African Americans
Discussing racial questions and the issue of racial discrimination, people are inclined to associate these problems with ‘black’ and ‘white’ races. This association is a result of significant historical and social processes. Thus, African Americans constitute one of the oldest and largest minority groups in the USA. The representatives of this ethnic minority experienced any kind of discrimination within American society during a long period.
Definite contemporary racial issues can be regulated with the help of the government’s actions, but there are a lot of indirect demonstrations of the racial discrimination developed among the representatives of different races. Despite the government’s attempts to regulate the racial question, the problem of race and racial discrimination about African Americans is still urgent in the USA.
The racial question has a significant historical background. People are always inclined to compare and contrast themselves with each other. Significant differences in the physical appearances and certain intentions of the authorities can result in discussing the ‘other’ people as backward or ‘lower sort’ persons. The first African Americans came to the country as slaves, and the problem is in the fact the consequences of slavery are still present within the American society.
Although modern African Americans assimilated significantly and their cultural identity is more correlated with the American one than with the African roots, the issue of race is still influential. The differences in skin color and associated stereotypes based on the slavery background are the causes for the further development of racial discrimination within the country.
African Americans are discriminated in social life because of their skin color and developed stereotypes according to the role of ‘blacks’ in society. Thus, the race is always a significant factor for the black-skinned persons. Some people can state that the issue of racial discrimination is not observed today. However, the historical facts support the idea that racial discrimination of the African Americans was not ceased with abolishing slavery, and the right movements of the second half of the 20th century accentuate the fact that the problem remains to be urgent for a long period.
Moreover, the current debates on the affirmative action can be also discussed as evidence to support the statement that racial discrimination exists in the modern American society. The question of racial discrimination can be discussed from different perspectives, and various priorities can be determined, but definite social tensions and active discussions in the media provide evidence that the problem is not resolved.
Thus, the race is still a significant factor which can influence the development of the persons’ social relations and determine the aspects of their life. Despite the fact the USA is the multinational country for which the process of immigration and its results in forming definite minority groups is typical, the issues of race and ethnicity are not resolved successfully. When the government tries to operate racial issues with the help of such programs as affirmative action directly, indirect discrimination about the African Americans which based on prejudice can be regarded as a controversial issue. It is also possible to state that the development of the racial question affected the African Americans’ low social positions.
Latino Americans
The number of immigrants from the countries of Latin America constantly grows, and the current tendency supports the idea that immigration will be even more intensive in the future. If several years ago the active immigration to the USA was predominately from Mexico, today the situation changes, and many Latinos from different regions of the Latin America come to the USA in search of a better life. Being the minority group in a multinational country, Latino Americans are challenged by the developed prejudice associated with the immigration processes and by definite ethnic questions connected with the notions of ethnicity in the general and the ethnical identity of Latinos.
The large wave of immigrants from the Latin America could be observed during the second half of the 20th century. Today, the immigration of Latinos to the USA is also intensive. That is why, the majority of immigrants face the problem of prejudice directed toward their ethnic roots and intentions. Some persons who discuss the migration process associated with the Latin Americans from the radically negative perspective state that immigrants are the real threat to the national identity of the Americans and the social and economic stability of the country. The main arguments are based on the illegal status of the majority of immigrants from the Latin America.
However, the real situation is rather opposite because taking the current social positions, Latinos cannot influence the progress of American society significantly and break its economic stability. Latinos in American society suffers from a kind of prejudice influenced by the public attitude to the immigration processes. Thus, the prejudice is in the fact the Latin Americans are often discussed as the threat for preserving the basics of the American national identity and social stability.
However, the Latin Americans are inclined to suffer from the other conflicts related to their ethnicity and identity along with experiencing the developed prejudice which is rather typical for the representatives of the ‘white’ majority. The problem of ethnicity is based on the fact that the race and ethnic group of many Latinos cannot be easily determined with references to physical appearance. Many Latinos are inclined to discuss themselves as ‘black’ and ‘white’ or ‘rather black’ and ‘rather white’. Furthermore, the problem of ethnicity is closely associated with the tendency to preserve cultural identity or develop the bi-cultural identity.
Despite the fact a lot of Latin Americans identify themselves as the representatives of the large or pan-ethnic Latino group, some Latinos try to preserve their cultural and ethnic identity as a kind of resisting the assimilation processes. The concentration of Latinos on their ethnic background and preserving identity can be also discussed as the reason for the ‘white’ Americans to see the threat in the emigration from Latin America.
The progress of the Latinos’ minority group in the USA is closely associated with the migration processes, especially with illegal work migrations. That is why, the prejudice against the Latin Americans is based on the stereotypes regarding the immigrants. The intensity of immigration is discussed as threatening, and as a result, many Latinos are discriminated against. Furthermore, the Latin Americans are inclined to assimilate within the US society only partially, preserving the aspects of their ethnical identity and characteristic features of their cultural identity.
