From what I have heard from the news, immigration is a big problem in the U.S. According to statistics, there were 10.5 million illegal immigrants in 2005, with this number still growing. I have learned that immigrants are coming into our country and "stealing" jobs away from American citizens. However, I personally think that immigrants are willing to work low-wage jobs, which many Americans do not feel comfortable doing. They are actually boosting up the economy in my eyes. So whats the problem? Many people could claim that this dislike towards immigrants could be a form of racism or discrimination.
Before this session, I did not know the difference between racism and discrimination. In my eyes, the two derogatory terms seemed to have the same definition: dislike or hatred for someone that appears different than you. However, the main difference between the two is that discrimination is a broader term which is negative treatment based on all characteristics. While racism is negative treatment towards a race, which is usually a minority group. While many people claim that racism has been abolished in the U.S, I believe that it is still present even on our own GSU campus. I feel that these negative feelings are prominent in children that grow up in closed communities with people that look exactly like them from the same skin color to the same hair texture.
There are two arguments for illegal immigration: supportive and non supportive. People against immigration claim that they are driving down wages in America and stealing jobs. The acts of September 11 have made people even more uneasy and against immigration. People for immigration claim that illegal immigration helps employees who will work for cheap labor, which I believe helps the economy.
In my opinion, I support immigration but I also emphasize with people who are against it. I feel that the figures for illegal immigration are so high because it is extremely hard to receive citizenship. The U.S. should allow immigrants to be able to receive citizenship more easily. I have personally heard of a story of a man who has been trying to receive citizenship for over 15 years.
The video clip The Divide a Hispanic woman discusses the hardships of immigration and how she got lost in desert for 8 days with no water or food. They eventually reached Siler City. The movie continues to describe our country's history of having a society where people were accustomed to blacks and whites not associating with each other. A North Carolinian describes how Mexican people are viewed as "aliens" in which they are unwelcomed to stay in their town. The North Carolians felt attacked, as if they were giving their hard earned resources away to Mexicans that did not work hard for them. They had rallies in North Carolina for Mexicans to return back to Mexico.
This movie is very inspiring. I especially liked the author discussing how "What makeith a race?" America makes up so many races including Irish, African American, Korean, and Japanese. Mankind makes up in their head the differences in races. Which in turn could lead to the bandwagon effect. This even leads to physical and hateful actions. People are generally all the same with similar emotions and feelings. This is why I fail to see how racism and discrimination are still prominent today.
Americans still have this attitude that non-American born people are using up resources and receiving free services. Illegal aliens are not even paying for taxes or social security. But I believe that Americans should not be afraid of different people. We should adapt to change instead of being so afraid. Illegal immigrants should not be in the country but America should make it easier for hard working immigrants to receive citizenship.
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