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Abisay Olivares
Fabio Valenti Possamai
Philosophy 1050
December 1, 2014
Discrimination

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Every human being is equal, despite their race, gender, or sexual orientation. Each human
being has something different to share, but discrimination interferes with the freedom of diversity. Discrimination has always been a part of us. It has been with us since the beginning and is
still with us today. Discrimination comes in many forms, whether it is racism, segregation, slavery, denial of voting rights, women's rights, and job discrimination. It is just something that will
always be inevitable, but can be reduced. Humans will contemplate differently about everything.
Everyone, in a sense, has a different point of view on certain things. Although we do not all think
the same, we should be treated the same. I view discrimination as unjust. As we are humans and
we are no different than each other. In my opinion, equality is what we should strive to reach.
Simone de Beauvoir, was a famous philosopher who fought for women's rights, which
can be incorporated into my argument because she stated, men and women, should be regarded
as human beings. However, every human being is also a particular being. We are all different,
but no one is better than anybody else. (Simone de Beauvoir). This hits discrimination very
well as women were discriminated by society and compared to against men. In a sense, they
were segregated, isolated by choice, and secluded from everyone else. In her argument, men
were viewed as the subject and women were the object. Imagine a circle, a fixed point was put in

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the center, that would represent the men, and outside of the circle, being blocked by the boundaries of the circle, would epitomize the women. Their rights were created by men. They were
discriminated and segregated in innumerable ways.
To continue this argument, Martha Nussbaum argued that women should not be objectified. They were discriminated in unnecessary meanness, and portrayed as objects. The way
women are displayed on certain magazines, TV commercials, and advertisements are just ways
to use women as tools to catch the viewers attention. For example, Sarah Palins committee spent
around $150,000 dollars to improve her appearance. She later then posted a video of her in a
swimsuit on YouTube and reached well over a million views. She began to get recognized as a
sex symbol. People didn't start recognizing her or paying attention to her until she appealed to
the mass public as a more attractive object, she was objectified to catch attention (Nathan A.
Heflick). Another example would be when PlayBoy released pictures of Nicollete Sheridan playing tennis in a very attractive attire. She was not a skilled tennis player, merely, an attractive girl
with an attractive outfit. These examples show how women appeal more when they are objectified, which should not be the case. From my point of view, discriminating women by objectifying them is wrong. They are human beings, not tools or instruments we can play around with just
to enhance the popularity of something.
Racial discrimination has been a prodigious part of our society. African Americans were
and in some ways still are discriminated against. To prove my point, Tamir Rice, a twelve year
old African American, was fatally shot on Nov. 22 of this year when officers responded to a 911
call about someone with a gun at a playground. Surveillance video shows the boy being shot
within two seconds of a patrol car stopping near him (Mark Gillispie ).The police shot him be

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cause they mistakenly mistook the boys small pellet gun for a real one. This is completely racist,
as if it would've been a white boy, they would not have shot him. The boy was only twelve and
they took his life away only because they thought he was carrying a real weapon. False! They
took extreme measures because the boy was colored. Racism will always be around, it would be
hard to eradicate of racism completely. We simply cant, we live in a society where we rely on
race for many things. Du Bois, argued about the double-consciousness. He wished to make it
possible for a human to be both Black and American. He stated that one is always looking at
ones self through the eyes of others. The goal is to attain a self-conscious state, to merge this
double self into a better and true self. (Du Bois). Humans will be humans, yes a lot of us will
look, act, and think differently, but we are all still human beings. We cannot treat others differently, just because of their skin color, or orientation, etc. We, in a sense, are all equal, or should
at least try to be.
Another great example that involves racial discrimination would be the case of Brown v.
Board of Education. The Brown case served as a catalyst for the modern civil rights movement,
inspiring education reform everywhere and forming the legal means of challenging segregation
in all areas of society (The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights). Brown argued
that it was unconstitutional to segregate white and African American students from attending the
same public schools. Brown was against the establishment set by the case Plessy v. Ferguson.
The Plessy v. Ferguson case allowed the students of different race to attend different schools, but
in a sense still be equal. This case, in many matters was unconstitutional. It was still viewed as
discrimination towards African Americans and any other race that was not white. The Plessy v.

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Ferguson case still violated the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment. The Brown
v. Board over ruled the Ferguson case, and allowed students to attend public schools together.
Separating black children from others solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely
ever to be undone. The impact of segregation is greater when it has the sanction of law. A sense
of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law tends
to impede the educational and mental development of black children and deprives them of some
of the benefits they would receive in an integrated school system (Lawnix).
All these examples that surround my argument on discrimination show the problems it
causes, as well as the difficulties for those being discriminated against. All genders, race, sexual
orientations should be overlooked. In a sense that they should not matter: gender, race, religion,
etc. should not be used to separate and discriminate people. We are all equal human beings. Like
Aristotle says, The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble
sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more. Equality is where
we should all stand. Imagine a line that is perfectly in the middle, we should all be on that line.
No one should feel out of place, or discriminated against to be away from that line. As I said before, discrimination, and all the different forms of it are unconstitutional. Discrimination should
be completely abolished, and everyone should be treated equally. I have a dream that one day
this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; We hold these truths to be selfevident: that all men are created equal (Martin Luther King Jr.).

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Works cited
"Brown v. Board of Education Case Brief Summary." Lawnix Free Case Briefs RSS.
Lawnix, 2008. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.

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"Brown v. Board of Education." The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.
The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, n.d. Web. 07 Dec. 2014.

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Gillispie, Mark. "Mother of Tamir Rice, 12-year-old Boy Fatally Shot by Police, Wants
Officer Convicted - AOL.com." AOL Article. Aol Inc., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.

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Heflick, Nathan A. "Download PDFs." Objectifying Sarah Palin: Evidence That Objectification Causes Women to Be Perceived as Less Competent and Less Fully Human. N.p., 1 Mar.
2009. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.

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"Plessy v. Ferguson." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Apr. 2014. Web. 06 Dec.
2014.

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"Searching over 18.840 Quotations." Famous Quotes, Quotations and Proverbs in
Proverbia.net. Novixar, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.