from. Teachers should be able to relate to the students and help them be a better candidate for college. Schools should involve parents in the process and find a way to make sure that parents care about their students. Racism must end in the school district to aid black families to create equality. Black students need to know that their teachers care about their future, and this will take cultural competence. This is only a start but it will make a big difference. They need social capital like their white counterparts have. The school district should make sure that the parents are understanding the needs of the child, and the parents should make sure that the schools are attending to the needs of the child. Equality comes from black students getting a good education but education must be reformed to end racism.

There is even more racism in the wealth and income inequity, which is hurting black families. Shapiro, Meschede and Osoro discussed how blacks did not receive more income until later in the 20th Century, and this greatly affected their ability to purchase goods and assets. Even with the institution of welfare, blacks were limited in income. They could not have a high level of income because they would be cut off from necessary public assistance. The government could issue benefit packages that includes healthcare to offset the cost of these services, so black families will have food and necessities. They could increase the minimum wage, so black families can accumulate wealth and build up income. Welfare laws are outdated and the government could update them to reflect living wages and cultural changes. They could allow the black family to increase their income, which will allow them greater independence. The government could help the black family save for retirement. They could encourage recipients of welfare to take financial courses to learn how to build up wealth and income because their white counterparts got ahead on this information while the black family was held back by racism. This will end the stigma of racism in the system and provide opportunity for success.

Finally, racism has affected sexuality within the black family. The black family was objectified by racism since they came to America. In Kevin McGruder’s article, he explained how others considered the black family as a problem. The black family was studied as specimens. Some researchers considered their sexual appetite as a byproduct of slavery. White slave masters accused black women of casting a spell if the slave master became fascinated by the women sexually. Racism was used to say that it was okay for white men to rape black women. Racism was used to explain that black men were trying to rebel when they sought a white woman. Racism has created myths about black sexuality and kept the black family as a pathology because researchers kept looking at negative reports influenced by racism to make policies and assumptions. For example, racism helped create the myth that a black man wants to be the slave master over the black woman’s sexuality. Family structure should not be fair grounds for making decision about a people. They should include black people within the studies as participants and equals. They should put the negative reports in perspective and refute the negativity. The media should be under federal scrutiny for how they portray the black family. Therefore ending racism can be a uniting solution to end the fight over black sexuality.

The black family has suffered under racism for decades, and the solution is to end racism. Racism was a mechanism that has stopped equality, reduced wealth and income equity, and distorted sexuality. Education is what the black family had fought for since the end of slavery. It is necessary to have teachers who are culturally competent to build equality. The government should support policies that will provide reparations to blacks. These policies should lift them out of the ghettos and give them a fair retirement. For far too long, the sexuality has been a major issue. Sexuality has been used for marketing since slavery and for segregation. The government should monitor more closely media that perpetuate old stereotypes, and the government should refuse research that does not include blacks as equal.