Discrimination and Prejudice in America
The video presents several historical examples of discrimination in the American culture in the 19th and 20th centuries. Despite America being a nation of numerous cultures, the whites demonstated their dominance and control over other cultures. Gradually, the dominance and control turned into hate, prejudice, and discrimination. Indians were disarmed, their women and children were killed by whites. Chinese Americans also faced a harsh American attitude where they worked in poor conditions with most of them working for below a dollar a day. They were also forced to work in intense heat and at times, in intense cold. The video highlights the murder of several Chinese in Seattle in 1885 by whites. Although it had the responsibility of addressing the increasing discrimination and prejudice, the Congress worsened the situation by passing an Immigration Act that stated that people of Chinese origin could not become the citizens of the Unites States. Moreover, the video gives an insight into how Japanese denied rights as Americans and were incapable of buying homes despite their significant contribution to American agriculture.
There are several contemporary examples that parallel the instances highlighted in the video. Nowadays, Muslim Americans face extreme discrimination and prejudice with the Trump administration promoting the enactment of laws to prevent their entry into the U.S. or attainment of U.S. citizenship. Recently, there was an outcry when the Trump administration implemented a policy where Muslims from specific Middle East nations could not access the U.S. This policy showed the persecution and discrimination of Muslims in the U.S. with the natives linking them to terrorism, which is the reason behind the Trump’s administration’s decision to keep them off the U.S.
Mexican Americans too are on the receiving end of discrimination and prejudice. During his campaigns, the current U.S. president vowed to deport Mexican Americans and even build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Nowadays, the whites strongly believe that Mexican Americans are connected to drug trafficking, which seems to be one of the greatest menaces to contemporary American society. As such, people of Mexican origin have faced harsh conditions when it comes to the employment context and lack access to education and proper housing like other Americans (Marger, 2014).
Another group that faces extreme discrimination and prejudice in American today are African Americans. Research indicates that African Americans face more police harassment and unnecessary killings in comparison to other races or cultures. Reports suggest that only in 2015 police and other law enforcement agencies killed at least 102 unarmed black people nearly twice a week. One of 3 black people killed by police officers in 2015 was identified as unarmed although the actual number is probably higher. Out of the total number of unarmed people killed by police in 2015, 37 percent were black, and this is despite the blacks being only 13 percent of the American population. Other than the unnecessary killings and police harassment, African Americans lack access to education and proper access to housing as the whites (Marger, 2014), which highlights a continuation of discrimination and prejudice in American culture today.
From the above examples of discrimination and prejudice, it is evident that the clashes among cultures within the larger American culture are triggered by the factors of inequality and intolerance. Intolerance towards Muslim and Mexican Americans is a primary cause of the clash between them and the natives or whites. On the other hand, inequality is a main purpose of clashes between African Americans and whites paving the way for prejudice and discrimination against the first ones (Marger, 2014).
Reference
Marger, M. N. (2014). Race and ethnic relations: American and global perspectives. Australia: Wadsworth Publishing.