Essay Sample on The United States of America and Immigratial Discrimination

A question I find myself asking constantly is: why is the government more focused on taking away womens rights rather than protecting immigrants and people of various skin tones and accents?  The more that I have looked at this question I have come to the consensus that our government is primarily made up of white males, just like it was hundreds of years ago. With The United States of America having such a vast majority of ethnicities and languages, why is it that people who may not look exactly like that majority are being treated the same way that people of color where being treated back in the early 1900’s when we “supposedly” have solved all of our racial issues?  

My grandmother, Jenny Rampersad, an Eastern Indian and Trinidadian woman is one of many immigrants who has faced racial inequality based off of the way they appear to society. My grandmothers chocolate brown skin had restricted her from doing everyday things that those with less pigmented skin would never have to have experienced. In 1981, at just twenty-eight years old, my grandmother migrated to The United States of America from Trinidad and Tobago in the hopes to giving her son, my father, a better life. While today, my grandparents are some of the most successful people I know they faced many challenges that they persevered to get to the point where they are now. Similarly to my grandma, a fellow Trinidadian Joseph Edghill like many other immigrants stated “I wanted to succeed in spite of race.” In today’s society we are still fighting for racial equality, something that was being faught for many years prior.As a women of color my grandmother was often percieved as a Hispanic women becuase of the color of her skin, preventing her from getting job promotions and was even refused services. Keep in mind, this was in the 1980’s, where years prior racial equality and discrimination was supposed to be abolished. So, why to this day are there still people protesting outside of the White House and on the corner of the streets for something that was supposedly abolished years ago. My grandmother mentioned that she was “considered an outcast and was refused service on retail stores, alienated in social gatherings and denied job promotion” simply because of the color of her skin, when in reality she just like any other individual but was oppressed and was denied by the oppressior, people of the white community. Similarly to my grandma, a study from UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that out of 2,000 people surveyed 70% of people had experienced workplace discrimination due to their accent or color of skin. Why is it that we are still to this day, having to fight for equality for immigrants and people of various skin colors and accents when our country is primarily made up of immigrants.  

In addition to this, while many women at the time where viewed as “housewives”  many immigratial women had to go to work. With that being said, these women face many challenges when they first migrate to The United States of America because some experience language barriers and racial discrimination. When many of these women relied on jobs to financially provide for their families being denied jobs cause of the way that they look effected the way that they could provide for their families.  While like how D.C. Policy Center points out, in the past twenty years many corporate companies have claimed to make an effort to be more inclusive and diverse, these efforts are uisally not made true and are only used to keep the company out of the public eye.  In reality, however, if these companies where to accept workers of all ethnicities, races, sexualities, etc., there would be no need to make these statements and many people in need of jobs would be able to provide for their families. Similarly to my grandma, who completed all work that was given to her exceptionally well,  as a library assistant my grandma was constantly looked down upon because of how political the work field was rather than choosing the best fit candidate for the job.  

Adding on, in a country as racially diverse as The United States of America why do we as individuals bring others down because they might not look exactly like us, when we as individuals should be welcoming and learning more about what makes each and every single one of us unique. Jennifer L. Hochschild’s reference that ““whites want to keep blacks down” rather than to help them or simply to leave them alone,” this statement is important because since our country is so racially diverse more positive will come out of learning more about eacothers nationalities than to treat people differently because of the way they appear to society. 

In closing, I wanted to end off with a point made by Cary Funk and Kim Parker that “Eight-in-ten Americans say it is at least somewhat important to have racial and ethnic diversity in today’s workplaces, including around half who categorize this as “extremely” (26%) or “very” important (27%).” If eighty percent of people believe that it is important to have racial and ethnic diversity then why have we put it aside and are not vocally asking for change. My grandmother and millions of other immigrants have all faced racial discrimination because of the way that they appear to society.. In a country where all people are supposed to be treated equally, why to this day are migrants still being denied access to jobs,healthcare, and housing, simply because of the way they look? So to the future generations of this country, let’s set aside our differences and work together to making a more racially and ethnically diverse future for our generations and generations to come.