Wake up America

Marisa Madden
Professor Everett
English 1301-106WE
5 November 2012

Wake up America
My aspiration has been focused on the day that America will wake up, rise and realize her dream. For many years, the American ideologies have been based on the assumption that all men were created equal. Many of the governance structures are based on this assumption. In his 1963 speech in Washington titled ‘I have a dream’; Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed the importance of having equality in America (King, 12). Presently, there is controversy surrounding the relevance of the affirmative action in USA considering that the current president is an African American and still racial and gender inequality persists in many sectors.
There are two perspectives under which affirmative action is based. The first is having diversified races, assurance of gender equality, and lack of discrimination. In the second perspective, it refers to gender and racial preferences based on the correct gender and race (Rosenfeld, 4). In essence, Americans have been associating affirmative action mostly with regard to the second perspective. But the reality is; the definition in the first dimension provides a broader meaning of affirmative action than the second. Based on the assumption that the American workforce and learning institutions are not fully diversified, and then the necessity of affirmative action cannot be overemphasized.
The aspect of Affirmative action is not fully entrenched in American society. This is because the foundation of her policies are based on collectivism, which is another type of discrimination altogether. This can result into individuals loosing opportunities as in learning and employment sector. Additionally, individuals may also be denied opportunities of fair pay on the basis of their race or social group. Moreover, selecting individuals based on their race or social grouping other than their qualification is an avenue of degrading personal achievements. This is indeed true basing our stance on the second perspective of affirmative action, which emphasizes on preferences on a certain social group as either being based on gender, race or social grouping.
Based on the present perspective of things, there is a great necessity for the American governance to homogenize wages and salaries for people of all races. As of now, white males earn much more as compared to women and minority groups. In the American workplace, women are paid 71% less than men are. On the other hand, non-minority men are earning more than minority men and women (Hendley, 1999, p60). In addition, “non-minority males make about $ 9,000 more than minority men, $ 14,000 more than non-minority women and $ 17,000 more than minority women in white collar occupations on a monthly basis (Feminist Majority Foundation, par 5). Subjecting individuals to lower paid simply because they hail from minority race or social grouping is discrimination of the highest or...