Racism and Its Consequences in the US: A Sociological Analysis - Essay Sample

Introduction

Race and racism have been some of the most predominant social issues in America for a long time. Racism in the United States remains a thorny issue today as it was in the years before the civil rights movement, although it is a little more subtle now. Aspects of institutionalized racism have been blamed for such issues, such as poor living conditions for racial minorities in the country and high incarceration rates among the African American community. Sociologists have identified a significant trend over the pasts several decades, although it has been in existence for a long time. The issue of elective segregation has been the subject of research and protracted studies in the years after the civil rights movement. Elective segregation is a social phenomenon where people create social groups based on their race, ethnicity, gender, and age (Hao et al. 100). It is most evident is social spaces that are enclosed, such as school. The novel Snow Falling on Cedars is a work of art that clearly depicts the phenomenon of elective segregation. An analysis of the novel shows how much elective segregation has become ingrained in modern society and has influenced racism and race relations in America.

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Published in 1996, the novel Snow Falling on Cedar composed by American author David Guterson. It seeks to show how race relations were impacted in American society in the wake of the Second World War. Set thirteen years after the attack on Pearl Harbor that dragged America into WWII, the novel tells of a man of Japanese descent who has been accused of killing a white America. Although it has been years since the war ended, relations between Japanese Americans and other members of society remain tense, and the realities of that war remain fresh in the peoples' minds. The novel is set in the Pacific Northwest, where Kabuo Miyamoto, a Japanese American angler, is accused of assassinating respected war veteran Carl Heine (Guterson 97). Carl has been killed in a fishing accident, but Kabuo is suspected due to circumstantial evidence that heavily incriminates him, despite the fact that he had tried to save Carl. Fellow war veteran Ishmael Chambers come upon evidence that might exonerate Kabulo but is reluctant to release because of a vendetta holding against the latter's wife, Hatsue, with whom he had had a romantic relationship many years prior (Guterson 33). The novel depicts the concept of elective segregation in the manner in which the town seems to gang up against Kabuo, treating him with contempt for a crime he has not committed.

The concept of elective discrimination, as aforementioned, has been the subject of protracted research and examination for many years since the civil rights movement. It attracted the attention of sociologists because racial segregation had been legal in the years before the civil rights movements where the races were not allowed to interact, with the black race suffering the brunt of it (Hao et al. 100). During those periods, social amenities such as restaurants, swimming pools, schools, and even public transport were highly segregated, and minority races were not allowed to access the same services as the white race. However, even after the abolition of such laws, certain phenomenon emerged where people of the same race would mainly interact with each other, even when they did not have to. There emerged neighborhoods and specific spaces that would be almost exclusively reserved for specific races. Sociologists studied the behavior and learned that cliques often emerge in social groups based on such aspects as race, gender, age, religion, and ethnicity (Hao et al. 100). This phenomenon was found to be most common in closed societies such as schools and other such institutions.

Elective segregation is an evident trait in a closed social setting, and schools such as Torrey Pines High School in North County are not an exception. Students of similar racial backgrounds often spend more time together than those from differing racial backgrounds. They engage in similar activities and occasionally treat those they consider to be from a different racial background with open contempt and hostility (Levine 192). Thus, African American students will segregate themselves and make it hard to interact with white students and Asian American students, and so on. Study shows that persons from a racial minority background are more likely to engage in elective segregation than those from ethnic majority backgrounds. Furthermore, specific events, such as war and social tension, are highly likely to encourage elective isolation in different social settings (Levine 194). For instance, the rising sentiment that African Americans are more targeted for police brutality is likely to increase instances of elective segregation in societies where African Americans are a minority.

In the book Snow Falling on Cedars, an event that heightened elective segregation in San Piedro was the death of Carl Heine. Coming thirteen years after the Pearl Harbor invasion by the Japan Imperialist army, memories remained fresh in the minds of the people of those times and the war that followed. Carl Heine was a war veteran involved in that war, as was Ishmael Chambers and, surprisingly, Kabuo Miyamoto. The attack had created a robust anti-Japanese sentiment, and Japanese Americans bore the brunt of it, many being sent to internment camps. In the years before the attack, Zenhichi, father to Kabuo's, had sought to purchase a piece of land from Carl Heine (Guterson 102). However, Carl's mother, Etta, had a robust anti-Japanese sentiment that saw her oppose that deal passionately. Being as it were that Japanese immigrants were not allowed to own land in America, the deal was informal, based on a gentleman's agreement. When Carl Heine senior died, Etta connived a plan to squash the deal, selling the land to another local when Zenhichi was taken to the internment camp (Guterson 102).

Kabuo wished to buy the land that his father had been promised, and for which he had paid a large sum before it was unfairly denied him. Although he and Carl had been childhood friends, the latter was unwilling to sell due to prevailing anti-Japanese sentiment. However, when Kabuo saved Carl's life after finding him stranded at sea, Carl changed his mind and agreed to sell Kabuo the land (Guterson 177). He would meet his demise later that night when a freighter passing in the canal created a huge wave that drowned him. With the land issue serving as the motive, Kabuo's fate seemed sealed when the sheriff found a fishing gaff with Carl's blood in his boat, presumably from the time that had been saving him the first time (Guterson 183). Issues of elective segregation emerged strongly during the trial of Kabuo, where the entire town seemed united in their belief that he was guilty of the crime and that he should be punished harshly for it.

Ishmael Chambers sought to take advantage of this prevalent sentiment when he hid the radioman's report that showed that the freighter had turned in the canal at the time that Carl died. Ishmael sought to settle a love vendetta that he held against Hatsue, Kabuo's wife, for leaving him without explanation years before (Guterson 97). The evidence he held was enough to exonerate Kabuo, but he knew that without it, the latter would be imprisoned. The local population, motivated by anti-Japanese sentiment, had long concluded Kabuo's guilt, and jury deliberation seemed like they would only be a formality. Kabuo would have been imprisoned had it not been for one juror's stubborn refusal that the evidence provided was not enough to prove his guilt (Guterson 202). Chambers produced the report shortly after that standoff led to an adjournment, proving Kabuo's innocence and thus leading to his release.

Conclusion

Thus, elective segregation is a social phenomenon that has been in existence for a long time but which has attracted protracted research since the success of civil rights. Through this phenomenon, people with specific common characteristics identify with each other more and therefore form cliques. Common features that bring people together include race, ethnicity, gender, age, and religion. Elective segregation is prevalent in restricted social settings such as schools where cliques form-based mainly on race. The novel Snow Falls on Cedars is a perfect example of events that may trigger elective segregation. Activities that isolate a specific race from the rest of society, such as the attack on Pearl Harbor or the death of Carl Heine in the story, all bear the potency of heightening instances of elective segregation.

Works Cited

Guterson, David. Snow Falling On Cedars. [Bloomsbury], 1996.

Hao, Fei et al. "Exploiting The Formation Of Maximal Cliques In Social Networks". Symmetry, vol 9, no. 7, 2017, p. 100. MDPI AG, doi: 10.3390/sym9070100.

Levine, Charles. "Introduction: Structure, Development, And Identity Formation". Identity, vol 3, no. 3, 2003, pp. 191-195. Informa UK Limited, doi: 10.1207/s1532706xid0303_01.