Inequality And Discrimination

The Challenges of the Underrepresented Population of Galesburg and Beardstown Face
Inequality and discrimination are recurring topics that have always been present in the history of the United States. A remarkable event that highlights discrimination in the history of the United States is slavery. Even though African Americans are the population that have suffered discrimination extensively, up to this day they are the most underrepresented racial group. In this essay, I will talk about three different groups: African Americans, Africans and Latinos/ Hispanics. Starting with some past history pertaining to each group and how they began to integrate into society and making conclusions on how the attitudes of people from different groups have
The documentary Boxcar People revives the story of 30 million immigrants that came to the United States from Guanajuato, Jalisco and Zacatecas. Their name “Boxcar People” was originated because these families lived in Boxcars. Some families and individuals were running away from danger and the poverty in search of better opportunities. The families lived in horrible conditions and the work was backbreaking. In order to carry a rail, a dozen men were needed. In the documentary, Juan Medina explained how his brother lost his leg caused by the train. At first single men were called for to work, but then the Santa Fe Railroad hired married men and encourage their families to live there. Even though this was an opportunity for many families to run away from the war, danger and poverty of Mexico, they faced discrimination in Galesburg. The children of the immigrants were taken to school; however, for a period of time they were not given the right to check out books because the staff had the mentality that they would not return them back. At last, they were granted the opportunity to check out books and were given a library card. Even the most innocent of children were discriminated and seen as a target. Even though they were in “the land of opportunity” their opportunities were being limited. Tradition was an essential commodity that
The immigrants told their story of how they had arrived to Galesburg and what they had to leave behind in their country. ESL teacher John Prats said, “The past two years and a half have been tremendously exciting...Yes, it’s a challenge, but we are very happy to accept those challenges” (Ward 2). In order to integrating successfully in Galesburg, these African immigrants had to be able to speak English properly. Since 1986 ESL teacher, Karen Avalos has been teaching English at Carl Sandburg and she stated that “Last year [2012] the course had 62 students in it” (Ward 1). It was a matter of communication and connection which caused the great outcome. When someone knew that there were ESL classes being offered, the word within family and friends were spread. Even though this is a great resource for the African immigrants and the community, there are not many volunteers and more help is needed. Another resource was offered at the Galesburg Public Library. The library created a French language collection. Aside from ESL classes, the African immigrants were provided with guidance on the school requirements for their children, safety regulations and financial advice. Steve Glasgow, from Monmouth law firm David Reid Clark, advised the immigrants about the number of cases that involved DUI incidents. On behalf of the African immigrants, “there is a lack of knowledge of