Ethnic Groups And Minorities Essay, Research Paper

Ethnic Groups and Minorities

The word minority is a word that is mentioned a lot in our society today. The media use it frequently, and they are using it when they are referring to the blacks, Latinos, and Jews in our society. They are labeled into groups like ethnic groups or minorities. The word minority means something small. The majority of people in this country consist of whites, Caucasians. But to me the word minority when referred to people has a negative sound. It sounds a little like the people labeled into these groups are not worth as much as the majority and are considered a bit different than the rest. I also think that a lot of those people don’t like to be referred as a minority. Why they still use this word so often is hard to say. But people usually like to categorize people into groups so it will be easier to identify them.

Actually minority groups founded this nation. The religious groups who felt the pressure of persecution in their homelands came here to begin new lives, and eventually a new nation. The ethnic groups that came in a great flood of immigrants came to escape the economic oppression of their homelands. We must not also forget the true Americans, the American Indians. They are also referred as a minority even though they are the first inhabitants of this continent and the real Americans. But the US has improved a lot in the way the minorities are treated today. The US is really a role model of how people of different races and backgrounds can live together. It was only about twenty-five years ago riots occurred across the nation with angry Blacks clashing with the police because of the unfair treatment they were getting in this country. Now they can be found as mayors, governors, and judges. They hold positions of authority in almost every segment of our country. The Mexicans are hardworking people, and are often the ones that take the jobs that are least wanted at pay the least money. The US as a nation by and large has indeed accepted minorities into the fold of this culture, particularly when those minorities have done much to earn our respect.

I wonder if whites are ever referred as minority even though they are the smallest group in a nation. South Africa is one good example of that. But we have to remember than the people that usually fall into that group are ? of the world’s population. So if we look at it in the perspective of the whole world, the whites should be labeled as a minority.

I think, and believe, that people should be treated equally. I also believe that people shouldn’t be judged for the color of their skin or before you get to know them. We have to judge a person based on his actions and his personality. That’s why it’s very important that we don’t categorize into categories. If we do that, we will assume that all the people in that category are all the same, and that could be very bad; especially, when you have had a bad experience that you draw your conclusion from. We cannot end discrimination by continuing to practice it. Most importantly, we cannot achieve a colorblind 21st century unless we eliminate racial categorizing in every part of our society.