The United States of America is universally recognized as a country of unlimited opportunities and democracy. To a great extent, it is really so since America is a democratic state that can be characterized by multiculturalism. It means that America is open for people of various descents; a lot of people think that the USA can give an opportunity to realize their intellectual potential, to achieve financial and psychological stability and independence. However, such a problem as discrimination is topical in American society nowadays. A broad definition of “discrimination” as offered by Whitley and Kite is “treating people differently from others based primarily on membership in a social group” (8). The present paper is devoted to a narrower notion of discrimination; it is discrimination in America that has an evident ethnical bias, it is discrimination against foreigners.
Due to the development of democratic societies, among which, America is the leading one, the keen interest and attempts to eliminate all kinds of discrimination have become evident. Nowadays, news blocks and newspapers abound in wrathful messages about discrimination at the workplace, age discrimination, and discrimination on the basis of sexual preference. However, according to official data provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a great number of legal immigrants arrive in the USA every year. For instance, the number of new arrivals with the status of a legal permanent resident in 2008 exceeded four hundred fifty thousand people. A lot of these people suffer from discrimination based on nationality and ethnicity.
Every adult has to earn his/her living to provide for his/her family and ensure financial stability. Thus, the issue of ethnic discrimination in employment is a problem of vital importance. Not to make unsubstantiated statements, let us resort to an official source. Craig has devoted his whole volume of International Studies in Human Rights to the ethnical problems of immigrants concerning employment in America. Numerous examples are taken from real-life show seriousness of prejudiced attitude towards foreigners as employees (Craig 15).
On resorting to official sources, it is necessary to mention my own experience since I have been living in the USA for five years already and the country I was born in is Ukraine. On the whole, American people demonstrate a friendly and unbiased attitude towards me and I have a number of examples of assistance and understanding of Americans I associate with. However, a certain deplorable occurrence has contributed to my understanding of discrimination in the USA.
In brief, my own case of discrimination was as follows: I was arrested based on a conflict with two racially prejudiced people. It is evident, that there are haters who despise people just because they come from other countries. Still, the worst part of my own experience was that I confronted the racial bias of the police and the judge who were legal representatives of the state. This means that the problem of discrimination against foreigners exists not only among common citizens of America but on certain state levels as well.
Concluding, it is possible to state that democratic policy has proved to be effective in American society. Its aim to make people equal is honorable. However, the definition of discrimination should be paraphrased. Due to a great number of people who happen to live in America because of different reasons, it is necessary to include discrimination of immigrants in the existing definition of discrimination. Along with such forms as racial, sexual, and age discrimination, negatively biased attitude to foreigners should be eliminated in America.
Works Cited
Craig, Ronald. L. Systemic Discrimination in Employment and the Promotion of Ethnic Equality. Leiden: Martin Nijhoff Publishers, 2007.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Profiles on Legal Permanent Residents: 2008.
Whitley, Bernard E., and Mary E. Kite. The Psychology of Prejudice and Discrimination. USA: Thompson Wadsworth, 2006.