Erisa Holguin; Inequality Quiz

Erisa Holguin; 466 words

There is no doubt that there is a socioeconomic divide between blacks and whites.  When asked to explain why there is this divide, African Americans, Hispanics, and Whites give differing responses. In the article, Hunt asks if explanations of the socioeconomic divide are changing over time and if so in what way? To find out the answers to these questions Hunt uses the General Social Surveys from 1977-2004. As the results showed, the trend of whites explanation to the socioeconomic divide increasingly was education and motivation and less ability. When blacks were asked about the divide they were twice as likely to say that it was caused by discrimination than both Hispanics and whites. When lack of motivation was used as the explanation whites were the highest percentage to agree while blacks were the least. There is believed to be two reasons why a person-based explanation might be used. One is just plain racism and the belief that whites are superior to blacks.  The second is the thought that blacks are being lazy and unmotivated. This thought of course coincides with whites wanting away with the Welfare program. There is a bad stereotype with welfare that leads people to assume all those on it are lazy and at home doing nothing. A lot of people also believe that African Americans make up the the majority of people receiving welfare. Both of these stereotypes are very incorrect and must be addressed. Over time what the information has shown is that increasingly whites are saying more and more that blacks are equal and are simply behind socioeconomically due to their own faults. The studies show whites belief in this explanation has almost tripled since the late 1980's. What still is the biggest explanation among whites as to why there is any socioeconomic divide is lack of will or motivation. Among blacks the motivation explanation went up, while the education and discrimination explanations declined. Despite this, the majority still believe more in the latter as the explanation to the socioeconomic divide. 

     In the article of Jobs, Poverty, and Earnings in American Metropolises: Do Immigrants Really Hurt The Economic Outcomes of Blacks, the information focuses on how immigration has an effect on poverty, participation, and earnings among black people. The effect created a long conclusion of findings that concluded middle-class African Americans benefiting from immigration and the increase among populations, yet resulting in not being affected in the long run due to the increase of immigrants across these populations. The methods of such included random sampling of over 130 Metropolitan areas, both statistical and primary where results included four tables that states in a linear way that immigrants take in place of those African Americans and how much immigrants have an effect on Black economic outcomes.