Everyone has experienced discrimination in some form or another. Despite our new open-minded society, I believe each person should be treated equally despite race, sex, and socioeconomic class. Because of my personal experience with discrimination, I have seen injustice up close. In addition to my own experience, I have done and provided research about inequality in America. Even if you have not experienced discrimination yourself, I’m sure you have witnessed it in some way that affected you.
One of, if not the most prevalent forms of injustice is in regards to race. Racism runs rampant in America, despite some saying it does not exist. According to Penn State’s Presidential Leadership Academy, there are three forms of racism – institutionalized, mediated, and internalized. Institutionalized racism is structured into a company or government. Mediated racism is the most common form it is essentially racial stereotyping, and internalized racism is when a person of a certain race begins to believe the racist ideas said to them. Because of institutionalized and mediated racism, internalized racism runs rampant in America, causing people to avoid opportunity and miss out on life. America has made enormous strides in dispelling racism and sexism, however, we have been doing a bit of backsliding.
Another prevalent form of injustice is sex. America has been growing more open-minded and more accepting of equal opportunity for male and female. However, we still have a lot of work to do. A study done by the Technical and Vocational Education Initiative (TVEI) found that boys and girls were receiving completely different training and vocational preparation for the same jobs. If we, as a country, believe in equality, why are we training our girls differently than male students? We claim to be “equal opportunity employers”, but it is clear not everyone is given equal opportunity.
Socioeconomic class discrimination is a form of injustice that is rarely talked about. Most people don’t think about socioeconomic class discrimination, but it is very much alive in our country. I myself have experienced inequality based on class, and it is truly disgusting. I went to high school with a Hispanic girl who was extremely intelligent, took all AP classes, and worked three jobs to help provide for her six younger siblings and hospitalized father. One of my ex-friends talked about how this girl was poor and wasn’t going to go far in life, and what he said spread like wildfire. Inevitably she found out, resulting in a loss of confidence and self-esteem. This is just one example of how someone’s egotism can destroy someone’s self-esteem.
It is important to treat others equally because everyone has feelings and they can break the same no matter what kind of person they may be. Treating people equally shows respect. It shows that you are one to stand up. I believe that it is important to treat everyone equally because no one is better than any other individual, and we should treat others with the same respect and courtesy as we would want to be treated with. The more we shut down racism, sexism, and socioeconomic discrimination in our life, the faster our country will develop into the example of equality we’ve all been hoping for.