Personal Narrative: Personal Experiences Of Immigrants

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

On a random Thursday morning in the middle of October, I became an orphan. I have always been independent and mature from a young age, but all that changed on a crisp day in November when I learned what it means to grow up. Something typically marked by a Bat Mitzvah or the acquisition of a driver’s license was, for me, marked by the arrest of my single mother.

Every day in our society, people continue to be discriminated against because of the color of their skin. We, as a society, like to believe that oppression and discrimination ended long ago, thanks to the Civil Rights movement. However, there continues to be a misunderstanding about the differences we possess in our skin color and, unfortunately, the belief that we are separated by race, continues to stratify mankind.

Today, I witnessed a young woman with her little daughter dropped multiple hundred bills in the parking lot prior to getting in her car. An associate saw the woman dropped her money and tried to get her attention, but was successful, so he puts the money in his pocket. I instantly approached the woman and briefly told her what I just witnessed. She asked me to go back to the store with her to vouch for her to the store manager. I agreed. Once we informed the store manager and confronted the associate who put the money inside his pocket instead of reporting it to security or his manger. She was able to procure her money back. Then, she told me I was a life saver. The woman explained to me she just got laid and really needed the money to support

I was following the heartbreaking news of Immigration crisis in Europe and watching that how these desperate people struggling to save their lives and find a better life in nearby countries, that the photo of my parents and I in a hand curved frame right next to my computer caught my attention and reminded me of my own journey as a refugee.

Throughout last generation, immigration has been vital for my family- my mother is an immigrant, and so are my paternal grandparents. Being Mexican immigrants in a land that does not accept you is hard; I’ve seen the struggles firsthand. Like my grandparents, my mother did not have many opportunities once she entered the United States. She came seeking to start a career and make a name for herself, yet ended up being an assistant manager at Wal-Mart. Nonetheless, she has worked hard alongside my father to provide the best for my brother and I. But I know if she was a white American without a Mexican accent,

Thomas waved on another immigrant, his clothes already clinging to his skin in the sweltering mid-July heat. This Thursday seemed to be busier than days prior, but perhaps, he thought, he was simply hot and tired. He had been stuck in the same seat for several hours, asking each individual questions and moving them along into the proper queues. His interpreter, a young woman by the name of Louise, had been sitting alongside him tirelessly translating the words of the foreigners into English. She was quite intelligent for a woman of her age, and stuck out among the other interpreters as well. Most only knew one language other than English, but she knew three: Russian, Polish, and Italian. She learned from her father, who was a professor at

The distinct scene of race diversity was not introduced into my life until I was at the age of 8. Especially since I was born in an impoverished third world country of 15 million (Cambodia), I was not introduced to another ethnicity besides my own. Heck at one point I presume that my country was the only one on this planet. It was not until my transition from middle school, high school, and college did I started to get a better understanding of the word called “color”. Most peoples might relate to this, but what make you differ from everyone else? Well, the answer is simple and it is classified as “color”.

The deep divide between those of different ethnicities root back to America's slavery days. Racism is contagious like it's a flea in the Bubonic plague, an ideology that is nothing more than hate and ignorance. A problem with battling such animosity today is that racism isn’t so blatantly obvious as it once was. It seems as if the only ones that can recognize this evil are the ones that allow themselves to see it. Hence the reason why our society still has a long way to go. We as a people need to recognize our own bigoted views that we have been conditioned to assume that those beliefs are reality. As of consequence, the lack of knowingness of Black life and history by those that are non-color has created a society that lacks understandment

As I have fully read and understood the conditions stated in the freshman contract, I deeply regret that I have failed to fulfill them. However, I urge that the Admission Committee reconsider the withdrawal of my admission. There were many discrepancies happened in my life, especially the first semester of senior year which had led to me not being able to perform my full potential academically.

We moved from Mexico to the U.S. when I was six. Moving to a new country meant starting from scratch. We slept in hotels for the first couple of weeks until mom was able to find a job. Being an immigrant who didn’t speak English made it extremely hard to find a job. She was hired to pick up strawberries for $7.50 an hour. With this wage, we weren’t able to afford a home, so we rented a room. The room was small so my brother, mom, and I shared a bed.

As W.E.B Dubois once predicted that “the color line would one day become the foremost problem of the 20th century. The term color blind coined by Dubois was used to reference the racial segregation that existed during the slavery era. We learned earlier in a previous chapter about the in-group and out-group effect in society. People who usually tend to see others as indifferent from themselves results mostly in prejudices. Prejudices in our society refers to a negative attitude toward an entire category of people, often an ethnic or racial group. I personally don’t hold any prejudices against subordinate racial or ethnic group, however I believe that the reason why people prejudge frequently has to do with our ethnocentrism.

There are various theories of race that underpin the division amongst our society today. One particular story of difference is the notion that the inferiority of Black people via body and mind is innate. This story along with science allowed White people to exploit Blacks and thus justify their acts by proclaiming that Black people are of a different species. However, currently there are no known differences in the genetic structure of one particular race that separates it from the next. Though in light of 19th century American science, there were internal differences that catalogued each race based on hierarchy (thus, class). Today, this story of difference is perpetuated passively within our society. White men who had no regard for other

A person cannot watch the news or read a magazine without being reminded of how hurtful one group is treating another group in society. I was raised in what I would call a pretty open family. I was taught to respect others and not judge a person by their outward appearance but to get to know each person, as an individual. I think back to my high school days where I was the minority in a group of 1200 students. My classmates were predominately Black, Hispanic and Asian, while I am Caucasian. My friends and I represented each other and we were close because we had some of the same interests in common, not that we had the same or different colored skin. The color of our skin was one of the characteristics that made each of us unique and special. We did not judge each other based on the color of our skin, but on the way we treated each other. I have, over the years, learned so many different things from friends with different racial backgrounds. Every person is unique and brings different values, influences, opportunities and talents to another person’s daily life. It is what you do with those values, influences, opportunities and talents that identify who you

Racism and discrimination has been a prevalent yet underlying problem in all civilizations throughout multiple millennium. The color of one’s skin is a precursor to how someone is viewed rather than what is underneath it all. Research even shows that infants as early as six months old begin to notice a difference in a person's skin tone. It’s just in our nature to know the difference of skin pigmentation between everyone around us. It is when we begin to associate race with society that the problems begin to arise. When someone thinks of an impoverished district in the U.S, many instantly think of the spiraling urban ghettos that are filled with African