Essay Sample on Social Inequality: Unequal Treatment & Unequal Opportunities

Introduction

Social inequality is a societal based culture related to the treatment of particular people in society unequally from the rest. Social inequality is portrayed in cases when resources in a specific community are not shared equally, and the existence of unequal opportunities given to particular groups and denied to some (Yuval-Davis, 2015). Other aspects of social inequalities include freedom of speech, property rights, access to voting rights, health care, housing, and other social facilities. Social biases can also be viewed through gender roles, existence of social stereotyping, ethnic and religious groups, and discriminatory legislation. Over the years, social inequality, and to be precise, social disparities based on race has been a social problem in America. Aspects of racial inequality are still experienced today in America (Lee et al. 2015). Themes of social inequalities are mirrored at social institutions such as schools and workplaces. Such cases are also reflected in media in the form of documentaries, films, newspapers, movies, and other media platforms. This paper will focus on unveiling elements of social inequalities based on race, as manifested in 12 Years a Slave and American Violet.

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12 Years a Slave is a 2013 film that manifests how racial discrimination was a significant issue, particularly to the black people in America in the 1850s. The film is a story of Solomon Northup, an African-American man based in New York. He was a violinist, and some white men took advantage of the situation and deceived Northup that they were ready to support his music career in Washington, DC (Bradley, 2015). Northup gave in to their idea, and the two men took him to slavery instead. Northup was enslaved for 12 years before he had his freedom. During his slavery period, he was beaten. He also met some African-America such as Patsey whose sexual rights were violated by her Edwin Epps, and she was often humiliated and abused by Mrs. Epps out of jealousy. Northup finally gained his liberty after a local sheriff with his companions arrived in their slavery zone and set them free as he returned to his family in Saratoga.

America Violet is a 2008 film based on a true story of Regina Kelly, of Hearne, Texas that happened in 2004. The film retold the story about Dee Roberts, a young single mother of four accused and arrested for dealing drugs in Texas by an unjust district attorney. After Dee is arrested and forcefully taken out of her workplace in handcuffs, she is given a plea bargain for allegedly dealing drugs (Ebert, 2009). Dee was left with no other alternative other than to agree to the plea bargain. However, according to the plea bargain meant that she would accept that she was a drug dealer but would allow her to see her children again. Aspects of racial inequalities are seen how even Dee's ex-husband comes in and is not involved with his children's and his ex-wife's problem. He instead forcefully took the children and relocated them to his new girlfriend. American Civil Liberties Union, finally through their lawyer, David Cohen, rescued Dee by dropping her charges, and Dee sued everyone involved, including the District Attorney (Ebert, 2009).

Different Sociological Concepts Related to Racial Inequality

12 Years a Slave and American Violet are both American films that are characterized by racial inequality content. Based on the films' way of showing social inequalities that exist in society, other sociological concepts are portrayed. These different sociological concepts related to racial inequality include prejudice, discrimination, white supremacy, oppression, and bigotry.

Prejudice and bigotry mean unreasonable dislike or hatred of people's opinions or ethnic background. Prejudice and bigotry are both manifested in the 12 Years a Slave and American Violet. In 12 Years, a Slave, the white people did not care about whatever the slaves said. When Northup tried to say he was a free man, he was instead beaten. In the American Violet film, Dee was given a plea bargain to ensure that she remains guilty of the crime she did not commit.

Discrimination is also another sociological concept shown in the two films. In 12 Years a Slave, the slaves were discriminated the sense that they were given hard labor in plantations without any pay. In American Violet, Dee is discriminated against because she was a black woman, and that is why she was wrongly charged with drug dealing.

White supremacy is depicted in the 12 Years a Slave. The white people owned a large plantation of farms, and they abducted black people to come and work in their farms without pay. Oppression is also seen in the 12 Years a Slave when Northup is beaten after claiming that he is a free man.

Conflict Theory

Conflict theory is one of the sociological theories that uncover how society is embraced with harmful elements and experiences ever-changing times (Young, 2017). Conflict theory advocates for social change and that is why some groups in the society, particularly influential people, impose social order on the vulnerable people in society. Conflict theory explains the two films; 12 Years a Slave and American Violet. Racism is the dominant theme depicted in the two films, which explains the potential aspects of conflict in the movie. The unequal groups in the film exposed conflicting ideas; for instance, in 12 Years a Slave, the white people considered the blacks as slaves and the blacks, particularly Northup though he was a free man. The constant different ideologies cause conflict and form the ground for the ever-changing society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, social inequalities are factors that society still faces. Racial inequality is one of the social inequality elements that are experienced in most societies, including America. 12 Years a Slave and American Violet best disclose how social inequality was in the society but still exist today. We today live in a more advanced world where everyone can do everything and not a selected group handling everything. In this light, social inequality should be eliminated in society to reduce conflicts.

References

Bradley, R. (2015). Reinventing Capacity: Black Femininity's Lyrical Surplus and the Cinematic Limits of 12 Years a Slave. Black Camera: An International Film Journal (The New Series), 7(1), 162-178. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2979/blackcamera.7.1.162

Ebert, R. (2009, April 15). American Violet [Web log post]. Retrieved from https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-violet-2009

Lee, H., McCormick, T., Hicken, M. T., & Wildeman, C. (2015). Racial inequalities in connectedness to imprisoned individuals in the United States. Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race, 12(2), 269-282. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742058X15000065

Young, T. R. (2017). The politics of sociology: Gouldner, Goffman, and Garfinkel. In the Drama of Social Life (pp. 33-46). Routledge. Retrieved from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315131832/chapters/10.4324/9781315131832-5

Yuval-Davis, N. (2015). Situated intersectionality and social inequality. Raisons politiques, (2), 91-100. Retrieved from https://www.cairn.info/revue-raisons-politiques-2015-2-page-91.htm#