Chilyan 1

The Rise of Institutionalized Racism in the 21st Century

Bias Against African Americans

University 100
Student Group Project
Nicolette Chilyan
Mary Baghdasaryan
Sosi Taslagian
Aracely Isidoro Cabrera
California State University, Northridge
9 November, 2015

Sources
Corning, Alexandra F., and Michaela M. Bucchianeri. "Perceiving Racism in Ambiguous
Situations: Who Relies on Easy-to-use Information?" The Journal of social psychology
150.3 (2010): 258-77. ProQuest. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.

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This research study shows how people begin to discriminate and how they end up believing it is
discrimination. The author explains the process, which is using stereotypes and/or the prototype
theory. Alexandra also explains how it is how we hypothesize the situation and that there are
three tested hypotheses. Her argument in the end was how the European-Americans use easy
information to discriminate compared to how African Americans do not show any type of
discrimination from any of their knowledge. I can use this perspective to bring awareness to how
people begin to judge, how the process actually is, and possibly be able to stop it.
Winant, Howard. "The Dark Matter: Race and Racism in the 21st Century." Critical Sociology,
41.2 (2015): 313-324. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.
This research study that has happened recently within the last few years shows that
discrimination has not changed. The people consider racism and/or being a different race a dark
matter. In this study, the writer compares how little everything has changed and the rules have
become stricter on immigrants. Howard Winant talks about the post-civil rights movement and
how Barack Obama becoming president was a contradiction. Winant believes that this
discrimination will not end and, if it were to end, the end is not near. I can use this perspective to
bring awareness that there has not been much change since the Civil Rights Movement and that
there still might be a chance to change peoples and societies mind about discrimination. Howard
Winant talks about how he believes the world is and that blacks will always have a pull on them
and will not be able to reach the standards of everyone else.
N.p. "Racial Justice in the 21st Century: New Remedies for Persistent Problems." American
Civil

Liberties Union. American Civil Liberties Union, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2015.

This newspaper article was written by an unknown journalist for the American Civil Liberties
Union, which covers events everywhere, but takes place in New York. This article shows how

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problems can be solved for discrimination and starts off the article talking about the mid 20th
century and the problems and solutions back then, for example, the Brown v. Board of
Education, the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and the Fair Housing Act, and finishes
off with the argument she started off with for the 21st century. The author uses the term seniority
systems, which is a way people would discriminate in the employment field. I can use this
perspective to show many people have fought for the right to stop discrimination back then and
still continue to do so, and the moral and philosophical reasons to not discriminate like the
author talked about.
Bouie, Jamelle. "The Declining Significance of Discrimination." The American Prospect. The
American Prospect, 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 06 Nov. 2015.
This magazine article was written by Jamelle Bouie for The American Prospect, a magazine
company founded in 1990 that covers mainly liberal issues. Jamelle brings up an economist
named Roland Fryer and his analysis of how discrimination has not been much of a problem
anymore than what it once was. Bouie goes against what Fryer is saying and bring up the subject
of the difference of what black and white people have, like the pay gap, the cut back on
employment, and educational accomplishment. I can use this perspective to show others that
having the right mind may create a change for/and other people. Just like how Bouie argued
against Fryer because of his reasoning behind how discrimination has changed, Bouie is
possibly changing others ideas towards this subject against discrimination.
Personal Reflection
During this assignment I learned about police brutality against colored people and about
the Black Lives Matter campaign. I first learned how the Black Lives Matter campaign started,
which was Sosis part to do research on. Then I learned about the three types of solutions to help

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colored people from police brutality, which was Aracelys part to do research on. Mary and I
mainly did research on police brutality cases and discovered a lot from it. It was devastating to
read about officers of the law that have killed colored kids as young as the age of eight, just
because they got scared and believed that the child was harmful. The part that was most
intriguing to me was how many people support the Black Lives Matter campaign. For example,
multiple celebrities are big supporters such as Usher and Kobe Bryant. Unlike these supporters,
Donald Trump expressed his feelings about the campaign in a negative manner.
From the sessions at the Oviatt Library, I learned a lot from using the CSUN database and
how to research books and much more on it. We even played games which made the learning
experience more fun. I learned how big the CSUN database is and how it contains a lot more
than anyone would think. I also learned what else CSUNs Oviatt Library accommodates to
students to help them with their research or really anything if they need it. I learned about these
police brutality cases because it is a big topic in current news today. There are still many killings
of innocent lives and they should be stopped. I honestly hope that one day these killings will
stop. Within the last couple weeks there have been multiple bombings that have killed hundreds
of people and adding on killings of colored people, because of minor issues or from an
inaccurate thought or feeling, makes everyone feel unsafe from what is happening.