Garcia 1

Frank Garcia
English 111-C3F
Prof. Heather Gemmen Wilson
August 31, 2016
Reflection Essay
Racial Minorities in America

There are many different racial groups and cultural backgrounds

in America. I guess thats why were considered the Melting Pot. But
just because there are many different races, doesnt mean that they
are all treated fair and how they should be treated. I am of a MexicanAmerican decent, I grew up where a large majority of Latino/Hispanic
people are, Texas. There is about a 40% Hispanic/Latino population
overall in the state of Texas. I had recently moved to Indiana to be with
family and to attend school. The state of Indiana has about a 6%
Hispanic/Latino population.
Cleary there is a huge population difference between the two
states, but I dont want to just state statistics. In Texas I felt at home,
most everyone was nice and friendly, regardless of your skin color or
ethnic background. I never had any problems with the color of my skin
nor being Mexican-American. I always saw on the news that people of
different racial minorities (some being African American, MexicanAmericans, Cubans, Indians, etc.) being treated unfairly just because

Garcia 2
the color of their skin or where their ancestors came from. I would
always find it hard to believe that people would actually judge other
people for the color of their skin, something that they have no control
over in the first place. When I had moved to Indiana I noticed the
environment was totally different, different slang words were used,
different cultures and ethnic groups were introduced to me. With
Indiana having a whopping 86.8% White American population, I quickly
became a minority.
It seemed to me that people would treat me different, keep
wandering eyes located on me, look at me like Im some animal, speak
to me different and even offend me because of my skin tone. For
example, I was about to pump gas one night and my friend put $10 on
the pump. Without looking, I pumped until the machine had shut off,
not knowing I pumped $15 instead of $10. I got back in my car, started
it and nearly drove off until I was stopped by an abrupt knocking on my
window. I put the car back in park and rolled down my window to an
older Caucasian lady who immediately started to say No habla
Espaol. I began to smile in a joking manner and replied with I dont
speak Spanish maam. She then began to rant on about me owing the
extra money I pumped, telling me that I needed to hand my pesos over
or that she would call the cops. Not wanting any trouble in an
unfamiliar state, I quickly gave the lady the $5. She then smiled an evil
smile, snarled and said Go back home, beaners! before she vanished

Garcia 3
back into the store. Caught a little off guard and stunned I asked my
friend, who is also a Mexican-American, if that really just happened. I
never at first hand, have experienced racism until just then. Just
because the color of my skin that lady was disrespectful, racist and
willing to call the cops on me and my friend for $5.
Not only are Latinos and Hispanics socially treated different, but
are also educationally deprived. Hispanics and Latinos have one of the
worst graduation rates only being 60%, while the average in America is
85%. Some scholars believe that graduation rates are so low because
of how economically and educationally deprived they were, even after
several generations in the United States. This being stated, many
Latinos and Hispanics are mainly only limited to working class jobs.
Latinos and Hispanics are also disenfranchised when it comes to the
political side as well. In 2015 Texas had made a law that that violated
the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Demanding to see a government issued ID,
whether that be a driver license, a U.S. passport or an election
identification certificate issued only by the State Department of Public
Safety. As a result, the government ruled that this law discriminated
against African Americans as well as Hispanics and Latinos. This is said
to prevent as many as 600,000 voters from casting a ballot because
they lacked an ID. Texas was not the only one to discriminate against
the Latino/Hispanic population with Arizona rejecting over more than
30,000 voters and Florida Latinos received letters that threatened to

Garcia 4
remove them from the voting polls. This may be the cause of over 10
million unregistered votes by Hispanic/Latinos. There are many
different forms and types of discrimination against the Hispanic/Latino
population all over different parts of the country. While some states
might not be as bad socially, but are even worse than other states
politically, economically and even educationally. Just because you dont
see and hear about discrimination doesnt mean that its not
happening. I came from a state where the majority was a
Latino/Hispanic population and thought there was no discrimination
there. But later learned that discrimination can be more than just
people saying mean words about the color of your skin or where you
come from.
Despite them paying taxes, the whole island of Puerto Rico and
its total population (3.5 million people), are also restricted from casting
their vote. This disenfranchises 3.5 million citizens based on location.
Many illegal immigrant workers have also claimed that not only would
their bosses steal their wages and short them, but that women
immigrant workers were also sometimes sexually harassed by their
bosses who used their immigration status as leverage. Some
immigrant workers also have claimed to have been mistreated by a
police officer, sometimes getting robbed and blackmailed. Immigrants
are also racially profiled by police officers and are stopped for any

Garcia 5
reason, and if unable to provide ID they immediately call an
immigration official.
Many of these Hispanics and Latinos come to America to seek
the rights, the education, the freedoms and the American dream that
every U.S. citizen should be able to have. But instead of leaving an
economically depressed or violent country to gain that freedom, they
come here only to be met with discrimination and unjust laws that
prohibit many Hispanics and Latinos from climbing the economic and
social ladder. And being an insider to this discrimination really affects
me and so many other Hispanics. It limits us on the things that other
people can willingly do and have just because the color of our skin.

Garcia 6