American Democracy Essay Example

The United States is not a complete democracy. The United States continuously missed out on representing a majority of its people, but continues to work towards being closer to a complete democracy. Democracy is a system of government made for the people by the people. America does have many things that go along with that definition, but not everything follows the definition. History unmistakably shows how undemocratic America not only was but can be. Racism and feminism are only a few general undemocratic topics that occur in America. The reason a lot of people may believe America truly is democratic is because we have the right to vote, but more must go into the country to be a true democracy and even voting is rigged in a way that is not truly democratic.

Since the founding of the country, blacks were not treated equal to whites. There are significant changes since then that makes it seem as if blacks and whites really are equal today, but situations from history only come to show that not everyone is as equal as it may seem and that racism is alive. Blacks used to be seen as inhuman, treated less than whites, treated as if they were animals. White people, leaving Britain, were forcing people in Africa on a ship to lose everything they have to become a white man's slave in America. An example from history of inequality is the bussing situations - blacks sat in the back, whites in the front. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a successful case in which blacks were taking a stand for their rights. Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give her seat up to a white man. Alabama allowed bus companies to separate seats for blacks and whites. If someone did not listen to the bus driver, they could be fined up to $500 (Associated Press). She not only got jail time, but started a boycott. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a civil rights group that was supporting the boycott when he said “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated.” Segregation is undemocratic, the government is controlled by whites that were against blacks. Blacks did not get a say in what they wanted for their country or even for themselves; therefore, the country was made by whites, for whites.

Similarly, there is inequality between race and sex. This inequality between men and women limits women’s lives. Since the founding of America, women have been seen to be less than men. Women were not granted the right to vote until the 1920s. During the 1950s, there were gender roles in the American household. During the 60s and 70s, women were working towards sexual equality. Women tried before, but they were pushed aside for other issues. There still are feminist protests to this day, proving America still is ignoring the inequality between men and women. A government video that aired during the beginning of the Cold War explained the differences between men and women that were not only expected, but followed by fear. The purpose of the government film, A Date with Your Family, was to show how the government expected families to run in the household during the beginning of the Cold War. The film also explained gender roles in the household, showing how women were encouraged to stay home and take care of housework as the men go to work. The film shows that men were the head of the household because they went out and made money, as women were not, even though they were the ones who took care of the family and home (Jones). This film shows and explains the inequality between genders in the home, allowing a person watching the film to understand life in the 50’s was not equal to not only colored, but for women as well. Inequality between genders is undemocratic considering it is made by the superior gender for the superior gender, not by all for all.

Not only were people treated differently because of their skin, but also their ethnicity. Since the beginning of immigration to America, people were treated with disrespect. At one point, the Chinese and Japanese were not allowed to immigrate to America if they were unskilled workers. Even today, our current president made plans to not allow Mexicans or specific Middle Easterns enter our country out of fear that they will hurt it economically or bomb the country out of stereotypical beliefs. This proves the fear of allowing immigrants into the “land of the free” because of stereotypes. This fear throws equality out the window and democracy with it. During WWII, Japanese-Americans were put in camps to be supervised because of fear. WWII was practically over, until America bombed Japan. In between Japan bombing America - known as the bombing of Pearl Harbor - and America bombing Japan, America hid Japanese-Americans away from the rest of the country, just so there would not be any spies from Japan to destroy America from the inside. Putting Japanese-Americans in camps let go of all their legal rights. They now lived in camps, hidden from the rest of the country, not given the same rights as they had before because of their origin, even if they had nothing to do with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing military officials to place Japanese-Americans into camps to hide them away from the rest of the country. The Executive Order 9066 that Franklin D. Roosevelt signed granting military officers to place Japanese-Americans into the areas that segregated them from the rest of America. This was created out of fear that because Japan bombed America, then the Japanese-Americans would try to destroy America from the inside. Having a group of minorities stripped away from the lives they had goes against being for the people.

Voting is an issue that causes people to believe that America truly is democratic, yet there is an issue with voting that makes it not so democratic. Additionally, there has been problems about voting throughout history. It used to be only white men could, but now every one of legal age can vote. There were many troubles in between that finally allowed all people to vote. The 1964 Louisiana Literacy Test prevented African-Americans from voting by asking difficult questions on the test. This test prevented many from voting, not allowing a large amount of voter to vote. This was not the only literacy test, Mississippi and Alabama were two more states that had literacy tests. The Louisiana Voting Literacy Tests were drastically different between tests for blacks and whites. This difficult test made it nearly impossible for blacks to vote, not changing much of who voted in Louisiana. The Louisiana Voting Test consisted of 30 questions that all must be answered correctly within 10 minutes. If a single question was answered incorrectly, the test taker failed. Voting is a major part in a democracy, not granting people the right to vote is against democracy.

Therefore, history proves how the United States is not a complete democracy. Racism and sexism are two major factors why the United States is not truly democratic. A democracy should be by the people for the people, not by some people for some people. The country left out a majority of its country based on who ruled it. White males were in charge for so long, no one tried to gain the rights that they deserve as a human. The 20th century was a time of protest. African Americans protested for the legal rights that they have deserved for centuries, along with women - just not as significant of a change as African American lives were in need of. Yet, the United States is working towards being a complete democracy. With every problem, there has been a solution gaining people rights they deserved. Acts were put into place for African Americans to have the same opportunities as whites. Women were granted the right to vote and gender roles are not a thought in many minds, today. America may have not always been a complete democracy, but continues to get closer to it. Still, the U.S. is not a complete democracy. Yes, everyone is given equal opportunities, yet it does not truly seem as if that is true. Blacks are shot more often by police officers than whites, and not all jobs give equal pay to men and women. There are still many more reasons how America is not a complete democracy to this day. The future of America is difficult to know of, not only because the future is the unknown, but because it all depends on the generations that will make up the country. Based upon the upcoming generations now, it does not seem too good, but it seems as if everyone will truly be equal. If there is one thing many people in the newer generations can agree on, it is that no one should be judged on their skin before anything else. This new generation is more forgiving and welcoming than any other generation seemed to be. The problem with the new generation is a focus is money. With a higher focus on money, focus less towards more important issues of the people. Today, money controls everything, where we don’t judge someone based on their skin, but the clothes on their skin and their worth; the amount of money they own. Money continues to rule the world more and more every day. It is difficult to allow everyone to have equal opportunities in life if money is now what controls the opportunities. Overall, there are fewer problems in America, but the problems we have are difficult to fix, not allowing America to be a true democracy.

The United States is not a complete democracy. The United States continuously missed out on representing a majority of its people, but continues to work towards being closer to a complete democracy. Democracy is a system of government made for the people by the people. America does have many things that go along with that definition, but not everything follows the definition. History unmistakably shows how undemocratic America not only was but can be. Racism and feminism are only a few general undemocratic topics that occur in America. The reason a lot of people may believe America truly is democratic is because we have the right to vote, but more must go into the country to be a true democracy and even voting is rigged in a way that is not truly democratic.

Since the founding of the country, blacks were not treated equal to whites. There are significant changes since then that makes it seem as if blacks and whites really are equal today, but situations from history only come to show that not everyone is as equal as it may seem and that racism is alive. Blacks used to be seen as inhuman, treated less than whites, treated as if they were animals. White people, leaving Britain, were forcing people in Africa on a ship to lose everything they have to become a white man's slave in America. An example from history of inequality is the bussing situations - blacks sat in the back, whites in the front. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a successful case in which blacks were taking a stand for their rights. Rosa Parks, a black woman, refused to give her seat up to a white man. Alabama allowed bus companies to separate seats for blacks and whites. If someone did not listen to the bus driver, they could be fined up to $500 (Associated Press). She not only got jail time, but started a boycott. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke to a civil rights group that was supporting the boycott when he said “We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated.” Segregation is undemocratic, the government is controlled by whites that were against blacks. Blacks did not get a say in what they wanted for their country or even for themselves; therefore, the country was made by whites, for whites.

Similarly, there is inequality between race and sex. This inequality between men and women limits women’s lives. Since the founding of America, women have been seen to be less than men. Women were not granted the right to vote until the 1920s. During the 1950s, there were gender roles in the American household. During the 60s and 70s, women were working towards sexual equality. Women tried before, but they were pushed aside for other issues. There still are feminist protests to this day, proving America still is ignoring the inequality between men and women. A government video that aired during the beginning of the Cold War explained the differences between men and women that were not only expected, but followed by fear. The purpose of the government film, A Date with Your Family, was to show how the government expected families to run in the household during the beginning of the Cold War. The film also explained gender roles in the household, showing how women were encouraged to stay home and take care of housework as the men go to work. The film shows that men were the head of the household because they went out and made money, as women were not, even though they were the ones who took care of the family and home (Jones). This film shows and explains the inequality between genders in the home, allowing a person watching the film to understand life in the 50’s was not equal to not only colored, but for women as well. Inequality between genders is undemocratic considering it is made by the superior gender for the superior gender, not by all for all.

Not only were people treated differently because of their skin, but also their ethnicity. Since the beginning of immigration to America, people were treated with disrespect. At one point, the Chinese and Japanese were not allowed to immigrate to America if they were unskilled workers. Even today, our current president made plans to not allow Mexicans or specific Middle Easterns enter our country out of fear that they will hurt it economically or bomb the country out of stereotypical beliefs. This proves the fear of allowing immigrants into the “land of the free” because of stereotypes. This fear throws equality out the window and democracy with it. During WWII, Japanese-Americans were put in camps to be supervised because of fear. WWII was practically over, until America bombed Japan. In between Japan bombing America - known as the bombing of Pearl Harbor - and America bombing Japan, America hid Japanese-Americans away from the rest of the country, just so there would not be any spies from Japan to destroy America from the inside. Putting Japanese-Americans in camps let go of all their legal rights. They now lived in camps, hidden from the rest of the country, not given the same rights as they had before because of their origin, even if they had nothing to do with the bombing of Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, allowing military officials to place Japanese-Americans into camps to hide them away from the rest of the country. The Executive Order 9066 that Franklin D. Roosevelt signed granting military officers to place Japanese-Americans into the areas that segregated them from the rest of America. This was created out of fear that because Japan bombed America, then the Japanese-Americans would try to destroy America from the inside. Having a group of minorities stripped away from the lives they had goes against being for the people.

Voting is an issue that causes people to believe that America truly is democratic, yet there is an issue with voting that makes it not so democratic. Additionally, there has been problems about voting throughout history. It used to be only white men could, but now every one of legal age can vote. There were many troubles in between that finally allowed all people to vote. The 1964 Louisiana Literacy Test prevented African-Americans from voting by asking difficult questions on the test. This test prevented many from voting, not allowing a large amount of voter to vote. This was not the only literacy test, Mississippi and Alabama were two more states that had literacy tests. The Louisiana Voting Literacy Tests were drastically different between tests for blacks and whites. This difficult test made it nearly impossible for blacks to vote, not changing much of who voted in Louisiana. The Louisiana Voting Test consisted of 30 questions that all must be answered correctly within 10 minutes. If a single question was answered incorrectly, the test taker failed. Voting is a major part in a democracy, not granting people the right to vote is against democracy.

Therefore, history proves how the United States is not a complete democracy. Racism and sexism are two major factors why the United States is not truly democratic. A democracy should be by the people for the people, not by some people for some people. The country left out a majority of its country based on who ruled it. White males were in charge for so long, no one tried to gain the rights that they deserve as a human. The 20th century was a time of protest. African Americans protested for the legal rights that they have deserved for centuries, along with women - just not as significant of a change as African American lives were in need of. Yet, the United States is working towards being a complete democracy. With every problem, there has been a solution gaining people rights they deserved. Acts were put into place for African Americans to have the same opportunities as whites. Women were granted the right to vote and gender roles are not a thought in many minds, today. America may have not always been a complete democracy, but continues to get closer to it. Still, the U.S. is not a complete democracy. Yes, everyone is given equal opportunities, yet it does not truly seem as if that is true. Blacks are shot more often by police officers than whites, and not all jobs give equal pay to men and women. There are still many more reasons how America is not a complete democracy to this day. The future of America is difficult to know of, not only because the future is the unknown, but because it all depends on the generations that will make up the country. Based upon the upcoming generations now, it does not seem too good, but it seems as if everyone will truly be equal. If there is one thing many people in the newer generations can agree on, it is that no one should be judged on their skin before anything else. This new generation is more forgiving and welcoming than any other generation seemed to be. The problem with the new generation is a focus is money. With a higher focus on money, focus less towards more important issues of the people. Today, money controls everything, where we don’t judge someone based on their skin, but the clothes on their skin and their worth; the amount of money they own. Money continues to rule the world more and more every day. It is difficult to allow everyone to have equal opportunities in life if money is now what controls the opportunities. Overall, there are fewer problems in America, but the problems we have are difficult to fix, not allowing America to be a true democracy.