Predudices In The Us Essay, Research Paper

Prejudices have plagued America for centuries. It started with slavery and is

still today, even after the civil war, a problem in society. Although, prejudice

exists at a lesser extent, it is evident that blacks still feel they are being

treated unfairly. The Gallup News Service interviewed 3036 Americans including

1680 whites and 1269 black. The study shows the difference in perceptions

between white and black Americans.

A question that has been debated for many years is, do black Americans have

the same chance as white Americans in getting a job, or a good education, or

even a house. Well as you may have assumed this is one debate that black

Americans and White Americans did not see eye to eye on. Out of the sample

interviewed there was a large racial gap between the two cultures. Black

Americans obviously feel they are being discriminated against in the job field;

they differed in opinion with white Americans by 33 percent. They also feel

cheated when it comes to buying a home. The racial gap was 28 percent in this

category. And as for educational opportunities, there was a 22 percent racial

gap.

White Americans feel so highly about equal opportunity that they showed

through the interview that Affirmative action programs are not necessary. 22

percent of White Americans thought the Government should increase Affirmative

action Programs and only twenty nine percent thought that it should stay the

same. Which means if they do not want to increase affirmative action and they do

not want it to stay the same then what is left? That?s right. 37% of white

Americans believe that Affirmative action programs should be decreased.

As odd as this may sound Black Americans agree that Affirmative action

programs should not stay the same (29% also felt this way). But were they do

disagree, is why it should not stay the same. 53 percent of black Americans feel

that Affirmative actions Programs should be increased and only 12 percent said

it should be decreased.

What else do these two cultures disagree on? Well, white Americans feel that

they have very little personal prejudices against blacks, blacks feel that

whites are more prejudice then they give themselves credit for. It works both

ways. Both cultures feel that the other is more prejudice. Neither culture knows

what the other is feeling or thinking so they assume that they are prejudice.

Although the polls show that whites are more open to the idea of a black

president, interracial marriages and moving into a black community. These

percentage of whites that are open to these possibilities has drastically

increased since 1958.

Although blacks feel they are being discriminated against there satisfaction

with aspects of their personal life has been improving. The racial gap between

white Americans and Black Americans has closed drastically since 1963. Also,

racial issues do not cause most of these gaps but seem to be a result of

differences between the race and the socioeconomic status.

The study shows that Black Americans and White Americans disagree on most

aspects of prejudice. But they do hold a similar view about black/white

relations and that is that black/white relations will always be a problem in

America. Although the studies show that the racial gap between White and Black

Americans is decreasing I do not think it will ever be rid of if we do not

believe that it will eventual disappear.