Effects Of Dehumanization Of Minority Groups

Among the minorities, people with an Islamic religious viewpoint are treated differently throughout America. A dark day in United States history,

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

In recent years, there has been increased discussion about the treatment of minorities in the U.S. While there have been numerous laws passed that protect their freedoms, many Americans maintain a negative mindset toward other ethnicities. Due to people’s reservations, our country has been unable to make substantial progress toward equality. In The Nation’s article, “The Truth About Race in America: It’s Getting Worse, Not Better,” by Gary Younge, the author utilizes factual information, historical allusions, and related quotes to effectively contend that race relations are worsening within the United States.

America, a land that prides itself on being “the great melting pot”, and “the land of opportunity”, oftentimes exemplifies everything but that. Over the years, a vast majority of immigrants have migrated to America and assimilated themselves to American culture. In Moustafa Bayoumi’s novel, “Rasha”, he describes the turmoil some families face when trying to immigrate into America. In the novel, Rasha was arrested, thrown in jail and detained for three months just because she was a Muslim. While immigration is portrayed as a way to a “better life”, the truth is that families just like Rasha’s still encounter discrimination that challenges American ideals such as freedom of religion and equality.

People have been stereotyped into a certain group because of their skin color or they have been discriminated against because of how they dress, their name, or even their hairstyle. Minorities such as African Americans deal with this type of racial discrimination every day because of their skin color and the way they might sound despite if they do not sound as the way they appear. For example, if an African American person walked into an interview dressed nicely and clean and a caucasian went in for an interview dressed just as nice and clean, the Caucasian application is more likely to get the job and receive a higher rating than the African American applicant. (Zimmerman) It might seem to the naked eye that minorities in general somewhat have the same opportunities as Caucasian people but in fact they do not really have them. All in all, there is still racial discrimination in America and African Americans do not have the same opportunities as Caucasians in housing, education, and jobs.

Throughout our history as a nation, we have earned a reputation of undermining the relationships we have had with minorities and of largely neglecting their needs. Our almost hostile nature towards minorities in the United States can largely be seen in the treatment of Mexicans and Mexican American citizens in the times surrounding World War Two. Such hostilities are reflected in our treatment of Mexican Americans in the late 19th after the Civil War and early 20th centuries, the Sleepy Lagoon murder responses, and the Zoot Suit riots. My primary source reveals a feeling of inferiority in the United States by the Mexican American youth due discrimination that they faced, which can be better understood by analyzing the cultural contexts.

When Americans think of racism, they usually think of slavery, and that racism is no longer a problem in America. However, this is not the case. Racism is still obvious in America. Racism can be linked directly to stereotypical mindsets of certain groups of people.  Today’s racism is not restricted to whites and blacks, and it has come to define many different groups and races. Pigmentation as well as physical characteristics and features still are influential for classifying people. It is easy to overlook the racism that hides below the surface and is part of American life. Today, an estimate 54 million Latinos live in the U.S. and around 43 million people speak Spanish. Although Latinos are the country’s largest minority, anti-Latino prejudice is still common. Very few Americans recognize, acknowledge, and respect the contributions of one of America’s greatest ethnic groups – Hispanics. Americans are often confused as to who Hispanics really are and what they represent in America. Although the United States is known for having a melting pot of diverse cultures, recent studies have shown the rise of discrimination against Latinos and Hispanics immigrants. A person’s legal status should not be an excuse for mistreatment.

Published by the New York Times under the Opinion section, the audience for this article is any interested reader. At the time it was released, November 18th, 2016, this article arrived during last year’s elections, in which a large, but surprising number of Americans voted for candidate Donald Trump, shocking many forecasters who had predicted otherwise. Therefore, after the election, many people may have been researching the demographics of the election, and this article, which briefly shared Brooks’ opinion on the nature of the election and how viewing others through the lens of a dominant identity influenced how the votes fell where they did, may have caught a keen reader’s eye. Also, this article came at a time where racism and prejudice caused many problems, leading some to view others as one-dimensional, represented only by a skin color or religion. Since prejudice and hate is still a large issue today, tackling this problem helps make this article relevant, nearly a year after its release.

Dehumanization is a big part of World war II, it is the reason why World War II is the deadliest war in human history, it is also the reason why the soldiers were willing to point their gun at another human being and to end “its” life without a blink. Not only was dehumanizing a big part of this, racism also played a big role as well. Racism is very powerful; it enlarges the hate towards the differences and made people treat their enemies as subhuman. Just as John Dower had mentioned in his book War Without Mercy, “Race hate fed atrocities, and atrocities in turn fanned the fires of the race hate. The dehumanization of the Other contributed immeasurably to the psychological distancing that facilitates killing, not only on the battlefield but also in the plans adopted by strategists far removed from the actual scene of combat” (11).

The presidential election of Barak Obama has led many to believe that we live in a post-racial society. If an African-American candidate has been elected in a predominantly white nation, this must signify that the U.S. does not have barriers that hinder African-Americans and other people of color from accessing opportunities or that we live in a color-blind society – in which race is not an issue. However, public perception on police profiling and the fairness of our justice system, public support for Donald Trump’s discriminatory ideologies, and racist actions by fraternities at universities illustrate the prevalence and continuity of racism in the U.S. Thus, to address the way in which racism plagues our society, it is important for political leaders and the media to educate believers of a color-blind society that racial discrimination is an issue which needs to properly be addressed for the well-being of all member of society.

The article, Decoding Prejudice towards Hispanics: Group Cues and Public Reactions to Threatening Immigrant Behavior consists of previous and modern racism. This article was published in 2013 and was written by Todd K. Hartman, Benjamin J. Newman, and C. Scott Bell. The article itself was well-organized and provided crucial information that needs more recognition. The main point of this source is to express whether prejudice towards Hispanics has gone “underground” and “coded” racially or ethnically in the United States (Hartman, Newman, Scott Bell 145). This article is a great source to use, not only does it include racial issues, but provides the rights the Hispanic populations has, as well as prejudice studies throughout the years.

The election of Donald Trump has emboldened the forces of hate and bigotry in America. White nationalists, Vladimir Putin and ISIS are celebrating Donald Trump’s victory, while innocent, law-abiding Americans are wracked with fear – especially African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Muslim Americans, LBGT Americans and Asian Americans. Watching white nationalists celebrate while innocent Americans cry tears of fear does not feel like

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.

September 11th holds many hard and upset feelings around the world today. The harsh actions of Muslim extremists unfortunately completely changed the way Muslims are treated, especially in the United States. These events, exacerbated islamophobia. Unfortunately, “the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, connect Muslims and Islam to terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States.” (Byng) Although it has been over a decade since the attack, many still feel racist and discriminatory attitudes towards Muslims. Muslims are the targeted minority in the United States, “the 9/11 terrorist attacks shifted the social and political context for Muslims in the United States. Terrorism within the geographical borders of the United States carried out by Muslims places an identity at the center of national and global politics.” (Byng) The blame of the horrible terrorist attacks, rather than be placed on terrorists or religious extremist, has been placed on Islam in America. After September 11th, hate crimes towards Muslims skyrocketed, “the most dramatic change noted by the report was a more than 1,600 percent increase in reported hate crimes against Muslims -- a jump from 28 hate incidents in 2000 to 481 last year.”

Factory workers are being produced today, although the age of factories has long passed. Students are dehumanized from their first graded assignment, their first report card, the first time they step into school until they graduate. At that point, they are completely stripped of critical thinking and creativity and see learning only as memorization for a test. There seems to be no meaning beyond the face value of what teachers say and possibly less. All that is needed is to memorize word for word what the teacher says. They don’t perceive “what four times four really means, or realizing the true significance of “capital” in the affirmation “the capital of Pará is Belem,” that is, what Belem means for Pará and what Pará means for Brazil” (240). Freire introduces the banking system as the cause of dehumanization, but it is not the system in general that causes it. It is the use of grading. They are used to measure the value and intelligence of students, so this is all students focus on. They only do what they need to receive the highest marks. However, this means the students don’t have time to truly understand their material or realize that they don’t have to spend that much time with the material. After all, the purpose of the banking system is to just fill students with information.