Equal Opportunity by Walter mosley exposes discrimination in many forms. This short story is made of simple sentences that are straightforward and emotionless. The author's writing style helps the reader analyze the thought process of the main character, Socrates, which plays an important role in understanding what kind of person he is. It is structured in short chapters, with dialogue, from a third person perspective. Equal Opportunity by Walter Mosley is a short story that reveals an endless negative feedback loop due to discrimination that specifically affects people in a low social class, African Americans, and ex-convicts.
In Walter Mosley 's fictional short story, "Equal Opportunity" (1995), he describes employment discrimination through the character of Socrates Fortlow, an African American ex-convict attempting to find employment. Socrates lives in an abandoned building in Los Angeles neighborhood called Watts. He has been out of “prison eight years, fifty-eight years old, and ready to start life over again,” (Mosley 1). Socrates faces several conflicts, attempting to gain employment, because of his (1) age, (2) race, and (3) where he lives. He has to travel far to look for a job because everyone on his side of town, especially, Crenshaw and Washington, both store owners in Watts, knew that he collected bottles and cans for money and “they would not hire
In the book "The Secret Life Of Bees," it affected Lily because she had a black women who worked for them named Rosaleen, When they were walking in the street on their way to vote, a white man said many stuff to Rosaleen. After Rosaleen threw something on the mans shoes they told her to say sorry. She
This issue can be related to the story cited in the book; whereby, Woodson refers to the black employees who questioned the authority of an African-American
In todays’ society does race matter? Who in society thinks that race matters and who thinks it no longer matters? In our daily living we experience different types of racism. Some of us experience racism because of the color of our skin, the country we migrated from or just because we speak a different language. Additionally, people can be judged by the way they dress, or the food they eat.
In her speech, Josephine Baker explains the discrimination she faced when she came to America, and how she decided to stand up against it. She also encourages the audience to support the cause she’s been fighting for. In her speech, she states, “And when I got to New York way back then, I had other blows—when they would not let me check into the good hotels because I was colored, or eat in certain restaurants.” This demonstrates how big a problem racial injustice was in America. Baker explains how in France, the color of her skin didn’t matter, but it was a whole different story in America.
And when the speaker and his friends doing the sit in, they were threatened by the manager and the people in the store, but they continued to sit because they were served in other parts of the store. For example, the speaker states “We were told by several people that if we continued to sit at this lunch counter that we were going to get into a lot of trouble. And we advised the store and its employees and its manager that we intended to sit and to continue to sit until they served us, because they had served us in other parts of the store so they could in fact serve us if they so choose to do so. So, we continued to sit.” (McNeil 10) the evidence before you show that McNiel and his friends overcame the fear of the white people, and they were threatened by many people.
The ongoing problem of discrimination due to appearance has affected many, specifically black people. One of the most unusual things with no point or definition. This prejudice against black people has caused much unification within the United States. The lives of these black people have been severely affected, as it has affected their acts, appearances, and ways of life. As Brent Staples explains in his essay “Black Men and Public Space,” black people deal with many problems, from discrimination, and he explains these points in an orderly manner and each very thoroughly.
Racism has been debated throughout all of the years of American history and to this day is still accused of being a problem. According to Cynthia Silva Parker, she says that “racism is a system of advantages and disadvantages based on race” (Racism -- What Will It Take to End It?). In the video, she states that it is present externally and internally every day. She makes the statement that a hiring manager is more likely to interview someone whose name on a resume says “John” over someone named “Jamal” even though they have the same qualifications. But eight years ago, America elected a black President, providing the evidence that if racism was truly a problem we never would have allowed an African American to run our country over his opponent, whom was a white male with the same qualifications.
Even though it is illegal to not hire someone due to their race, it still happens in most parts of the south. Many Places in the south are still very segregated with a large majority of African Americans living around the same places the Jim Crow Laws made their Grandmothers and Grandfathers live. Racism is very alive in the south due to the deep history of slavery and hate crimes that took place in the 1800’s. Those beliefs were passed from generation to generation causing the south to gain the type of reputation it has today, Another example of the Jim Crow Laws still affecting today's world has to do with the new voting laws that requires a government standard I.D in order to vote, Which does not seem racist until you look at the facts and realize 25% of African Americans do not have that form of I.D on them. The Jim Crow Laws may not officially be laws anymore but, due to these laws being around and having such a deep impact on the south and other parts of the country in the past, as sadly impacted today’s society.
Even if you are one of the poorest people in the town, if you are white, then you are still more significant in the social classes than a black person. Today, people are going through the same racial discrimination that was happening so long ago and will happen till the day our world is nonexistent anymore. In our society, people are judged for many things they can’t change. In the article, “Inequality, Race, and Remedy,” there was a study done that sent out approximately 1,300 résumés to apply for the same job.
Additionally, the results showed that “a white name yields as many more callbacks as an additional eight years of experience” (Bertrand). A white sounding name is equal to eight years of hands-on, real world experience, people. That fact alone shows built in bias. And, in a survey done in conjunction with the study, “more than a third of African Americans reportedly experienced racial discrimination during a hiring process. (Bertrand)”
This well educated man was getting dirty looks and halsted for using standard everyday services. As a person in today’s society most would hope that this doesn’t happen as often on the contrary it happens everyday. Many people are still more likely to trust white people over black people even with the same credentials as each other. Especially with jobs in today’s society, how many african american bankers does one see on a regular basis usually one to none because even today entire companies are racially profiling. Many Americans have come to the conclusion that the black people movement ended when they obtained voting rights, but no matter what rights are given to people of different races they will 6 times out of 10 feel attacked or racially profiled at least once a day.
A study indicates that dark-skinned African Americans face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs. Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at UGA undertook the first significant study of "colorism" in the workplace. He found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor's degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an M.B.A. and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of the light-skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn't appear as “menacing' as the darker-skinned male applicant.” This finding is possibly due to the common belief that fair-skinned blacks probably have more similarities with whites than do dark-skinned blacks, which in turn makes whites feel more comfortable around them. (Harrison
Unfortunately for those who believe there is still racism in America, they can’t name a business and why. Running around and yelling “there’s racism in America” doesn’t solve the issue,