Discrimination is the action of acting on a prejudice (Crash Course 2014). Discrimination against minorities occurs across the world. The relationship between the United States and racial minorities is a rocky one due to racial discrimination. For generations, minorities have been oppressed and victimized in one way or another by the United States. For example, African Americans went through slavery and segregation. During World War II, Japanese people were placed in internment camps. Today this rocky relationship continues. Multiple incidents of African Americans being man slaughtered by the police have occurred, Syrians are discriminated against because of terrorism. Hispanics are discriminated against due to the problem of illegal immigration. The result of this discrimination impacts minorities both psychologically and physically negatively; to help this issue, creating programs and positive outlets for minorities should be focused on rather than going through legislation to solve racial discrimination. 

Perceived discrimination can cause depression, anxiety, stress, etc.; the different level of perceived discrimination affects the level of stress, anxiety, etc. (Wilson 2012). Studies done have shown that racial discrimination negatively affects the psychological health on minorities, especially adolescents who are minorities. In one study conducted, minority adolescents were shown to have more behavioral problems than Whites (Banspach et al. e1). Blacks had more problems than Whites and Latinos; however, Latinos had more behavioral issues than Whites (Banspach et al. e1). Additionally, despite having the same sociodemographics as Whites, Blacks and Latinos still had more behavioral issues than Whites, and Latinos had reduced advantages (Banspach et al. e4).  This led to the conclusion that discrimination could be a factor in behavior issues that are prevalent among adolescents. Another study was conducted on Black women who are sexual minorities. This study done showed that discrimination that minorities faced is doubled when that minority is a sexual minority as well: " ... frequency and pervasiveness of everyday discrimination experienced by Black sexual minority women and other multiply marginalized sexual minority groups as well as its ... potentially deleterious mental health consequences." (Calabrese et al. 300)." These individuals that were sexual minorities had more stress, which negatively impacted their mental health as well (Calabrese et al. 300). A study conducted on minority college students showed that created inequalities allowed for racial discrimination to occur in social situations between different racial groups; the study argues that discrimination as well as racial harassment are projected feelings of inferiority, which can be linked to stress: "Racial harassment, a form of discrimination through actions or communications, projects feelings of subordinance or inferiority on the person or group being targeted. Both forms of discrimination have been linked to poor psychological function manifested as stress." (Hall et al. 236). 

The implications behind these studies show that racial discrimination generally impacts minorities' mental health as whole. The children of each new generation are the future of the nation. If the minority children develop problems such as behavioral issues, what does that say about future generations? Children who could make a difference may not get a chance to. Additionally, stress and depression is not healthy for anyone; however, minorities are more likely to deal with things such as this, especially in institutions. All of these studies together are similar in that the results show negative impacts such as stress and behavioral problems in minorities as a result of discrimination. 

Racial profiling is a way in which minorities are physically effected by racial discrimination. Racial profiling is when an individual's race and ethnicity is used as basis for the police to target rather than legitimate reason such as behavior. It is argued by some individuals that racial profiling is not an issue in the United States. In the article, "Proactive Policing Is Not 'Racial Profiling'", Heather MacDonald claims that racial profiling does not exist and the police are just doing their job. In the case of Vonderritt D. Myers, he was killed by an officer after running from the scene of a home evasion he was suspected in having a part of (Macdonald 2014). According to Macdonald, his family portrays him as a good son; however, Myers was on the run from the crime of the unlawful use of a weapon and resisting arrest (Macdonald 2014). In a case like this, one could see that the police's suspicion was legitimate in this case, which mirrors other's sentiment that racial profiling is not real. Additionally, in an essay written by John Perazzo, Perazzo furthers the notion that racial profiling is not real and that the criminal justice system is fair to minorities as well. Perazzo argues that the amount of arrests of minorities, specifically Blacks, is due to the amount of crimes committed by them rather than prejudice and discrimination (Perazzo 2012). 

Although profiling can be argued to be a useful tool to use to identify possible suspects, evidence and multiple incidents have shown that the use of this profiling has a negative effect on minorities and their relationship with the polices and safety.  Ferguson is a prime example of this. After the name of the police officer who shot Michael Brown was released, Ferguson rioted. Other recent events, such as the death of Eric Garner, have created the need for racial profiling to be addressed and the use of excessive force by the police; "Likewise, excessive force by police persists despite the Constitution's prohibition on unreasonable searches and seizures" (Natarajan). Another example of this is the story of Rufus Scales. During a routine traffic stop by the police, Scales was stunned with a Taser by the police and then dragged across the ground, resulting in a charge of assaulting an officer, a chipped tooth, and a split lip that required stiches (Lafraniere and Lehren 2015). After this brutal incident, Rufus Scales and his younger brother, Devin have come to distrust the police (Lafraniere and Lehren 2015). Devin does not leave without carrying a hand-held video camera and a business card with legal help information and Scales turns away if he see a police car approach (Lafraniere and Lehren 2015). Later after this incident, Scales and his brother, Devin, had another encounter of the same nature with the police. While walking on a street that had no sidewalks, an officer yelled at them to get off of the street and asked for their IDs to which Scales then cursed (Lefraniere and Lehren 2015). The officer then forced them to the ground (Lefraniere and Lehren 2015). Both Scales and Devin were arrested with charges of impeding traffic on the deserted street, and Scales was also charged with the offense of being disorderly and drunk. (Lefraniere and Lehren 2015). These charges were eventually dropped due to the fact that Devin had the whole encounter recorded on a hand-held camera (Lefraniere and Lehren 2015). 

These incidents and many more have been happening more frequently in the United States. These events lead to minorities not trusting the police and in some cases, induces fear. Scales' story shows that racial profiling is prevalent in the criminal justice system. Scales did not experience just one incident of racial profiling but two. In both of these situations, the police used more force than necessary and charged Scales and his brother with offenses that they did not commit. In the first incident, it could be argued that what happened could have been exaggerated by Scales and his brother; however, in the second incident, there was video proof. Additionally, in events such as Ferguson and the death of Eric Garner, many people were outraged by the actions of the police and often times protested. If the purpose of the police is to protect all citizens, why are events dealing with minorities such as these becoming more frequent? 

Statistics show that minorities are more likely to be arrested than Whites. An analysis of FBI arrest data showed that the arrest of Blacks are extremely high in 1,581 United States police departments (Catalan 2014). 70 departments from Connecticut to California have an arrest rate of African Americans ten times more than any other race: "Blacks are more likely than others to be arrested in almost every city for almost every type of crime. Nationwide, Black people are arrested at higher rates for crimes as serious as murder and assault, and as minor as loitering and marijuana possession" (Catalan 2014). The arrest rate of Blacks can be accredited to racial profiling. In addition to this, there is a huge disparity between the pull over rate for Blacks and other races; Blacks are more likely to be pulled over by the police for traffic stops: But an analysis ... of tens of thousands of traffic stops and years of arrest data in this racially mixed city of 280,000 uncovered wide racial differences in measure after measure of police conduct (Lafraniere and Lehren 2015). In another report, the results showed that African Americans and Latinos were disproportionately more likely to be stopped and searched by police, despite the fact that they are less likely to be found of having a contraband in possession or committing a crime; for example, in Illinois, African American and Latino drivers were twice as likely to be searched after being stopped for a traffic stop compared to White drivers despite White drivers being twice as likely to have a contraband (Natarajan 2014). The New York Police Department's stop-and-frisk-program shows similar evidence of racial profiling: " ... with police targeting blacks and Latinos about 85 percent of the time. In nearly nine out of 10 searches, police find nothing (Natarajan 2014). These statistics show an explicit disparity in the amount of arrests of minorities, especially blacks.

Many individuals in the United States have seen the discrimination of minorities as a significant problem. Roger Clegg, Hans A. Spakovsky, and Elizabeth Slattery suggest that Congress create bills to stop discrimination. The first bill would ban preference of race, ethnicity, and nationality in all public places: "No agency of the federal government shall discriminate or grant preferences on the basis of race, color, or national origin in employment, education, or contracting, nor require any other person to do so." (Clegg et al. 2014). Another suggested bill it to require universities to make reports annually on how race, color, and nationality are used in their admissions process if they receive federal funding: "The Supreme Court has upheld the use of race to achieve the "educational benefits of a more diverse student body" as constitutionally permissible ... some insist that universities should continue to practice racial discrimination in admissions, it should not be done secretly and without taking pains to satisfy the Supreme Court's requirements" (Clegg et al. 2014). With this suggestion, even if colleges have a preference for the admission of students, they would not be able to do it in secret and these preferences would follow the Supreme Court's guidelines.  The third proposed bill is to use the "disparate impact" approach. The "disparate impact" approach is an action that has the result of racial disproportion even though the action itself seems neutral in its intent and application; using the 'disparate impact" approach would eliminate claims of racial and ethnic preferences made (Clegg et al. 2014). For each bill suggested, Clegg, Spakovsky, and Slattery also provide explicit clarification on what each of these bills entails so that the interpretation of them would be clear (Clegg et al. 2014). The interpretation of the bill was a problem with the XIV amendment and segregation as well, so the specifics given would leave less room for the interpretation of these proposed bills to be twisted. 

Although segregation was made illegal by de jure, segregation still exists today by de facto. Segregation in America separated Whites from Blacks and was made illegal by the XIV amendment. Today, minorities are still affected and deal with segregation. While the Levittown houses are now available to African Americans, these houses are unaffordable for working-class families; this fact and other factors is an example of what keeps African Americans segregated from Whites (Rothstein 2014). The amount of African Americans in Levittown is still less than one percent despite there being a large region of an African American population (Rothstein 2014). Since racial discrimination is an issue that is quite similar to segregation, racial discrimination is an issue that is near impossible to solve. Even if laws are made, it will be very hard to enforce them because racial discrimination can occur anywhere and at any moment. Additionally, people cannot be forced to change their actions. If these people do not stop discriminating against others, there is no way to force them. These reasons are why the first proposed bill to stop discrimination would not work out. If this bill somehow worked, it would take a long to time for it to be fully implemented and followed. For these reasons, the first and third bill proposed would not have their desired effects. The second proposed bill would not be the best solution either. Not only will there most likely still be discrimination in colleges' student admission process, minorities as a whole would have less opportunities. The sociodemographic differences of minorities are a factor as well. Additionally, since colleges look for minorities to help with the diversity of the college, minorities are helped out, which is one way in which discrimination helps minorities. It is seen that affirmation, which is the preference of minorities, African Americans and Latinos specifically, is discrimination in itself; however, it positively affects minorities (Leef 2013).  If discrimination is gone, then minorities will not be able to benefit from affirmation, which helps minorities when applying for colleges, jobs, etc. (Leef 2013). If this affirmative action is taken away, minorities might not have an equal chance. The use of legislation to end discrimination would work successfully and would face many problems.

Instead of the bills proposed by Clegg, Spakovsky, and Slattery, focus should be placed on dealing with the minorities due to the effects that racial discrimination causes. It would be more beneficial for minorities and their futures. Because it has been shown that adolescents who are minorities are more likely to have behavioral issues, a program that would serve as a positive outlet should be created. The purpose of this outlet would to be to encourage adolescent youths as well as a way to try to counteract those behavioral issues. Various activities such as painting sports would be offered. The participants in this program would also do activities that tie in with advocating mental health. In addition to this, another program should be created for minorities in large institutions such as college to help deal with the consequences of racial discrimination. This program would provide services for minorities that deal with these effects and act as a support group. 

In a country that advocates equality and that everyone has the same opportunities, it is not true in reality. It is not fair that minorities are at a disadvantage due to something that cannot be controlled. It is equally unfair that because of discrimination minorities are more likely to have poor mental health and behavioral issues and are more likely to be targeted by the police because of their race. Solving this issue, however, is almost impossible because the actions of others cannot be controlled. Not only that, but discrimination has existed for a very long time, making the issue of racial discrimination a deep-rooted issue. Plans have made to deal with it on a national level through legislation. However, this would not work due to various factors, which is why the focus of racial discrimination should be shifted to minorities and how they are affected and the results of racial discrimination. These programs would be a way to help minorities deal with the effects of discrimination. 

