Interview On Quot Re-Emergence Of Racial And Ethnic Tensions Within The United States Quot

Running Head: SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 1

Interview on "Re-Emergence of Racial and Ethnic Tensions within the United States"

Institutional Affiliation

Student’s Name

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 2

I. The media event

Racial and ethical tensions have been evident in America regarding inequality, poverty,

and discrimination of the minority groups. I will use an interview between Van Jones the

interviewee, a political commentator, and Brian Stelter the interviewer, senior media reporter for

CNN. The reason to consider Van Jones for this occasion is that he knows the governance

system and political behavior which he uses to provide discerning analysis of political issues to

the public. The interviewee, Van Jones, stated that the problem of workplace exploitation of the

unskilled immigrants especially the undocumented ones is commonly manifested by poor

working conditions, overtime work without appropriate payment, harassment at workplace and

minimal wages (Van Jones, 2018). Most of the exploitation occurs in the restaurant and the

finance industry and the federal government ought to enact policies that suit every person

irrespective of their color, background, and gender.

The continued rise of racial and ethnic tensions may aggravate if there are no evident

actions by the federal government and the labor department (Kahn, 2017). Another critical part

of the interview is the origin of racial and ethnic discrimination, especially in the education

system. The interview defines the perception of different individuals from various race and

ethnic backgrounds on biased tensions in America and whether they are addressed thoroughly.

Some of the policies implemented by the government in power are viewed to favor some

individuals and display a kind of supremacy to the favored individuals (Raley et al., 2015). For

long, people who can represent the minority are prevented from doing their sole role of airing

views of the marginalized groups by the harsh policies implemented by the government.

Moreover, the issue of unemployment of the minority groups has been considered a problem in

the past and the present. The unemployment rate among the black and the Latino remains the

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 3

highest: blacks are twice that of the whites at 6.8% while for the Latino is at 4.9% (O’Sullivan et

al., 2014). It was an issue that was believed to end due to black and Hispanic representation in

the government, but little has been done to ensure success. The political commentator

recommends that it is best when the government involves all parties in deciding for the people in

America to reduce economic inequality and solve the issue of disparity among all groups.

The government must protect and offer required resources to every citizen regardless of

their color, race and ethnic background to promote development (Siddique & Laughland, 2017).

The value orientation or preference of Van Jones on racial unemployment gap is that the

government should enact policies that consider all groups in America by giving them equal

chances in both education and employment industries. Another issue is that making of policies

should involve consultations from all social groups to make a decision that favors every citizen

(Van Jones, 2018).

II. My Perspectives On The Topic

Several issues interested me in the topic of "Re-Emergence of Racial and Ethnic Tensions

within the United States" making me explore further and gain more statistics on the subject. The

interview is very critical in determining the players of the US economic development and how

these players' interest get represented in the government. From the interview, every citizen is a

player of economic growth in one way or another, but the difference is in the form these

individuals get resources such as education and employment that contribute to economic

development. This created an interest to determine the recent unemployment trends, exploitation

at workplaces, inequalities in the education system and how these issues are being addressed to

solve them (Giovanni et al., 2018). The reason behind the existence of such problems in these

sectors also created curiosity to explore policies behind them.

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 4

If I were involved in the interview, it would be the best time to point out the flaws in the

formulation of government policies that limit certain group from acquiring better jobs and

education due to their race and ethnic backgrounds. The government is a significant contributor

of inequality through its implementation of policies that fail to consider all members of the

country.

III. My family

I was born in Arkansas State Conway city and grew up there together with my family.

The population there consists of people from different racial and ethnic background with various

social and cultural values. It includes Asians, whites, African Americans, and Latinos. It was

evident that these groups practiced cultural values according to their background and this made

my family view themselves as different from these groups. Clark (2016) explains it as due to the

behavior and the preferences granted to each group when it came to employment opportunities.

Inequality existed in workplaces like lack of hiring an African American because he or she does

not have enough skills and experience for a specific task. Another difference is the failure to

appoint Asians for the reason that they will be slow and make mistakes at work. The whites were

privileged for job eligibility and were coached to meet the requirements of the industry. Such

perceptions created a difference in how one viewed Asians, blacks, and Latinos over the whites.

My earliest memory of race was on my first day at school, at the age of four. I

encountered people with long hair who wore traditional covers on their heads that amazed me as

I was used to people with short hair. I went home and told my mum about the story.

My family would discuss racial, religious and cultural orientation issues when one of us

observed some foreign customs and then wanted to share it, as, for instance, that the Asians

would worship in a temple and mostly communicate in a native language, Telugu. My family

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 5

also discussed the trends of race and racial inequalities in granting opportunities such as

education and employment in the country. I was curious and would ask my family why not all

the groups went to church on Sundays and worship; this made my family disclose the difference

between religious practices of the whites and other ethnic groups. Although my family did not

teach me on the existing inequality between several ethnic groups, they made me believe that no

race was superior to the other only that some practice of culture and religion were different.

If I were included in an interview discussing the issue of race, my family members would

appreciate me for seeing me as a mature person who realizes existing disparity in the rendering

of resources to the public. If a family member happens to disregard my advocacy on human

rights and social justice, I will try to educate them on the present situation in the country. I will

do so by highlighting the number of unemployed individuals from minority groups supposed to

get hired but lacking the chance due to their background (Gobillon et al., 2014).

IV. Practice behaviors - Conclusion

Several practice behaviors need to be embraced and changed to ensure equality among all

people in the country. First people should stop judging others by their religion and religious

practices. An example in a workplace is where a manager requires that every employee stops

attending work in hats or other headwear. This will limit some individuals who wear special head

covers due to cultural and religious beliefs from getting the job, and they may quit. Enacting

policies that suits everyone taking into mind their cultural and religious beliefs will reduce

inequality where no race will be favored over the other (Sullivan et al., 2015).

Everyone should understand the effects of racist comments to people. If I were to

encounter a client with who is prejudiced or denies other's religious or sexual orientation, I

would not be fast to argue with the person on such issue, but I will be calm and handle the

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 6

problem within my scope of the profession. I will draw a clear line to indicate that such negative

comments should not be encouraged. If the client continues to make such negative comments,

then I will tell the client "Sir/Madam, I would truly love to help you, yet I can't proceed as you

keep on making such remarks." If the client persists, I will call security.

I would give a service to a client convicted of racism or other crime, but this will depend

on the language that the client uses. It would not be appropriate to serve a customer with racist

remarks or treating with prejudice without warning them of their behavior. I will not support any

expression of bias in order not to spread it further.

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 7

References

Clark, C. R., Ommerborn, M. J., Coull, B. A., Pham, D. Q., & Haas, J. S. (2016). Income

inequities and Medicaid expansion re related to racial and ethnic disparities in delayed or

forgone care due to cost. Medical care, 54(6), 555-561.

Giovann, J. D., Schmitt, M., Goodman, J. D., Segal, D., Bronson, B., Goodman, P. S., . . .

Bellafante, G. (2018, February 10). Income Inequality. Retrieved February 13, 2018,

from https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/income-inequality

Gobillon, L., Rupert, P., & Wasmer, E. (2014). Ethnic unemployment rates and frictional

markets. Journal of Urban Economics, 79, 108-120.

Kahn, A. C. (2017, April 28). More Americans say race relations deteriorating: Reuters poll.

Retrieved February 13, 2018, from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-poll-

race/more-americans-say-race-relations-deteriorating-reuters-poll-idUSKBN17U1JU

Nesbit, J. (n.d.). America Has a Big Race Problem. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from

https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016-03-28/america-has-a-big-race-problem

O’Sullivan, R., Mugglestone, K., & Allison, T. (2014). Closing the race gap: Alleviating young

African American unemployment through education. Young Invincibles, 5.

Omi, M., & Winant, H. (2014). Racial formation in the United States. Routledge.

Raley, R. K., Sweeney, M. M., & Wondra, D. (2015). The growing racial and ethnic divides in

US marriage patterns. The Future of children/Center for the Future of Children, the David

and Lucile Packard Foundation, 25(2), 89.

Siddique, H., & Laughland, O. (2017, August 23). Charlottesville: United Nations warns US

over alarming racism. Retrieved February 13, 2018, from

SOCIAL WORK AND HUMAN SERVICES 8

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/aug/23/charlottesville-un-committee-warns-us-

over-rise-of-racism

Sullivan, L., Meschede, T., Dietrich, L., & Shapiro, T. (2015). The racial wealth gap. Institue for

Assests and Social Policy, Brandeis University. DEMOS.

Van Jones on the racial unemployment gap - CNN Video. (2018, January 28). Retrieved

February 13, 2018, from https://edition.cnn.com/videos/tv/2018/01/28/van-jones-

responds-to-trumps-tweet.cnn

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Paper type

Deadline

Page count

550 words

Total price: $ 15.00

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

USA, Student

"I'm fully satisfied with the essay I've just received. When I read it, I felt like it was exactly what I wanted to say, but couldn’t find the necessary words. Thank you!"

Ian McGregor

UK, Student

"I don’t know what I would do without your assistance! With your help, I met my deadline just in time and the work was very professional. I will be back in several days with another assignment!"

Shannon Williams

Canada, Student

"It was the perfect experience! I enjoyed working with my writer, he delivered my work on time and followed all the guidelines about the referencing and contents."

Interview on quot Re-Emergence of Racial and Ethnic Tensions within the United States quot

Place new order. It's free, fast and safe

Our customers say

Jeff Curtis

Ian McGregor

Shannon Williams