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Racism And Wealth Disparity Essay

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A Sociological Perspective on Racism and Wealth Disparities Amongst African-Americans and Caucasians
Introduction
The consequence of racial discrimination has a clear relationship with wealth amongst racial groups. In the last 50 years, although the high school completion rate gap between blacks and whites has narrowed, blacks still only have one-tenth of the wealth of whites and according to Economic Policy Institute blacks make 17.5% less an hour than their white counterparts3. In light of these data, I will use quantitative and qualitative analysis to illustrate both the existence of racial inequality as it pertains to wealth and identify its origins within a sociological context.
History of racism and wealth disparities
To understand the …show more content…
For example, when looking at the wealth disparity between whites who live in the north vs those that live in the south it is clear that southern states with a majority white population fare much worse than their northern white neighbors. This is represented by higher Gini Coefficients in southern states (per the lecture, Chapter 7). This wealth disparity is impart caused by the abolition of slavery. These circumstances are different from black wealth disparity because a) there was no concerted effort to keep southern whites under subjugation because there were white or belonged to a certain social class and b) because there was no systemic action enforced by social institutions that attempted to disenfranchise white southerners.
Solutions
When it comes to finding a solution, the first step is admitting there is a problem. Through education, we can begin to reconcile some of the inherent prejudices that contribute to many of the aforementioned wealth disparities. This education within privileged groups will lead to changes on the micro level, as individuals will change their view and on the meso level, social institutions will continue programs such as affirmative action as well as institute new programs.

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