Welcoming Country

Today, Many people in our society have faced many challenges whether it is because of their religion, gender, physical ability and sexual orientation. The United states has always prided themselves to be an open and welcoming country that does not judge one another on any basis. Under this administration the challenges that many immigrants are facing have become greater than ever. Hate crimes against the jewish people have been occurring way more frequently now.
Many people in the United States have Xenophobia where they think their country, and their way of life is far superior than everyone else’s, and when someone comes in from another country they tend to not accept them or even want to talk to them.
Since 911 happened people tend to associate every muslim as a terrorist and they come here to this country to get the opportunities that everyone else has and they are not getting it because Islamophobia. Many young black teens are at a disadvantage because many schools have the zero tolerance policies that end up pushing them out of the school and into the juvenile and the criminal justice system instead of giving them a chance and help within the school system.

The United States has come a long way over the years from slavery, and not letting women vote but many improvements can be made for us to truly become a country that accepts all people no matter if they’re black, white a women or gay. Furthermore if this country wants a better future for their children then we have to work on these issues and have to become more open minded when it comes to immigrants, religion, women, and people who are gay that are in this country.
Women have also gone through struggles facing discrimination because of gender. They have being doing the same job that men do but a lot of the time they do not get the same pay. It was not until the civil war that women were even allowed to work. Women were not hired for jobs that were considered jobs for males.
In the 1960’s women only occupied two percent of managerial positions. This showed that gender discriminations was still prevalent.This portrait that women had to accept jobs which did not require high skill nor get high pay. Even with all these issues women were strong and gathered in groups to fight these issues. In time, gender discrimination against women in the workforce has alleviated.
In 1963 the equal pay act for women was passed meaning that men and women doing the same job had to get the same amount of pay or it was illegal. Groups like The National Organization of women were formed to help women get the same rights that men had like being able to play the same sports in college. Women are essential to society because they are just as capable as men and they have proved themselves in the workforce time and time again.
An important reason why people come to this country is to be able to practice their religion freely and openly without any prohibition, harm or even trying to be oppressed . The founding fathers of our nation came to this country to practice their religion. Although, one of the roots of immigration into this country was the search for freedom of religion, many entities have been discriminated as a people. If we take a look at our history, we can find some examples. One of them is General Ulysses S. Grant who issued an order to take out the Jewish people from states Tennessee,Kentucky, and mississippi that were under his control.
Most of the states in the U.S do not let people of the same sex marry. Within the last ten years states have been letting up, and are letting gays and lesbians marry each other under the law. These people have been discriminated since this country has been formed . When HIV first came out it was known as a “gay man’s disease ” meaning that you had to be gay to get that disease.
Donald Trump and vice president Mike Pence do not believe in gay marriage and this is another barrier facing the LGBT community. They have been targeted and bullied in many schools around the country. Sexual discrimination was seen in the armed forces. Commanders used to launch what they called “witch hunts” to find gay troops and boot them out of the service.
Many citizens that do not have the physical ability have been left behind and not taken care of the way they should be. These people for a long time and still today get bullied in school, have no friends, and do not get the support that they need and deserve to be able to do the things that they want. A lot of times these people get harassed in the workplace because they do not have the same ability as others. To help these people out the government passed a law called American with disabilities act to ensure that people with disabilities get proper accommodation in the workforce and also get protection under being fired just solely because they are disabled.
I have learned a lot in the course. All the issues that this country is facing surrounding racism and people accepting one another for who they are and what they represent. I have also been exposed to many different things like people’s cultures and the hardships that they face on a daily basis.
The class has made me more aware of how deeply discrimination exists in our society, and the struggles that people have gone through to overcome make our country a more acceptable society. I learned that we have gains but still have a long way to go. After taking taking this class I have become a better person.
Fixing these issues that society fights as a whole is not an easy task. In order to make changes with have to start with our young generations, and make it an empathize in the school systems to teach and focus on accepting one another no matter what the circumstances surrounding that person. Once we make the citizens aware that no matter what we believe, or how different we look, or whatever sexual orientation and gender we may be we are all part of the human race.
If we make these social changes starting with our young children then this country will get back on track to fulfill its promise of being a nation which accepts everyone no matter color, race, gender. Furthermore we have to elect politicians that follows these ideologies that we are looking to have in this country.
Many people in our society have faced many challenges whether it is because of their religion, gender, physical ability, and sexual orientation. This country has come a long way from discriminating against these groups but we still have a lot of work to do if we want this country to be fully accepting of everyone.
A lot of these issues that we face as a culture need to be stopped from the top down. If the president can become more open and tolerant of others then that would be a major step in fixing this mess between different groups. What I have discussed in this essay about the current trend of racism, sexism and discrimination is not new, As the famous adage goes”History repeats itself”.
At the founding of our american democracy with the Declaration of Independence (`1776) and the US Constitution (1789)all men were supposed to be equal under the law. However, women did not receive the right to vote until the year 1919 with the adoption of the 19th amendment of the constitution. Most states did not allow married women to keep their property until the beginning of the 20th century. Prior to the 29th century , women’s legal status was that of chattel- they were the legal property of their Husbands and fathers.
The few women from the late 19th century to the mid twentieth century who were able to get law degrees, medical and engineering degrees found themselves underemployed because employers did not want to hire women in these professions. It wasn’t until the late 1970 that most states passed discriminations law to protect bias agent gender. Historically, Blacks have also been discriminated the legal and political system of our country.
Although the 13th amendment ended slavery in 1865 and the 14th amendment (1868)guaranteed equal protection under the law for all persons, segregation and the denial of voting rights to blacks and other racial minorities persisted until the adoption of the federal voting rights in 1965. Discrimination in job hiring and access to housing was also rampant until the adoption of the Civil rights Acts in 1964. Historically, many different immigrant groups were discriminated and prevented from entering the United States.
For example, the chinese exclusion act enacted in 1882 prohibited immigration of all chinese laborers even though –ironically– previous generations of chinese laborers were exploited to build the great railroad system that expanded the wealth and growth of the continental United States. Many of these laws were not repealed until after the second world war in 1948. Other ethnic groups (e.g. Irish and eastern europeans) had strict limited quotas for entry into the United States.
Finally, protection from discrimination based on sexual orientation has only recently been enacted by only 24 states. There is still no federal civil rights protection based upon sexual orientation. Hence, for example, in the states of North Carolina and MIssissippi employers can fire or deny promotions to gay employees. We should remind ourselves of this history as we put into perspective the need to recognize and address the current problems of discrimination based on gender, race, ethnic origin and sexual orientation.