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Sophie Chung
King
English I Honors
17 December 2015
Racial and Gender Inequality
As Ed Koch once said, Stereotypes lose their power when the world is found to be more
complex than the stereotype would suggest. Women, men, and people of all races can be victims
of discrimination. Unequal treatment of people has been creeping into the culture of American
society since the beginning of the human race. The existence of gender inequity and racism is
undeniable in any given society as shown through literature and modern news.
Racism in modern news has been primarily towards people of color. Based on the
prejudice on actions and cultural beliefs, entire groups of people have been unfairly labeled as
inferior. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout and Jem realize that racism is shown towards white
people as well as black people. They experience it personally when Calpurnia brings them to her
church and a lady says to Calpurnia, I wants to know why you bringin white chillun to a nigger
church (Lee). The Finch children are not accepted at the First Purchase church because they are
white. There has been many instances of racism that has led to police brutality. In We Must Stop
Police Abuse of Black Men, a white fellow officer once told me that if he saw a white
individual with a gun, he took extra care for himself and the individual. When he saw a black
individual with a gun, he took care only for himself (Adams). Sadly, the mindset of many
Americans, subconsciously or not, is to feel threatened when they see a black man. Police
automatically assume that someone is more or less dangerous based on the color of the
individuals skin. Although black people are the main victims of racism, other races like Native

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Americans experience it as well. In Native American Actors Abandon Adam Sandler Movie in
Racism, Sexism Row, many actors walked away because the director wouldnt acknowledge
their complaints about disrespect towards the Native American culture. Many times, racism is
written off as a joke, and in this case, since it is meant to be comedic, people think it justifies
making fun of a culture. ...the script grossly misinterprets Apache culture and according to one
of the actors, We understand this is comedy, we understand this is humor, but we wont tolerate
disrespect (Robehmed, Native American Actors Abandon Movie). Racism often does not come
independently, but it is connected to other forms of injustices, such as sexism.
Women receive unequal treatment when it comes to pay and jobs, and are expected to not
take part of male-dominated fields. In addition, women face discrimination at home and in
television and film. Gender inequality is a prominent idea in To Kill a Mockingbird. Scout is
under the belief that ones actions define whether youre a girl or boy, as shes been conditioned
to think with all the sexist remarks from Jem. Jem says, Sometimes you act so much like a girl
its mortifyin (Lee). To Scout, being called a girl is an insult, girls are bad, and she will be
more accepted by Jem if she acts like a boy. The article Kelly Osbourne on Combating Sexism
in Entertainment clearly shows the inequality towards women in Hollywood. Men were asked
about their performancewomen were asked how long did it take for you to get ready? and
what are you wearing? (Robehmed, Clarkson Combatting Sexism). For men, people want to
know about their character and what it was like to work with certain people, while women are
asked questions only about their appearance. Women face discrimination in the workplace
through pay gaps. In U.S. Gender Pay Gap is Getting Worse, women earn two-thirds of what
men make for similar work (Kottasova). For putting out the same quality work and doing the

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same job, women are rewarded less. Kottasova projects that it will take 118 years for womens
earning to finally match male colleagues.
Racism and gender inequality greatly hinders an individuals ability to be the best citizen
they can be. It can reduce their chances of getting a good job and increase their chances of being
abused because of their race or gender. Having a good career can sometimes not be attained
because of racist employers. People are more than the color of their skin or their gender, and
accepting this is a crucial part of ending stereotypes and discrimination.