Race and the Community - Essay Example

RACE IN MY COMMUNITY The report describes the situation with race in my native community. It considered such points as: the dominant race, the attitude towards each other among the representatives of different races, and my recommendations how to improve the situation with discrimination in my community. I am a white American and I have been living in the same community all my life. My community is rather small with white people being dominant in it. That is why I can surely say that situation with racism here is quite ordinary. The other racial group that can be considered quite numerous here are Mexicans. These two groups have always had hostility to each other, at least in my community. Two races demonstrate a high level of racism and prejudice towards each other. The trigger of it is the high unemployment rates and the lack of accommodation. I believe that the ratio of my community is approximately 60% white Americans and 40% Mexicans, in other words the most part of the community has the same appearance as I have. The racial situation that is set in my community was brought about by the agricultural peculiarities of my region. There are many orchards, fields and other agricultural areas that must be handled. Since such kind of work has always been considered to be low-paid, backbreaking and not prestigious, only immigrants are ready to work there. The native Americans preferred to have that job where higher education is necessary, such as: doctors, teachers, managers, officials etc. But someone had to handle with agriculture and that was the moment when immigrants from Mexico started arriving. At first they arrived only for the harvest season but then stayed for the time being. During my whole life I have hardly seen several Black, Asian or Slavonic people in my community. Surely they live here but their percentage is so small that it can be neglected compared to the number of white Americans and Mexican people. Speaking about discrimination from the community leaders I can’t but mention that because of the well-conducted policy, there are only short-lived cases of discrimination. Personally I think that the government even cares too much about Mexicans. I believe that it happens because of the America-wide antidiscrimination mood. Now I can surely say that sometimes even white Americans discriminated in favor of Mexican people. Employers, authorities and the officials are afraid of being blamed for racial discrimination. Though, personally I have never been discriminated. But I cannot understand why the immigrants from other countries tend to have more rights and opportunities that I in my native country? The majority of Mexicans in my community are illegal immigrants who are ready to work for small salaries performing hard work. The authorities will never make them leave, until they commit a very serious crime. According to statistics of my community the Mexican immigrants have much harass with the police. Though, the government seems to be caring about their accommodation providing Mexicans financially, introducing some state programs and warning everyone against discrimination. Another ethnic group that can be found in my community is Guatemalans, who are the representatives of the Hispanic ethnicity. Their main source of income for them is gardening, that is considered to be seasonal, and selling the bushes that local design firms acquire. The majority of Guatemalans are an illegal immigrant who can’t open their own account and that is why they either spend all the cash or send it home. Another thing is that Guatemalans have big problems with law, since they are not supposed to steal bushes from private ownership – though it is the easiest way to get a beautiful bush. All in all considering the racial situation in my community I should say that the majority of people from different ethnicities treat each other fine, though there are the cases of ruddiness from both parts. I have once seen the cashier at the supermarket being utterly rude to a Mexican. Although, I am sure there are many cases when immigrants showed disrespect to the native speakers because of their envy to their position in the country. Most of the immigrants do not speak English or they speak poor English. Their children study at school and often translate for their parents. There was such experience in my life when I was walking down the street of my native town, and there was a boy and a young man standing on the corner. They were trying to find out how to get to the shopping centre. They didn’t speak any English and then appeared the younger brother of that boy. I think he was 6 or 7 years old. He fluently asked a passer-by how to get there and translated it to his father. The most part of books, magazines and text-books focuses on lives of such people as I am. I believe that the average citizen of my community is a white American. It can be exemplified by the authorities of my community 99% of whom is white Americans. It means that they will never fight for the rights of other races as violently as this will do a representative, for example, of the Mexican race. The city media presents the stories about people like me and as a rule the national idols are white Americans in their late 20-s. There are only few who can be recognized as those having some racial features. I want to set an example that vividly describes the average citizen of my community. Once there was an ad displayed in the shop-window of one of the shops. A man that was white and looked like an American demonstrated some kitchen facilities and how to operate them. So, the producers didn’t show a Mexican or Asian person there, but a Native American. This signifies that advertisement is also directed on white Americans. In the local TV channels, the newsreaders are all white Americans as well as the anchors of the entertainment program. I am sure that minority interests of my community are represented only in the legislative system. If the authorities had the chance, they would neglect all those rules and regulations because it does not follow their interests, but the interests of the immigrants. Though, they don’t have another choice as only to stick to laws. If I could resolve some inequities in my community I would first of all reduce the number of immigrants, since it brings about all discrimination cases in the community. The thing is that today the number of illegal immigrants in the USA is just overwhelming. The more of them come, the less job opportunities and accommodation is left for Native Americans. When an immigrant has come to the USA he will never leave the opportunity to earn money and not to live making both ends meet. So, there must be a correct foreign policy in order to secure a community from the racial discrimination. As for the improvement of the immigrants’ rights, I believe that out legislation is quite tolerant towards them: they get the financial allowances from the state, they are provided with accommodation. Another thing is that it is necessary to fight against illegal immigration. These people, who don’t have any rights, don’t have any responsibilities either. Because of the problems with the documents they are ready to do any job for a small reward. In other words, especially during the crisis they just take the job from white Americans. This usually causes dissatisfaction of American people and provokes them to demonstrate utter racism. This can be reflected in attitude towards an immigrant in the street, in public transport or in the sphere of services. And this in its turn causes the same aggressive reaction of the immigrants – they have come to a different country and hope to find prosperity and quiet life. Sometimes the lack of money pushes the immigrants to commit crimes that worsen the situation with the crime level. Another thing that I would recommend is to introduce English classes for adults. The racial discrimination can be caused by the defiance of those who do not speak correct English. I believe, that situation at school is to be changed too. There are many pupils who don’t understand English and they cannot take any knowledge from a teacher. The only way out is to hire English/Spanish speaking teachers at least at those classes where immigrants study. To conclude everything stated above I should say that America is a diverse country and everyone must have equal opportunities, but the number of opportunities is limited that is why it is necessary to cut the number of illegal immigrants in order to decrease the level of racial discrimination. LITERATURE 1. Schaefer, R. T., & Lamm, R. P.   (1998).   Sociology.   New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. 2. North Mason Chamber of Commerce Retrieved on 26.10.2010 from http://www.visitkitsap.com/kitsap.asp 3. Bring Back Sheldon, Finn, and Add Newcomer Griffey in the 35th Retrieved from http://www.topix.com/city/belfair-wa/2010/10/bring-back-sheldon-finn-and-add-newcomer-griffey-in-the-35th 26.10.10 Read More