Monday, January 26, 2009

SWA #3

The United States of America is supposed to be a "free country;" everyone is supposed to be entitled to freedom of speech, of religion, of thought, of expression, etc., as long as their words and actions do not infringe upon the rights of others. Because all Americans are allowed to hold their own individual beliefs, debates and arguments are unavoidable. One particularly current argument among our country today, is that of the importance of race. Especially since the time of President Obama's recent election, this topic has been causing an excessive amount of controversy; people say it is not about race, but many statistics prove otherwise. Does race still matter in America? Unfortunately, it appears that it does.
Obama's election did in fact mark a tremendous turning point in the history of this nation. The fact that a black president was elected shows that people are making strides towards the future and are finally discarding many lingering discriminatory practices, traditions, and values. However, as stated in Emmett Carson's article entitled, "Pro/Con: Does Race Still Matter?," discrimination against African Americans is still prevalent today. For example, the poverty rate of African Americans is 24 percent, compared with the 8 percent rate of white Americans. Also, African American infants are currently twice as likely as white infants to die before their first birthday. People claim that the times have changed and that we are all equal, but one has to wonder if this is true.
Ultimately, America may not be as free and accepting as it claims to be. Arguments still occur despite people's supposed aims to accept everyone's values, regardless of whether or not they adhere to their own. The "land of the free" now has a black president, yes, however, there are still many steps that must be taken in order to lessen race distinctions. People argue that class does not matter, however, those very same people refuse to support their nation's president, merely because of the color of his skin. Everyone must learn to practice what they preach, and promote a national identity that is not based on class, race, gender, skin color, or religion.




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2 comments:

  1. JoeyJanuary 27, 2009 at 7:31 PM

    I think you bring up a really good point when you talk about race in America and how unfortunately it is still there. I have to agree with you that people will always have their own opinions nomatter what and their is nothing anybody can do about it. One thing i have to dissagree with is that i feel the statistics you show don't really have to do with racism, but poverty. I don't feel that the poverty rate for African Americans is 24 percent and only 8 percent for white americans because of racism.

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  2. William PittFebruary 10, 2009 at 4:14 PM

    You are right about discrimination in America. There are always goign to be people that disciminate against others. However you could have used better examples to back up your argument. Just because there are more poor black people than there are white people doesnt mean that black people are being dicriminated against. I would have used an example of someone doing soemthign racisist. However i still think that you had a well structured argument.

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