Social Changes What Positive Social Change Lifetime?

Social Changes

What positive social change lifetime? The negative? Macionis, John J. (2009). Society basics (10th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall. Chapter 15: Population, Urbanization Environment Chapter 16: Social Change: Modern Postmodern Societies.

What do you see as the most positive social change in your lifetime? The most negative?

The election of Barak Obama to the presidency has become such a 'given,' such a seemingly natural part of our worldview that it is easy to forget its historical significance. The eradication of formal segregation in the United States is an ongoing national project. The struggle for racial equality began before I was born and may continue afterward. However, even during my short lifetime, I believe that more and more people are beginning to question the use of race as a useful way to categorize human beings.

American is becoming an increasingly diverse society. African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Latinos are present as students and also as teachers at some of the most elite bastions of learning in the nation. Of course, this is not to deny the tremendous suffering experienced by many people within these historically-discriminated against groups in terms of prejudice and crime. But the fact that the concept of what is considered to be a professional, educated American has fundamentally shifted cannot be discounted. Children today have been given permission to dream a different reality for themselves, and fostering more positive role models is the first step to creating a more equitable society.

More and more, people are beginning to question if 'race' is even a useful term, given the diversity of backgrounds of people in America today, many of whom are of mixed heritage. Once upon a time in America, individuals of Irish extraction were considered to be members of different races and inferior, based upon their origin. The president's Kenyan and Irish heritage, his merging of the African and African-American experiences in his own life, illustrates that race and ethnicity cannot always be confined to easily-enclosed categories. My Asian-American friends of Korean and Japanese extraction, of first-generation and third-generation heritage, have different perspectives despite the categorization of themselves as Asian-Americans. Racial labels, it is recognized, can often be more misleading than illuminating. Race has no scientific basis; it is a product of culture rather than genetic 'reality.' "Many of our visual characteristics, like different skin colors, appear to have evolved recently, after we left Africa, but the traits we care about - intelligence, musical ability, physical aptitude - are much older, and thus common to all populations. Geneticists have discovered that 85% of all genetic variants can be found within any local population, regardless of whether they're Poles, Hmong or Fulani. Skin color really is only skin deep. Beneath the skin, we are one of the most similar of all species" (Race -- Power of an illusion, 2003, PBS).

Breaking down racial barriers has connected people more than ever before. However, the most negative development during my lifetime I believe has been the replacement of real life communication with virtual communication. I am often guilty of sending out a text message when I don't want to 'deal with someone.' However, I recognize that in my life, my interactions with people I know face-to-face are always more meaningful than those which I have with people I only know online. There is a tremendous difference between a 'friend' in reality and a 'friend' on Facebook. Furthermore, having known people who are the victims of online bullying, I believe it is far more tempting to engage in uncivil behavior online. It is easy to post nasty or catty things on one's Facebook page, but much harder to say those types of things to people in real life.