Solution+and+Action

Our essential question was "Is there equality in America"? Our first step in researching this subject was too take a school wide survey of Pascack Valley High School. In the survey we asked general questions on how individuals feel about other people depending on their race, gender or culture. Then we asked if people have ever felt they have been treated different because of their race, gender, or culture. About half the people who took the survey said they have thought of people differently because of their race, gender, etc. And a little more than half of the individuals who took the survey said that they have felt they were treated different because of their, gender, race, etc. This is interesting because these results obviously show that even some of the people who feel they have been profiled themselves have profiled other people. The second half of the survey was the schools opinion of equality in the United States. The first question asked if the individual thought the world would be a better place with equality and no profiling. The majority of people (about 77%) agreed and said the world would be a better place. The second question asked if the individual thought if people are capable to eliminate profiling in the United States. This time though, the majority being about 70%, said that they do not believe America can get rid of all profiling. Creating equality in America will be an extremely tough task but it is possible.

Moving towards equality in America to many people might seem impossible, but during this time period, we could be moving closer more than we think. In the survey that we made, 70.6% of Pascack Valley students think that the government cannot stop racial profiling in America. America has people who are racist and don’t believe in equal rights for everyone. People who believe that they are not being treated equal have gone to court for their rights. Whether it was women who are trying to find freedom in the workplace or African-Americans trying to get into college, the court usually found in their favor and made sure they received equal rights. These cases that we researched may have been small, but they were a step in the right direction for equal rights for all Americans. It’s hard to change people’s mind about what they think about other people. People have had the same beliefs for years and don’t think they can let other races than theirs’ have equal rights in America. The steps that we have made today are a sign that equality is progressing in America. “Change is always sporadic and slow,” says Ellen Galinsky, head of the Families and Work Institute who is trying to get equal rights for women in the workplace. We need to have patience and time in order to have total equality of all races and all genders in America.

Inequality and unethical treatment of others is triggered for many reasons. Some of these main components include education, race, gender and religion. By looking into further research and just having general knowledge, we have realized that many major instances occurred because of racial differences, or different beliefs. The Holocaust, the Ku Klux Klan, and something more recent, the discrimination of Muslims in America. Our group has realized that the only way that inequality in schools and in life is to have a perfect world. Which will not happen, however, we also realize that we can create a less hostile environment in our world. It is possible with the contribution of everyone. Our survey stated that 77% of the students who answered our quiz at Pascack Valley think that this world would be better without profiling and that about 50% said they have profiled. With those numbers all the student body needs to do is realize what we asked them and that they should be the ones to change that. It is not as hard of a topic to conquer, you just need to take the time to realize what you are doing when you say hurtful words. We believe it is possible to change PV and the ideology that it is okay to discriminate.

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