The Tables of Discrimination
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Essay: Are blacks still experiencing discrimination in the
area of jobs, education, and legal rights? Demonstrate the
validity of your position by using facts from periodicals,
newspapers, and statistical information comparing whites
and blacks in the United States.
Discrimination is still practiced in the United States
against black Americans, but in some areas of American
society, the tables of discrimination have turned to
favor the black people over the formerly powerful white
Americans. Facts and statistics support this statement
thoroughly even though this topic is quite controversial.
An area of discrimination is employment. Before discussing
employment, unemployment is a major factor to consider.
In 1987, the unemployment rate of blacks was 13 percent.
This is more than twice the rate of white Americans,
which had a 6 percent unemployment rate. (LeRoy Barnes
pp. 34 - 35) It can not be proven however, that blacks
were discriminated against because they are required
under law to be given equal opportunities as compared
to whites in the job market. According to the Principles
of United States Democracy as stated in the Maryland
test of citizenship skills packet, principle three is
"Equality under the law is promised for all citizens."
On the other hand in administrative support positions,
2 percent more blacks were employed in 1992 than
whites. (1993 almanac) Also in the area of investigation,
2.6 percent more blacks were employed in 1986 than whites.
(LeRoy Barnes pp.34 - 35) On the contrary, in professional specialties, 11 percent more whites were employed in 1992
than blacks. Also, 5 percent more white executives were
employed than blacks in 1992. (1993 almanac) As shown,
blacks and whites were both supposedly "discriminated"
against in the area of jobs.
Discriminatory acts are also found in the field of
education toward both blacks and whites. One way
to prove that blacks could be discriminated against
is the fact that 4 percent more 18 and 19 year old white
students were enrolled in colleges in 1991 than blacks.
But the opposite situation is posed with 30 - 34 year old
black students which override the white students enrollment
by a 0.5 percent margin. Total in 1991, 2.5 percent more
blacks were enrolled in any school level than whites.
(1993 almanac) Relating to college, The Miss Collegiate
African American Pageant accepts applicants from
only historically black colleges as stated several times
during the telecast. On the other hand, in 1970, the
televised annual Miss America Pageant was forced to
adapt their rules to include black women in the contest.
The first black contestant was Sheryl Brown, in 1970,
who was Miss Iowa. The real breakthrough was in 1984,
when Vanessa Williams, the now famous singer, won the
title of Miss America. The Miss America Pageant is
related to education due to the fact that scholarships
are awarded. (Miss America And Beyond)
The third major section that needs to be discussed
is blacks and whites as far as discrimination with
legal rights. A prime example of this situation
is the Bakke case. Basically, the Bakke case was
about a white man, Allen Bakke, who had higher grades
and test scores than those who were admitted into
the University of California under a special program
for members of a minority group. Bakke had been
refused admission in 1973 and 1974. The Supreme Court's
final decision was that schools could use race as
one factor of college admissions to schools that receive
Federal funding. Colleges are not required to reach a
certain quota of students belonging to minority groups,
but they must include some amount of students of a
minority group. (1988 World Book Encyclopedia)
Let's say hypothetically, John White, of the white race
and John Black, of the black race, both apply to a
college. Then when both of their applications are
reviewed, there happens to be only one spot left to
fill that year. Then assume that John White's
grades are higher than John Black's, the college
admissions board can choose John Black over
John White on the grounds of race. This is
legal according to the decision of the Bakke case.
Certainly, whites are being discriminated against
in this part of the decision of the Bakke case,
even though the Supreme Court's decision is
Constitutional.
Discrimination is practiced in the United States
against blacks as well as whites. In fact,
discrimination is practiced equally against whites
if not more so in this modern day, than against
blacks, as proven.
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