Eth125

Caucasians and the United States ETH 125 September 25, 2011 Caucasians and the United States As a Caucasian of European descent, my ancestors arrived in America in the 17th Century from Germany. John and Martin Booher were brothers. They were doctors who came to America and followed the Appalachian Mountains before settling in what is now known as Clinton county Kentucky, or more specifically Albany Kentucky. Most Caucasians arrived in America on ships from England, Deutschland, and Germany. Most Caucasians arrived in America in an attempt to colonize America. The first colony attempt was in 1584, by Sir Walter Raleigh. He established a colony in Roanoke Virginia. Sometime before 1590 the colony disappeared. It became known as the lost colony. In 1606 several private English companies tried to form colonies in America. The colony was established with 105 people. However, by the end of the first year the population had dwindled to only 32. Profit was a driving force behind the early colonization of America. Men traditionally were the stronger sex. They brought the chauvinistic life style to America when they came. Men did the labor, and were the bread winners. Women were expected to maintain the home. These same traditions continued throughout history in America. Women did not earn the right to vote until 1920, or nearly 400 years after the first colonies were formed. Likewise the labor markets locked women out. In 1619 Dutch ship arrived in Jamestown America with 20 black slaves. They were viewed as property. The early Caucasian settlers saw the slaves as cheap/free labor to help them turn profits. According to Yahoo Answers, at http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index'qid=20061116122756AAoKtpg it wasn’t until the 15th Amendment was passed in 1870 that black men received the right to vote. However poll taxes and literacy test prohibited most blacks from qualifying to vote. It wasn’t until 1960 that the 23rd Amendment abolished poll taxes and in 1964 the Voting Rights Act was passed. Again nearly 400 years after the first blacks arrived as slaves on the Dutch ship. Today many prejudices and obstacles still remain from the early settlers chauvinistic beliefs still remain. Change has come slowly for workers and citizens who are not white males. According to Info Please, at http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0882775.html Black men continue to suffer wage disparity in relation to Caucasian males/ in 1975 black males made on 69% of what the white male made for the same work. White women made only 58.7% and black women were paid only 49.2% of what a white male was paid for the same work. In40 years those numbers have not move significantly. In 2010 black males were paid 74.5% of what white males were paid for the same work. This is an increase of only 5.5%. Black women were paid 69.6% of what the white males were paid. That represents a 20.4% increase. White women were paid at 80.5% of what the white males were paid for the same work. That is an increase of 21.3%. It is obvious that there is wage discrimination, especially when it comes to black males. While American Caucasians have 400 years in America, it is still relative young. When the early settlers/ancestors arrived they were bringing customs and beliefs that were rooted in countries that were thousands of years old. While it is tempting to say that my Caucasian ancestry harbors discriminatory ways that may not be the case, because if you look at the discrepancies between white women and white men there is no race explanation. It truly could be a case of old habits are hard to break, and especially ones that have roots thousand s of years old. Caucasians have controlled the political and financial activities are America. These early beliefs have followed corporate ventures as they were established and ran by the male chauvinistic believing settlers. Therefore, I have never experienced discrimination, or redlining. I have never experienced double jeopardy. However, as a Caucasian female I have experienced sexual discrimination and wage discrimination. In lower paying jobs I had the wage discrimination was less noticeable, mostly because my wages were near minimum federal requirements. However as the amount of wages paid increased I found that there is a gap as reported in Info Please. It is easy to suspect authorities profile people. Law enforcement profiles individuals they feel “fit” the criminal mode. Load companies and banks profile based on where an individual lives and even the ethnic background. Today there are many organizations whose members come from multiple ethnic back grounds working to right the moral ship of America so that is truly the land of the free.