Discrimination in the United States of America
It is clear that race, ethnicity and gender are strongly correlated to social class. There are multiple theories in sociology that explain class, ethnicity, and gender. Directions: · Choose one theory to use as the backbone of your paper and choose two ethnic minorities in the United States to compare and contrast their experiences of social class. · Analyze how gender is treated in these groups. Demonstrate your understanding of the ways in which religious tradition works to construct social reality for these groups. · Evaluate how those in power aid or obstruct the assimilation process. · Inspect the ways in which racism and discrimination affect this minority’s participation in mainstream American life. · If you pick an American Indian group, be sure to identify their tribe and discuss their history. Provide support for your arguments based on both the required and recommended readings for the course, and incorporate any relevant points culled from the discussion boards. The portfolio project is an 8- to 10-page research paper. Follow CSU-Global APA style requirements and follow APA formatting when documenting your sources. Your final paper will be graded not only on content, but also on the quality of your writing, including syntax and grammar. It is highly recommended that you closely proofread your assignment prior to submission.
Discrimination in the United States of America
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Introduction
Out of the seven billion people in the world, 319 million are found in the United States of America. This implies that the USA is ranked among the top one hundred countries with reference to the population numbers. Some of the races within the American population have been the ones to bear the blunt of discrimination (Jerreat, 2013). Over the years, the African Americans and the Hispanics have been at the bottom of the social order as they have always been considered to be the lesser beings among their peers. This has had major effects in the lives of the minorities, and there have been some major movements in the past where these people have sort to be recognized as equals (Jerreat, 2013). Being a minority in a population that is mostly composed by the white skinned Americans is one of the toughest of any human life. This means that one gets the lowly paying jobs; social amenities take time before they can be provided and generally most of the people in the population are not respectful, sometimes including those of the same race (Chaiklin, 2014).
History of the minorities in America
Hispanics
The Hispanics were the first Europeans to land on the Americans soils after the natives of the lands, within the new world. They would come from Spain and during the early years of the 16th century, they through the east coast to places such as Florida. They were great explorers and they happened to be the first to come across some of the most significant land marks in the new world especially the mountains, plains and the rivers. An illustration of the Spaniards dominance in the 16th and 17 centuries can be drawn from the fact some of the major states today which become the first permanent settlement are named in Spanish (Chaiklin, 2014). Places like, Tucson, Arizona, San Antonio, San Diego, Los Angeles, California, San Francisco and Texas are among the many, where the Spaniards settled.
African Americans
African Americans are the second largest minority group living in the current United States of America. They are estimated to be in the ranks of 37 million and accounting for more than 12% of the entire United States population (Nittle, 2014). Most of the African Americans have their ancestry rooted in sub-Saharan Africa. While some of the African Americans have their ancestry stemming from the European origins and Native Americans, majority have a genetic lineage that can be traced to sub-Saharan Africa. The African Americans that came from Africa did not have that intension but were rather brought to America involuntarily. From the start of the 17th century to the start of the 19th century, African American ancestors were brought on ships to America to work as slaves (Wolf, 2014). At the time the slave trade was a booming business as the pioneers of the new world were building the foundation of the nations. Given the need for labor and other political incentives, slaves would be brought to America to help with all the sectors of the economy that needed cheap and massive labor (Nittle, 2014).
How America discriminates against African Americans and Hispanics
The issue of discrimination is one the draws mixed reactions from the population, given the amount of effort, money and lives that have been lost in the struggle for equality. What is most astonishing is that despite the fact that there have been massive resources that have been devoted towards the eradication of the discriminative and systemized ethnic abuse, there are traces of the same in a country as developed as the United States of America. One of the main debates that linger on, more than two hundreds later is whether the African Americans are more discriminated than the Hispanics.
In a poll that was conducted by the associated press Univision; the Hispanics came out as more discriminated than the African Americans. According to the polls, the Hispanics had a 61% overall compared to the 52% for the African Americans (Fram, 2014). The women also came close to 50% of the ratings. While most of the people that were interviewed said that the situation has gotten better, they also pointed out that most of them could still feel and sense discrimination from the public (Do Something, 2014). One of the main aspects of the discrimination that is directed towards to the Hispanics relates to the rate of illegal immigration into the states. Majority of the Hispanics have been found crossing the borders especially from Mexico.
In a twist of the issue, the state of Arizona passed a law that required the police to check whether the people they suspect have their citizenship papers. Most of the Hispanics have since then been violated against in the need to curb the aspects of illegal immigrants. According to president Obama, this is a move that bound to bring more friction among the Hispanic communities. In a press conference, Obama gave his views about the same saying that it had been a misdirected call. He also added that the Justice Department would be looking into the law and the predicaments that have followed to determine if there is a violation of the civil rights of the people (Wolf, 2014).
Other than the survey results there are indications of the discriminative nature of the society towards the Hispanics. One of the aspects of discrimination relates to housing, where most of them cannot find decent housing. Around 20% of the Hispanic communities live in households where they accommodate more than five people in the tiny houses. This could also be linked to the fact that most of the Latinos are poor. An estimated 6 million children that were born in the year 2010, were born to families in poverty (Fram, 2014). These deplorable conditions have affected the Hispanics in such a way that even the highest dropout rate is clocked by the Hispanics (Do Something, 2014). At the same time the females from the Hispanic communities also earn much less that their peers from the other ethnic groups such as the whites. Both women and the men have been confined to working in low paying jobs, which multiplies the effects of poverty and discrimination. This aspects lead to low esteem and thus hamper the rate growth among the Hispanics. It is estimated that during the high school graduation about 30% of the Hispanics make it through, however less than five percent of this lot makes to college (Chaiklin, 2014). Those that make to universities and get jobs, they still face discrimination from their peers. With reference to health care matters, the Hispanics have less than thirty percent of their entire population living in the USA having medical cover. Most of the factors that lead to the discrimination are compounded by the fact that it is a systemized aspect.
With the passing of the nineteenth amendment in the year 1865, the days of slavery came to an end. This was after years of trafficking people and dehumanizing them as slaves due to their skin color and the cultural believes. While slavery is now a thing of the past apart from several countries out of America that are still practicing the vice, discrimination however, remains an obstacle of the American dream. African Americans remain as the second largest group of racial minorities that is still discriminated against. This is a practice that has found it roots since the first days of the European settlers in the new world. During the nineteenth century, the stance against the African Americans hardened and they had to deal with even more radicalized groups. 1865 was thought of as a year that would bring relief to the African Americans after all they could now vote as well as poll the taxes. However, within the same century, groups such as the KKK started to radicalize their affairs of terror on the blacks and most of the people did not feel the effects of the freedom fought for and acquired in the same century. At the same time some of the laws that were enacted during the same period were bent on disfranchising the citizens and bringing the African Americans under hefty pressures from the community, especially towards the south of the United States, where slavery was rife. This was a dark time for the African Americans as the white supremacy expressionists started to seriously bring aboard racial discrimination and segregation. At the same time the terror attacks had increased as anti-black racial riots and lynching became a norm of the day.
After the First World War, most of the African Americans fled the intolerable conditions of the southern states and unto the northern states as the wave of industr...
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