Proposal of Anti-discrimination of Mexican Americans in the South - Research Paper Example

The United States has witnessed the movement of many ethnic and racial groups from Latin America and South America. These groups are often identified as Latinos, Hispanics and Mexicans in popular jargon though their racial and ethnic linkages may not always be with these particular groups. Perhaps the greatest influx of these racial and ethnic groups has been in the South of the United States where hundreds of thousands of people cross the border each year in search of better job opportunities and living standards.

The most notable of these movements of Latinos and Hispanics originates from Mexico which is just south of the United States border. A large proportion of these immigrants are Mexicans while there are large swathes of naturalized Mexicans already present inside the United States. The Mexican ethnic groups have long been subject to racial discrimination in one form or the other such as the popular association of mafia and drug culture with the Mexicans (E-RACE, 2011). However such sentiments are not always grounded in fact and the Mexicans have played a large part in the development of the United States economy.

The racial discrimination faced by the Mexicans has brought direct costs for the federal as well as state governments. This study will focus on the costs of discrimination against Mexicans in South Carolina and the actions and policies that could be implemented in order to deal with these problems through affirmative action and other means. 2. Defining Mexicans As mentioned before the term Latino, Hispanic and Mexican tends to over assume the racial and ethnic identities of the subject groups.

The living habits and social behavior as well as the overall outlook for these groups are similar so it is natural to find discrimination across the board for all of these groups. However for the purposes of this study the particular segment in focus will be Mexicans who reside in South Carolina. These Mexicans could either be immigrants who have come across the border recently, workers who work for some time in the United States and then relocate to Mexico as well as Mexicans who are permanently settled in the United States and are naturalized. 3. Economic Profile of Mexicans in South Carolina A study conducted for Mexicans available in South Carolina (Lacy, 2007) demonstrated that most Mexican immigrants were employed in four economic sectors that are: Construction; Restaurants; Manufacturing; Services.

Some smaller proportions of Mexicans are also employed in poultry processing and landscaping as well. The study showed that only 0.02 percent of the included respondents were reported as unemployed. However around 11% of the surveyed women (who were home makers) said that they considered taking up another job to augment the total family income. The communication barrier because of lingual differences (Spanish versus English) seemed to play a major role for these women being unable to find jobs.

Around 54% of the women surveyed were employed and out of these some 56% worked either in restaurants or as domestic help (such as house cleaning, elderly and child care). The income levels of the respondents varied widely. People employed in the construction industry reported incomes of $ 1,350 per month on average but these figures varied depending on weather conditions as well as other factors. The people employed in restaurants reported higher earnings of around $ 1,450 per month on average while those in the manufacturing sectors reported incomes