When Affirmative Action Was White By Ira Katznelson

Sabrina Karaba Professor Null History 21 December 4, 2015 When Affirmative Action was White Book Review When Affirmative Action was White written by Ira Katznelson he addresses how throughout history whites and blacks had a extreme gap between them. He demonstrates conclusively that the gap of wealth between black and white americans result not simply from slavery but by benefits for white while excluding blacks over time. The book starts out addressing the problem with the New deal and Great Depression. Black Americans suffered the most because they were mostly in agriculture and would be hit the hardest. Black urban unemployment reached well over 50 percent, more than twice the rate of whites. In my own opinion that wasn’t a coincidence. In southern cities, white workers rallied around such slogan â€Å"back to the cotton fields city jobs are for white folks. The most violent times took place on southern railroads, as unionized white workers intimidated, attacked, and murdered black firemen in order to take their jobs. Throughout African Americans lost their jobs in various parts of the South. Ku Klux Klan practices were being resumed and it became more and more dangerous for Blacks to live daily lives. In the North and South, black women were forced into the Depression era slave market, where even working-class white women employed black women at starvation wages, as little as $5 per week for full-time laborers in northern cities. A full 65 percent of AfricanShow MoreRelatedWhy Is Affirmative Action Such a Divisive Issue?2126 Words   |  9 PagesAFFIRMATIVE ACTION: WHY IS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SUCH A DIVISIVE ISSUE? Affirmative Action: Why is Affirmative Action Such a Divisive Issue? Introduction â€Å"I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of it’s creed: â€Å" We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.† Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King stated this in his famous â€Å"I have a Dream† speech in Washington, D.C. in 1963. Is affirmative action still necessary in UnitedRead MoreAnalysis Of The Great White Way By Debra J. Dickerson1153 Words   |  5 PagesThe article â€Å"The Great White Way† by Debra J. Dickerson attempts to show her readers that â€Å"Race is an arbitrary system for establishing hierarchy and privilege† (68) in America. In her article, Dickerson questions how â€Å"whiteness† leads America in our culture and society and how all the other races are defined in America. She also explains how history has divided whites from non-whites in America. The intended audience that Dickerson’s essay gravitated towards are political or liberal A mericans. InRead MoreWhiteness and Citizenship971 Words   |  4 PagesCaptain Ahab’s eulogy of whiteness shows that the word â€Å"white† implies more than a chromatic description. â€Å"White† is an untenable perfection that has haunted the American psyche since colonial times. The idea of â€Å"white spiritual superiority† can only be enforce by a terrorist politico-legal system, based on brutalizing the non-whites and creating a national fantasy. A national fantasy defined by Lauren Berlant as the means â€Å"to designate how national culture becomes local through the images, narrativesRead MoreConfronting The Veil2403 Words   |  10 PagesEconomics control Racism; the start of everything was from the love of money. The enslavement of Africans was the base of which America was built upon, and without African Americans, America might have just been nothing today. This is the concept that I will be evaluating in this book review. I intend to apply t he knowledge I comprehended from the book in order to properly evaluate the main points that I will be expanding on. This book overall was very eye opening and Educating. I found out not onlyRead MoreWhiteness as a Field of Study2712 Words   |  11 PagesCaptain Ahab’s eulogy of whiteness shows that the word â€Å"white† implies more than a chromatic description. â€Å"White† is an untenable perfection that has haunted the American psyche since colonial times. The idea of â€Å"white spiritual superiority† can only be enforced by a terrorist politico-legal system, based on brutalizing the non-whites and creating a national fantasy. A national fantasy defined by Lauren Berlant as the means â€Å"to designate how national culture becomes local through the images, narratives