Social Inequity

Topic: Social inequity due to racism

Source: "Racism Statistics." The Council for Human Rights. N.p., 2012. Web. 06 May 2013.

Description: The article from the Council of Human Rights describes different statistics that determine a variety of acts committed by certain ethnicity groups in America. For example, "Blacks and Hispanics remained approximately 3 times as likely to be poor as whites in 2001" (Race, Ethnicity, and Economic Well-Being). It also describes that of the 7, 722 hate crime incidents reported to the FBI in 2006, 2,640 were anti-black related (1). The article continues to describe statistics like these with comparisons of the Hispanic, African-American, and White population. 

Analysis: The idea of racism still occurring in America sickens me. I do not classify people by skin color, hair color, financial income, or anything else that is mainly uncontrollable, I base my opinions on people based off of how they treat other people. I believe heritage has something to do with the make-up of a person; not to mistake that with defining an individual, just that it helps develop certain traditions and morals, just like the culture that an individual grows up in. These statistics are very heart-breaking, because it shows the lack of equality in America in numbers. The African-American and Hispanic populations in America have hardships that are very difficult to face, such as not being able to get an education as easily as a white individual, or that they experience more food and housing hardships versus the white population as well. But what I found most interesting is that no article I looked up on statistics of social inequity in America did it list the hardships any other races experience, in my case being an Arab. Ever since 9/11, the Arab population has been frowned upon by so many, and now has an extremely low reputation to some individuals. Last November, I was taking the Greyhound from Los Angeles to Santa Cruz by myself (the express bus that takes off at around 11pm). I sat down on the bus, and immediately the man sitting across from me stands up and makes yells, "SHE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED ON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, BECAUSE WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT SHE IS GOING TO BLOW UP NEXT. GET HER OFF THIS BUS!" I was very much offended and saddened by this man's harsh words, but the only person that ended up defending me was the bus driver. The man later got arrested for threatening to kill me, but it was shocking that not a single person on that bus stood up for me. This is obviously not just because I'm an Arab (or hopefully not!), but the idea that individuals do not have the courage to speak up for themselves in order to defend another individual's sense of equality is degrading to everyone. America has worked so hard to become a country of acceptance and equality, yet people are so terrified of being confident enough to speak up. I believe this is a responsibility of everyone in America, to defend each other's equality and freedom, and I firmly believe that our country will be a more confident and safe place. But if this country keeps letting race get in the way of progression, our society is going to fall backwards.