The United States: the land of opportunity; the melting pot of cultures. At one point, our country was defined by such terms, and we held great pride in the diversity that our nation supported. However, recently this American ideal has been drifting away. With rising tensions between races, it seems that many citizens have lost sight of the values that made the United States the extolled country that it is. People have been immigrating to America for decades in search of a better future and more opportunities for success and our nation was praised for being home to people of various backgrounds. As time is going on, immigrants are not feeling as safe and welcomed in this country anymore.
Rates of violence toward minorities has been on an upwards trend, and fear is rippling through the country as safety is no longer certain. Many recent events have led to this growing sense of trepidation. Shootings have been occurring in various places such as schools, bars, movie theaters, etc. People of various races are being targeted for crimes they did not commit merely due to the color of their skin. Less than two weeks ago, an Indian engineer was killed in a bar in Kansas by a man shouting at him to "get out of his country" and accusing him of being a terrorist. Kuchibhotia had committed no crime and had legally immigrated to America for a better future. The reason he was targeted was something he had no control over his skin color. Due to this hate crime, the world has lost a good man who was only searching for a successful future for his family. His best friend who was with him that night is now left with the scarring memories of the shooter's hateful words and the sight of his friend's body sinking to the floor and his wife is left with sorrow for his untimely death. Situations such as this have created an atmosphere of fear rather than love. The land that was once praised for its welcoming nature to people of all races is beginning to seem like a war zone.
Tragedies such as the Kansas shooting arise from the tension between different races, and ironically such incidents only lead to more tension. Unfortunately, conflicts between races cannot be resolved until the violence is ended. No one deserves to live in fear, but that is exactly what is happening to many immigrants in our country. As the child of Indian immigrants, I can tell from my personal experience such actions of violence are not taken lightly and they do cause fear. This country is our home and it is a shame that so many of us do not feel safe anymore living in it. Why must immigrants be scared of punishment when they have done nothing wrong? They have immigrated to this country legally to work diligently and provide a bright future for their families, and after all of that effort, they are still living with the burden of their skin color....but why must this be considered a burden? Why has society created so many stereotypes all tied to one, small, physical trait that we can't control? We must start shifting the view that our country holds towards different races and learn to embrace our differences rather than making them a source of conflict.
As a teenager, I interact with people of different races at school every day and it has never really been an issue amongst us. We are usually able to respect each other's different backgrounds and learn more from each other about various cultures. Children even younger than my friends and me have even less of an issue with race. My sister is in elementary school and I have never heard her say anything about race. This is because she is young and innocent and society hasn't taught her to have certain thoughts about groups of people. This serves to prove that we are not born with these stereotypes in our minds; we are taught. Therefore, we must raise future generations to be respectful and kind to people of all races and ethnicities.
