“We know that too many young men in our community continue to make bad choices…But one of the things you’ve learned over the last four years is that there’s no longer any room for excuses…And whatever hardship you may experience because of your race, they pale in comparison to the hardship previous generations endured- and overcame.” — Barack Obama
Many people have endured more hardship than others, and many have become successful people despite those hardships. Most people want to succeed, but they are let down by the way society treats them. The type of pressure that the government and society puts on young men and women makes it very difficult to succeed, but individuals should overcome these obstacles and prove society wrong.
Devah Pager, a local source, describes that people of color have a harder time to find a job with or without a criminal record. In the report, “Racial impact of a criminal record on interview callbacks, 2003,” it was reported that white people would be more likely than African Americans to get called back for an interview, whether they had a criminal record or not. The chances of being called back for an African American, were lower than that of white people, and even lower if they have a criminal record. This shows an obstacle colored people face when they are trying to succeed. Being of color makes it difficult to succeed if you can’t find a job in which to succeed.
Barack Obama says there are no excuses when it comes to your destiny. He states, “No one has written your destiny for you. Your destiny is in your hands- you cannot forget that. That’s what we teach all our children. No excuses. No excuses.” Our destiny is in our hands. We will face challenges. None of our lives are perfect and we can’t have control over that fact, but when we can, we should strive for the best.
The other side needs to start seeing the type of society we live in. They need to see the way black people and Latinos are discriminated against, even though we don’t call it “discrimination” anymore. Young adults of color need to see that society just wants to see us mess up, so that they can actually have someone to blame.
Do not let them intimidate you. You will face discrimination and hatred from this society, but it’s our call to prove these stereotypes and the society we live in wrong.
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