Racial Discrimination And The Idea Of Equality In America

Asha is a 26 year-old African-American woman, a single mother of a 6 year-old Abir. She converted to Islam when she was 16, and she currently struggle to sustain herself and her child financially. While on the hunt for jobs, Asha has been discriminated not only for her skin color or religion but even gender discrimination took place in several settings, because of this Asha and her son live on the streets and spend their days hunting for the security of stability. Asha is not alone, Americans nationwide share her story and some share stories of similar nature with stupendly more painful results. While Americans have made progress towards promoting widespread equality: we still have a long way to go; racial equality, gender equality, religious equality and socioeconomic equality are currently insufficiently sustained. Racial discrimination is one of the most prominent problems in our society, racial and ethnic discrimination occurs everyday while impeding the progress of millions of people worldwide. Despite the progress we have made, and all the existing laws and regulations that defend those victims of injustices such as discrimination, racial inequality is still a big issue in our society and the fight against racism should be considered as one of the main priorities.

One of the most significant examples is when “a mentally young white man sits quietly in a historic, black church during a bible study for an hour and then kills nine black parishioners in order to start a race war, it’s more than an insulated incident”. This is a clear example that racism and discrimination destroys lives and communities and propitating ethnic hatred can lead to genocide. Racial discrimination is visible throughout the social spheres, and “we haven’t reached the point where we can talk about the issues we are facing in the criminal justice system, in educational settings and in the workplace hiring”. America has the capacity to change. In the past two decades we have made a lot of progress towards achieving equality but we clearly still have a problem, and we can’t pretend that it doesn’t exist. On the other hand, “Dozens of national polls in america during the past two decades consistently show more than three-quarters of us don’t believe we have a problem with racial tension in America”. But according to recent studies, blacks and hispanics in the United states have less wealth, less incomes, and less opportunities than whites; they are more likely to be incarcerated and less likely to complete a college degrees, with these statistics one could conclude that we have a major problem with racial tension in America and that “we need a new conversation one that includes equal measures of hope and pain, threat and opportunity, conflict and resolution. We need to train. We need to start talking about it without fear of making a mistake. Only then can we get to the society we aspire to live in”. Simply put, this quote outlines a direct plan to improve our quality of life by spreading equality through the human race, in all aspects.

If we go back to 50 years ago we would be in an era in which gender-equality had no meaning and sexual harrasment, date rape domestic violence and pay equity were not yet recognized concepts, despite the fact that the United States has made a lot of progress towards achieving gender equality we still need to continue making changes to fully achieve gender equality. Just as the modern society has made it clear, women have the ability to cope with the same success as men in any activity they perform, including: jobs, athletics, academics and politics. Sex discrimination however, has an important record in the United States, and its residual effects are still dormant, women’s wages are lower and opportunities are less in the workplace, according to a report released by the huffpost said that “women today are paid 83 cents for every dollar a man earns, as per gallup. This has barely budget in over a decade”. Meaning that wage parity between men and woman is far from becoming a reality, and economic equality will take about another 100 years to be achieved. Gender inequality not only exists in the workplace, but also in other different aspects such as gender-based violence one of the most troubling problems that still remains in our society “According to the national victimization survey which includes crimes that were not reported to the police, 232,960 woman in the U. S were repedor sexually assulted… that’s more than 600 woman everyday”. When statistics show the real problem we are facing, it means something and we clearly have a gender inequality issue in America.

The concept of ‘Gender-based violence’ gives the name to a problem, which even recently formed part of people’s personal lives and it was considered a family affair that was not to be transcended from doors to outside. When something as personal and intimate as the beliefs, of any kind that they are, are violated and become a reason for exclusion or mistreatment before other people or other societies other than their own, then we are faced with a problem of discrimination. Members of certain religious beliefs suffer acts of discrimination that affect their access to public education, health services or public office. In extreme cases, some of them are arrested or lose their lives because of their religious affiliation; an example of an unfair treatment in the workplace that can be based on individual’s religious beliefs, is this muslim woman who attended a job interview using an islamic veil, and the company reported that they will not allow any of its employees to cover their heads. This example shows the struggle that thousands of people in the United States have to face because of their religions affiliations. “Religious equality means treating all religions the same: christians, sikhs, hindus, buddhists, muslims and jews, as well as all denominations within each of them. ” Meaning that it is important that we give each individual the respect they deserve regardless of their religious affiliation. On the other hand Americans say that the United States has made a lot progress towards achieving religious equality but according to OXPOL “Religious discrimination has been the cause of most of wars. Just to be Jewish caused the death of millions of people in the second war. Nobody likes to be different and it’s even more difficult when others do not accept differences. ”

Simply put, this quote shows that The voice of Asha tells the story of millions of people in the United States; her struggles are relatable and real, and Americans need to open their eyes to the intolerable inequality’s while they still can. Changes in our society can be made, all we must do is ignite change and implement the necessary processes. The figth against inequality, discrimination and intolerance has not ended, we still have a long way to go, and the only way we can achieve equality is by educating, education can change the perception of people about these facts, there is no reason, no foundation that justifies any behavior that tends to make someone less because of their race, religions or beliefs.