Axia Soc 120 Final: Social Inequality And Minorities In The United States

Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States

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Soc 120 - Introduction to Sociology
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Social Inequality and Minorities in the United States
      Before the United States was called the United States there were people that would be considered minorities here. In the late fifteenth century when the Europeans arrived here there were millions of people to be considered a “minority”. Being a minority in the United States brings many uphill battles for many different types of people. In the United States being a minority and achieving social inequality is just as easy as not being a White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (WASPs) (Macionis, 2006).
A minority is any category of people distinguished by physical or cultural difference that a society sets apart and subordinates (Macionis, 2006). It can be based on race, ethnicity, or both (Macionis, 2006). There are two important characteristics of a minority: The first thing is that they share a distinct identity, which may be based on physical or cultural traits and the second is that Minorities experience subordination (Macionis, 2006). Minorities in the United States typically have a lower income, lower occupational prestige, and limited schooling (Macionis, 2006). Do not think that being a minority is always a disadvantage though, there are some members of minority groups who do much better than others, but even though they do pretty well they cannot escape the classification of being a minority.
Native American Suppression
      The Native American group refers to the hundreds of societies who first settled the Western Hemisphere including but not limited to the Aleuts, Cherokee, Zuni, Sioux, Mohawk, Aztec, and Inca (Macionis, 2006). White Americans had seen the Natives as savages and godless and therefore beneath them. Land was taken by was of “Manifest Destiny” or Gods will to usurp land and power. The Native Americans numbered in the millions when the first Europeans arrived here,...