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Discrimination

       People can have problems when they travel or move to another country. One of the problems can be the food. When people eat different kind of food, sometimes they get sick. A second problem can be loneliness. People can feel alone when they don’t have friends or family around them. For example, Pepe, who left his country Honduras and came to The United States, didn’t know what kind of difficulties he would face. For immigrants, adapting to a new lifestyle is difficult; sometimes it is not what they expect.

       One difficulty Pepe had was with language. “When I came to The United States, I didn’t speak English,” Pepe said. It was really hard for me to get a job. When I applied for a job people asked me, “Do you speak English?” I answered, “I speak little bit. When it was time to go to the grocery store and buy the usual food, people looked at me and whispered behind my back.” “I felt uncomfortable because I didn’t know if they were laughing at me. I didn’t know what they were talking about. They looked different, I think those people were tourists,” Pepe said. “Also, when I was ready to pay for mi groceries, the cashier greeted the rest of the costumers, but not me. He didn’t say anything, not even ‘How are you?’ or something like that. I felt like I was stealing something,” Pepe said. The second difficulty Pepe had was getting a job. “I tried very hard to look for a job I worked landscaping.” “It was a hard job, especially in the summer time, but, hey I have to pay the bills!” Pepe said. Pepe got another job that was in a restaurant, and the last difficulty Pepe had was that people treated him differently.”I remember one day when I was working in the restaurant and it was time to get my lunch. So, I went to eat, but I forgot to clock out. Suddenly, the manager came to me and said, ‘Hey you forget to clock out, don’t do it again.’ Days passed and one day an employee was taking a break. This guy was reading a newspaper.” I asked him, “Did you clock out?” Pepe said. The guy answered “I don’t need to do that because, the manager is my friend.” Maybe because of the color of my skin or because I am from another country, “I was always treated differently, they hurt my feelings in that way,” Pepe said. “I have been living in The United States for more than 10 years, my English is better now, but, I still have these kinds of problems" he said.

       Pepe felt bad because, he had been treated so badly, but as humans we have the right to be treated equally, to be someone successful, to have a better life, to get educated, and to go to work like everybody else, and not be victims of discrimination.