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 it comes to minorities, media is most likely to marginalize them by making it seem as if the things they are the victims of is their fault or they inflicted it upon themselves. News outlets, as well as other forms of media, benefit white people glorifying them in every shape or form. People that do not go out of their houses and interact with the outside world are only informed of what happens through media, which is often times biased. In the article called “My Class Didn’t Trump My Race,” DiAngelo talks about how “[b]eacause we [White Americans] live primarily segregated lives in a White-dominated society, we [White people] receive little to no authentic information about racism and are thus unprepared to think critically or complexly about it” (184). American citizens are most likely to blame people for what they are victim of because they either receiving no information about minorities, or they are receiving mislead information through their TVs that charge their perception of people outside of their race. Levels of inequality in America keeps increasing, but “the class divide is anything but recent and its consequences remain severely understated in the mass media. The social classes that refer to some of our citizens as the underclass, welfare queens, and to reject the notion that the minimum wage should be a living wage, are naive and know nothing about the situations and living conditions of others. Most media figures are white as well as the people that own such media companies, therefore providing people that look like them detrimental information about other people which blinds U.S. citizens from seeing the reality of the “utopia” they live in. America is seen as an “utopian society” for the outside world, but it is a complete dystopia for majority of the minorities that live in this nation; due to a stratification of class in America as well as many other
The image of Native Americans primarily consumed by all of America is more often offensive, stereotypical, or downright fictional. And this is all because a non-indigenous person is always the one teaching us about indigenous people, thus their bias is forever unconsciously tied to the “facts”, which could very well be just a “common sense racism” agreed upon by many others. For those who have no contact with a minority group, television is their best source of information on said group, and both the news and entertainment shows us what gets the best reaction; the Dakota Pipeline won’t get news coverage because it’s peaceful and not affecting 60% of America, but soon as black people snapped in during the Watts Riots of ’65 and they white life was in danger, everyone had their cameras pointed. And some went as far as to not know why the civil black man was no so up in arms all of a sudden, despite the recent court ruling of the police responsible for the assault of Rodney King. There is no looking at the cause of the anger, just like the argument to change many sports mascots from racial caricatures of Native Americans seems completely invalid for someone unwilling to see why it might offend someone. The only way to obliterate stereotypes fueling miseducation of the minority is to have everyone correctly educated on each minority group, through schools is good but through media (television mostly) is even better.
Minority status has long since been viewed in a not-so-positive light. From the reflex many people have to lock their doors when they see a homeless person or a person of color, to stereotyping and assumptions based on institutionalized racism, to discrimination, minority status has a part to play in all of it. Similarly, many people have the idea that deaf people cannot do anything for themselves because they are “disabled”. Even though America was once hailed as a melting pot because of the diversity of its citizens, things like “you’re in America now, speak English” are said in today's America. While being defined as a minority isn’t inherently bad, it has become an excuse for some members of the majority to treat minorities as second-class citizens.
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.
Do you ever believe that you have been a victim to a microaggression and there was nothing ever done about it? A victim of institutional racism that made you feel doleful and surly? Institutional racism happens a lot, but not as much as microaggressions, but a lot of people wonder why they get this type of vibe from white supremacist. These are the same people in the same country, with the same daily schedule but somehow they judge people based on their skin color. Some reason you aren’t allowed to lead this country if you are any other skin than white. There's a lot of racism in America, and a lot of people really wonder will the microaggressions, microinsults, the institutional racism will ever stop. People look at our president Donald J. Trump with his campaign of “Make America Great Again” does he mean the bad times for the African Americans? The bad times, for the Asian Americans? Do white people in general categorize all cultures/ ethnicities other than white as minorities? There are two articles that come together, to grow on this idea, to answer the questions above and to explain in full detail. Both of these articles, compare on what and how plenty of “minorities” feel in America. The speech essay “Analyzing Some Thoughts On Mercy” and the argumentative essay “6 Reasons We Need to Dismantle the Model Minority Myth of Those ‘Hard-Working ‘ Asians” by Ross Gay and Rachel Kuo deal with the problem with racism shown by white supremacy. Through these texts the
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.
A great majority of people in the United States are defined as minorities, as people who are in the minority racially, compared to the majority which is defined as White. While being defined as a minority statistically is ok, being made to feel as a minority is a very troubling reality to a lot of people, as they are sometimes made to feel like second class citizens. Many people respond differently when made to feel like a minority, and have to question the value of their ethnicity, as they have to fight the general stereotyping by the masses.
Growing up in America, children are taught by their grade school teachers to be proud of being American. They chant “Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492” and harmoniously sing patriotic songs such as The Star Spangled Banner while being utterly oblivious of America’s corrupt political system. It may not be until one is pursing their final years of high school, or perhaps even in college when they are aware of America’s history of possessing a highly restrictive political system. For minorities, America is not the land of the free. It is the land of oppression to progression, yet we still wear our scars and our heads up high. Struggles to expand the breadth of political and civil rights in the United States have been critical to fostering greater inclusion and equality for racial/ethnic minorities in America. Various reforms such as the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Acts were implemented during the civil rights era as they helped promote greater inclusion and equity to, but not limited to, African Americans and Mexican-Americans.
The world we live in today is surrounded by media. The media goes anywhere from the television set in your living room to the browser on your cellphone, and even the radio in your car. In short, we cannot escape the media since it has become a natural part of our everyday lives. This five letter word seems so insignificant, yet it is so powerful. Since we are in touch with media everywhere we go, we always seem to believe everything that is shown to us. Many things are shown in media but that does not necessarily mean that they are always true. There are times in which certain ethnic groups are falsely portrayed. An article from 1998 titled, “No Chicanos on Tv” by Cecilia Alvear, talks about the lack of diversity that one might find in the media. In this case, she mentions that Chicanos are hardly ever shown in the media and that when they are, it is not in a positive way. Alvear mentions that they are only shown when they are being arrested or when there are illegal aliens fleeing. The media as a whole is responsible for the stereotypes,discrimination, and violence minority groups may face due to their portrayal of these races.
The United States is the most racially diverse nation in the world. Despite of this diversity the American communities have been marginalized since forever. A main aspect of marginalization
In the United States minorities are denied equal opportunities based on race and ethnicity in work, housing, and education this should change. They 're labeled and stereotyped based on preconceived notions hurting their image in society we need to start educating the public on how these assumptions are untrue. This treatment violates their constitutional rights by denying their equality highlighting this country 's failure to uphold its promise for a better life. Their race, sex, and ethnicity are still obstacles despite claims, but nothing has been done to improve the lives and treatment of minorities. The term "Race" is a social construct used to categorize groups of people in countries it’s what you claim in important documents like Black, White, or Hispanic. However, this system is the cause of many social issues segregation, injustice, and racism being the most common instances have caused division within the United States. A change needs to happen, but the populace affected by these issues need to take a stand and work to insight change in the country.
When hearing the words, “African Americans”, “Hispanics”, “Caucasians,” the majority of people in America will generally categorize the traits of these nationalities based upon their roles displayed in the media, books, movies, or even first-hand experience. The actions being made with their associations is stereotyping; defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as, “[believing] unfairly that all people or things with a particular characteristic are the same,” revealing that even unknowingly, people are allowing nationalities to fall under a list of behavioral, cultural, and moral traits.
The history of the African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans contains an infinite variety of experiences. To the Native Americans who founded these lands, slavery, and the waves of migration. What all minority groups have experienced is the
Over the centuries America has seen many immigrants like Mexicans, Africans, Asians, Indians and etc. making their lives here. But most of these minority groups existing in our society have suffered denial and injustice not only in the past, but it is still prevalent. Most of these immigrants saw this new world as a place to start their lives but instead they have faced harsh