Race is a major influence on the lives of many people, especially in the United States. In a country filled with minorities, race is something that is very important to the millions of residents here. While it can be argued that race shouldn’t matter since all people are equal, that is only looking through a small lens. In the United States, different races have never been treated equal.
Even with certain groups that are now classified as white such as the Irish are Italians when they first immigrated to the U.S. As a result of this, embracing race has always been significant in this country. This is because race provides unity between people, which leads to group success, creates an importance of group identification, and defines unique character amongst people.
Being united with a community is a very important part of being human. Having a group of people that one can connect and bond with is a significant part of one’s life. In her article, “American Racial and Ethnic Politics in the 21st Century: A Cautious Look Ahead”, Jennifer L. Hochschild states that, “Poor and poorly educated blacks were more likely than affluent or well-educated blacks to agree that ‘whites want to keep blacks down’ rather than to help them or simply to leave them alone,” (Hochschild).
127 our experts are availableright now
As a result of the racism many African Americans faced, it had become the common consensus between them that the white Americans did not want them to succeed. Because of this, they stayed within their own black community in order to succeed in the United States and better the situation for their future generations. Reasons like this are why race is important. It brings people together and pushed them to work towards a better future. According to Hochschild, “It is virtually unprecedented for a newly successful group of Americans to grow more and more alienated from the mainstream polity as it attains more and more material success,” (Hochschild).
She claims in her article that once a group continues to gain more success, that group will not only obtain success within themselves, but they will face less discrimination. This proves that by embracing one’s race, they can bring others of that same race together in order to achieve more accomplishments and be seen as contributing members of society, rather than face prejudice for generations.
Much like unity, group identification is something that is significant for many people. The ability to have a group of people that one can identify with can be beneficial on an individual level. This is seen commonly amongst minorities with their race. In their research article, “Importance of Race-Ethnicity: An Exploration of Asian, Black, Latino, and Multiracial Adolescent Identity”, research scientists Linda Charmaraman and Jennifer M. Grossman define the significance of one’s race and ethnicity to their identity as “centrality”.
