Is America really The Greatest Country?

by Amina Gazali

Racism and violence are not something that we are born with but something we are taught when we are young. The Greatest country is yet the country of violence and racism. I’ve witnessed and lived in a country of prejudice, violence, and discrimination. I was born and raised in a war-torn country where I had to deal with these concepts among my own people. Somalia has been in conflict for more than twenty-five years, and this war has created such violence that it has fractured one country into multiple states and tribes.

The worrying thing is that, unlike the United States, Somalia is more alike than it is different. According to Pew Research, “ Islam is the religion of the vast majority in Somalia, 99.8% of the population are Muslims” (www.worldatlas.com). If we can go through so much conflict while sharing such an important connection, what will happen here in the United States where everyone is so different?

I saw the consequences of discrimination first hand. My upbringing taught me to not discriminate and to treat people the way I want to be treated. Yet, when I grew up, my perspective changed when I learned how people treat each other and how certain people are being treated unfairly. There are a few people of high-class tribes in power that ultimately decide who gets the best education and who gets the most desirable jobs. Even the president is typically selected from one of the most powerful tribes. Moreover, when a young person gets a higher education degree to simply live a better life, they still get rejected because of tribal disparities. All of this encourages young people to give up or even look for other opportunities in order to escape to another country or get lower-level jobs they do not enjoy.

When I arrived in America in 2014, I saw many people from around the world and from different religions that I did not know. I truly believed that I would see less violence and discrimination. I believed I was in a peaceful country where I would be protected. But this was not true.

How do we combat this? We young people are being treated by the color of our skin and our background. We are being asked to find a solution to overcome the problem of this country and seek for a change. The problem is not the youth, but rather the adults and leaders of this country. In 2016, we elected a president who represented a tribalist mentality; one who was directly racist to particular countries and subgroups of people. In particular, he banned immigrants from seven countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, and even fought to build a wall bordering Mexico. These countries were banned due to being poor and actively involved in the conflict. However, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Qatar were not banned because they are richer with more resources to offer. Rather than these actions decreasing conflict, they increased the discrepancies between groups of individuals, similar to what I had experienced in my Somalia.

For someone who has not experienced the discrimination directly, he or she should then ask: how would I feel if it were my country being banned? Do I know what it is like to be called a terrorist or the N-word by people not representative of my culture? From my experiences, it feels like I am the problem, because of my color, and because of what covers my head.

If we are serious about stopping violence and living up to the ideals of a country based on diversity, we must work on a revolution. I use the word revolution not as a violent term, but as a constructive term. It is a term to mean we all have to work together and start abolishing racism and hurt as a team. Around the world, we are known as a country based on equality and justice. This is even mentioned in the Pledge of Allegiance: “The United States of America which it stands one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” If this is how America started since 1776, why does injustice persist? Why must young people like me feel miserable for coming from another country, and then feel like it is our fault for these problems?

One solution to curb the hatred is to have more youth voting for leaders that foster change and who are open-minded. As stated by the US census, “in 2016, 61.4 percent of the citizen voting-age population reported voting, a number statistically different from the 61.8 percent who reported voting in 2012.” (www.census.gov)” This is too low. In addition, only 46.1% of young people aged 18-29 voted. Maybe if more youth came out to vote and take part in the election, we would not have to endure a president that seems to resent unity and the peace that we all strive for.

Apart from voting, another solution involves making quality education accessible to the general population. As of now, there are certain subgroups of people who have the opportunity to enter college and pursue their dreams. More specifically, we often see young people in city schools suffer the most from lack of consistent and adequate education. Moreover, inner cities often consist of great diversity in color and background, and so this discrepancy in education impacts these groups the most. Hence, this vicious cycle that entangles both lack of education and discrimination together continues, worsening the state of the world we see today. Thus, confronting education equitability can offer people of color and varying backgrounds numerous opportunities that they may even use to fight against hatred and racism.

While these solutions may help, we need more youth with a passion for change to pursue their own ideas that confront these systemic problems. By unifying ourselves, we will be capable of achieving strength and sustaining it, so that we will not end up in a position we cannot recover from.