Problems of Inequality and Power

By: Joshua Martella

Racism in Our World TodayI chose to do problems of inequality and

power for my presentation and to focus on racism in our world today and talk about how it is evident in our society, workplace, and in the media.

History of RacismThe history of Racism goes back to the early

stages when there were slaves, the Americans owned African Americans and made them do everything for them. African Americans weren’t seen as equal to the white people, so they were discriminated, called racial names and basically treated like animals. Over the years racism has slowly gone down, and to the present day is nowhere near as bad as it was in the early stages.

How Racism is Evident in our SocietyRacism has been going on in our society ever

since we can remember. It is evident in our society today mainly through social media, and in politics. Racial slurs are thrown around on social media everyday whether we notice it or not. In politics it is evident in the US with the first African American president being elected a couple years ago. Everyone doubted Barack Obama, saying it is wrong to have an African American president, and he would ruin their economy.

Labelling TheoryThe theory on labelling ties in well with

Racism, because it has to do with classifying someone or judging them based on a stereotype or their skin colour, gender, etc. A big part of racism has to do with labelling and stereotyping, if we could eliminate that, I think racism would go down tremendously in our society today.

Trayvon Martin CaseLast year a 17 year old boy in Florida was

shot and killed because he looked “suspicious” for walking down the street at night in his black hoodie. The man who shot him was George Zimmerman the neighbourhood watch for that area, he was told not to get out of his car and approach the boy, but he took matters into his own hands and killed Trayvon as “self defense” the case was never looked at until this year when it was all over the news and George Zimmerman was found not guilty.

Trayvon Martin cont’d…This case is a simple example as to how

racism is evident in our society today, a 17 year old African American boy was killed because he looked “suspicious” walking through his neighbourhood at night. Obviously there are still people who discriminate against other races, but to take it to that level is just absurd.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AK6jOeEl4

(video after the verdict, talking about “racial divide”

Racism/Gender Inequality in the WorkplaceAnother way racism and gender inequality is

displayed is in the workplace. Women don’t get paid as much as men to do the same jobs, examples being mechanics, engineers. The first African American president was elected, and a lot of people hated on him for the first little while. Oprah Winfrey came out a few days ago stating that Barack Obama is “disrespected because he’s black” on BBC. She thinks that racism is still evident in our world today and it is displayed through Barack Obama, although he may not notice it or we may not, he is treated differently then other presidents and viewed differently on certain topics.

Racism in Politics cont’d..This picture below was made after Barack

Obama was re-elected for a 2nd term in office. It shows that many people take it as a joke he is president still. It is a spin off of the famous rapper “2 chainz” album with Obama in the picture holding up two fingers and it showing “2 termz” underneath it. Although it is a joke, many people take it as a form of racism.

Solutions to this ProblemThere are many different ways you can try to

stop racism from happening in our world today, but I think one of the best ones would be to start teaching kids about racism at a young age, make them aware of the situation so that when they become older they will know what is right from wrong and they can teach others.

Solutions cont’d…Another solution would be to have “racism

workshops” in workplaces, so that people can become aware of different forms of racism, not only racial discrimination but gender inequality as well. This will then make people realize what they are doing and hopefully put a stop to it once and for all in the workplace. The more you know about a situation or problem, the better you can do to resolve it.

ConclusionI think racism is still a huge issue in our

society today, although it’s not nearly as bad as it was in the early stages before we were born. I think it is still evident, kids these days throw around racial slurs like it’s nothing and people in the workplace are treated differently because of their looks, race or gender. The more we can make people aware of the situation and help put a stop to it, the more we will see improvement in racism slowly diminishing.

APA References  George Zimmerman Verdict: Trayvon Martin Shooting Brings up Question of

Race [Video file].(2013, July 14). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0AK6jOeEl4

Mooney, Holmes, Knox, Schacht (2013). Understanding Social Problems Custom Edition. Toronto, Canada: Nelson Education.

Oprah Winfrey: President Barack Obama is disrespected because he’s black - NY Daily News.Retrieved November 11, 2013, from http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/oprah winfrey-president-obamadisrespected-black-article-1.1518299

Racism — Global Issues. (n.d.). Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.globalissues.org/article/165/racism

Trayvon Martin Shooting Fast Facts - CNN.com. Retrieved November 18, 2013, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/05/us/trayvon-martin-shooting-fast-facts/

THE END