Theory of Stratification Theoretical Review

B. Socio-Historical Background 1. The Afro American Community in 1960s

– 1970s Martin Luther King Junior portrays the discrimination the Black had to face Rustin 444. During the slavery era, black people got so many tortures from white people as their land lord. This situation influenced black people thought. This situation also treated the black community as the lower class people. After the slavery era black people, although there was not all of black people got their freedom, maintain a better life. They built their own community. Some civil right movements rouse and gave some effects to the government. There were some rules which facilitate black people life in the society. Equality as the American citizen was broadly spread through out the state. Yet all of the rules made were only tools to calm the black movement. It was only illusion. There was still discrimination toward black people. Concerning this situation some leaders provoked some actions to maintain the solution. Two famous leaders from black community were Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr. They fought for the black freedom in different ways. Malcom X as the Islamic black leader used the radical way whether Martin Luther King Jr. as the Protestant leader used the diplomatic way. In 1960‟s – 1970‟s there are a lot of freedom movements rouse.

2. American Class and Caste System

Caste system differentiates the Blacks and the Whites. Caste here, as it is explained in the definition of the terms, refers to the blood rule within American society. The caste system is used to emphasize the inferiority of black people. The term class is also used within an Afro-American Community itself. Before we go further, I am going to start with the situation of class and caste determination between Black and White. Intermarriage between the Negroes and the Whites is forbidden. Gunnar Myrdal wrote in his book “An American Dilemma” that the ban on intermarriage is one expression of the still broader principle, which is valid for the entire United States without any exception. …A man born a Negro or a White is not allowed to pass from the one status to the other as he can pass from one class to another. In this important respect, the caste system of America is closed and rigid, while the class system is, in a measure, always open and mobile Myrdal 668. This situation is kept by the law. We can see that caste purity is always guarded so intermarriage could not happen. This fact put the Afro-American people in a difficult situation. This situation also lit the discrimination upon Afro- American people related to their daily life situation. Caste discrimination between black and white is not because the Afro-American is poor or ill-educated. Afro- American people are subject to certain disabilities solely because they are “Negroes”. Later, this situation will also happen within a Black Community. Gunnar Myrdal describes discrimination within Afro-American community as the excess of white attitude and behavior towards them, clearly. …we conceive of the social differentiation between Negroes and whites as based on tradition and, more specifically, on the traditions of slavery society... The caste system is upheld by its own inertia and by the superior caste‟s interests in upholding it. The beliefs and sentiments among the whites centering around the idea of the Negroes‟ inferiority have been analyzed and their „functional‟ role as rationalizations of the superior cast e‟s interests has been stressed. The racial beliefs and the popular theory of „no social equality‟ were found to have a kernel of magical logic, signified by the notion of “blood”. We have been brought to view the caste order as fundamentally a system of disability forced by the whites upon the Negroes, and our discussion of the Negro Problem up to this point has, therefore, been mainly a study of the whites‟ attitude and behavior... The Negro problem is primarily a white man‟s problem. In this part we shall find that the class order within the Negro caste is chiefly a function of the historical caste order in America Myrdal 669. Caste system in America will determine the blood rule. This situation is protected because intermarriage is banned. Both sides, the Blacks and the Whites, keep the purity of their blood heritage. So, crossing caste line is rarely happen. In the American caste order, this can be accomplished only by the deception of the white people with whom the passer comes to associate and by a conspiracy of silence on the part of other Negroes who might know about it Myrdal 682. When someone passes from one caste line to the other or intermarriage, heshe will find difficulties socializing with hisher associates. It is assumed that crossing caste line will make Negroes live in a higher class structure. But, there are some reasons why Negroes still keep their pure blood. Gunnar Myrdal interviewed his Negro friend, a young and gifted college graduate among his Negro friends, about why he preferred not to pass Myrdal 686: First, when passing as a white with some Indian Blood, he could never overcome a slight feeling of strain and nervousness when in company; he would have to make forced explanations concerning his family; and he always felt suspicion around him-probably more suspicion, he remarked, than there actually was. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI