Discrimination Against Hispanics/Latinos

Hispanics experience a great deal of prejudice and discrimination, the result of a perceived economic and cultural threat that Hispanics pose to non-Hispanics (Trujillo, 2011). Hispanics have a deep belief that all

They also have to deal with people calling them names because of their skin color or their birth place. “Americans also accuse Hispanics of stealing their jobs” (Ramos 53) because most Latinos that come here have a job. They also face seeing “racist graffiti on homes or on walls of buildings” (Plunkett 15) and they have to face hate crimes. Plunkett said that “Latinos sometimes get excluded from white communities” (39) because they are Hispanics. Ramos also said that “Latinos are blamed for serious problems the country faces” (195) like the fall of the twin towers. There are reasons for Americans to discriminate Latinos and reasons why they shouldn’t discriminate them.

The founding fathers of this nation envisioned a dream which granted life and liberty to all citizens with equality and without prejudice. The ideology of democracy is the reason America declared its independence from Spain. However, their vision of a free nation was in the interest of the white class citizens, with the desire of reaching their goal in becoming rich and prosperous farmers, doctors, and all the things people hoped to pursue in life. This is the American Dream people were looking for in the birth of a new nation; evidently, the freedom of being treated fairly and having the same rights would mean segregating the social classes and labeling citizens by color of nationality.

Does it matter what we are called: Latino or Hispanic? Does it change who we are as people? To an extent, most people do not know the difference between either. Typically, people group both terms as one singular item. However, Hispanic and Latino racial classifications are more than a broad category for people from Spanish-speaking countries. The words connote and represent a history of colonial terminology that based its success on the failures of innocent, historically peaceful, cultural groups. Hispanic and Latino terminology are political and economic in every sense. This paper will show that colonial leanings to control and govern people’s lives have yet to culminate, even though the era of imperialism ended a century ago. The United States, although far from its heyday as the singular house of power, still manages to achieve control and influence over the imperialized minds of groups of people, specifically Hispanics and Latinos.

Racial Profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspect someone of having committed an offense. Racial profiling against Hispanics, when I mean Hispanics are people from North American, South American and Central Americans. An example of racial profiling against Hispanics is by; the color of our skin, which the majority skin toned (Color) is brown but not all of them, some may be different color and are Hispanics. Sadly, our identity is defined by the color of our skin and are targeted and threatened with deportation and thinking that we are all illegal immigrants and discriminating with hurtful words that express that we do not belong here in the United States, even though some were born in the United States and supposedly that we are taking everyone’s job, but it is usually people who think that and that say that, are the people who can get a job but do not want to or cannot get a job, so they just blame the Hispanics. We are the easy targeted race and stereotype about us, by only referring Hispanics as illegal immigrant which is not because there are other migrant who crossed the United States and are here illegally and Society does not refer them as illegal immigrants. Also it leads to being arrested unfairly for no reason, just because he or she was Hispanic. In Arizona which already have accepted racial profiling against Hispanics that has made the law passed which is called “SB1070”. Then there are people who racial

The United States is known as the melting pot because of the many different cultures that live here. Hispanics make up 35.3 million according to the 2000 census. Many people don’t realize that within the Hispanic culture there are many different groups. The different groups have different linguistic, political, social, economic, religion, and statues. Most Hispanics see themselves in terms of their individual ethnic identity, as Mexican American, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc. instead of members of the larger, more ambiguous term Hispanic or Latino (U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany, 2009).

There are many stereotypes and racist remarks in today’s world. This essay will specifically be describing the discrimination towards teenage Hispanics. Many Hispanics are discriminated in today’s society. Discrimination and racism can emotionally scar a person. Many Hispanic teens dropout out of high school due to discrimination. Other Hispanic teens gain depression due to discrimination. Several other Hispanic teens even share their own personal stories about themselves being discriminated. Discrimination is an atrocity and this essay will be more of an informative essay to explain the barbarity of racial discrimination, specifically towards teenage Hispanics. I have a personal experience towards this topic so I will be sharing my own personal story towards this issue. Discrimination has become a grave dilemma and there has to be a solution to end this reoccurring situation. Many people see the crimes of racial discrimination occurring right in front of their faces, but they do nothing. Those people who just watch and ignore this grave problem are supporters for this issue because instead of putting an end to racial discrimination, those people just let it occur as if it is normal. I always question myself the same questions repeatedly; who has the right to look down upon a different race? What makes one race superior to another? Why is racism an issue? These are the most interesting questions to me, which makes a person think of today’s

many Latinos are judged by the society they live in simply because they have a different shade of pigment in their skin, or because they have a last name that sounds foreign. At a young age I was not aware that just by simply being brown that I would have to carry the weight of the bad reputation bestowed upon all Latinos. As I grew more mature I came to accept my roots and be proud of my heritage and of my ancestors for every sacrifice that was made .

Racial profiling is the use of race or ethnicity as grounds for suspecting someone of having committed an offense. Racial profiling against Hispanics includes people from North American, South American and Central Americans. Examples of racial profiling against Hispanics are being identified by the color of their skin, which the majority of skin tone is brown but not all some may be a different color and are Hispanics. Sadly, Hispanic identity is only defined by the color of skin and are targeted and threatened with deportation and thinking that everyone are all illegal immigrants and discriminating with hurtful words that express that they do not belong here in the United States, even though some were born in the United States. Also supposedly that Hispanics are taking everyone’s job, but it is usually people who think that and that say that, are the people who can get a job but do not want to or cannot get a job, so they just blame the Hispanics. Hispanic are the easy targeted race and stereotype are made about them, by only referring Hispanics as illegal immigrant which is not because there is other immigrants who migrated to the United States and are here illegally and society does not refer them as illegal immigrants. Also it leads to being arrested unfairly for no reason, just because he or she was Hispanic. In Arizona which already has accepted racial profiling against Hispanics that has made the law passed which is called “SB1070.”

In 1900 there were around 500,000 Latino's. Now, the national Latino population numbers more than 35 million and is one of the most dynamic and diverse racial/ethnic groups in the united states. The most known dramatic impact of the Latino population on the demography of the nation has taken place over the last few decades in the U.S. The amount of Latino's in the United States more than doubled the amount of Latino's from 1980 to 2000, counting for 40% of the amount change in the country's population during that time. By the time 2004 the U.S Census Bureau designated the Latino kind as the nation's largest minority group, an outstanding thing given in 1980 the Latino kind was only close to more than a half the size of the African American

Hispanic Americans: Here in the States we are still facing much discrimination. At times it feels as if we are second class citizens. Some Hispanics are protesting by refusing to sign up for the draft. Others are hoping that by joining the war we will be seen as equals. Either way, we will continue to seek equal rights.

An immigrant is a person from a foreign country to live in the country they migrated in, usually permanently. Some Hispanics (other ethnicities/ races migrate as well) in places like Mexico or Cuba migrate to America to seek a better life. Not every reason for them coming to the U.S is to pursue the so-called "American Dream". Many are trying to escape poverty, political instability, and to find better jobs. Many people come by rafts from Cuba, or cross the border from Mexico. Being an undocumented immigrant in the United States can be very hard. It is hard to find jobs that pay enough to live off of. Families seeking to leave poverty end up in almost the same situation. Armando Ibanez crossed the border from Mexico about 16 years ago with his Mother and two siblings. Everyday he saw his mother struggle to provide food for them to eat each day. Immigrants live in fear every day of their life. Living in fear that they will be caught and forced to leave, living in fear that when they come home from school their family will not be there waiting for them. Another example of this type of hell is actually the process of crossing the border. Antonio Alarcon crossed the border with his parents at the age of 11, leaving his small brother and grandparents behind. They were each given a water bottle and small amounts of canned food. Crossing the border takes several days, which meant they ran out of their supplies quickly. Due to family deaths his parents returned to Mexico, leaving him behind to complete his

Prejudice was implanted in the American society and still unconsciously remains. Although some Americans pretend that the preconception does not exist in the society anymore, the victims of the prejudice can frequently be found. It, both directly and indirectly, affects people’s way of living. More importantly, prejudice, a complex and unwanted behavior of human being, is influencing the American public policies, especially, an immigration policy. It points out that public policy on immigration need to be reformed.

Since the start of American history, immigrants came here and brought their traditions and cultures with them. The United States is a country of immigrants. It is a place where people from all over the world come to build a better life. Some immigrants bring their families. Others come alone with nothing but determination. Racial discrimination against minorities and immigrants is an underlying problem here in America today. Racism is seen in our daily lives when people are discriminated against because of their race and ethnicity. Racism attacks the right to a person’s well-being on the basis of something they have no control over. They cannot change nor should want to change who they are. Racial discrimination is not as bad as it was fifty years ago, but it still a problem here in our country today. Our country has advanced tremendously as far as modernization and technology, but has not improved on the way we treat minorities and immigrants. From African-Americans, Asians, Hispanics, and Arabs there is a form of discrimination against these group of minorities.

We are a country built by immigrants. The original settlers of this nation came from countries all across Europe, and America later became a beacon of hope for millions of immigrants throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. That being said, the discrimination against immigrants today might be could be seen as ironic because of how many immigrants were welcomed with open arms in the past. However, it has become clear recently that the discrimination is a little bit more complicated, as mainstream examples of prejudice all involve people of color, like Trump’s muslim ban for example. White immigrants from places in Europe as usually seen as exotic in a positive light, and their accented non-perfect english is endearing and even attractive to some. On the other hand,