Negative Implications of Issues of Race and Gender

Negative Implications of Race and Gender
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Negative Implications of Issues of Race and Gender
Since time immemorial, race has been a dominant element in the United States. The term refers to categories of people based on various characteristics, such as skin color, genetic heredity, and physical features. To be precise, race is a social construction that denies or provides privileges and benefits to particular groups of people (Roediger, n.d.). In America, the notion of race was integral in early society. Its primary function was to justify the new economic system of capitalism that extensively depended on forced labor. The U.S. census recognizes six distinct categories of race, White, Black or African American, American Indian, Asian, Hawaiian, and others (PPT, The Social Construction of Race, n.d.). On the other hand, gender, according to the Western perspective, is the male and female procreative differentiation (Lorber, 1994). Ideally, the aspect of gender centrally focuses on the history of women. In other words, it explores how historical events and eras impact women differently compared to men. Conventionally, people have interchanged gender and sex, but in recent years, historians have formulated a distinct differentiation between the two. They define sex as the biological makeup of individuals while referring to gender as the identity individuals choose to identify with. Over and above, gender is an ideology that orders people socially (PPT, The Social Construction of Gender, n.d.). To be specific, issues of race and gender have had profound implications in the United States, including discrimination, oppression, violence, and revolutions.
Racial and Gender Discrimination
Racial Discrimination
Talking about race in America without roping in discrimination is equivalent to chasing the wind. This is because the two are intricately interwoven, and many individuals and communities have confronted discrimination based on their race. Racial discrimination, a form of racism, is as old as the United States. Since the founding of the United States, the race that has borne the brunt of racism is the African American. As a matter of fact, some sections of the Constitution and institutions have reinforced the practice at one time or the other. For instance, in 1847, the Virginia Criminal Code prohibited the education of African Americans. Part of the decree stipulated that any white person found assembling Black people, whether free or slaves, to educate them would be liable for a jail term or fine (Library of Congress, n.d.). By the same token, racial discrimination meant that Black people could not gain employment in certain areas. In addition, they could not travel together with White people or dine in the same hotels. Moreover, some White communities sneered at the prospect of intermarrying with Black people. Any family member who disobeyed this regulation had to endure severe repercussions, including being disowned or disinherited.
In recent years, the U.S. government has expressed its commitment to eliminate racial discrimination. In 1966, the government signed the International Convention on the Elimination of all form...