{"id":286,"date":"2020-02-12T05:32:25","date_gmt":"2020-02-12T05:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/?p=286"},"modified":"2020-02-12T05:32:25","modified_gmt":"2020-02-12T05:32:25","slug":"social-issues-societys-dualities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/blog\/2020\/02\/12\/social-issues-societys-dualities\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Issues: Society’s Dualities"},"content":{"rendered":"

Although society is a place for individuals to come together, it often poses as a foundation for many social issues to progress.\u00a0 Despite having come a long way in certain regards, many still suffer negative experiences on a daily basis. There are complex issues that affect individuals; however, three of the most overarching social issues experienced today are economic inequality, gender inequality, and racial inequality.\u00a0 Without solving these three issues, society may never be able to rise above its own constraints.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This image is a mural that was done to advocate for the end of gun violence. It serves as a reminder to remain united. (Footwear News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Economic inequality is indicative of a failing financial and economic system.\u00a0 Beginning at a young age, most individuals dream of acquiring wealth and a secure financial status.\u00a0 Despite the high frequency of the dream, it is accomplished by very few. The economic disparity between individuals is seen on a routinely basis, and it is especially magnified in today\u2019s climate.\u00a0 I want to choose this issue because it affects every part of the community, and it is so easily seen within the community. I also want to choose this because it is a crucial matter that prevents individuals from moving upward in society.\u00a0 In fact, \u201cPeople in the lower rungs of the economic ladder may experience diminished <\/span>economic opportunity and mobility<\/span> in the face of rising inequality.\u201d^1\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 There are billionaires such as Jeff Bezos while there are children in impoverished cities who are unable to attend school or know where their next meals are coming from.\u00a0 With the increasing use of social media, one is able to see the widening gap between social classes: influencers typically impact younger generations and allow for the gap to deepen.\u00a0 For example, using companies such as Amazon only adds to the inequality experienced by millions. In order to conduct deeper research, the two aspects I would like to focus on is education to see how financially disadvantaged individuals are even more disadvantaged because of society\u2019s opportunities being set against them.\u00a0 I would also like to focus on the rapid wealth that the rich are emassing, \u201cThe wealth gap between America\u2019s richest and poorer families more than doubled from 1989 to 2016.\u201d^2\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 I can include some historical context to compare whether the gap has widened or narrowed over time as well as analyzing the factors in that contributed to the issue.\u00a0 Statistics are readily available that can help me research this issue.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This graph depicts the widening disparity between economic classes. (Pew Research Center)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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While progress has been made towards gender equality, society is a long way from attaining equality.\u00a0 Women are inherently disadvantaged compared to men in society. Still, however, genders apart from women experience discrimination in more oppressive forms.\u00a0 This issue widely affects the community because as more people gain the confidence to live life as authentic as possible, more oppressions seep into their lives, especially for those who do not identify as being male or female, i.e. those a part of the LGBTQ+ community.\u00a0 There has been increasing violence in the transgender community. I want to choose this topic because of the different sectors that succumb to this issue. Gender inequality can be seen in workplaces, cultures, and daily norms. Because of its presence in different sectors, a specific aspect, such as I the gender inequality faced on a daily basis, would have to be focused on so that the research conducted can be deeper.\u00a0 For example, \u201cWomen are 47% more likely to suffer severe injuries in car crashes because safety features are designed for men.\u201d^3\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 Statistics such as these can help with researching the topic because it is interesting to see the different parts of society that favor and cater to men compared to the other genders.\u00a0 Because gender inequality has been an issue throughout history, a historical element could be incorporated where the project could explore the areas in which equality has increased as well as areas that still lack equality.\u00a0 For example, women gained voting rights in 1920; however, it is 2020 and transgender individuals cannot serve in the military. Inequality should decrease, not remain stagnant or regress.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This image depicts President Obama on ‘Equal Pay Day’. He signed executive actions to close a compensation gender gap that was in favor of men. Photo was taken on Tuesday, April 8, 2014. (Center for American Progress)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Perhaps one of the most complex, overarching social issues is the racial inequality of minority groups within the nation.\u00a0 Personally, I grew up in a diverse neighborhood with classmates who came from backgrounds from all over the world. Although I am part of the majority race in this country, I want to choose this social issue because of its presence in so many other societal issues and parts of society, such as school\/education, law enforcement, and job opportunities.\u00a0 To avoid superficial research, I want to focus on racial inequality in the law and the legal system, police brutality being the focal point. In 2015, \u201cRacial minorities made up about 37.4 percent of the general population in the US and 46.6 percent of armed and unarmed victims, but they made up 62.7 percent of unarmed people killed by police.\u201d^4\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 Police brutality largely affects racial minorities, Black individuals in particular.\u00a0 In addition, Black people are more likely to be arrested for drugs despite them not being more likely to sell or actually use them.^5\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0 These prejudices are not newly-established as they have been existing for centuries.\u00a0 The same practices have been done and will continue to be done unless there is change.\u00a0 The historical background in which I would like to include in the framework for my research, in particular, is the Civil Rights Movement in the 1940s-1960s and compare those events with the events happening today.\u00a0 Despite times changing, many of the same mentalities and injustices are exhibited present-day. In this case, statistics will show an overwhelming similarity in racial inequality.<\/span><\/p>\n

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This graph depicts the disproportionate killings of black people by police officers in 2012. (Vox)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Though these three social issues are significant in today’s society, there are many others that possess equal importance and just as much urgency to rectify.<\/p>\n

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Bibliography<\/p>\n

(Image 1) \u00a0 <\/span>George-Parkin, Hilary. \u201cWhy Companies Need to Get Comfortable With Taking a Stand on Social Issues.\u201d<\/a> Footwear News. Footwear News, February 6, 2019.<\/p>\n

(Image 3) \u00a0 Glynn, Sarah Jane. \u201cExplaining the Gender Wage Gap.\u201d<\/a> Center for American Progress, May 19, 2014.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Image 2) ^1 and ^2 \u00a0 Horowitz, Juliana Menasce, Ruth Igielnik, and Rakesh Kochhar. \u201cTrends in U.S. Income and Wealth Inequality.\u201d<\/a> Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, January 19, 2020.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Image 4) ^4 and ^5 \u00a0 Lopez. \u201cThere Are Huge Racial Disparities in How US Police Use Force.\u201d<\/a> Vox. Vox, November 14, 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n

^3 \u00a0 Whiting, Kate. \u201c7 Surprising and Outrageous Stats about Gender Inequality.\u201d<\/a> World Economic Forum, March 8, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Although society is a place for individuals to come together, it often poses as a foundation for many social issues to progress.\u00a0 Despite having come<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":302,"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions\/302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh-wordpress.ramapo.edu\/SSI-2020\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}