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Race and racial inequality have powerfully shaped American history from its beginnings.
Americans like to think of the founding of the American colonies and, later, the United States, as
driven by the quest for freedom – initially, religious liberty and later political and economic
liberty. Yet, from the start, American society was equally founded on brutal forms of
domination, inequality and oppression which involved the absolute denial of freedom for slaves.
This is one of the great paradoxes of American history – how could the ideals of equality and
freedom coexist with slavery? We live with the ramifications of that paradox even today.
In this chapter we will explore the nature of racial inequality in America, both in terms of
its historical variations and contemporary realities. We will begin by clarifying precisely what
we mean by race, racial inequality and racism. We will then briefly examine the ways in which
racism harms many people within racially dominant groups, not just racially oppressed groups. It
might seem a little odd to raise this issue at the beginning of a discussion of racial inequality, for
it is surely the case that racial inequality is more damaging to the lives of people within the
oppressed group. We do this because we feel it is one of the critical complexities of racial
inequality and needs to be part of our understanding even as we focus on the more direct effects
of racism. This will be followed by a more extended discussion of the historical variations in the
forms of racial inequality and oppression in the United States. The chapter will conclude with a
discussion of the empirical realities today and prospects for the future.
This chapter will focus primarily on the experience of racial inequality of African-
Americans, although in the more historical section we will briefly discuss specific forms of racial
oppression of Native-Americans, Mexican-Americans, and Chinese-Americans. This focus on
African-Americans does not imply that the forms of racism to which other racial minorities have
been subjected are any less real. And certainly the nature of racial domination of these other
groups has also stamped the character of contemporary American society.
WHAT IS RACE?
Many people think of races as “natural” categories reflecting important biological differences
across groups of people whose ancestors came from different parts of the world. Since racial
classifications are generally hooked to observable physical differences between people, the
apparent naturalness of race seems obvious to most people. This conception reflects a
fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of racial classifications. Race is a social
category, not a biological one. While racial classifications generally use inherited biological
traits as criteria for classification, nevertheless how those traits are treated and how they are
translated into the categories we call “races” is defined by social conventions, not by biology.
In different times and places racial boundaries are drawn in very different ways. In the
U.S. a person is considered “Black” if they have any African ancestry. This extreme form of
binary racial classification reflects the so-called “one-drop rule” that became the standard system
of racial classification in the U.S. after the Civil War.
One of the main goals of the Americanization movement during the Progressive Era was to "make immigrants more loyal and moral citizens", since there was still a great deal of anti-immigrant sentiment during this time.
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Other areas of American life in which this mindset—the need to be first—emerged was in the area of business, education, and competitive sports.
When United States President John F. Kennedy delivered his famous speech "Race to Space Speech," he was worried that the Soviet Union had already launched the Sputnik to orbit planet earth.
That is why he encouraged the American citizens to work hard, commit, and excel not only in the space race but in any endeavor well worth the case.
That is why many Americans strive to be the best in every activity they commit themselves to. This can be observed in business, education, and in sports. Competitive team sports such as football, basketball, and baseball are excellent examples of the way American people enjoy the competition and strive to be the best.
