Final Essay

Submitted By odom1977
Words: 1467
Pages: 6

Final Paper
Virginia Williams
ETH/ 125
September 23, 2012
Dr. Deatra Riley

Final Paper

I think that this class has caused me to realize that the United States has come a long way and still has a long way to go to end prejudice and discrimination. I think that the information about diversity located here in the United States has helped me to see that the laws need to be change so that they are clearer and be made so that they are capable of being enforced in all situations. I did not realize that the laws about people with disabilities where so lax and vague, the law states that a building has to be accessible by the handicapped but the law does not state how that needs to be done and to what extent to cater to which handicapped people.
I think the thing that I learned about my racial group is that we are the prominent group that discriminates against other groups. Throughout history the white race has found groups to discriminate against such as: Native Americans, African- Americans, Irish, Jewish, Germans, Japanese, and Mexicans. It seems to me that we are always looking for a new group to discriminate against. Right now it seems like we want to find reasons to discriminate against the Mexicans, Muslims, Gays and Lesbians. I think that we need to be open minded enough to realize that a person is a human being no matter what they believe or where they are from. I think that we need to realize that not all people are good and not all are bad.
I think that the United States population will be a blur of the races by 2050. The reason that I feel this way is because there is a lot of multi- cultured people and the races are intermarrying. I think that by 2050 we will have to change the race categories on the census records and the way that we judge race. Hopefully by then the discrimination and prejudice will be gone so that we can live in a society where all people are equal and proud of their heritage.
Some of the challenges that the United States faces with such a diverse population is language barriers, and the misunderstanding of others cultures. With the language barriers it can be hard to communicate with others of different cultures. Schools have to have English as a second language classes that teach the students in their native language and in English. Some of the benefits of having such a diverse population are that we can learn about other cultures through firsthand experience rather than just reading about them.
We can foster a climate of acceptance and cultural pluralism in the United States by remaining open minded and stop judging a person until we get to know them. I think the movie Remember the Titans taught us a couple of things about discrimination. This movie is based on the real life events that happened in Alexandria, Virginia in 1971 when they integrated a school called T.C. Williams. The movie is about the football team that year and how they overcame discrimination and prejudice in the team. Coach Bill Yoast told the football team, “You’ve taught this city how to trust the soul of a man rather than the look of him.” I think that those are some excellent words to live by. I also think that a lot of times we discriminate against things that we are not knowledgeable about and that makes us afraid of those people. To quote Remember the Titans again Gerry Bertier tells Julius Campbell, “I was afraid of you Julius, I only saw what I was afraid of. And now I know I was only hating my brother.” I think that when you discriminate against people you are missing the opportunity to make a new friend that could last a lifetime.
I think that the media plays a big part in stereotyping and prejudice by the way that they run their articles. I know that our local newspaper seems to run their articles that way. We often see articles in the paper like this: BLACK MAN ROBS STORE and White Man Robs Store. I personally feel that all the articles should be run in the same type set. I think that by