14
2.4 The Discrimination of African American
From the book of Racism, Ethnicity and Social Policy by Ian Law 1996, the concept of racial discrimination according to Ian Law 1996:4 the certainties of previous
decades are being swept away; the simple construction of black unity, the primary and determinate effects of racist ideologies, the underlying liberalism of ‘race’ relations
policy, the evidence of black ‘underachievement’ and traditional representations of ethnic identity have all been the object of critical reflection. As had been explained in previous
part that racism is not an issue that just like that appear. effect suppression to black people for 365 years that disappear due to history in the past used by them as obstacle in
present. Thus the issue of discrimination continued, the position of African American in today’s world and look toward reaching the goal of a truly color-blind society, some
African American still lived in a poor environment, uneducated, low salary, but that’s not just happened with them. We must begin with a clear view of the vibrant history of the
African American community and the diversity of African American experience. According to Vaughan 1995 in Earnest N. Bracey 2003 : p.9 goes on to define racism
or racial discrimination as the “unequal treatment of someone on the basis of his or her presumed racial affilation.” The modern racism is often expressed in side comments,
jokes, and stereotypes. Some people might laugh at a racist joke without thinking twice. Some elements of racism are downplayed while others are considered shocking.
Discrimination against African Americans began when the United States was developing. People from Africa were kidnapped and sold into slavery, then treated like
common animals. Their children were taken from them, families were separated, and
Universitas Sumatera Utara
15
many of them were either worked or beaten to death. It is worth nothing that many African Americans are not necessarily optimistic about their nation or their future.
African American’s strongest asset in a discriminatory environment was their willingness to work harder, longer, and for less payment, simply because they had to if work was to
be had at all. By 1900, employment in the South was dominated by a pattern of segregation wherein one race through economic competition, politics, or violence
essentially drove the other race from the industry or from many occupations within the industry. The textile industry, which hardly existed in the South before the Civil War,
was nearly completely staffed by white men, women and children. Economic segregation exhibited a preverse symmetry with black and white families involved in cotton
production largely separated by the refusal of textile employers to hire African Americans.
Deeply rooted discrimination in the North as well as the South had relegated most African Americans to unskilled, low-paying jobs and contributed to an extremely high
rate of poverty among African Americans. Discrimination and poverty not to mention inferior schools in black neighborhoods undermined young African Americans’
incentive and ability to finish high school, thereby locking them into low-paying, dead- end jobs. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 had attempted to deal with the
economic problems of African Americans, prohibiting discrimination by private employers and creating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC to
monitor compliance. The civil rights act and changing attitudes generated by the civil rights movement had eliminated much of the most blatant no colored need apply
discrimination and had contributed to significant gains in employment and earnings
Universitas Sumatera Utara
16
among African American during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Yet discrimination did not disappear; it became more subtle, harder to detect, and more difficult to prove. Even
more troubling, those for whom past discrimination denied education, job training, and employment experience continued to find the promise of economic opportunity and a
better life elusive. Towards the end of the war, he realized that African Americans could become an
integral and equal part of this, after he had hesitantly begun to grant them civil rights as well. And still it would be historically incorrect to call Lincoln the father of the Civil
Rights movement, though through his actions as war president the abolition of slavery was made possible. He thus paved the way. One of the most prominent African
Americans of the 20
th
century, W. E. B. Du Bois, once remarked that Lincoln—despite all his contradictions—was “big enough to be inconsistent.” His tendency to take cover
under the idea of “colonization” in order not to confront the young republic with the severe test of full racial equality and integration might be one of those inconsistencies.
2.5 The Social Problem