Christopher Amado
Census Data
03/22/2012
While conducting research of economic status of different ethnic backgrounds using the United States census I came across some interesting comparisons and patterns. I made it a point to focus on three main areas; my home city Brockton in Mass., the State of Massachusetts itself, and the United States of America. I must first reflect that the accuracy of the census in itself is not entirely up to date and because of this I was forced to use data from the census of 1999. Not to mention, not everyone fills out the census when they receive it.
Based the on the accuracy of the census in 1999, white ethnicity seemed to be the majority of people in Brockton, Massachusetts, and The US as a whole. According to it America was home to almost 79 million white households which trumped over the almost 12 million black, 3 million Asian, and 9 million Hispanic and Latino households. Out of that 79 million, 2 million resided in Massachusetts 22,000 in which resided in Brockton. This goes to show why white privilege was institutionalized and able to spread like wildfire through the immense white community.
Even though the Asian households weren’t as populous as white households they still seemed to make around the same if not more money than their white coworkers. Is this because they were smarter or because they had better training? My guess would be quite possibly that there was an internalized idea that Asians were smarter so they were paid better. Of course that is just an educated guess but there is a common stereotype in the United States that Asians are naturally smart. In the US the average household earnings of Asians amounted to around $68,000 while the average for white households was only $60,000. Next were Hispanics and Latinos at $44,000 thus leaving black households last at $40,000 for average annual earnings.
Even though the white population of the US was so much more than that of the other ethnicities, the white households still collected more social security than any other. In city, state, and federal government the white households seemed to collect roughly around $11,000 beating its counterparts by thousands of dollars. Is this a form of white privilege that goes unnoticed? Do white people make more money from the government because of their ethnicity and color? This is a question that some may find themselves asking one another.
Overall I think that the census provided a lot of positive information and gave a brief overview of the institutional structures that our society has developed. Especially institutional structures developed and made to benefit those of white ethnicity.
