Inequality and Privilege in American Culture
In the first lines of his book, Bonilla Silva writes, "These days, few white Americans profess to be racists, except from members of white supremacist organizations" (Bonilla-Silva 1).
According to me, the civil rights movement has lessened the impact of racism on black people's daily lives. Racial inequality has, nevertheless, become institutionalized in American culture as a whole. As a result, Bonilla claims that there is invisible white privilege in today's culture.
The four frames that Bonilla Silva utilized help to understand this. Abstract liberalism, the normalization of personal references, cultural racism, and color-blind racism are some of the cognitive frames used by Bonilla Silva (Bonilla-Silva 29).
Abstract Liberalism
Abstract liberalism means that dominant groups emphasize that they are entitled to their status and other groups need to work harder. This doctrine requires that individual to ignore multiple institutional and state-sponsored practices behind segregation.
Normalization of Personal References
The second frame (normalization of personal references) emphasizes whiteness by explaining that dominant groups justify racism as if they are naturally superior. This should not be the case because everyone has the right to a free society (Bonilla-Silva 31).
Cultural Racism
Thirdly, whiteness is emphasized by cultural racism (Bonilla-Silva 33). The dominant groups denounce blacks due to failure of them in adapting to the "normal" culture.
Color-Blind Racism
The fourth frame is minimization frame. Minimization explores the fact that dominant groups deny the existence of racial inequality claimed by blacks.
Leo Chavez explores whiteness by using cogent analysis of the manipulation of narratives by the media and politicians in a bid to create division and deter social integration between Latinos and the rest of the American society. Immigration related media spectacle force most people to believe Latinos are a threat to the country (Chavez 6). Therefore, he explains that politicians further their political agenda at the expense of advocating for basic social services, quality education, and employment opportunities (Chavez 8).
The Latino threat also advocates for policy change in the penal system, especially regarding health disparity, structural racism, and social service delivery.
Racial Inequalities in the US Penal System
The question of whether the US penal system illustrates racial inequalities can be answered in the following ways.
First of all, a study by Silva (2010) shows that there is diversity in the courtroom, and therefore, decision-makers have a great opportunity to use facts to determine cases. Therefore, it can be argued that this eradicates racial inequalities (Bonilla-Silva 12).
On the other hand, there are implicit biases when certain juries work with people from backgrounds that are not their own. Another factor that supports this situation is that there is police discretion in the later stages of the criminal system, which tends to produce racial disparity.
Therefore, we can conclude that there is credible evidence that suggests significant racial inequality in the penal system.
Works Cited
Bonilla-Silva, Eduardo. Racism Without Racists: Color-blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2010. Print.
Chavez, Leo R. The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press, 2013. Internet resource.
