Essay Sample on Equality in the US

When can the United States stop trying to fight for equality? Is their fight over? Many Americans believe that it is not. The lives of many have changed through the years. Slavery was abolished, segregation ended. Yet it still has leftover effects now. Asian Americans went through many things, being put into concentration camps, and being banned from the country for 10 years. While things got better over the years, now they are back to fearing danger. The right that women got to vote, for many was a turning point. Yet, that was only the bare minimum. With opportunities based on gender and race, and people receiving different treatment and pay beacsue of it. Many people still think that government can do more to give equality to all. The promise for equality has not been brought to the American Citizens, with immigrants being denied entry to the US having a long lasting effect, racial economic inequality, and lack of gender equality.

First, Asian Americans were banned from entry into the United States which could still could be effecting their day to day lives. More Chinese Americans started to enter the country, and then the west coast started being more hostile towards them. The West started viewing the immigrants as economic threats because they worked for cheap labor, and were more prominent to get jobs than whites. California argued that Chinese civilization was too different from American life, and wanted to make it so that the Chinese could no longer enter the country. As more Europeans started entering a restriction was put on them too. As stated in the article “ The Chinese Exclusion Act” by Stephanie Hinnershiz states, “This movement achieved success during World War I, when Congress passed a law requiring a literacy test of all immigrants. By 1924, Congress had passed the Immigration Act, which set quotas severely curtailing European immigration and banning all immigration from Asia. The law stood for decades until it was revised in 1952 and 1965, expanding immigration again."(3). This text shows how the US denied entry to immigrants purely based on race, and where they came from. Because of this Asian Americans received lots of discrimination from the people, and were given different treatment from others. To tie this into today’s world, because of Covid many Asians fear that they will be beaten, or hurt by others. While the ban was lifted after 10 years, today there is still discrimination towards Asians and nowadays violence towards Asian Americans is increasing.  Furthermore, while the ban on Chinese Americans was a while ago, it still could have leftover effects adding more to the treatment they receive today. All in all, while the Chinese Exclusion Act ended years ago, Asain communities have to deal with fear and discrimination now.

Simerly to Asian Americans, African Americans receive economic inequality through opportunities and food insecurity. While slavery and segregation was banned it still took a toll on Black Americans’ lives. By, for example, lessening their life span, and not receiving a better education. Furthermore, African Americans are more likely to deal with food insecurity and receive less health insurance. This all ties in with the Jim Crow Era as Black people still suffer from issues that are directly affected by that. In ‘The Civil Rights Movement: Major Events and Legacies” James Patterson states, “In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. and Lyndon Johnson hoped that America, having rallied around effective civil rights acts that promoted legal equality, could move on to tackle serious social and economic inequality—but in the early twenty-first century, that goal still seems out of reach”(7). This text shows how people such as MLK wanted equality and hoped that they will get it, While there have been improvements, there are still things that can be done. In the second source “The Race Gap” the website gives information and stats about the different treatment and lives that white and black people live. This shows inequality as Black and White people go through different things, and based on that receive different treatment, pay, and outcomes in their lives. All in all the US had not brought equality to all, as African Americans get treated differently based on race and are therefore not treated equally.

Women have been trying to gain rights for many years, and while there has been stuff done, some still believe that there could be more done to further give equal rights. One major event in Women’s rights is when they gained the right to vote. While this was significant, men and women rights were still not equal. Women are more likely to be harassed in the workplace and receive lesser pay purely based on gender. Feminist movements have personally affected most women. When the Equal Rights Amendment was first brought up they didn’t have full support. Now they do. Recently people believe that adding the ERA won’t do anything, yet there are things that still need to be done. As stated in the article, “A Century After Women Gained the Right to Vote, Majority of Americans See Work To Do on Gender Equality” by PEW Research Center states, “about half of Americans say granting women the right to vote has been the most important milestone in advancing the position of women in the country. Still, a majority of U.S. adults say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, even as a large share thinks there has been progress in the last decade”(1). This text shows how even though there have been improvements made throughout the years for equal rights, they should keep working on it. Furthermore, more of the people that are pushing for equal rights are women, because of what they have to go though day to day, rather than men. Because of this others don’t see the importance of equal rights, and that good that could come out about it. Even now people in same perfection get payed uneqauly because of gender. All in all, there is a gender inequality though pay, and treatment.

To conclude, the lack of equlity shines though even with the few progress America has made. Though the discrimination that both black, and Asian communitys face in todays world, the lack of economic equality, and the lack of gender equality. Though the years leading up there have definitly been improvements made to lessen the inequality. Yet not enough. The past has made an imprint on the present, and there are lingering effects that still take place. As Asians face hatread which is smillar to how they first got banned form entring the US. Black and White people lead different lives, and one reason is becasue the Jim Crow Era still has an effect on the succes of African Americans. Lastly, Woman have been figting for equal right for years, yet they still don’t have it, and receive unequal pay because of it. Americas ideals were to keep eyereone equal. Yet shown here today is that America hasn’t kepts it true ideas, and that there is still more to be done, in order to reach equality for all.