Minorities And Discrimination In The United States

I was very appalled when I, someone who considered himself a totally accepting human being, found that I have been living with discrimination lying right under my nose for my whole life. Growing up in a small community in a small country, where the majority of the population is white and shares the same typical religion, education, and social beliefs, I had been following the herd instinct. There is a race called Roma in my native town: a slightly dark-skinned people who are considered a minority because of their appearance, behavior, and way of living. Rejected by other people, the race was literally isolated into a suburb of the town. They do not possess decent jobs, and work at the field or construction sites. Their children do not attend the school, or if they do, they drop the studies after a couple years of primary school. I was once a witness of this horrible discrimination in the hospital: a Roma man asked a question and people just kept acting like nobody heard him. The majority of the population insists on marginalizing Roma because they do not conform to our way of life, and there are even opinions that Roma people should not be allowed in some buildings. People’s views are horribly biased and based on stereotypes; they associate Roma with liars, misery, laziness,
Moreover, after hearing from an African American couple about their lives, and their past experience with intolerance, I decided that I need to become a change in my native community. Using my U.S. experience, I can firmly disagree with people, and explain that there is absolutely nothing wrong in those Roma, but that, sadly, there is something wrong in us. By talking to people and providing examples from my exchange life, I can illustrate that everyone is equal, and that there is only one race--the human