This material is available only on bibliotequer
19 Jul 2021 
Claude 
Minority groups in America include the Hispanics and black Americans. Two categories of social theories exist that explain social inequality in societies. First, there are proponents of the functionalist assumption that believe differences in communities are a necessary evil. On the contrary, conflict theorists argue that inequalities are perpetrating by the majority groups and often possess power. In this regard, the U.S minority groups are segregated from leading a lifestyle that can be equated to the average American citizen. They face multiple predicaments that make life difficult. This essay discusses the disparities in access to resources and job opportunities among the American minority groups.
Historically, the U.S is a country dominated by the white majority; besides, there are other groups of races that form a significant proportion of the American population. These different groups are more often than not regarded as minority groups. This includes Hispanics, Indians, black Americans, and other minor races. These minority groups are beset by myriad predicaments in their daily life undertakings. Mainly, these minority groups have to work twice as hard as the whites to attain a similar social status like their majority counterparts (Canady, 2020). However, this does not mean that all the minority groups are poor or lead a miserable life. In the wake of the 21st century, the minority groups have become socioeconomically diverse owing to the changing demographic profile.
Despite these developments, the minority groups continue to suffer as they pursue a quest for equality. Recent events concerning the oppression of the minority groups include the brutal murder of George Floyd, a black American. The country is still grappling with massive protests in major cities and towns.African Americans began entering the U.S million years ago because of the slave trade and civil war. They were brought to provide labor force in the agricultural sector; apart from the workforce’s provision, they fought in several battles, and the civil war is the significant battlefront. Since then, their population rise each day passes by in their quest to find a decent living
However, according to the functional theory of sociology in the context of inequality, inequality is inevitable. Besides, the proponents of this concept believe that disparity is desirable and plays a critical role in shaping society. It is widely acknowledged that more training is required for essential positions in the community. Social stratification and inequality help develop people’s talents, leading to meritocracy (Van Schoelandt, 2020). Somehow, the theory is correct because black Americans dominate the U.S music industry and other scenes. Barak Obama broke the jinx and became the first black American president.
Nonetheless, the lives of many African Americans are faced with difficulties. First, blacks dominate the suburban areas of the U.S society, and rarely do they afford the city lifestyle. Rarely do African Americans own houses in the center of cities like New York or Chicago. The blacks dominate suburban Minnesota, Dakota, Alief, and other states and places in the rural villages. Therefore, life is sometimes unbearable in these places because of many hardships.
For instance, the healthcare sector is skewed towards catering to the needs of privileged in society. The less privileged people living in the suburbs, the majority of Africans do not afford to pay the high costs to access medication. This occurrence is the first challenge that the minority groups, particularly black Americans, face (English et al., 2020). The health system is characterized by policies that only favor the rich. In the rural areas, healthcare facilities are few and on top, a poor proportionate of doctor to patient ratio. In this regard, the gap between the life expectancy of black Americans and whites is high. A typical white American stays up to averagely 77 years, while an African American approximate life expectancy is 65 years.
Besides, the Africans living in America have a high potential to suffer from lifestyle diseases that are significant causes of death in the U.S. Heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer, among other life-threatening conditions, affect the disadvantaged minority groups. These statistics trace to the fact that Africans in the U.S are unprivileged and less informed about dietary preferences. Therefore, they consume sugar-rich first foods because they cannot afford the expensive dishes. Aside, African Americans rarely find time to undertake physical exercises because much of the time goes to the daily hustles. Overall, most of the African American population leads to an unhealthy life (English et al., 2020).
Consequently, segregation occurs in the search for job opportunities. According to Canady (2020), a white person has ten times more chances of getting a job than their black counterpart in America. The aboriginal groups occupy most white-collar jobs, and black Americans only undertake menial labor jobs and mostly on a casual basis. That aside, disparity goes all the way into the security of the situation. Multiple Africans are easily dismissed from their positions whenever they commit the slightest mistakes. However, their white counterparts have a cemented relationship with their employers.
An African American is punished severely for a minor offense than a white with a significant mistake at the workplace. This disparity at the workplace is insane; thus, many blacks find it hard to keep their white-collar jobs for a long time, because the employers are always waiting for the slightest opportunity to dismiss them. Indeed, proponents of a conflict theory of social inequality might be right in stating that groups with power dominate the less powerful ones.
Another social inequality that beset Africans occurs in the education of their children at school. For decades, white children have dominated their black peers in school because of the apparent inequalities. In 2014, 87 percent of the white students graduated from high school education as compared to 73 percent among black students. Black students that attend similar schools with whites receive brutal treatments from teachers. Therefore, black students face expulsion from school for minor offenses. In this regard, the students face psychological torture and thus concentrate less in class-leading to poor performance.
On the other hand, the suburbs dominated by poor Africans have sub-standard schools as compared to fully furnished white schools in the cities. Van Schoelandt (2020) contends that disparity finds its way into universities as African students are offered irrelevant courses contrary to their expectations. This habit lowers the students’ morale, and their career life becomes compromised.On the same note, the Africans are isolated in terms of service delivery concerning social services. There is profiling by the police in handling African Americans. As already mentioned, George Floyd’s death under the hands of the police is proof of blacks’ mishandling by the law enforcers.
Primarily, the suburbs, which are dominated by African Americans and other minority groups, are characterized by insecurity incidences and other societal evils. It’s not always the black community’s wish to lead such kind of demeaning lifestyle, but the situation is circumstantial. Blacks have to hustle hard to make ends meet; in their quest to fix a plate for their family, they are more likely to encounter the police. Instead of the enforcers performing their law maintenance duty, they brutally harass the blacks against their will. Therefore, hatred exists between blacks and the corps. In black-dominated states, unrests frequently occur, leading to dire consequences like incarceration or death (Godde et al., 2020).
Besides, abuse of heroin and fentanyl drugs is shared among the blacks. In America, rural villages lead to the rate of consumption of drugs and alcohol. This scenario proves that these areas are profiled about help centers that educate masses concerning the consequences of drug abuse. Despite the high rates of drug addicts, few initiatives and individuals exist in these states to combat the spread of the drug abuse menace. The primary reason for this anomaly is rampant unemployment, increased levels of distresses, and lack of proper education concerning drug use. Therefore, blacks are socially segregated and left on their own to battle with social ills. Thus, African dominated U.S suburbs are a hotbed for crime, racial riots, and other ethnically allied evils.
The early 1990s witnessed the burning of African churches in Los Angeles because of racial riots. To date, these eruptions still occur in some parts of the U.S states where each group fights for socioeconomic transformation (Canady, 2020). In conclusion, social inequality scenarios are multiple in the present American society. These inequalities originated a long time ago, and the quest for social parity is still on.