Race and Ethnicity in the United States
Creative piece
The world has people of different characteristics. Different countries have common features among its citizens that may either be same or different from others. Some countries also have people of different characteristics among its population. In this same aspect, there are known features that are widely known to belong to some people from a given area. For example, if someone sees a black person, they will obviously associate them with being an African. Other people also differ not only from their features but also their daily practices or behavior.
These difference in features among people in the world include skin, hair and eye color, nationality, religion, language or culture. Other differences among people in a given society include gender, social class position and so on. These differences bring a lot of effects to harmony in a nation. Positive effects including social solidarity such marriages due to gender difference. Surprisingly, these difference in features and behavior among people cause a lot of negative effects such discrimination, oppression while others getting a lot of privileges.
In the US for example, there exists people of different race and ethnicity. Difference in ethnicity and race among people in America has brought a lot of oppression to the minorities and privileges to the whites. Race and ethnicity are issues that has an history in the US and still exists. Oppressions to the minorities is all around in the US from homesteads to the government where the minorities do not enjoy equal rights as the whites. Race and ethnicity have a lot of effects to the minorities and the nation too.
Research-based Analysis
Contemporarily, everybody wishes to stay in a world full of love for everyone despite any difference. Globally, people have a lot of variations which include, the difference in social class, the difference in a political view, the difference in skin color, difference in a lot of ideologies, the difference in opinions regarding religion, gender difference, and so on. Difference in features such as color and cultural behaviors are leading causes of people facing discrimination where others view themselves as being superior. In the US, there are people of different race and ethnicity: African Americans, Alaska Natives, blacks, whites, Latino, Native Americans, Asians, Mexicans and so much more. In the discrimination of the minorities, there are structural matrix of identities, privileges and oppression.
Foreigners in America are often labeled the identity of being criminals. The white Americans have different stereotypes about different countries immigrating to the US. From politicians, news sites to the public, people often doubt how legal foreigners are in their country. Common citizens and state authorities often does not take into consideration foreigners’ documentation and pin them being illegal, depending on their stereotypes. People of different ethnicity in the US fits the profile of being ‘illegal’ regarding their ethnicity, jobs, or a given history of crime coming from their original country.
Being a foreigner, one faces oppressions from all sectors of society in stereotypes according their jobs. On the foreigners’ jobs, individuals working in informal sectors often get associated with being in the US illegally. White Americans have a lot of professional jobs, but those individuals in low earning occupations often get marked illegal staying in the US. Foreigners working in well-paying occupations face many doubts. The less educated lot in the US often face a lot of doubt of their illegality, those who find it hard speaking fluent English, possessing bad police records, less staying time in the US, and have no jobs. These people face a high risk of being reported to the police for illegal staying in the US.
Difference in ethnic group is one thing that is majorly used is stereotyping foreigners. Alaska Natives, Native Americans, black Americans, Latino and Mexicans are often victims of stereotyping. These countries that get discriminated often get associated with harmful behaviors like drug peddling, human trafficking, shallow thinking, or poverty. For instance, the Africans often get associated with shallow thinking and poverty. In America, citizens get always grouped in various categories. The groups include full citizenship which are people whose birth was in the US, invisibly illegal which include individuals having legal documentations and have no outlooks to be suspected, for example Canadians and the third groups is socially illegal which involves individuals having legal authorizations but their outlooks get suspected easily examples are Africans.
The socially illegal lot live under a lot of traumatization. Basing views on the black race, the environments in which these people reside in the US are of full agony. Most of the foreigners often get associated with poverty, and in the US, they often lack jobs or are in informal occupations. The racism on these individuals is not only politically influenced but also common citizens does racism. The marked illegality continues regardless of the fact that, the white Americans get involved in crime more than the foreigners. They would associate the other race from anything just in a bid to ensure only whites live in America.
Foreigners also face a lot of oppression while in the US. For instance, African-American women often face a lot of brutal treatment when it comes to moments during pregnancy period. In a bid to prevent the black from conceiving in the US, responsible bodies would use the excuse of those smoking crack during pregnancy to put them behind bars. The nations legislative body all over the US placed policies that aim at deterring African-American women from giving birth. Through the delocalization theory of the indigenous, the Americans want to completely cut off the existence of blacks in their country. The whites only want their country to be occupied by whites and no any other race.
Putting measures in a bid to prevent foreign women from conceiving in the US is a clear indication that the American government does not want more foreigners to increase in America. The government aims at controlling the foreigner’s population in the US. A record from the New York Times recorded that the blacks, Native Americans and Alaska Native women are at a higher risk of experiencing deaths while pregnant. According to principal deputy director of the CDC, these foreign women lack proper medical care that is available for them at a cheaper price they can afford.
Black mothers and their kids also suffer the same in America. For one to have good health, especially pregnant mothers, they should avoid bad habits, get enough sleep, do regular exercise, and so on. Some other things that determine better health to people are the environment in which they are born, grow, learn, and play. In foreign environs, like Americans, blacks who are born there would experience the racialized landscape in which they receive poor health services. These minor groups would also experience systematically polluted neighborhoods. These foreigners would often live life full of stress since they have to tackle different diseases such as mental illness.
In any country, prisons and jails are important institutions for people for life to go on. America records a high population behind bars. Surprisingly, despite America having the largest population in jails, a lot of prisoners are often foreigners majorly a different race; black, Latino, Alaska, and Native Americans. Foreigners in the US reside in a very endangering environment every day that puts them at risk to end in incarceration. Prisoners in America seem significant since they are for criminals and evildoers. In a real sense, the term evildoers and criminals get framed as people of different ethnicity and race.
From the theory of structural functionalism, Durkheim argues that a society has people and for a better living and interaction, there has to be institutions serving different functions. The same aspect is in every society including the US. The US has a lot of institutions like jails, hospitals, school and church which should serve every one equally. In the US, the institutions are the leading causes of race and ethnicity discrimination. Foreigners in America find it hard to obtain quality services of a lot of institutions in America.
Institutional discrimination happens widely in America. Institutional racism in higher education is one type of discrimination that is widely spread but receives less attention. Even though colleges and universities have tried putting in place a lot of action to curb these incidences, racism towards the black continues to increase. Black Americans get denied a lot of opportunities when it comes to getting learning opportunities in learning institutions. Institutional racism also includes race issues in jobs, churches, health centers, Criminal Justice System, and so on.
Institutional racism has led to the exclusion of African Americans and Latinos from the US budget. In a budget released by Trump on March 21, 2017, aimed at decreasing discretional domestic expenditure. This category often includes social support that aids low-income individuals. Most of the low-income individuals in America are people of a different race: black and Latino majorly. The new budget aimed at benefiting the whites who are of high paying jobs and possess a lot of assets.
In America, there also the incidence of discrimination towards Native Americans. Native Americans are the ancestral owners of American land, but currently, they are the ones facing discrimination. Prejudice towards the Native Americans revolves all-around from institutions to the government. The widely harm that the Native Americans majorly face is police violence. Police violence against Native Americans is due to issues from jurisdictions and the difference between tribal police. Even though a lot of data concerning the Native American killings by police are not available, police violence against Native Americans leads to their death more than any other racial group. African-Americans and other racial groups also face police brutality.
Even though foreigners like Native Americans, blacks, Mexicans and other racial groups face a lot of police brutality, the white pay less attention to it. Provided that the fellow whites do not face any kind of police violence, no one seems to care about the foreigners. The mortality rate of Native Americans getting killed by law enforcement is about 12%. Even though some advocates come up in trying to speak for the victims, no much actions take place.
Foreigners face poor housing in the US. Native American, black American and the Alaska often end up being homeless in America. A lot of foreigners are often poor receiving low incomes or being jobless and therefore unable to afford better housing. A lot of these foreigners live in abject poverty. The second reason why they would end up lacking better housing is due to rental housing discrimination. Cooperation leading rental housing often deny houses to foreigners but give the whites. The whites get privileged by the renters since they are of the same race. The foreigners often end up living in poor housing where they lack basics such as transportations, schools, hospitals and so on. Their neighborhoods are often full of poverty unlike the whites’ neighborhoods.
All these experiences by the foreigners are also controlled by intersectionality. For instance, foreigners in America face mass incarceration but not all of them face this. Records have it that black men in America face higher risk of mass incarceration than their women. Foreigners in the US have different levels of education as well as different income levels. Foreigners who often have high education levels seem to face less racism as compared to those with less education. Poor housing often aims at people of low income but black Americans who get high incomes often stay at better environments. The Native Americans who often experience police violence are often men. Women face discrimination when it come to medical care since they don’t get better services which might lead to their death.
Self-Reflection
A society has people of different race and ethnicity. These differences bring about discrimination among people. The victims of discriminations often face a lot of problems in their lives. For instance, women wo lack better medical care while pregnant often end up dying, losing their children or giving birth to unhealthy children. Other forms of discriminations due to difference in race and ethnicity bring a lot of effects to victims such stress, mental health, hostility and so on. Ethnical studies often aim at trying to make students understand different history, culture and tradition about a lot of people. Learning about different people often impact students with the habit of accommodating others and understanding them.
In conclusion, discriminations due to race and ethical issues is a bad habit since it has a lot of negative effects to victims. Discriminations should therefore come to an end. Everybody needs to act towards protecting one another despite of difference in ethnicity. The government should also put strict rules that would protect rights of minorities in the country.