Annotated Bibliography on Racial Discrimination

Galster, G. C. (2017). The metropolis in black and white: Place, power and polarization. Routledge.

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Summary: This book informs on the polarization of the metropolitan areas in American along racial lines. The author argues that although the society is multicultural, racial segregation, especially between the black and white communities, is likely to outlast other ethnic differences in the urban areas. According to the author, despite efforts by human rights defenders to eradicate racial segregation, the society has continued to perpetuate racial inequalities. Racial segregation is defined as an ideology of inequality of human races based on strong biological determinism and a set of discriminatory behaviours accompanied by attitudes of hatred. These authors assert that to better understand this social phenomenon it is necessary to establish conceptual distinctions in racism. The classic racism that does not recognize the different; the Universalist racism that denies identity; the differential racism that denies humanity; the racism of exploitation that perpetuates the systems of slavery and the extermination racism that genocide promotes. The African American population is mostly segregated as manifested by low income, poverty and discrimination in the workplace. In a more clear analysis, the author examines employment levels, income, levels of housing, education and health including mortality, and participation levels in politics. Intertwined themes of political empowerment, spatial isolation, and racial segregation regarding power and authority have intensified the polarization of the two ethnic groups.

Assessment: The book was written by George C. Galster as an informative literal work based on various experiences of blacks and whites in the metropolitan areas. The goal of the book is providing an understanding of the aspects of racial segregation from its history to its manifestations in the urban areas, an understanding that is essential towards developing measures of eliminating the social vice.

Reflection: The book provides critical information as to the factors contributing to racial segregation particularly in the context of economic empowerment in the urban environment. The analysis is useful in creating awareness on the dynamics regarding racial segregation as a basis of formulating comprehensive integration of the various races in metropolitan areas.

Logan, J. R., Stults, B. J., & Farley, R. (2004). Segregation of minorities in the metropolis: Two decades of change. Demography, 41(1), 1-22.

Summary: The paper explores the distribution of black-white, Asian and Hispanic populations and the factors contributing to racial segregation of the various races within the urban environment.

Assessment: The paper was written by the authors Logan, Stults and Farley. The information was collected through qualitative research where middle - class individuals - black and white, women and men were interviewed.

Reflection: The study demonstrates the importance of the place of residence to the extent that most of the personal relationships and places visited are located around the district in which the respondents reside, i.e., to the extent that blacks and whites are residentially segregated, their personal and local networks are also segregated. The results indicated that whites, regardless of their place of residence, have personal networks that are predominantly composed of other whites and frequent the prime areas of the metropolis. This is essential in highlighting the role of urban space in social closure processes that reinforce barriers to the integration of blacks in the middle classes.

Logan, T. D., & Parman, J. M. (2017). The national rise in residential segregation. The Journal of Economic History, 77(1), 127-170.

Summary: The journal measures residential racial segregation according to individual-level data. According to the authors, the individual level analysis enables the society to have a larger perspective regarding the distribution of racial segregation across American societies in both space and time. The journal explains how the prolongation of the negative aspects of ethnic discrimination has affected the quality of human relations in everyday life in neighborhoods with the same racial orientation. The authors affirmed that cultures are plural and are historically conditioned by what all races are as the product of mixing and contact. According to the authors, all human beings, regardless of their racial condition, possess three basic mental capacities: abstraction, inhibition, and choice. Under this premise, they concluded that the different ways of thinking are due to the social environment. Therefore there are no higher or lower races. However, the tendency to perpetuate the idea of racial superiority is evident in everyday life which maintains implicit or explicit racist attitudes.

Assessment: The journal was written by Logan T. D. and Parman, J. M. through an analysis of neighbor-based segregation to shed more light on how racial segregation has evolved over the years in different urban centers in the South, and the factors driving such segregation. Against earlier arguments that racial segregation was driven by migratory patterns of the African-Americans and urbanization, the journal establishes that these factors have minimal impact on how racial segregation existed in the society. From the study measure, the authors concluded that segregation began at the household levels. The population inherently segregated themselves through racial lines and that the probability of residential integration of blacks and whites in a single neighborhood or household was minimal.

Reflection: The journal provides sound arguments that clarify major knowledge gaps regarding racial segregation rather than the generic arguments presented in the discourse on racial segregation. Accurate information is essential in finding the hidden or unseemingly serious factors in fighting racial segregation.

Logan, J. R. (2017). Racial segregation in postbellum Southern cities: The case of Washington, DC. Demographic research, 36, 1759.

Summary: The research paper provides an analysis of racial segregation census data on the Southern cities of America. The author asserts that racial segregation dates back from colonialism and slavery of people who shared neighborhoods. The author argues that racism is a historical problem and a continuing process with deep roots in colonialism and slavery and continues to generate violence against many peoples, whether the first world or the third. He argues that the current problem goes back to the system of phenotypic codifications established by the colony, which has been perpetuated and has also affected mestizos, generating a racial segregation that manifests itself in different ways in social interaction, disguised under different discourses and ambiguous social practices, since on the one hand it is about vindicating the ethnic groups but, on the other hand, the classist and racist attitudes persist. The use of language is the most subtle form of racial segregation since it disguises the intentions of reaffirming the gaps socially marked by phenotypic traits and ethnic stereotypes.

Assessment: The study was done by Logan J.R through analyzing 1880 census microdata thus the findings are credible. The race superiority theme regains strength by the authoritarian personality, keeping in force the prejudices that then trigger discriminatory acts ranging from social rejection in school to unfair working conditions, all this to maintain the established social order even if it means transgressing human rights.

Reflection: The paper demonstrates the necessity of explicitly addressing issues of both scales and spatial patterns in segregation studies so that effective measures are put in place to address the social problem. Given that racial discrimination has deep historical roots and the social profile of many countries facilitates the reproduction of racist-classist memes based on imperialist prejudices and if we add to this the lack of cultural knowledge about people of African descent, for example, the challenge lies in getting to know the ethnic groups better to change the paradigms.

Syed, M., & McLean, K. C. (2018). The future of identity development research: Reflections, tensions, and challenges.

Summary: The article argues that the debate on approaches to identity are complex and that race and ethnicity are two essential concepts in sociology, as in other fields of knowledge. According to the authors, both concepts are also very significant in the daily life of the beings human beings and their interactions in, and through, the various social and historical formations. This book examines these concepts through a comparative and historical approach, and the construction of them critically at a theoretical and conceptual level. It is considered how the diverse understandings of race and ethnicity are located in front of the different knowledge, to other concepts (class, nation), and social processes and dynamics (nationalism, racism, migration).

Assessment: The article is written by Syed and McLean by examining the concepts, ideas, and dynamics of identity and diversity through the consideration of case studies and research in various regions and societies which justifies the arguments put across. The arguments are designed for a level of discussion and long debate, integrating theoretical knowledge with existing historical research, but at the same time in interaction with the projects and research processes of the student body.

Reflection: The paper offers a unique opportunity to discuss and propose the formulation of public policies for the promotion of racial equality and to enable broad participation of society, the state and municipal governments, public and private institutions, the legislative and judiciary, and organized civil society in the discourse about racial segregation. It is through debates and discussions where effective approaches of addressing the social problem exist, hence its relevance.

Greene, A. M., & Kirton, G. (2015). The dynamics of managing diversity: A critical approach. Routledge.

Summary: The authors of the book argue that studies on racial segregation have focused on its effects and there is much criticism about it as well as much controversy in the use of the terms race, ethnicity, racism and ethnicity. While it is true that racial segregation persists, it is also notorious that public opinion and policies have the power to enforce human rights, despite the lack of socialization of corrective measures and dissemination of laws. Therefore, it is imperative to awaken and begin to value various ethnic groups, respecting their value and their rights. It is also necessary that the laws are socialized in each country for those who feel discriminated against to end racial segregation. According to the authors, it is imperative to understand various forms of diversity in the economy from the labor market, the employment of blacks, migrants and ethnic minorities

Assessment: The book was written by the authors Anne Marie Greene and Gill Kirton as a reflection on their experiences in teaching management of diversity course in the University. Therefore, the credibility of the book is subject to the author's assertions which although possible biased provide actual empirical evidence on the issues of diversity and segregation.

Reflection: This information makes it possible to value and recognize the importance of racial diversity to the whole historical process in our country. Ethnic, racial issues contributes to the recognition of the plurality and diversity of the subject and respect for cultural differences in various tenets of human development and coexistence in the society.

References

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