The Education of a WASP essays

The Education of a WASP essays The idea that racism is a thing of the past is a hard concept to document, from either side of the argument. Today in America there is more opportunity, and more freedom to move from one social class to another than there ever has been. However, just as there is a "glass ceiling" in some career paths that have been traditionally dominated by white males, there also exists evidence in our country that racism is still a problem, and must be addressed in positive, proactive terms in order to create true equality. How we measure and define equality, if there is such a thing, will be the most difficult aspect to developing a strategy to eliminate Written in the mid 1960's, the racial picture in the country was significantly different at that time. While 1963 brought court mandated end to the Separate - but - Equal treatment of black Americans, the attitudes and social prejudices which remained in tact created a significant glass ceiling, and glass walls, fences, and barriers which black Americans were not allowed to cross. In Lois Stalvey's book, she lived in narrow, white anglo saxon protestant neighborhoods for the first years of her marriage. Her life has been cut out of a magazine, which described the typical American family with a couple kids, a father who worked and a mom who enjoyed staying home. However, after becoming aware of some of the prejudices on their Omaha, Nebraska home town, they chose to become active about the racism they saw, and moved to resist its injustices. They developed and nurtured friendships with persons whose racial identity and culture differed from their own. Eventually, their behavior caused a demotion and transfer for Mr. Stalvey. When they resettled, they sought housing that allowed them to live in a neighborhood of varied races and cultures. They sent their children to a school where they were a minority race. Overall, the S...