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| Absolutely no portions of the artwork on this page may be used, reproduced, or copied in any way without expressed, written permission from the artist. Failure to comply will result in legal action. All artwork, prose, and poetry (unless otherwise noted) is copyright © 2007 Jorge Gonzalez. |
| THE MANY SHADES OF JORGE GONZALEZ ESSAYS |
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The United States can be a really great country to live in. It has earned a fine reputation of being called, “the land of opportunity.” There are many ways an American or even an immigrant can succeed and live in a prosperous and fulfilling life. However, that is without to say this country does have its fair share of problems. The United States is not perfect by any means. Prejudice, violence, and our recent wars with other countries plague this nation from being a more peaceful place to live in. Despite what many people believe, one of the many problems the United States suffers from is prejudice. There is a lot of injustice in this nation that is directed against one’s religion, race, and sexual orientation. While this countries’ government does have several laws against discrimination based on religion and race, they are not always enforced. For example, since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has received more than 800 charge filings alleging religious discrimination by individuals who are perceived to be Muslim, Arabic, Middle Eastern, or South Asian with the two most common issues being harassment and discharge. [Racism, 4] Bigotry against religion and race isn’t the only forms of prejudice that people have to deal with; homosexuals have also endured their share of unfairness. Though 17 states have banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in the work place, housing and public accommodations, most of these states exempt religious institutions these anti-discrimination clauses, and several even exempt small businesses. [Discrimination, 4] The 11 states that have banned same-sex marriage only fuels the fire towards the inequity and bias gay people have to tolerate in this country. While prejudice is very demeaning, another attributing factor to America’s on-going problems is violence. Violence and cruelty towards one another is one of the United States more extreme problems because it plagues a lot of our communities, and in most major cities it runs constantly in the streets. Anybody with access to television, internet, or a newspaper will find it easy to see all the abuse, assault, cruelty towards animals, domestic violence, murder, and rape that frequently tarnishes the individuals and image of this nation. According to The Disaster Center’s official website (which uses sources from both the FBI and Uniform Crime Reports) in the year 1960 there were 9,110 murders reported. In 2005, the numbers have jumped to 16,692. It should be noted however, that this hasn’t been the largest number; in late 80’s and early 90’s the number for murders were exceeding over 20,00, and made 1993 the highest year with a recorded number of 24,530 murders. [Disaster, 1] The numbers for rapes reported have also noticeably risen over the years in the United States. In the year 1962 the number was at 17,220, and in 2005 more than 93,934 cases of rape where reported and documented by the FBI. [Disaster, 1] I’m sure for most American’s it is very distressing to see numbers and figures likes this. Despite the many laws against crimes, safety procedures, and law enforcement officials who try to keep our city streets safe; it is still not enough to banish these horrible acts of violence. Although violence is very severe and awful, it is this country’s recent war efforts that have come under fire from both its citizens and other nations. If prejudice and violence didn’t divide our people enough, then the United States foreign policy on war will more than likely do the trick. No other subject has divided this country’s people more than war. Our recent wars with Afghanistan and Iraq have drawn criticism from all over the globe, and the casualties of both American soldiers and Iraqi civilians makes it more difficult for this country to trust it’s leaders and government. With the death toll for American soldiers rising by the day, it is no surprise that many families are being torn apart. Husbands and sons in a far off country; risking their lives for a cause that some aren’t even sure about anymore. A recent poll done by Newsweek Magazine shows that 68 percent of American’s do not understand what our American soldiers are doing if in fact we already accomplished our mission of capturing Saddam Hussein. [Regan, 2] Is it all about money? Oil? Terrorism? Freedom? With faulty leaders and the media unable to ask tough questions; it is no wonder the United States of America is overwhelmed by such a problem. War breaks down values, destroys peoples’ lives, and hurts the economy in many ways. Yet, after all is said and done, America is still the one country to immigrate to. We suffer from so much, yet most people would rather leave their country to head on over to America. Despite the prejudice amongst our fellow man, even with the violence in the streets, and regardless of our war efforts; an immigrant from Cube or Russia would much rather leave a life of poverty to live in this “land of opportunity.” America isn’t perfect, it obviously has many faults, but is trying to be better. If we all united together to face these problems and turn things around, we could in fact make The United States a much more safer and better place to live in. Work Cited Disaster Center. United States Crime Rates 1960 – 2005. Disaster Center Copyright 1997-2006 The Disaster Center http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm "Discrimination." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Nov 2006, 00:08 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 Nov 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Discrimination&oldid=866050. "Racism." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Nov 2006, 06:52 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 10 Nov 2006 http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Racism&oldid=86893216. Regan, Tom. “Polls show opposition to Iraq war at all-time high” Newsweek 1st September 2006: 1-2 http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0901/dailyUpdate.html |
| "The Problems of America" Written by George Gonzalez |