Welcome back to my blog... for the last time. In my last reading, it got me thinking a lot about how society was and how it is discrimination of all kinds. It raised the question: Is society actually improving on how people treat others who are different? Based off of that question, I plan to respond with an answer.
In today's society, the treatment of others who are visually or physically different from us is improving compared to how it was in the 1600s to 1970s. Even if these changes may be slow...very slow... and take time for people to adjust to, they are occurring. This can be seen with the black community, disabled people, and the LGBTQ+ community.
For the black community, treatment has obviously improved compared to how it was in the past. They have gone from being enslaved by white Americans to "separate but equal" to gaining civil rights to complete freedom and little prejudice. As all the history books tell us, Africans were taken from Africa and sold into slavery for their labor in the early 1600s. This was just the given fact. They were not viewed as people, but as tools for their owner's own gain and profit. Even as one hundred years passed, the status of slaves had not improved much. They were now thought of being 3/5 of a person when the census would go around. They could not possibly be one whole person because they were not thought to be that good, but southern states couldn't possibly accept the fact that they counted as zero persons because they wanted more representatives. As time inched by, finally in the 1860s slavery ended. However, that did not mean African Americans were completely equal to white Americans. Even in the 1890s, black Americans were considered "separate but equal" even though it was visible they were nowhere near equal. Blacks and whites had separate bathrooms, bubblers, buses and even some stores or restaurants would not take black customers. Slowly, in the mid-1950s to late 1960s black Americans gained more rights, this was known as the Civil Rights Movement. They had finally gained non-segregated schools and the right to vote. Time continued and treatment of black Americans improved. Today, in the late 2010s, black Americans are legally treated equally, on paper, to white Americans. Although that does not necessarily mean prejudice of an individual is gone, there is no longer visible legal laws against blacks. The treatment of members of the black community has significantly increased compared to in the 1600s or even the 1800s.
Not only has the treatment of African Americans improved over time with America's culture changing and improving, but so has the treatment of people with both mental and physical disabilities. Insane asylums, or houses for the mentally unwell, were created in the 1800s ("Mental Institutions"). People would love to think families sent their children and/or spouses there out of the love of their hearts to help them improve their mental state; however, insane asylums were horrific. They provided a place for families to send their family members who were unwanted. This allowed psychologists, or just the people working in insane asylums, to perform experiments on the patients ("Mental Institutions"). These experiments could range from electroconvulsive therapy to lobotomy to even psychosurgery. However, in the 1970s insane asylums closed and people began to accept their family members with mental disorders. Today, mental disorders are something we are beginning to openly talk about. It is no longer a taboo subject. There are open group therapies about mental disorders and even doctors the specialize in them. Similarly, those with a physical disabilities were sent away as well. In the 1940s, during the Holocaust, families willingly sent their physically disabled (and mentally disabled) children out to camp to "live" their life with others like them. However, Natzi version of living was being killed by gas or other methods just because they were different and/or inferior. This is similar to families that would get their child castrated so they could not create another physically or mentally disabled child. Luckily, over time, the views on physically disabled, people also changed. Today, people are going to great lengths to accepts those with physical disabilities. Many public spaces need wheelchair access, whether that is a bathroom a person with a physical disability can use or ramp to be mobile in a public space. My school has even gone to the length as to begin the rearrangement of a special place so children in wheelchairs can easily move up the ramp. In some schools they even offer sign language to accommodate for those that cannot hear. Our society has changed greatly to assist those with a mental of physical disability.
Lastly, people of the LGBTQ+ community (formerly known as the LGBT community) has significantly improved. From the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to pride parades in Boston and New York City today, the LGBTQ+ community is another group of people that society has begun to treat as equal. In 1969, being homosexual was a piece of information about yourself you kept hidden. Today, homosexuality and other sexual orientations have begun to be widely accepted. While there are still people who are conservative about this issue, people in the LGBTQ+ community no longer need to hide their sexual orientation when they exit their home. In general, it is safe for a person that is not heterosexual to be in the streets and display their sexual orientation today, unlike in the past. This also applies to gender identity. In the 1900s being transgender was rarely heard of, and if it was, it was not an issue discussed outside of yourself. Today, people are openly transgender. There is gender reassignment surgery, we have celebrities that are transgender, and we even have some reality TV shows about transgender people. Even though there are still skeptics and critics about transgender people and those that are not heterosexual, the acceptance towards members of the LGBTQ+ community has widened immensely since the 1900s.
Even though it took society time to accept race, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ society did so. There is still prejudice today, but you can't annihilate it. The majority of society is improving how they treat others who are unlike them and it will continue to improve... until a new group of people who are different appear. But as of now, society is improving on how unique people are treated.
In today's society, the treatment of others who are visually or physically different from us is improving compared to how it was in the 1600s to 1970s. Even if these changes may be slow...very slow... and take time for people to adjust to, they are occurring. This can be seen with the black community, disabled people, and the LGBTQ+ community.
For the black community, treatment has obviously improved compared to how it was in the past. They have gone from being enslaved by white Americans to "separate but equal" to gaining civil rights to complete freedom and little prejudice. As all the history books tell us, Africans were taken from Africa and sold into slavery for their labor in the early 1600s. This was just the given fact. They were not viewed as people, but as tools for their owner's own gain and profit. Even as one hundred years passed, the status of slaves had not improved much. They were now thought of being 3/5 of a person when the census would go around. They could not possibly be one whole person because they were not thought to be that good, but southern states couldn't possibly accept the fact that they counted as zero persons because they wanted more representatives. As time inched by, finally in the 1860s slavery ended. However, that did not mean African Americans were completely equal to white Americans. Even in the 1890s, black Americans were considered "separate but equal" even though it was visible they were nowhere near equal. Blacks and whites had separate bathrooms, bubblers, buses and even some stores or restaurants would not take black customers. Slowly, in the mid-1950s to late 1960s black Americans gained more rights, this was known as the Civil Rights Movement. They had finally gained non-segregated schools and the right to vote. Time continued and treatment of black Americans improved. Today, in the late 2010s, black Americans are legally treated equally, on paper, to white Americans. Although that does not necessarily mean prejudice of an individual is gone, there is no longer visible legal laws against blacks. The treatment of members of the black community has significantly increased compared to in the 1600s or even the 1800s.
Not only has the treatment of African Americans improved over time with America's culture changing and improving, but so has the treatment of people with both mental and physical disabilities. Insane asylums, or houses for the mentally unwell, were created in the 1800s ("Mental Institutions"). People would love to think families sent their children and/or spouses there out of the love of their hearts to help them improve their mental state; however, insane asylums were horrific. They provided a place for families to send their family members who were unwanted. This allowed psychologists, or just the people working in insane asylums, to perform experiments on the patients ("Mental Institutions"). These experiments could range from electroconvulsive therapy to lobotomy to even psychosurgery. However, in the 1970s insane asylums closed and people began to accept their family members with mental disorders. Today, mental disorders are something we are beginning to openly talk about. It is no longer a taboo subject. There are open group therapies about mental disorders and even doctors the specialize in them. Similarly, those with a physical disabilities were sent away as well. In the 1940s, during the Holocaust, families willingly sent their physically disabled (and mentally disabled) children out to camp to "live" their life with others like them. However, Natzi version of living was being killed by gas or other methods just because they were different and/or inferior. This is similar to families that would get their child castrated so they could not create another physically or mentally disabled child. Luckily, over time, the views on physically disabled, people also changed. Today, people are going to great lengths to accepts those with physical disabilities. Many public spaces need wheelchair access, whether that is a bathroom a person with a physical disability can use or ramp to be mobile in a public space. My school has even gone to the length as to begin the rearrangement of a special place so children in wheelchairs can easily move up the ramp. In some schools they even offer sign language to accommodate for those that cannot hear. Our society has changed greatly to assist those with a mental of physical disability.
Lastly, people of the LGBTQ+ community (formerly known as the LGBT community) has significantly improved. From the Stonewall Riots of 1969 to pride parades in Boston and New York City today, the LGBTQ+ community is another group of people that society has begun to treat as equal. In 1969, being homosexual was a piece of information about yourself you kept hidden. Today, homosexuality and other sexual orientations have begun to be widely accepted. While there are still people who are conservative about this issue, people in the LGBTQ+ community no longer need to hide their sexual orientation when they exit their home. In general, it is safe for a person that is not heterosexual to be in the streets and display their sexual orientation today, unlike in the past. This also applies to gender identity. In the 1900s being transgender was rarely heard of, and if it was, it was not an issue discussed outside of yourself. Today, people are openly transgender. There is gender reassignment surgery, we have celebrities that are transgender, and we even have some reality TV shows about transgender people. Even though there are still skeptics and critics about transgender people and those that are not heterosexual, the acceptance towards members of the LGBTQ+ community has widened immensely since the 1900s.
Even though it took society time to accept race, people with disabilities and members of the LGBTQ+ society did so. There is still prejudice today, but you can't annihilate it. The majority of society is improving how they treat others who are unlike them and it will continue to improve... until a new group of people who are different appear. But as of now, society is improving on how unique people are treated.
Works Cited
"Mental Institutions." Brought to Life, broughttolife.sciencemuseum.org.uk/broughttolife/themes/menalhealthandillness/mentalinstitutions. Accessed 2 Apr. 2019.
Ella,
ReplyDeleteInteresting viewpoints on the progress of treatment of "unique" people, as you say. I have to agree that we are progressing, and that it may be impossible to completely rid ourselves of prejudice. As we talked about in AP Psych today, some prejudice may actually be needed from and evolutionary perspective, and is inherently a part of our cognitive processes. However, I think that learning to maybe control that cognition a little bit better may help to further the progress we have made thus far. What do you think about the evolutionary perspective in regards to this subject?
Ooh, I like the psychology question. Based on the evolutionary perspective, it is necessary for humans to be prejudice, or at least it was in early humans. Today, our ancestors' survival techniques are what kept them and their children alive, so those who had prejudice survived and reproduced. Today, it is still prominent because it is what kept us alive in the past. However, I don't think it is ever something we can truly rid ourselves of because hundreds of thousands of years later we still have that prejudice "instinct".
DeleteHi Ella,
ReplyDeleteGreat end to your blog.!Your short histories of the three issues that you chose were thorough, clear, and emphasized the importance of making progress towards equality. This post reminded me a lot about Mark Aronson's writing style. I'd like to know what you thought about Aronson's approach to describing the history of race, and how reading this book influenced your post.
I thought his approach at describing race was very valid, especially with what we have learn about it from the evolutionary perspective. Overall, before I read this book I always thought of racism as something that was just there and this book helped aid that thought. It is inevitable. Reading this book influenced my post because I wanted to write about other people who have slowly begun to be treated "normal" yet still show treating those unlike us different is still present and always will be.
DeleteHi Ella,
ReplyDeleteI liked how you decided to incorporate different aspects of prejudice that are not based on race. It really shows the depth that prejudice has in our country and how it is not just centered on race. After finishing the book, did you like Aronson's writing? Do you believe he could have organized his thoughts better?
Ella, your broadening of the issue from race to other kinds of prejudice was thoughtful and well done. You might have referenced the book a bit more specifically in this last post, but the ideas you've included are good.
ReplyDelete