Question: Why did minority groups become scapegoats?

One of the terrible facts of history is the practice of scapegoating certain groups in the
society. When people go through difficult period or attempt to find a solution to a problem,
they frequently pick on members of minority groups as a method to maintain control over
society and as a way to make themselves feel better (Buckner, 2021). Putting the blame on
another person is counterproductive because it does not address the underlying issues.
Instead, it extends the duration of negative events since the majority of people in a group are
unable to accept responsibility for their own acts. The issues that plague a group are not
resolved when the majority of that group points the finger of blame at a member of the
minority. The use of scapegoats is a counterproductive method for addressing issues and
overcoming roadblocks in a community. It does nothing to improve their situation and
actually makes it worse. Some racist European-Americans in the North and South blamed
African-Americans for the country's troubles prior to the Civil War, during Reconstruction,
and after the war (Fowler, 2019). This attitude persisted even after the war was over. No
matter what the issue was, many prejudiced European-Americans found a way to blame the
low percentage of African-Americans in their communities and in the country as a whole.
This was true regardless of the nature of the problem. It is illogical to suggest that African
Americans are responsible for any issue, whether it be on a local or national level. Racist
European-Americans made sure that African-Americans were excluded from the majority in
all aspects of community and American life before, during, and after the Civil War. This
practice continued after the war as well. Before, during, and after the Civil War in the United
States of America, the practice of segregation made it exceedingly difficult for African-
Americans to challenge the cultural, social, political, and economic dominance of European-
Americans (Buckner, 2021). Therefore, blaming African-Americans for any genuine social
issue that plagued a neighbourhood or the way of life in the United States as a whole was
unjustified.

References

Buckner, E. I. (2021). We’re the Scapegoat of the 21st Century”: Investigating White

Collegiate Perspectives, Histories and Racial Framing During the Trump
Era (Doctoral dissertation).

Fowler, D. (2019). Racial Scapegoating and White Redemption: Reconsidering Race in

Flannery O'Connor. Flannery O'Connor Review, 17, 71-215.