Racial Stratification is the thought that society is separated based race. That people of similar color for example; Black, White, Hispanic, Asian are stratified by race. It has nothing to do with biological similarities. It has to do with the race that you are born into. We classify people based on perceived differences. This is how we determine upper class and minorities.
Minorities are not necessarily a group of people that has the least amount of people. It is however, it is a group of people that lack the most power with in a social stratification. The dominant group holds the most social status, power and prestige. Groups with smaller numbers and less status are set up for discrimination and prejudice. This is how racism comes about. This racial stratification carries over into law, education, economy, healthcare and politics.
We have seen this example with racial profiling. There are many examples of it still in today’s society. Just because you are of a color there may be many preset judgments against you. The links below give a few examples of how racial profiling still exists.
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/18/133848837/segregation-in-america-dragging-on-and-on
I found interesting the NPR link about how there is still a lot of racial segregation in housing. It was good to see that at least there is a counter-trend: while most whites are unwilling to live in diverse neighborhoods, some are perfectly willing to do so. For a couple month I lived in a small town that was predominantly Colombian. Even just going shopping was fun, and seeing all the labels written in Spanish. Not speaking of the small authentic restaurants, and the smell of food lingering on the main street. It was like an immersion in a different culture, and I enjoyed it so much.
People think racism is over but it really isn’t; there are still a lot of people that just can’t get out of the past. Also we do group people by skin color, language, and income. We never let the opportunity to know a person or group. All our society does is look and judge.
Our society does judge others based on many ridiculous factors. Color and perceived race are one of them. People tend to treat others of other than white color differently. We are all human and all live in the same world and we all need to be open to diversity. Just because someone is not of the dominant group does not mean they should be treated any less than anyone else.