Writer’s choice

Scenario: You are journaling with a friend who has never spent time in the United States but plans to come to live. Your friend has expressed curiosity and concern about some of the challenging diversity issues facing the United States. You have decided to write a journal entry to describe some aspects of what your friend can expect.

Identify three problematic diversity issues to discuss in your journal entry (race, class, gender, sexuality, religion, age, language, disability). Select different issues than those you’ve addressed in the previous weeks of this course.

Write a journal entry that addresses each of the three diversity issues you’ve identified. Each diversity issue should be addressed in 175 to 225 words. To craft your journal entry, consider what you’ve learned in this course and observed in your life, and address the following:
Where in America would the person moving here likely see or experience each issue (workplace, education institutions, armed forces, sports, religious organizations/institutions, families, politics/government, entertainment/media, justice system, health care, etc.)?
What are the causes of each issue? From your perspective, why did each become an issue, and why does each issue continue to exist?
What is at least one effect of each issue on the U.S. as a country and its citizens individually?
In your opinion, what are possible strategies and solutions for overcoming these issues today and in the future? Discuss what the person moving to the U.S. might do to be a part of the solution.

Diversity Issues in the United States

Diversity Issues in the United States

Various diversity issues continue to plague society in the United States. Racial or ethnic profiling has been a longstanding and troubling problem in the United States, despite assertions and claims that the country is currently in a post-racial era. Racial profiling continues occurring in towns and cities across the country, especially when private security and law enforcement personnel target people of color for frightening and humiliating interrogations, checks, searches, and detentions without any evidence of criminal activity (Romero, 2006). In most regions of the country, traffic stops and searches are biased and people of color subjected to unnecessary searches and use of force during such instances.

Some regions where this is common include Arizona, Northern and Southern California, Illinois, Georgia, and Arkansas (The American Civil Liberties Union and the Rights Working Group, 2007). Racial profiling alienates immigrant communities from law enforcement, causes law enforcement agencies to lose credibility and trust from people, and makes community policing efforts difficult. The major cause of racial profiling is ingrained racism which occurs in various national and state departments, including the Criminal Justice System and the Public Service Authorities. The problem can only be resolved through education and training to eliminate the racism that continues to eat up the American society.

Social inequality is another problem that immigrants face in the United States today. Immigrants’ social class, social status, and social circle is limited or harmed by various processes and systems in American society. Some of the areas that you may experience social inequality during your stay in the country include freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, access to voting rights, access to education, access to healthcare, access to quality housing, the extent of property rights, access to traveling and transportation, and access to social services and goods. Social inequality is also evident in the quality of occupation, job satisfaction, and neighborhood life, as well as access to credit facilities (Doob, 2015).

As with racial profiling, social inequality is mostly caused by racism and discrimination that occurs in most systems and facilities. Organizations and institutions discriminate people of color when offerings services and even when selecting employees and developing payment packages. It is also caused by the low literacy levels and lack of training that mostly occurs amongst the immigrant population. Social inequality can only be minimized through training people and executives on the negative effects of racism and discrimination. Improving access to education and training for the immigrant population will also equip citizens with the necessary skills for employability.

Stereotypes are another diversity problem that you may experience in the country. While a lot of work and improvement has been witnessed in the country, especially in the workplace, a lot is yet to change about stereotypes and preconceived notions in American society. Stereotypes still exist in society, with people of color mostly suffering from negative stereotypes and even outright prejudice (Patrick & Kumar, 2012). While some stereotypes, such as an Asian being expected to be good at calculations, may be harmless, others result in negative notions, such as the stereotype that all people of color are illegal immigrants. As with racial profiling, stereotypes often result in social tension and poor relationships amongst coworkers and members of society. Stereotypes can only be dealt with through civic education and training employees on the negative effects of stereotypes attached to ethnicity or race.

References

Doob, C. (2015). Social inequality and social stratification in US society. Routledge.

Patrick, H. A., & Kumar, V. R. (2012). Managing workplace diversity: Issues and challenges. Sage Open, 2(2), 2158244012444615.

Romero, M. (2006). Racial profiling and immigration law enforcement: Rounding up of usual suspects in the Latino community. Critical Sociology, 32(2-3), 447-473.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Rights Working Group. (2007, December 10). The Persistence Of Racial And Ethnic Profiling In The United States. https://www.aclu.org/report/persistence-racial-and-ethnic-profiling-united-states