Basic Composition 100R Readings: Sofia Samatar’s “Skin Feeling”. Discrimination in contemporary America

Discrimination in contemporary America
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Discrimination in contemporary America
Human conflict, if not well managed can lead to war and mass murder. Discrimination is often the root cause of human conflict. It causes individuals to hate one another, to the extent that they can harm each other. While human beings share some similarities, they have significant differences. As such, belonging to a social group assists in forming these identities. Such differences can be challenging for individuals to accommodate, hence resulting in discrimination towards the members of the society who are different. America is one of the most diverse nations on earth. Being a country that has immigrants from all over the world, America is diverse in terms of race, color, and religion among others. Due to such differences, discrimination has been eminent, as people try to direct hate towards those they consider to be different. While discrimination remains to this day in America, a new form has emerged. In contemporary America, discrimination is directed towards a subset of a group that does not assimilate to the norms of the larger group.
The nature of discrimination in the U.S. has shifted considerably from discriminating against a whole minority group to a subset within a specific minority group. In the 1950s for instance, the civil rights movements were fighting against inequality and injustice (Hall, 2007). African Americans, in particular, were fighting against racial discrimination. Racial segregation meant that blacks were restricted from accessing particular circumscribed areas, institutions, or facilities because of their race. The civil rights movement in the 1950s and ’60s was meant to break the pattern of racial discrimination (Hall, 2007). It is important to note that discrimination during this time was based on the whole group. For instance, all the blacks were required to give their seats to white people. Hence, the discrimination was directed towards the whole African American group, as opposed to specific individuals within the group. However, in contemporary America, “discrimination in America has undergone a generational shift” (Yoshino, 2006). In modern America, discrimination is directed towards a subset of groups that are not willing to assimilate into the more dominant norms. For instance, while discrimination against women has reduced considerably, women who do not appear to conform to traditional gender roles are discriminated against. For instance, women who want to raise up the corporate world are termed as irresponsible. Society may view such women as unwilling to remain responsible at home and in the family sphere. Because of defying the norms of the larger group, such women may be treated unfairly in society. Similarly, black professionals face the same discrimination in their workplaces. Samatar (2015) indicates that “Academics of color experience an enervating visibility but it’s not simply that we’re part of a very small minority.” Institutions do not hire black professionals because they believe in inequality. Instead, organizations seek to display an image of inclusivity, while in the real sense they discriminate against the same...