Racism is a huge issue in the country and it happens almost everywhere. From social media to your very own workplace, you can feel out of place and that you’re below the people that have  a different skin tone than you. Modern day race-based discrimination is an ongoing substantial issue that society tends to overlook daily. In some cases, racial discrimination in the workplace has only gotten worse. Some companies risk losing their financial support when they differentiate their employees by race. Fines and lawsuits are also common after an employee displays racial partiality.

Racial discrimination at work can be very stressful especially at work. According to Employment opportunity commission there have been almost 28,0000 race discrimination charges with an increase of 125 percent from 1994-2004. People who become racially discriminated all throughout their life shouldn’t have to face that stress trying to make a living for themselves at work. After a poll was taken, NBC news reported that 64% of the people say racism is a major problem in the world. On the other hand, 30% of the people agreed that racism exists today but it’s not a major problem. Additionally, half or more black americans report being discriminating when it comes to being paid, and promotion opportunities.

Local construction worker Ramzi Hammoud. Ramzi is an immigrant from Lebanon and has had a struggle trying to find work that is right for him. After Ramzi had met one of his clients he gave him un pleasant looks when he first met him in real person. One day, the homeowner expressed , “ I would have hired a different worker if I thought you were going to be like this.” Ramzi than took himself out of the house and was only paid $300 for 2 weeks of work. After talking to Ramzi Hammoud, he was open to talk all about that day. He implied, “ In all my years of working construction I’ve never had that experience with anyone. I thought people here would give me a better opportunity than I had in Lebanon.” Ramzi was devastated thinking that he would be re living this over and over for the rest of his career. “ I will say that things have gotten better over-time and people have been more open-minded about having me work in their house.”  

Sometimes it’s not only the adults at work who get racially discriminated. Some kids have been taunted about where they come from, how they look, and their daily lifestyles. Studies by the American Psychological Association report that many people are afraid to talk to their kids about differences because they don’t want to draw attention to them, whether you talk about those differences or not, kids notice when someone doesn’t look the same way they do. 8th grader, Zainab Almusawi, who attends Unis Middle School was faced with an overwhelming situation when she was on vacation with her family in Myrtle Beach North Carolina. Zainab was enjoying a spin around the lazy river with her cousins. Zainab and her cousins came across a man who was riding with his friends. The man was wearing shorts that had the American flag imprinted on them. While Zainab and her cousins were minding their own business, the guy approached them and announced, “ Stranger Danger”, and proceeded around the river. After talking to her about the incident, Zainab explained, “ My cousins were all looking at me clueless of why he just came up to us. They didn’t really know what he meant but I did. I wanted to end the trip right there and go home after that.” Zainab indicated that she had no idea how to react sho she let him go while she stood there in silence and he was giggling with his friend.

According to the American Psychological Association, “ Most people especially kids who do encounter an act of racial or any other type of discrimination sort of freeze because they’re unaware of what to say or do.” Almost 85% of the time there are witnesses to people of a different race being treated unfairly compared to others. Mohamad Saad was an employee at a McDonald’s around his hometown. He had started to notice that his his african-american co-worker was being treated differently than everybody else. He would be given multiple tasks while others were at their normal work spots. The worker was asked to stay after and mop the floors and do other tasks after store hours. The worker had then taken a week off of work to accompany his mother. When he returned he was fired. Mohamad Saad states, “ I knew what our boss was doing and how he was treating him. He used to come talk to me about how he was cutting down his paycheck week after week.” Even though Mohamad did know about the way the boss was acting, he did not want to say a word when he was being fired. Mohamad also adds, “ I knew I should have said something but this job was the only thing I had for providing for myself and my child. I didn’t want to risk it.”

To sum it all up, racism is not a new issue. It has been going on all around our country for some time now. Even though it is illegal to fire someone because of their race or their way of life, some people find a way of doing it by making it seem that wasn’t really the reason. Racism is not only going on at work or around adults it’s going on all around us ranging from ages 12-35. No matter where people are at work, at school, or on a vacation there are going to be people who like to bring other people down because it may make them feel better about themselves or who knows what reason they have for criticizing other people. The only thing we can do is hope for the best a that this country will change it’s hurtful ways.

Reem Elzaghir