Discrimination in America

Discrimination in America: Will We Ever Be An Accepting Society?

Simone de Beauvoir once said, “Otherness is a fundamental category of human thought” (de Beauvoir). People judge each other whether they want to or not because it is how the human brain works. A prejudice is when one makes a judgment beforehand that can be either positive or negative. Most of the time, prejudices are negative and can lead to dangerous situations like “otherness”. This is when people rule out groups they see as “negative” or “threatening” to their own group, automatically deeming them as “outsiders”. This creates a “we” versus “them” dynamic that can be permanent. Differences in race, gender, and sexual orientation have created a rift between society and groups that are viewed as “outsiders”. This essay compares and contrasts these differences as seen through the eyes of victims of racism and sexism. Liberation and acceptance has always been a challenge for these “outsider” groups because of the unwillingness to change the status quo. The consistent domination of an inferior group by a superior group is a result of society’s unwillingness to change. The status quo has been proven impossible to overcome as seen in the failure of social movements. For the Mexicans of East LA, there was no alternative solution to succeed and guarantee social justice for their community. Social movements like the Brown Berets are destined to fail because society does not allow for inferior groups to overcome “otherness” and rise to the top.

The most prominent theme in Haney-Lopez’s Racism on Trial deals with the idea of other versus the majority. The works of literature, The Second Sex, “The Master’s Tools”, and “I am Joaquin” help explain the dilemma of the Chicano people in Haney-Lopez’s Racism on Trial. French philosopher, Simone de Beauvoir’s, The Second Sex does a good job of explaining sexism, in terms of women being oppressed by men. In The Second Sex, de Beauvoir points out that,...