Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender Research Paper

Political Economy of Race, Class and Gender - Research Paper Example An increase in population still kept African-Americans and the whites in separate neighborhoods. These separate neighborhoods deprived African-Americans of receiving quality education and competing with the whites in the labor market. Segregation also created a feeling of hostility between the two communities who still fail to interact and comprehend the behavior of each other. This research paper will investigate the ways in which segregation among different communities, namely African American and the whites, creates inequality in the labor market. For this reason, this paper will examine three very important elements to understand why the problem of income disparity exists in one of the largest metropolitan cities of the USA. The three important elements identified by research are demographics, education and unemployment. Demographics play a critical role in understanding the labor market of Chicago. Chicago is one of the densely populated cities of the US with  a population of over 2.5 million people out of which about 32% are African Americans while 45% are white (Reich 17). However, Chicago is highly segregated. The major ethnic groups like to live among themselves in what they call their neighborhood. Jobs are highly dependent upon the neighborhood where people live. In order to understand the labor market of Chicago, it is critical to look at some of the details in history. The Second World War gave opportunity for the masses to work in factories as the US prepared for war. The Chicago Defender broke the news to African-Americans living in the South that there were plenty of jobs in the city of Chicago and ensured African-Americans would live a much happier life there (Ellen 261-277). It worked for most private firms, who were looking for cheap labor and also for Africans American, who found it difficult to find jobs at that time. There were nearly 3,000 African Americans

Reading response Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 6

Reading response - Essay Example In my opinion, the text reveals a number interesting religious notions that were commonplace at that time in the society. The text reveals that the established religious norms of the society were close or similar to the protestant faith. It was for this reason that Mrs. Hutchinson was repeatedly asked about this aspect. As was common in most of the older societies, opposing or questioning religious beliefs was not an option for the ordinary people. The religion appears to be the property of Church or the ruling class and it was molded as and when needed. I strongly feel that Mrs. Hutchinson’s stand against the status quo was itself sufficient to stand apart; since no one in the society was willing to accept or talk about the reality. Mrs. Hutchinson’s ideology can be equated to antinomianism – an idea that was unacceptable for the ruling class. The primary reason for unacceptability appears to be the control that this class intended to exert on the other classes of the society. I feel that religion and justice have always been used as tools to control the masses; religion acted by manipulating the people emotionally and by taking control of their belief system, whereas judicial system provided the authority that was required to control those who failed to align with the religious teachings or controls. I am forced to think critically about the role of judicial system that was functioning at the time of Mrs. Hutchinson. At various points in the text, it appears that there is a single person in the court who is defending her case; there is no attorney to assist her about the legalities of her case or to assist her in taking a solid defense. Instead, it appears that a couple of men, who are inclined towards taking punitive action against the lady are surrounding her from all sides and as soon as she leaves one of them ‘answerless’, the other jumps in, to divert her attention or to