Discrimination and Poverty

I chose this group because Hispanic Americans make of approximately 15% of the entire US population. Of which, “22% are below poverty cutoff” (Sullivan 2010). The head of household is headed by women which are the largest segment of that group; they account for 39% of Hispanics that live below the poverty level (Sullivan 2010). Studies show that the National Women Law Center states a staggering statistics that in 1998, more than half of women headed Hispanic families with children were poor (NWLC 1999). The text states that Hispanics have historically “experienced a great deal of discrimination in their efforts to establish a niche in the United States” (Sullivan 2010). Latinas face an ever greater set of obstacles unique to their experience. The single Latina raising her family will endure the adverse effects of stereotyping and prejudice on her employability and earning power often leading to a multi-generational cycle of poverty. What truly interested me about this group is because I had a very close friend who witnessed and experienced bigotry and discrimination. I heard about countless stories of assumptions and sexual harassment that where deeply rooted by stereotypes and prejudice. This truly got my attention to understand the invisible forces that kept certain groups in oppressed in poverty. Through my educational pursuits, the correlation between discrimination and poverty has become clearer: the various prejudices feed the cultural orientation toward poverty. The prejudice a Latina contends with while searching and maintaining employment is very hard. Some of the biases known to work against Latina’s would be the employer bias to disregard an applicant’s quality of education based on her ethnic origin. A study regarding wage discrimination against Hispanic females states, “Hispanics tend to concentrate in relatively poor neighborhoods with mostly minorities and lower quality schools affecting negatively their labor market rewards” (Alfonso 2001).

References: Sullivan, T. J. (2010). Introduction to Social Problems, Eighth Edition, Boston, MA: Pearson NCLR: (2010) NWLC: (1999, September 30). Poverty & Income Support, Retrieved April 2010, from National Women 's Law Center: https://www.nwlc.org/details.cfm?id=376&section=child+and+family+support NWLC. (2008, September). Poverty among Women and Families, 2000-2007: Getting worse Even before the downturn http://www.nwlc.org/pdf/WomenPoverty2000-2007.pdf LULAC: (2010, September) Alfonso, M. (2001, October). Poverty and Discrimination Hispanic Women, Retrieved April 2010, from Teachers College at Columbia University: http://www.tc.columbia.edu/students/see/events/Alfonso%20-%2010-30-01.pdf Caiazza, P. A., Shaw, A., & Werschkul, M. (2004, April 20). The Status of Women in the States. Retrieved April 2010, from Institute for Women 's Policy Research: http://www.iwpr.org/pdf/R260.pdf