Nicole Schafer
The Paw Print
One of the biggest problems schools all around the country are trying to target is bullying. In elementary school it is merely referred to as bullying but as the children age and go into higher education, its name morphs into harassment and discrimination. Many laws in the United States prevents the discrimination against those of different races, gender, sexual orientation, religious views and so on, but to say that these laws are doing their job might be an understatement. One of the biggest controversial subjects regarding discrimination and bullying is that of Richie Incognito. Allegedly he was using racial slurs in an open locker room which were directed towards Jonathan Martin. He has been suspended from the Miami Dolphins. This incident took place among professionals, whom must sustain the high expectations that the public hold. Now, if bullying and discrimination can happen in the professional world with millions of people watching, what makes an individual believe that is doesn’t happen every single day in schools and other professional workplaces? Another form of discrimination happens every day in every city: Racial profiling. Every single day, police officers are on the lookout for criminals and as the stereotypes go; they search for Mexicans and African Americans especially around the border. Many police officers admit to racial profiling saying that it would be very difficult to catch criminals if they didn’t profile and that it comes with the job. Some important facts to know about discrimination:
African-Americans comprise 13 percent of the U.S. population and 14 percent of the monthly drug users, but 37 percent of the people arrested for drug-related offenses in America.
Studies show that police are much more likely to pull over and frisk blacks or Latinos than whites. In New York City, 80 percent of the stops made by the NYPD were blacks and Latinos, and 85 percent of those people were frisked, compared to a mere 8 percent of the white people stopped.
After being arrested, blacks are 33 percent more likely than whites to be detained while facing a felony trial in New York.
In 2010, the U.S. Sentencing Commission reported that blacks receive 10 percent longer sentences than whites through the federal system for the same crimes.
African-Americans are 21 percent more likely than whites to receive mandatory minimum sentences and 20 percent more likely to be sentenced to prison than white drug defendants.
In a 2009 report, two-thirds of the criminals receiving life sentences were non-whites. In New York, it is 83 percent.
Blacks make up 57 percent of the people in state prisons for drug offenses.
The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics concluded that a black male born in 2001 had a 32 percent chance of going to jail in his lifetime, while a Latino male has a 17 percent chance, and a white male only 6 percent.
In 2012, 51 percent of Americans expressed anti-black sentiments in a poll; a 3 percent increase from 2008.
A survey in 2011 revealed that 52 percent of non-Hispanic whites expressed anti-Hispanic attitudes.
Reports show that nearly 50 percent of Americans under 18 are minorities, but 80 percent of retirees are white. The trend projects a reversal in the population where by 2030, the majority of under 18s will be of color, and by 2042 nonwhites will be the majority of the U.S. population.
Another controversial subject that is discussed every day in regards to discrimination is gay marriage. Many homosexuals believe that they are being discriminated against because they aren’t granted the right to simply get married.
Discrimination, bullying, harassment is all around us and it happens every day. Our actions, our words are undeniable at one point could be taken as discrimination.
Fellow African Americans call each other the N word whenever they see each other, but if a white man were to say the N word when encountering an African American friend, it would be taken as harassment. In the professional world, women are still getting paid about 76 cents to the man’s dollar. This is a very real problem in today’s society and it is not being dealt with properly. America is supposed to be the land of the free, free of discrimination and persecution, yet it happens every day. Hopefully as a nation, America can bring justice to those being discriminated against and finally create a society in which we can truly have a free country.
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