Dear Future President:

     My name is Pearl, and I am an eighth grade student at Saco Middle School, in Maine. In your power, you must work to end discrimination and inequality against women, world race, religion, and LGBTQ Americans. So, future president, let’s get working. We must close the wage gap, the societal stereotypes, and seemingly dark opinions of completely normal American citizens; then our nation will prosper.

      Women are not being paid equally. The wage gap is a well known issue, though it seems people have not been trying hard enough to close it. “I don’t have enough control,” or “It will end on it’s own,” are not good excuses. In 2015, full-time women workers were paid an average of 80 cents for a dollar, while the full-time male worker got paid the normal dollar, 100 cents. Despite many female workers doing their jobs well, or even better then some men, they are still paid under a proper income. My parents just started a small, local business. They’ve worked very hard for multiple years to reach their goal of finally opening their business. I have tried to help and support them with the business, as we have had to be more flexible with our income. Since it’s a family business, both my parents get the same income. However, my mother works at another job as well to support our family. Here she is paid on amount of effort and how long she’s worked there, which I know is an easy solution to the wage gap. Maine, my home state, is ranked thirtieth on the equal paying chart. The average income of a full-time male is $46,934 a year, while the average income of a full-time female is $36,814. This means, that in Maine, women are paid 78% of what men are paid.

      People of different race have an unlikely stereotype. The generic idea that people of a separate skin tone then some - specifically, African-American’s - are different, or perhaps violent and dangerous, is a generic stereotype. According to guardian.com, 25% of blacks that are killed are unarmed, and around six innocent bystanders are killed or injured as well. I do not believe that all police are dangerous; in fact, they’ve gotten a stereotype themselves. I personally know multiple retired police officers, and they are kind and generous people. However, 102 proven innocent African-American’s were killed by police in 2015; that is around two people each week. I have a close family friend who my parents have known since college. He happens to be an African-American. The idea that African-Americans want to hurt people hurts him and me, since we have grown so close. In fact, he helps people. He is an EMT and works in a huge city on an ambulance. He has this job to help people, not to hurt them. As a president, you don't want your citizens to be hurt emotionally or physically, do you? African-American unemployment is twice as much as white unemployment, out of the 14 million jobless American’s, according to www.reimaginerpe.org. In 2013 alone, African-American men got paid 75.1% of what white men got paid, and Hispanic men got paid 67.2% of white men. 48.2% was the standard for African-American women to white women, and 54% for Hispanic women.

      The idea that people of a separate faith than yours are incorrect and/or dangerous. It is a fact, believe it or not, that all religions, not just yours, are based upon the same ideas; everyone is equal, leads a happy, healthy life, and is focused around love. Islam, for example, is a faith practiced widely in the middle east. Because of ISIS, muslims (the name of people who practice Islam,) have received a general idea that they, despite their innocence, too, are dangerous. Just because people in their religion have, in some ways, torn it and their hope apart, does not mean that they are the same. The U.S.A. has no given religion, or language. In fact, according to pewforum.org, 70.6% or practiced religion is Christian, 5.9% is non-Christian, and 1.5% are other faiths. It’s one thing to have a different religion, but to also have to evacuate your country that is in the midst of a war and not be accepted into the “Land of the Free”, is another.

      The stereotype that people with the LGBTQ community are leading an unhealthy lifestyle is, in fact, a stereotype. According to gallup.com, 23% of America’s population is of openly gay and lesbian citizens, as well as people in the LGBTQ community. Many people believe that LGBTQ marriage is not a true, or real marriage, and that a traditional marriage is between a man and a woman. However, a marriage through law, (most marriages are confirmed through law), is a true, real marriage. “It offends God”, a popular protest repeated by homophobes. In fact, the Bible states that you do not have to identify as man or woman, in the following verse; “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one of Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28” Many people say that homosexuality is a sin, or that you must be the gender you are assigned at birth, for it is in the Bible. However, it’s not. Love whoever you are attracted to, love is love. Be who you want to be, you are you.

      Personal opinions are unlikely to change, I understand that. However, we must close the wage gap, the societal stereotypes, and seemingly dark opinions of completely normal American citizens, and then our nation will prosper. The Merriam - Webster dictionary states discrimination as “the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex.” I feel as though American people don’t quite understand this definition. Let’s get started, Future President.

      Let’s live up to being the Land of the Free.

Sincerely, 

Pearl