1. Inequality became instrumental in privileging white society from the early stages of the creation of American society. White society disadvantaged the American Indians by seizing their lands and established a system of rights based on the principle that equality in society depended on the inequality of the Indians. This means that for white society to become privileged it must deprive American Indians of what was theirs to begin with. Different institutions such as social, political, economic and educational institution have all been influenced by race. Sociologists use assimilation theory to examine race and institutions. The perceived deficiencies of immigrant minority groups by white society have led to a blanket characterization of these diverse racial groups that is demeaning and reinforces negative stereotypes against minorities in the United States. Knowles and Prewitt argue that the cause behind racial tension is the historical roots of institutional racism, which has prevented the minority from achieving equality. As a result of structured social inequality in the United States, institutions have consistently denied minority groups through discrimination in education, employment, healthcare, medicine, and politics. One of the ways this has been done is through the use of Jim Crow laws. These laws created educational inequality by conducting black and white schools separately; whites used different textbooks than blacks and could not be exchanged, and promoting equality between the races was considered a misdemeanor resulting in fines or prison. Because of these institutions, we see that there is an American ethnic hierarchy. This is divided into a three-tiered system: First… middle of paper… Black women must work multiple low-wage part-time jobs to survive and provide for their families. Two methods we can use to solve the problem of social inequality: abandon the path of least resistance and stand up, dare, making people uncomfortable. These two types go hand in hand. Starting by moving away from the path of least resistance, it can be as simple as not laughing at a racist, homosexual, gender-biased joke. Stepping off the path of least resistance will interrupt the natural flow and begin to produce changes. When someone makes a joke like this, speak up and make them uncomfortable by challenging their way of thinking. It may seem like small actions like these do absolutely nothing, but over time I think they will start to impact more and more people. Being uncomfortable is part of change and helps people grow individually and as a society.