Earned Lost Triumphs of the United States

Discrimination comes in various flavors. A group of people believes it is racial, gender, race-ethnicity, or color. “In the United States, various groups have experienced many forms of discrimination, including ancestral discrimination, sexual discrimination (denial of certain rights to women), religious discrimination, cultural discrimination, age discrimination, discrimination against the disabled (both physically and mentally), and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.” (Jackson, Charles C., Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2017). The recent events show that most people were impacted by racial and religious discrimination.

In a survey in 2018, 44% of men believed that discrimination against women still existed. While 68% of women thought they were being discriminated in the workplace. 90% of the LGBTQ community feel discriminated in society. Despite being progressive on many fronts, these forms of discrimination have plagued the United States for many years. People suffer from different kinds of prejudice in the workplace while using public transportation and at schools and colleges every day which lead them to even attempt suicide in many cases.

Discrimination is a state where a person is being judged or prejudged and treated with unfairness. People suffer from racial discrimination every day. Racial discrimination is where a person is being judged based on their race or ethnicity According to a survey by NBC done in May 2018, 7% of white people were being treated unfairly at public places like restaurants, while the number of Black and Hispanic people being mistreated were 40% and 26% respectively. In another survey held in 2018, 14% of White people were being treated unfairly in the workplace. While 48% of Blacks and 36% of Hispanics were being treated unfairly in the workplace. This kind of behavior comes from cultural ignorance. Most of the time it also results from stereotyping people and assumptions being made by the way they dress or their names. To explain this in detail, I would like to cite an example of a famous Bollywood actor Mr. Shahrukh Khan who has been a sensation in media for being detained by U.S. immigration, not once but quite a few times. It is his name that rings the bell at the U.S immigration every time. This kind of Racial discriminations has caused nuisance in society for many people visiting the country, but discrimination against immigrants have made the newcomer feel in the host country.

Discrimination against immigrants is critical in this society. There are many stories in the news about people suffering from this issue. Immigrants get discriminated in the workplace “experience substantial occupational downgrading when entering the host country’s labor market” (Hirsch and Jahn, 505), in shopping centers, in schools, etc. Apart from the immigrant discrimination though immigrants suffer from various forms of discriminations every day, one of that being gender inequality which still exists in society especially towards women.

Being a woman can be difficult at times. Being a homemaker and raising children has been seen as the primary responsibility of a woman. For example, in most parts of India, girls are still removed from schools and are being taught on how to do “chores” while boys are given more importance with life choices and education. This never gives a girl an opportunity to learn about the world. She is given less importance “get discriminated in society every day” (AminB). In developed countries like U.S. women too face various gender inequality problems like inequality in salary in work cultures. Some women have also reported that they have experienced discrimination at some point in the workplace during their pregnancy and were forced to quit their jobs. In this age where Gender inequality still exists, there are also huge discriminations against the LGBTQ community which makes them feel they are not a part of the society.

Discrimination against LGBTQ refers to when a person is being judged and misunderstood, therefore being treated differently. There are a few states in the United States with no law for the protection for the LGBTQ community, Georgia being one of the states. After our former president, Barack Obama passed a law for same-sex marriage, there are people who think it is outrageous in order for a person to do that. China made it legal in 1997, but India passed the law under section 377 only on in 2018 and the “community seeks acceptance in terms of marriage laws, adoption laws, and more” (Bhattacharya, September 5, 2018). LGBTQ individuals not only get discriminated in public but also in the workplace. Only 30% of companies accept LGBT employees. “Only 20 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have laws expressly prohibiting discrimination in employment because of sexual orientation and gender identity” (Ecker, October 17, 2017). Discrimination against LGBTQ may feel them outcaste in society. Another type of discrimination that makes people feel like outcastes comes from social injustice and is seen mostly as the class discrimination between poor and rich make people not a part of the community.

Class discrimination, in simple words, is described when a person is being judged based on his family background and social class. Companies tend to hire candidates whose family background are as per the societal norms, where the poor, and middle classed people are left jobless most of the time. The 2017s survey in the UK found a “?class pay gap where professionals from working-class backgrounds earn an average of £6,800 less than professionals from higher classes” (Palmer, March 2, 2018). The Republic of Peru built a 10-feet wall to divide richer and poor which clearly is a state of discrimination against richer and poorer. A study has found that children who grew up in poor areas, faced discrimination. Poverty not only exists in the Republic of Peru, but it is common in all seven continents. Needy people do not get equal opportunities like rich and are not skilled workers. The world complains about the poor but never help them.

Furthermore, discrimination against religion is a major problem in the world, especially in the States. Discrimination against religion is when an individual is being judged by their religion. Discrimination against religion is more common in the workplace. Companies have fired employees because of taking leave for a religious holiday. Some managers mock Muslim employees for not eating pork. This weakens the motivation of immigrant employees. In a survey in 2014, “36% of non-Christian workers witnessed or experienced religious non-accommodation in the workplace” (Grim, August 11, 2014). In Tanenbaum’s survey in 2013, half of the women employees feel, Muslims experience discrimination; 48% of white Christians report experience or witness religious bias. In the United States, religious bias is more common than in other countries.

There are a lot of disabled people looking for jobs. They are skilled, hardworking people but companies don’t hire them thinking they will not be able to accomplish all the tasks. “In a survey in 2012 in Ontario, 16.7% of disabled were refused a job interview, 23% of disabled were refused a job, 21.1% of disabled were refused a promotion, and 76.3% of disabled don't have a job” (Figure 17, Ontario, 2012). People without any disability have left disabled unemployed and helpless. Disabled get humiliated in the public every day, but always smile and thank God for giving them something.

Even though the citizens of the country face discrimination, there are a few steps on eliminating discrimination. The first step in dealing with discrimination in society is being tolerant. The best way to be tolerant is to carefully listen to the stories without jumping to conclusions. This way the person for once thinks that he is being heard. One more way to be tolerant is not to say anything. Sometimes it’s better for people to keep quiet when they are violent. This way others feel comforted and more engaging. The less the arguments and debate, the more people engage. Becoming more tolerant allows the person to get out of their zone and make new friends and socialize more. People are different and to remain diverse, it is necessary for an individual to be more accepting and friendly instead of discriminating the other. Another way to deal with discrimination is to educate more people. Educating more people about discrimination spread awareness of the outcomes of discrimination. “Further training in the workplace is considered to raise awareness about discrimination and leaders and to enhance professional relationships between counterparts” (Bobek, Ma?ek, Bradler, Horvat, August 2018). In a survey in 2014, 78% of students at UCLA attempted suicide due to facing discrimination. This happens when people who are literate, think they have the power to do anything. People should be more open-minded and accepting people from different countries, different religions, different race. Discriminators make people feel that they’re the odd ones and don’t belong in society. They purposely make them feel unwanted and different. The best way to eliminate discrimination in our society is to be more tolerant and educate people.

People face different types of discrimination and the statistics keep increasing day by day. The cause of discrimination around the world is ignorance towards other people’s beliefs. There is a lot of people around the world who don’t know what another race, ethnicity or religion is like and because of that ignorance, people try to make stereotypes about different people and don’t try to educate themselves on what their actual beliefs are and that leads to discrimination. Discrimination itself is such a loaded word. But to keep it simple, it is everything that’s against each and every individual’s human rights and dignity. People can create a spectrum from low to high discrimination, but at the end of the day, its discrimination. There are ways to eliminate discrimination: becoming more tolerant, educating people, and stand up for ourselves but not by anger or power but people want to make sure that they are using their freedom of speech and letting others know that discrimination is not the right way to go.

Work Cited

1. Discrimination. By: Jackson, Charles C., Salem Press Encyclopedia, 2017
2. Discrimination in Employment Issues for LGBT Individuals Lori Ecker, October 13, 2017
3. Figure 17. Perception of disability discrimination in the workplace among adults aged 15 and older by disability type and type of discrimination, Ontario, 2012
4. For India's LGBTQ community, scrapping section 377 is the only first step Ananya Bhattacharya, September 5, 2018
5. How to Reduce Discrimination in the Workplace: The Case of Austria and Taiwan (R.O.C.), Bobek, Ma?ek, Bradler, Horvat, August 2018
6. Is social class discrimination a serious problem in the workplace? Kate Palmer Head of advisory at Peninsula, March 2, 2018
7. Is There Monopsonistic Discrimination against Immigrants? Boris Hirsch and Elke J. Jahn
8. ?“‘OPTING OUT’: CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES AND CREATING REAL OPTIONS
9. FOR WOMEN IN THE PROFESSIONS,” ?BY PAMELA STONE, GENDER & WORK: CHALLENGING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM, HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL, 2013.
10. Restless days, Sleepless Nights Ranjana Bharaj 2015 What's my sin? Poem Simin AB
11. Workplace Religious Discrimination Encountered by 1-in-3 Brian J. Grim, August 11, 2014
12. Why Does Shah Rukh Khan Keep Getting Detained by U.S. Immigration?
13. https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2016/08/12/why-does-shah-rukh-khan-keep-getting-detained-by-u-s-immigration/ via @WSJ
14. http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/conferences/2013-w50-research-symposium/Documents/stone.pdf
15. http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/conferences/2013-w50-research-symposium/Documents/stone.pdf

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