The Future of American Race Relations

Earlier today I had my final in Sociology 102 and thought it would be interesting to discuss here something I analyzed in that class. Sociology is defined as the study of society and/or understanding how humans interact and work together throughout the social world. As a result, sociology is very interested in such topics as race, gender, and class.

One topic that was heavily discussed this semester was the impact of Barack Obama's election on race relations. I won't delve TOO deeply into the issue as I could write about it for hours, but I will go over some of the main things I learned that I think present an interesting argument about the future of race relations in America.

First, some say that the election of Obama will equal the end of racism in America. W.E.B. Dubois famously wrote about the double-consciousness that black Americans experience in their daily lives. Their two souls, one black and one American cannot fuse together to create one as black Americans are continually forced to view their lives through the eyes of their oppressors: whites. However, with the election of Obama, one could argue that Blacks are not longer at the mercy of Whites and that because of Obama everyone has an equal chance to succeed.

However, others argue that the election of Obama is very important in principle but will do nothing to change the amount of racism in the daily lives of millions of black Americans. According to political scientist Andrew Hacker and sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, daily-life racism such as discrimination in residential patterns, legal systems, and health-care will not be impacted by Obama's election. Also, there are controlling images of black Americans, meaning there are certain expectations and stereotypes about black Americans that control the way they are viewed in society that have built up over hundreds of years and will not change over night or even in four years.

In my opinion, both of these opinions are right. Yes, Obama's election is a step in the right direction for black Americans, but at the same time there are years of work left to be done for America to eliminate racism from its system, if that is even possible. For now, I think looking forward to a better future is the best thing we can do.