Racial Pay Gaps Are NOT Acceptable

This is the last writing I have to share from 2015.  It is a good reflection of how easily we forget the actors in the GOP field's thoughts on social issues during the 2016 Presidential election.  I can't even remember at this moment if Carson is still the head of HUD.  All I remember is that there were scandals, and those were on top of other scandals, on top of other scandals... and since the first day of Trump's Presidency, there has been a scandal a day to discuss.  As my husband and I have said in the past: we prefer our politicians to keep their scandalous behavior behind closed doors and not out in public.  It is depressing.  It eats away at our souls - our ability to move forward in progress.  I look forward to a day where things change and each day is not another news cycle of scandal.

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(click here to read the article, screen shot via Facebook)

I do not think Ben Carson knows anything about the realities of society.  I believe he is ignorant and foolish to push an agenda where it is okay to continue oppressing minorities in America. 

First, poverty rates for minority groups have always been higher than for whites.  In 2009, 11 percent of Whites were poor, compared with 11 percent of Asian Americans, 23 percent of Hispanics, and 25 percent of Blacks (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2009).* 

Harvard Business Review did an excellent job at discussing whether race or gender relates to pay.  Although there are many factors when looking at wage gaps across race and gender, the fact is that minorities are out of work more than whites, and get paid less.  Period.  

For Carson to say that this is okay, only further propagates the racial divide and inequality in America.  It is called Racial Stratification:

 "... racial stratification deprives people of color of equal access to society’s resources and thereby creates family patterns that are different from the idealized family model.

The most important feature of racial stratification is the exclusion of people of color from equal access to society’s valued resources. People of color or racial ethnics have less power, wealth, and social status than do other people in the United States. African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans constitute the largest of the racial minorities in the United States.

... Racial stratification exists because certain segments of society benefit from it."*

Who benefits from Racial Stratification?  Rich white men.  

Who runs most of our government?  Rich white men.  

Think about it.  They continue to oppress the minorities so the ones of wealth and opportunity do not lose their place in society.  In other words, rich white men benefit the most from oppressing minorities, women, and the poor.  

It is time we stop listening to the politicians on topics and start doing our research, which includes trying to figure out why in the world they say the things they do (I've stopped trying to rationalize Trump's hateful banter).

So, although Carson is black, he is just another political figure trying to gain votes, and since the majority of voters are white, and middle-to-upper class, he has to pander to them.  It is grossly disturbing.  

Things must change. 

* Eitzen, D. S., Zinn, M. B., & Smith, K. E. (2013). In conflict and order: Understanding society
(13th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.