Extra Credit: Ch. 6 of Inequality by Design

The implementation of various governmental policies that have been designed to specifically benefit or marginalize a certain group of people is a shame to America history. However, much as changed over the past few centuries, as explicit racism has become less common. It can be difficult to conceptualize what it was like to follow blatantly racist regulations from the past, such as redlining in housing discrimination. Americans can falsely believe that since such policies no longer exist, we as a society have become less discriminatory against racial minorities. However, with present policies, that can either generously help the rich or haphazardly attempt to alleviate the woes of the poor, the government appears to have masked their lingering racial prejudices with policies that are based on class.

An important concept to integrate into this reading is “institutionalized racism” which was discussed by Oliver and Shapiro. This is the idea that racism has been continuously built into our social structures, and the effects of such prejudices have multiplied over generations. This chapter is an excellent portrayal of this idea, particularly of the marginalization of blacks. Blacks had been denied housing in the boom of suburbanization, and as a result they had reduced opportunities to build their wealth. This is one factor that can push this racial minority to fall into the lower classes. In present times, the impoverished are now stigmatized, and since explicit racism is now looked down upon in society, loathing the poor has become a disguise for feelings of disdain against racial minorities. Government policies clearly indicate such attitude toward the poor: they have created welfare policies with strict requirements so that the people do not depend on governmental support (such as the earned income tax credit). Despite the fact that the existence of these policies proves governmental attempts to help the poor, only a small percentage of governmental spending actually goes toward welfare (132). Why is there such a reluctance to help the impoverished?

On the other hand, the wealthier classes are receiving governmental subsidies and tax breaks in order to maintain their lifestyle (or even attain a higher one). It does not seem to be coincidental that the people in these classes were probably those who were NOT discriminated against the past; many of these include the same whites who were approved of subsidized loans from the government when suburbanization was expanding. Thus it appears that policies are continuously piling on to cover what is at root of the problem: racial discrimination. Indirectly, the government is still helping the white majority and marginalizing the black minority, and the claim that their policies are based on class appear to be a cover-up of their true biases.