Generational Equality
From a young age, our generation has been told that all races, genders and religions are equal and should be treated as so. I was fortunate to grow up around a diverse group of friends and could see first hand the truth in that statement. Previous generations were never taught that all are equal. The end of the previous generation was in the late 1960’s. This is around the time that blacks and all races were finally gaining equality. Today, we don’t rely on what values we learn as children so much as what our friends and role models believe in. The use of social media has allowed anyone to put their views into writing, and follow the views of others.
The neighborhood I grew up in was predominantly white. Those in the neighborhood who weren’t, also happened to be some of my best friends. The color of their skin didn’t determine that. It was the friendly attitudes and humor that did. Growing up, I and many other students have been exposed to the different races and ethnic beliefs that positively permeate America. Our High School has a very equal separation between major races. The people in my classes are all types of races and ethnicities. This has been the case through middle school and all of high school.
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Our grandparents grew up in the age where Martin Luther King Jr. was marching on Washington, demanding equality. Race was obviously a controversial issue, and the beliefs of our Grandparents were passed down to our parents. Our parents were able to experience the public acceptance of all races, but were generally matured out of childhood by the time it occurred. The lessons that they were able to learn during their life were then passed down to our generation. We were taught that everyone is equal and to accept everyone who may not be the same as us. We are the first generation to know what racial equality and acceptance
As a whole, minorities from all religions, races, and sexualities have reached numerous high points in life. These high points have resulted in the establishment and entitlement to minorities having the same rights as whites. However, the right of blacks as in being equal is always up for debate. Statistics show and prove that for every dollar a white household brings in, a black household only brings in 61 cents. Some people like to say that the white household is more skilled or has a higher education, however, this is not the case in most situations. These facts can be accurately traced back to the issue of discrimination against blacks. Most people agree that this type of discrimination is
Growing up, I was constantly surrounded by people of the same ethnic race and culture. I was raised in the small city of Temple City where a lot of older generation Asian immigrants resided, which resulted in my schools being mostly dominated by the first generation Asian American population. Because of this similarity of race and culture with my peers, it was fairly easy for me to bond with other students as well as feel comfortable within the realms of my schools and neighborhood. I had little trouble learning and participating in classrooms and also was able to be very involved in leadership positions in extracurricular programs at my high school which was a good learning experience for me.
It is evident that no matter how hard we try to avoid it race plays a major role in today’s society. Your race and/or nationality and skin color plays a lot in how you are seen and perceived by the world. The first thing you see when you look at a person is their skin color, which just
I am a white woman living in America in the 21st century. Growing up white has made my life fairly easy when it comes to the opportunities I have had to become more successful. For example, I probably have an easier time getting a job, getting into college, or even buying a new car than someone of a different race. Our country doesn’t want to accept it, but it happens all around us. I have also had it easy in that I did not grow up in poverty, in the ghetto, on the streets, etc, as many people of different races have. I grew up in a nice house with my two married parents and four siblings. We were just an average family living the American Dream. I remember going to elementary school and seeing all the kids of races other than white walking to school from the “bad” part of my neighborhood. Most of the white kids never stepped foot in that part of our neighborhood because of a fear. When I think back now,
Just fifty years ago, America was a society of segregation and racism. The dictionary defines racism as “the belief that a particular race is superior to another.” Although it is clear times have changed, racism is still seen in modern american society. It’s also clear that relationships between African Americans and whites are generally better than they were in the forties and fifties. Today, it is rare to witness a black man walk down the street and step off the sidewalk to let a white man walk by, or to see a black man sitting on a different section of the bus or train because a white man told him he has too. But superiority of races is still happening. A lot of this has the do with the ignorance of others. Passed down generation to
Throughout American history, minorities of all types have struggled for equal rights and acknowledgement. However, now that slavery is illegal and we’ve had an African American president, many Americans think that the fight is over; racism is dead, we are finally all created equal. This is a lie. Racism is not dead; America has elected a president that ran a campaign off of it and people of color are still vastly disadvantaged and underrepresented. We are not all created equal; white women make seventy-four cents to a dollar of a white man’s, and women of color make even less. Over seventy percent of men in prison are men of color. The majority of this country’s poor are immigrants and people of color. The fight for freedom for all is not
Growing up I did not have very many friends who were of color. I had one best friend who was half white and half Samoan. I did not think anything of her being different than me because we have known each other from birth. Color did not matter to us; we were best friends. Due to my lack of exposure to people of different races than what I was used to, I developed a picture in my head of what it meant to be white. To be white when I was a child meant you were well off and were not in danger. I always classified different races with danger because it is what I always saw on the news. That Is very embarrassing to say but it is true. I do not feel this way today because I have more experiences in life that have helped me make connections and change my view on people who are different from me. I do not want my children to think or feel the way I did when I was younger. I want to expose my students and children to different cultures and races. I want them to be comfortable being around anyone no matter what the color of their skin
During this time more than ever, African Americans are able to speak on subjects that can affect us in the future. Growing up, racial profiling was never a big deal to me or my family. I was taught to never judge someone by how they look but upon their actions. Ironic to think that is how one is taught to act but stereotypes are now bigger than ever right? Being a high school student I never payed much attention to anything outside of sports, academics and what crazy adventure me and my friends would be sucked into the upcoming weekend. I didn’t have an opinion when surveys asked if I felt that I wasn't being treated equally to my fellow American classmate with all the same qualities I held. Race itself was never something I viewed another
Throughout history in this country, race has been the determining factor in who can possess those liberties and who can participate in human society and their voice is heard. Ultimately, race has been used to determine ones value. From the 16th to 19th centuries, one could look at black person and quickly come to the conclusion that they’re a slave, uneducated, and poor. And from the 20th century to today in the 21st century those stigmas are still being placed on African Americans, with the exception of the word “slave”, which has been replaced by
Since freshman year I have lived in Rosemead, Los Angeles. The residences are mostly Mexican, Chinese, Vietnamese but without a caucasian in sight. This is totally different than what I expected of America, and definitely different than the little village of Pawling in upstate New York where I attend a lily white boarding school. However, I started to blend in; I played basketball. I rode bikes, and I hung out with other teens. We all were basically the same but just embraced different cultures. For instance, the Vietnamese insisted on entire families
When I was a child, I thought that issues that shouldn’t matter were taken care of. It’s silly that people have issues over race. Thinking someone as lesser person doesn’t make things easier for them. At least with issues such as robbery, the criminals could at least think that they will get whatever they’re after. With race however, nothing is made easier by thinking someone is lesser than another. Judging people by race only brings bad feelings towards both people involved. Who would want that? Who would go out of their way to make someone feel bad about themselves if they didn’t do anything bad to them in the first place? This is what I thought as a child. The Ferguson Riots and the Charlestown massacre convinced me that race it still
Everyone deserves equality no matter what his or her race, religion, or background is. Racism has even spread into the criminal legal system. There are many victims likes Charles Kinsey, innocent African American men, who have been harassed or killed by the criminal justice department purely because the racist officers on the scene viewed them as a
The United States’ long history of savagery, discrimination, inequality, and racism surfaced in our nation from the time it was “founded” by European settlers. And although the US constitution states that “all men are equal,” minority groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Indian Americans, and Latinos endured countless sufferings from the European settlers and Whites. The Civil Rights era, however, marked one of the most significant events in our nation’s history for in this period, minority groups won several important victories that impacted the lives of many. The Civil Rights era is when our country became intolerant of racial discrimination and segregation, and minority groups were finally given the right to be part of the
However, Pew Research Center did note that racial equality has not yet been achieved today with 79% of blacks and 44% of whites polled saying there is “a lot” to do to achieve racial equality (Pew Research 2014). These statistics give a snapshot of the views of the public and it is with this that one is able to gauge that this has become an increasingly popular topic to not only discuss but that the public finds
First thing that I would like to address is the fact that racism still exists within all cultures. Some people won’t admit that they are racist, but their actions and words prove otherwise. Most people won’t directly discriminate other races, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen everyday. Many will argue that their race is superior over another, or that their actions of a few individuals of a certain race determines how that race of people are, therefore making them unequal. I think all people should be treated equally, no matter who they are or what they look like. From a personal experience, I have witnessed racial discrimination, not something that happened to someone else but to me right in front of my eyes as I head home. For one, I was one of those people that never thought racism had ended but thought that it has dimmed its light. It was not