The American Dilemma

In American Denial, you learned about Swedish economist, Gunner Myrdal, and his research in the American Deep South in the 1930's. He concluded that Americans believe in equality and freedom, but then continue to discriminate against others (in this case due to race), and that the tension between these two beliefs created an American dilemma (in fact, he called his study The American Dilemma). Do you believe that this is still true today? Why or why not?

I do believe that it is still true, at least, in a sense. It's probably not as bad as it used to be, with segregation, but there is still a sense of segregation in places like Chicago, but they just aren't separated by law. I think The American Dilemma is still around because we Americans have a lot of values, but we do not act in accordance with those values. 

Some think that we don't have racism in our country, but we most certainly do. We think everyone is equal, but we aren't. In the drug war, Caucasian Americans are stopped and searched for drugs much less than African Americans are, and Caucasians are just as likely to have and sell drugs. If that's not racism, I don't know what is.   

There is also The Impressionist Test, which clearly shows that even if we are not consciously racist, we may be subconsciously. Even African Americans can prefer Caucasian Americans, considering The Doll Test. It tested young African American children asking which one was the pretty, smart, talented, etc. child and they always chose the Caucasian versus the African American. Then when asked who they were, it was sad to see them choosing either the Caucasian doll or struggling to pick the one they had just said was stupid and ugly.  

Research has also shown that when taking standardized tests, if you are asked what race or ethnicity you are before the test, African Americans will score significantly lower than Caucasian Americans. Even if they are just told it's a test to discover your interests rather than your intelligence they will score better.

So, yes, I think racism and The American Dilemma are still prominent in this society.