African American Immigrants From a Functionalist and Conflict Perspective Essay Example

were shipped from Africa to America where they became slaves. At that time slaves were needed in order to work in the European farms. According to the functionalist perspective, this was necessary if the American society was to keep and maintain its economic stability. During that time African American immigrants were economically important and hence served a vital role in the functioning of the then society.

After great wars and political debates, slavery was discarded by every nation including America and therefore, the society had an economical void. Therefore, education became the component came into the society as a replacement for slavery. Education led to industrialization which solved the problem of lack of manpower. This indicates that the society restored its stability and equilibrium which up to date has never collapse. The main problem about education as a vital part of the society is, it was supposed to include African America immigrants something which led to the racial segregation that continues to exist in education system.

Even though African American immigrants were relieved from slavery, functionalism still required the restoration of the social status. Therefore, African American immigrants still faced racial discrimination since they were not supposed to be of the same status like their “white” counterparts. This explains the fact that slavery was replaced by educational systems does not change the social status of African American immigrants. Education for African American immigrant was cheap and poor while that of the superior race-white people- was expensive and more advanced. African American immigrants always face discrimination in the education system which eventually led to them obtaining manual and low income jobs in the economy (Morgan, 1975).

Today, racism has

been considered as inhuman and thus, African American immigrants have been favored. The campaign against racism all over the world has in deed brought much pressure to the American society which has sought ways of including immigrants as part of it. Equality in education has resulted to rapid growth of the number of African immigrants and this has led to the immigrants raising their social status. According to a recent research by (Anderson, 2015), the number of African American immigrants from African countries has rapidly increased in the U.S. As a result, the increase of African American immigrants seeking education has contributed and led to the growth of one of the world’s richest and grown economy.

In terms of social change beyond immigration, functionalism also provides an understanding of the rapid, almost anomic, social change American society is undergoing. It is however important to note that, African American immigration has at times led to the imbalance of the society. This is because, the social status and compatibility is affected. For the African American immigrants to successfully fit in such a society, then, a new component should be created in the society. This is the reason why slavery was used a few centuries ago as a component to accommodate African Americans. From slavery we came to new educational systems which were created so as to include them in the society. In fact, some African American community and legislative leaders have joined with Hispanic leaders to support liberalized immigration policies. Many educational institutions, especially historically black colleges, have actively recruited students from African American communities (Morgan, 1975).

Thus, African American immigration has led to many changes in the American

society over the years. From a functionalist perspective, all that was necessary if the American society was to keep smoothly existing. Based on this, we can come up with a functionalist assumption by stating that, most people migrate in the expectation to find better opportunities at the destination, few people would probably disagree. This assumption, however, is so general and universal that it is of little use explaining the spatially patterned and socially differentiated nature of real-life migration processes. Thus, African American immigration up to date is always based on searching for greener pastures (Hein de Haas, 2014). This implies that the American society should embrace this and be ready to experience not only rapid economic growth but also social progress.

Functionalism has a limitation in that it never encourages change in the system but, advocates for the maintenance of the societal status and equilibrium. Functionalism is criticized that it is unable to understand human suffering, poverty, deprivation and conflict. It is also seen as rooted in social conformity and that it does not explain social change. The interesting issue about African American immigration is that it both influenced and contributed to the growth of the American society since it acted as part of the society (Swain, 2007). In as much as functionalism is criticized, it incorporated African American immigration in the American society.

African American Immigrants from a Conflict Perspective

Karl Marx came up with the conflict theory which states that tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts become the engine for social change. In his time, Marx argued that as the socio-economic conditions

worsened, the majority oppressed people would develop a class of consciousness which will let them realized the exploitation at the hands of the few wealthy and powerful capitalists. Marx emphasized on the imbalance between the majority and minority groups and this was based on their abilities to extract resources from each other (Marx & Engels, 1848).

African American immigration brings about the general picture of black American culture that has faced discrimination over the years in the American society. The conflict perspective entails the struggle over status and most specifically, social class. Tracing the class conflict from the colonial and slavery era, it is true that even today there is still the same feud between the wealthy and poor class of people. The black race has often been attached to being the lower class compared to the upper class white people (Swain, 2007).

Based on this, in the American society more conflict will still exist if the numbers of blacks increases. African American immigration will of course increase the population and the majority class will be blacks who according to Marx’s theory will begin realizing how they are exploited by the minority class (Swain, 2007). The conflicts which arise for instance like today, are always based on the race. That is black race versus white race. For example, American politics have been always in favor of the white folks. Black politicians have always been challenged since they represent a large population which is comprised of low class status people. Thus, the high class white politicians have different interests towards the wealth and resources compared to the black people who are having main interests of helping their race

gain access to these resources.

A better example of how African American immigrants will bring about social conflicts in the society is through using instruments like a democratic and liberal education system. This is because the political system is strongly under the minority wealthy social class (Reid, 1939). In order to fight the ruling class, the black people (including the African American immigrants) will get enlightened and oppose the ruling class dominance in liberal methods and approaches. However, the low class people have been involved in low status life since they tend to have been helpless before the powerful social class.

According to one of the greatest conflict theory sociologists W.E.B Du Bois African Americans will always be faced with a dominant majority that wants to exploit them but in order to survive they develop a double consciousness, make a distinction between two worlds one white and one black (Swain, 2007). In the end, the minorities may unconsciously adopt racist attitudes held by the dominant group. Often, blacks have been attached to low income jobs and lifestyle. They are even attached to the many social ills in the society.
In conclusion, African American immigration has over the years influenced and contributed to the social change in the overall American society. The immigrants are linked with the rise in the black people population. However, it is absolutely true that the African American immigrants often live low status lifestyles. This is what brings about the social disparity in the American society. Both the functionalist and conflict perspective apply in this immigration case. All in all, African American immigration will remain a vital component in the society.

References

1. Durkheim, É. (2009) 1953.
   

Sociology and philosophy. Routledge Revivals. Translated by D. F. Pocock, with an introduction by J. G. Peristiany. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-55770-2.