Michelle

AmericaTheLandofInequality

WhatisAmericamadeupofnow?Hasitfinallyreacheditspotentialofbecomingthe
mostsuccessfulcountryintheworld?Peopletendtosayyes,butcanweactuallyconfirmthis.
ForaslongasIcanrememberAmericahasalwaysbeeninadeepfinancialcrisis.Manypeople
havebeenindebtforawhilenow,andmorethaneverpeoplehavebeenbelowthepovertyline.
Roughly10%ofwhiteAmericans,21%ofLatinos,and25%ofblacksarebelowtheofficial
povertyline(Colombo,Cullen,andLisle254).Ethnicminoritieshavealwayshadabigger
chanceofbeingpoor.Sowhyhasoursocialclassbeensetupthatthewealthyarestillgettingtax
cutsandnothelpingoutthepoorasmuchastheyshould.Oursocialsystemmakesitawholelot
worseforminorities.Thissystemhasblindedmanypeopleintobelievingthatthesocialclasswe
haveissetupright.Furthermore,docompaniesreallycareaboutifanAfricanAmericanis
discriminated?Thishasreallyaffectedfindingemploymentformany.Companiesfocuson
receivingmoney,theydonotcareforwhoishiredorfired.Thishadmadeitalmostimpossible
forsometofindajob.ThecombinationofsocialandracialinequalityinAmericaprevents
minoritiesorpeopleorlowerclasstocreatealifetheydreamof.

Firstoff,Americasbalanceinmoneyisnothowitshouldbe.Itisunfairforthebigger
percentagewhichisthepoor.Therichpeoplecontrolmoreandgetmoreshares.Thereisway

toomanypeopleexistingunderthepovertylineandtheUnitedStatesisnotdoinganything
aboutit.Startinginthelate1900sthefinancialsituationhasbeenverybad.Nowithasgotten
evenworse,eventhoughyouwouldthinkitwouldimprove.In2006,GregoryMantsios,director
oftheJosephS.MurphyinstituteforworkereducationandlaborstudiesatQueensCollegeof
thecityUniversityofNewYorkwrotetheessay,ClassinAmerica.Mantisosreportsthat,The
wealthiest1percentoftheAmericanpopulationholds34percentofthetotalnationalwealth.
Therichest20percentoftheAmericansholdnearly85percentofthetotalhouseholdwealthin
thecountry(307).Thisisanenormousincomegapbetweentherichandthepoor.Itseemsasif
thericharegettingricherandthepoorgettingpoorer.Inaddition,theotherendofthisspectrum
arethelessfortunate,approximately13%oftheAmericanpopulationthatis,nearlyoneof
everyeightpeopleinthiscountrythatlivebelowthepovertyline(307).Withthesekindof
statisticsitisveryhardtosaythateveryonehasanequalopportunity.
Classbackgrounddetermineswhatsomeonecanaccomplishintheirlife.Intheessayby
Mantsios,explainshowtheclassyou'reinplaysabigpartinsuccess.InAmericathereisno
suchthingasunity,everyonehastobeseparatedintosomeclass.(Mantsios304)Intheessay
hementions,Classdominationisoneoftheseforces.Peopledonotchoosetobepooror
workingclassinsteadtheyarelimitedandconfinedbytheopportunitiesaffordedordeniedthem
byasocialandeconomicsystem(316).ClassinAmericaisverydiverse.Becausepeople
cannotchoosetheirclass,manyhavebecomepoorandarestrugglingtokeepupinthissociety.
Thisjustdoesnotseemfairthatonegrouphassomuchmoneyandtheywon'tdoanythingto
help.Classbackgroundsareahugefactorthatimpactyourchanceatsuccess.Thatiswhythe
richprosperinsuccess,whilethepoorcontinuetosuffer.

Americaisknownasahugemeltingpot,therearemanydifferentraces.Americahas
becomeaverydiversecountry.ManyhaveimmigratedtoAmericaliketheauthorofLetters
fromAnAmericanFarmer,JeandeCrevecoeur.Inhislettershementionshowmuchdifferent
AmericaisthanEurope.Hesaysthatanyonecanbesuccessful.Bythishedoesnotmean
everyonethoughbecausehestates,TheyareamixtureofEnglish,Scotch,Irish,French,Dutch,
German,andSwedes(Crevecoeur30).Alltheseethnicitiesnamedoffaremainlythewhites.
Thesearethegroupsofpeoplethatwouldhaveopportunitieshere.Sowhatabouttheother
races?Theywerenotthoughtofaspeopletheywereknownasslavesbecauseoftheircolor.This
bringsmetohowAfricanAmericansarenotgoodenoughtobeseenasahumanbeingintodays
society.HarlonL.DaltonaprofessoratYaleLawSchool,andhasservedontheboardforthe
AmericanCivilLibertiesUnion.Theessayhewrote,HoratioAlger,focusesonhowtheragsto
richesmythcanhidecertainaspectslikeraceandclass.Thefollowingquotecomesfromhis
book,RacialHealing:ConfrontingtheFearbetweenBlacksandWhites.Daltonmentionshow
whitefolkshavethetendencytojudgesuccessfulblackpeopleonlyinrelationtoeachother
ratherthanagainstallcomers(Dalton273).Whitesthinksomuchmoreofthemselvestheyfeel
asiftheyareonadifferentlevelthantheblacksandcannotbelabeledthesame.Theybelieve
theyarelesshardworkingandlessintelligent.Evenjustbasedontheirlookssomewill
discriminate.Thisisdiscriminatingandwhyracialinequalityisstillgoingon.Furthermore,he
goesontosaythestoryaboutStephanCarter.Carterreceivedthesecondhighestscoreinhis
highschoolfortheNationalMeritScholarshiptest,butwasnotseenasoneofthebeststudents,
butonlyasthebestBlack(273).Thisisonlybecausewhitesbelievedthatblacksareso
differentfromeveryoneelse.Theythinktheyshouldbetheirown,asintheirowngroup.

Somebodythatthinkslessoftheblacks,believesinmorethanstereotypes.Theythinkthey
shouldnevergetaworthyjobandthishurtswayspeoplegetemployment.Thiscomestothe
conclusionthatpeoplethattrytogofindjobshaveahardertimewhentheyareadifferentrace.
IfacompanyhadtochoosebetweenanAfricanAmericanandaCaucasus,theCaucasuswill
havethejob.Whitepeoplearebelievedtobelongonahigherlevel.Theyusethistotheir
advantage.Especiallywhenitcomestofindingemployment.Peoplesurvivedependingonwhat
theirincomeis.Thebetterthejobtheybettersomeonewillbedoing.Itisalotmoreofa
challengeforblackstorisefrompovertybecausethewayAmericaholdsthemdown.Theracial
barrierislimitingpeopleonreachingtheirdream.Thisiswhyracialinequalityisstillapartof
thiscountryandhavenotgreatlychangedoverthepastdecade.
Thisisnotonlytrueforblacksthattheyaretheonlyonesgettingdiscriminatedagainst,
butalsoforwomen.Theyalsohavetheopportunitytohaveabetterstandardinliving,butin
manycasesareputdown.Usuallyemployersaremenandtheyinitiatethemselvesasbetterand
morecapableofeverything,butthisshouldnotbethecase.Theyarenotanybetterorsuperiorto
therest.Sowhatwouldablackwomanhavetosayaboutthis?Notonlyisithardertomakea
lifebecausesheisblack,butnowitisevenworsebecausesheisawoman.Fromthebook,Race,
Class,andGenderintheUnitedStates:AnIntegratedStudy,Mantisosstates,Ifyouareblack
andafemale,forexample,youaremuchmorelikelytobepoororworkingclassthenyouwould
beasawhitemale(Mantsios317).Manybelievethatwomenaredumberthanmenandthats
whytheyarelessofthemtobehired,butthisinanysensedoesnotmakesense.Genderdoesnot
qualifyhowsmartsomeonemaybe.HelaterfollowsthiswithastatisticfromtheU.S.Census:
familieswithablackfemaleheadhavea1in3chanceofbeingpoorinAmerica,contrasting

witha1in10chanceinfamilieswithawhitemalehead.(317)Thesediscriminatoryvaluesis
whyweseemanyminoritiesandwomeninpoverty.Theyarenotpaidasmuchatthesamejob
asmenaredoing.Someareevendeniedtoworkatthesehigherpayingjobsformen.
Discriminationisveryhardtogetridof.ItishasalwaysbeenapartofAmericaandeversince
thenitneverwentaway.
Inconclusion,racismhasbeenpartoftheUnitedStatesforaverylongtime.Forthepast
50yearsithasbeenabigdeal,butslowlyhaddiminishedovertime.Knowingthatthisisahuge
conceptthatwillnevergoawayissad,butwehavetocometoacceptthat.Americahas
accomplishednumeroussuccessions,especiallywhenitcomestoracism.Discriminationhas
becomeveryimportant.Ithasbeenshowingupmoreinbooksandmoviesandhasbecomea
hugetopicofconversation.NolongerdowehaveslaveryinAmerica,butthatdoesnotmean
thatwedonothaveracialdiscrimination.Eventhoughnoonewantstoviewasracismbeinga
problemwithsocialclass,itstillhappens.Weallknowofthoseprivatecompaniesthatwillbe
verydiscriminatoryandofferwomenandmendifferentpayingsalariesfordoingthesamejobs
thatisjustruthlessandunnecessaryandshouldhavesomethingdoneaboutit.Womenare
lookeduponandseenassomeonewhocannotaccomplishmuch.Thisshouldnotbethecase
becausetheycanbejustaspromisingasmen,ifnotbetter.LivinginAmericawecanseeallof
thisisagreatdeal,butitisnottheideallivingsituationandthereshouldbesomethingdone
aboutit.