How Would Your Life Be Different if You Were Born a Different Race/Ethnicity? (Article Sample)

How Would Your Life Be Different if You Were Born a Different Race/Ethnicity?
I believe that my life would be fundamentally different if I were not born African. The hypothesis is justified considering that Africans have limited access to social and economic growth opportunities at home and abroad. A majority of the Sub-Sahara countries contend with diverse challenges such as Islamist extremism, extreme poverty, disease, poor governance, corruption and low human development ADDIN CSL_CITATION {"citationItems":[{"id":"ITEM-1","itemData":{"author":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Lebedeva","given":"Eleonora","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"container-title":"Russian International Affairs Council","id":"ITEM-1","issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]},"title":"Islamic Extremism in Sub-Saharan Africa","type":"article-journal"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=e7bf1bed-0975-4af8-9e1a-8ef64c56e364"]},{"id":"ITEM-2","itemData":{"DOI":"10.1080/18335330.2011.605217","author":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Waldek","given":"Lise","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""},{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Jayasekara","given":"Shankara","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"container-title":"Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism","id":"ITEM-2","issue":"2","issued":{"date-parts":[["2011"]]},"page":"168-178","title":"The evolution of Islamist extremism in Nigeria","type":"article-journal","volume":"6"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=2085d2ca-cac9-48fa-8df9-1a47655851b4"]}],"mendeley":{"formattedCitation":"(Lebedeva, 2016; Waldek & Jayasekara, 2011)","plainTextFormattedCitation":"(Lebedeva, 2016; Waldek & Jayasekara, 2011)","previouslyFormattedCitation":"(Lebedeva, 2016; Waldek & Jayasekara, 2011)"},"properties":{"noteIndex":0},"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}(Lebedeva, 2016; Waldek & Jayasekara, 2011). The listed challenges have a domino effect on child mortality, literacy, disposable incomes, access to employment opportunities, and the general quality of life. Therefore, being African increases my chances of being less educated, poor, ravaged by disease, and unable to access better social opportunities.
In contrast, Europeans and Americans (Caucasians, Hispanics, and Asians) in Europe and North America reside in advanced economies with unlimited personal development opportunities. For example, the higher learning institutions in countries such as Germany are free ADDIN CSL_CITATION {"citationItems":[{"id":"ITEM-1","itemData":{"author":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Kehm","given":"Barbara M.","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"container-title":"Towards the Private Funding of Higher Education Ideological and Political Struggles","editor":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Palfreyman","given":"David","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""},{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Tapper","given":"Ted","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""},{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Thomas","given":"Scott","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"id":"ITEM-1","issued":{"date-parts":[["2017"]]},"publisher":"Routledge","publisher-place":"London","title":"Germany: Resistance to fee-paying","type":"chapter"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=ea75aeb4-cd47-4ba7-96bb-c8d2243b4cd1"]}],"mendeley":{"formattedCitation":"(Kehm, 2017)","plainTextFormattedCitation":"(Kehm, 2017)","previouslyFormattedCitation":"(Kehm, 2017)"},"properties":{"noteIndex":0},"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}(Kehm, 2017) while the US has a functional student loan system ADDIN CSL_CITATION {"citationItems":[{"id":"ITEM-1","itemData":{"abstract":"This report examines both the educational progress of American Indian/Alaska Native children and adults and challenges in their education. It shows that over time more American Indian/Alaska Native students have gone on to college and that their attainment expectations have increased. Despite these gains, progress has been uneven and differences persist between American Indian/Alaska Native students and students of other racial/ethnic groups on key indicators of educational performance.","author":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"DeVoe","given":"Jill Fleury","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""},{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Darling-Churchill","given":"Kristen E.","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""},{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Snyder","given":"Thomas D.","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"container-title":"National Center for Education Statistics","id":"ITEM-1","issued":{"date-parts":[["2008"]]},"page":"1-203","title":"Status and Trends in the Education of American Indians and Alaska Natives, 2008","type":"article-journal"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=38466ed9-4f81-44fc-93f1-bd80eac1e970"]}],"mendeley":{"formattedCitation":"(DeVoe, Darling-Churchill, & Snyder, 2008)","manualFormatting":"(DeVoe, Darling-Churchill, & Snyder, 2008","plainTextFormattedCitation":"(DeVoe, Darling-Churchill, & Snyder, 2008)","previouslyFormattedCitation":"(DeVoe, Darling-Churchill, & Snyder, 2008)"},"properties":{"noteIndex":0},"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}(DeVoe, Darling-Churchill, & Snyder, 2008; ADDIN CSL_CITATION {"citationItems":[{"id":"ITEM-1","itemData":{"DOI":"10.1007/978-1-4020-9628-0_8","ISBN":"978-1-4020-9628-0","abstract":"According to the 2000 census, there are currently 35.3 million Hispanics living in the United States, a near 60% increase from just 10 years earlier (Pew Hispanic Center, 2005). The largest subgroup of Hispanics is of Mexican origin (66%), followed by groups from Central or South America (15%), Puerto Rico (9%), Cuba (4%), and other Hispanic countries (6%) (US Department of Commerce, 2001). While immigration has been the major contributor to this increase in the past 4 decades (National Research Council, 2006), it is believed that future increases in the Hispanic population will be driven primarily by high birth rates of second- and third-generation citizens (Pew Hispanic Center, 2005). A substantial Hispanic population will result, as it is projected that in the next 50 years this group will account for 51% of the population growth, making one fourth of the total US popu- lation by 2050 of Hispanic origin (Llagas & Snyder, 2003). Latinos lag behind other groups educationally (Fry, 2004). In 2000, only 10% of Hispanics aged 25–29 had earned a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 34% of Whites and 18% of African-Americans (Llagas & Snyder, 2003). This variation in postsecondary educational attainment has caused substantial labor market ine- qualities with this population. In contrast to African-Americans who continue to suffer from discrimination that contributes to disparities in earnings, Hispanics are presently paid comparably to Whites given the same amount of education (National Research Council, 2006). Regardless, the low levels of formal schooling earned have contributed to the overrepresentation of the Latino population in low-skill occupations that pay less, and have higher unemployment rates than other groups (6.8% for Hispanics compared to 4.3% for Whites). Currently, Hispanic households own less than 10 cents for every dollar in wealth owned by White households (Pew Hispanic Center, 2005). Unless college graduation rates of Hispanic students show significant increases, the unemployment and poverty rates for this group are sure to rise. In Texas, for example, it is projected that by 2030 the average household will be US$4,000 poorer than in 1990 (in constant dollars), increasing the poverty rate nearly 3% (President’s Advisory Commission, 2002).","author":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Nora","given":"Amaury","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""},{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Crisp","given":"Gloria","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"container-title":"Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research","editor":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"Smart","given":"J.C.","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"id":"ITEM-1","issued":{"date-parts":[["2009"]]},"page":"317-354","publisher":"Springer Science + Business Media","title":"Hispanics and higher education: An overview of research, theory, and practice","type":"chapter"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=ea235743-88c4-42b6-8719-2024ea569cd6"]}],"mendeley":{"formattedCitation":"(Nora & Crisp, 2009)","manualFormatting":"Nora & Crisp, 2009)","plainTextFormattedCitation":"(Nora & Crisp, 2009)","previouslyFormattedCitation":"(Nora & Crisp, 2009)"},"properties":{"noteIndex":0},"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"}Nora & Crisp, 2009). In addition, the United Kingdom provides free healthcare services under the National Health Service ADDIN CSL_CITATION {"citationItems":[{"id":"ITEM-1","itemData":{"URL":"http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/thenhs/about/Pages/overview.aspx","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2017","9","6"]]},"author":[{"dropping-particle":"","family":"National Health Service (NHS)","given":"","non-dropping-particle":"","parse-names":false,"suffix":""}],"id":"ITEM-1","issued":{"date-parts":[["2016"]]},"title":"The NHS in England","type":"webpage"},"uris":["http://www.mendeley.com/documents/?uuid=a01b676c-e162-4de9-ae0b-54fb693f53d4"]}],"mendeley":{"formattedCitation":"(National Health Service (NHS), 2016)","plainTextFormattedCitation":"(National Health Service (NHS), 2016)","previouslyFormattedCitation":"(National Health Servi...