INTRODUCTION TO ETHNIC STUDIES-ETHNST 101

How racial discrimination has let to housing and job inequalities

The issue of race has assumed a fundamental part in the United States and is perceived as a natural boundary that has existed throughout its history and across all societies. although this might be seen as true, racial classifications are bound to specific social and historical contexts. While they maintain a time-specific and changing nature between different historical periods. for instance, the subdivision between masters and slaves (middle age), men and women (19^th century), and whites and people of color discrimination has resulted in devastating effects on the United States minorities in squeezing their opportunities (Desmond & Emirbayer, 2016). From the watching material “Race: The House We Live In” we see how racial discrimination practices such as redlining have impacted people of color in housing and obtaining job opportunities.

Redlining has left a long-lasting impact on housing inequality in the United States. Coined from a practice of outlining neighborhoods with significant minority populations using red ink on maps. The banks denied these areas mortgage lending and insurance services creating a systemic policy such as the National Appraisals system that reinforced racial segregation and economic disparities in the United States. California Newsreel (2010) points out that by denying people of color access to mortgages and insurance, the redlining system hindered them from being homeowners a prime means of building wealth in the United States. The video displays how discrimination has been institutionalized and perpetuated through government policies and practices such as housing. Oliver claims that the compounding effects of redlining over the years have trapped people of color in continuous poverty and disinvestment, by being denied access to property and the opportunity to generate wealth for the next generation due to the implementation of discriminatory policies. Redlining serves as an example of how racial discrimination has been institutionalized and confronting this issue is important in promoting integration and equitable access to economic opportunities (California Newsreel, 2010).

Another effect of racial discrimination in America is in the job Market. Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) claim that in research conducted on identical resumes being assigned “black-sounding names” and “white-sounding names”, the white-sounding names obtained 50% more callbacks compared to those tagged with “black-sounding names”. These findings indicate that all factors being equal, a significant level of racial discrimination exists in the American labor market. They further argue that African Americans are two times more likely to end up unemployed and earn 25 % less when employed compared to whites in America. These results disclose how racial inequality in the United States Labor market greatly affects economic success in America. Research conducted by Long and Jan (2017) reported that the median net worth for White families headed by a college degree holder assumes a higher value at $397100 compared to those headed by black and Hispanic college degree holders whose value at less than $100,000. This research presents a systemic discrimination trend that has been deeply grounded in American society and continues to increase the racial wealth gap.

In conclusion, Redlining and continued racial discrimination in the job market are examples of how American society is still affected by racism. The effects of redlining have been transmitted from generation to generation providing difficulties in life for people of color due to policies that were solely based on color as their sole factor years ago. These systemic vices have been transmitted to employment opportunities where people of color despite equal qualifications with the whites are more likely to become unemployed. The government needs to uphold the equal employment opportunities policies and society to appreciate diversity to curb the vice of racial discrimination.

References

Bertrand, M., & Mullainathan, S. (2004). Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination. American economic review, 94(4), 991-1013.

California Newsreel. (2010). Race  the House we Live In [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW764dXEI_8

Desmond, M., & Emirbayer, M. (2016). Race in America. W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.