Martin Luther King once said that he looks forward to the day when people will not be “judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Although we as a society have made great strides since those words were first spoken, there is still an injustice between minority and majority groups in Western society. Visible minorities, including immigrants, are oppressed by society, leading to gaps in employment opportunities, education and freedom. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay First, it is common sense that everyone deserves to be paid the same amount for the same amount of work. Yet this is not the case for minority groups in the United States of America. This is a country known for proudly proclaiming equal opportunity for all, yet forces many minority groups into low-level jobs with little compensation. This leads to oppression as “immigrants therefore have worse jobs than natives but do not see them as such”. Madeline Zavodny. To an outside eye it would appear that the oppressed are simply too “lazy” or “unwilling” to implement change and demand higher wages, but as a student of Paulo Friere's teachings it is very clear that the oppressed in this case, immigrant workers, they don't even realize the extent of their oppression because they are dehumanized. This dehumanization leads them to fear their oppressors, the native population, because they are constantly considered inferior. So they agree to be condemned to lower-paid, lower-status work. In fact, many times they are grateful to their oppressors for giving them work despite the poor conditions of their work. This predisposes them to exploitation, which is a form of dehumanization and ultimately oppression. One study found that female immigrant workers are 24.4 percent likely to work more unusual hours than their U.S. peers. This shows that they are so mistakenly grateful for their opportunity to work that they would simply toil at the whim of their bosses for little to no extra compensation. Finally, Native Americans have difficulty overcoming alienation. This is demonstrated by their often unnecessarily prejudicial words and actions. An example of this prejudice comes from the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, who said of immigrants from Mexico that they are “people who have a lot of problems and they bring them with them. They are bringing the drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists. And some, I presume, are good people.' Donald Trump. This prejudice ultimately only leads to further dehumanization and a greater gap in employment opportunities as they are not considered equal by society and therefore do not deserve the same employment opportunities. This issue is not only relevant to immigrant minorities, but also to their native-born children. One research article found that “several areas of employment policy and practice have been identified that may place ethnic minority graduates at a disadvantage”. This oppression also extends to minority groups in education, from elementary school children to adults who are trying to advance their careers. Oppression and racism towards minorities, unfortunately, begins at an early age. This is supported by findings from the U.S. Department of Education showing that students of color were nearly 3 times more likely to be suspended than their white peers. This early discrimination only opens the way for rebellionmisleading towards figures of superiority in society such as teachers or even the police, as well as a feeling of ostracism among their peers. In fact, sociologist David Ramey has found that harsh disciplinary actions against young people, such as suspension or expulsion, only mean they are more likely to get into trouble with the law as they grow up. This is essentially the “school to prison pipeline.” Henri Giroux often talks about it. The situation only gets worse when we look at immigrant adults who are unable to find work in the fields in which they are overqualified to work. A Thesis on “The Non-Recognition or Devaluation of Credentials of Foreign Professional Immigrants in Canada” Emmanuel Dean Osaze (July 2017) examined a study conducted by Basran and Zong on 404 Indians and Chinese and found that only 18% of them at the time of the study he was practicing his profession in Canada. While only 6% believe that provincial governments have made proper recognition of their foreign credentials. This shows that society would only be able to judge one's worth and abilities based on race and minority status. This injustice not only oppresses minority groups, but also affects their freedom to do the jobs they want. Freedom and democracy are the cornerstones of the Western dream. A society where you should, figuratively speaking, and within the limits of the law, be able to do whatever you want. Unfortunately this is not always the case. As seen above, immigrants to Canada and the United States are oppressed to the point where they don't even have the freedom to work in the same discipline they've studied all their lives. This ultimately affects their freedom in all aspects of life. First, they struggle to find jobs that can adequately support themselves or their families, often settling for odd jobs with poor hours and wages. Second, to compensate for their low wages, they often have to work many more hours than average in their line of work. Ultimately, this results in less time and freedom to do what they want and have the right to do. Freedom is also deprived of many indigenous black minorities. It turns out that African Americans are very often victims of racial profiling, aggressive stops and searches, and police brutality. This takes away their right to freedom as they cannot do the slightest thing without constantly feeling judged or subjected to prejudice by the police. Not only that, but African Americans often have their freedom literally taken away. This happens when they are wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not commit, which is 7 times more likely to happen to them than their Caucasian peers. Therefore, due to oppression, the most visible minorities are not afforded even the same freedom that most Native Americans and Caucasian Canadians believe they are entitled to. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay In conclusion, visible minorities have a much harder time in Western societies due to circumstances beyond their control. They are often oppressed because of their culture, place of origin and the color of their skin. This means they have far fewer opportunities in many basic but essential aspects of life such as work, education and even freedom. Although their oppression is not as overt as it was many decades ago, minorities around the world still need to free themselves from their oppressors, and ultimately, the first step is as simple as being aware of their dehumanization and oppression..12087.