Dear Mr./ Madam President,

Equality, what does that mean to us? In a definitive term it means the state or quality of being equal. As a citizen in the United States, I know that equality isn’t always at the forefront of discussion. Whether you are male or female, black or white, Muslim or Christian. At some point, everyone has felt unequal to another. In the Declaration of Independence, it states “That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights”. Equality should be for all not just one race, religion, or gender.

The average American household makes approximately 52,000 dollars a year. Women that work full-time only make 80 cents for every dollar a man makes. This may not seem to be much, but it adds up to men making about 10,470 dollars more than women a year. The webpage AAUW.org states that “Among full-time workers in 2015, Hispanic and Latina, African American, American Indian, and Native Hawaiian and other native women had lower median annual earning compared with non- Hispanic and Asian American women”. It doesn’t stop there pewforum.org has a graph that shows that 43% of people who believe in Hinduism make 100,000 or more dollars per year. While only 8% of Historically Black Protestant church goers make as much.

Inequality is not something new. It has been around since Kings and Queens ruled nations. In today’s day and age equality isn’t as much about social ranking and money as it is about stereotyping. Since childhood we have been exposed to stereotypes. For example, on television when a woman has lost her job, significant other, or things just simply haven’t gone her way. She is shown eating ice cream (or other comfort foods) and crying. Males are rarely portrayed as emotional beings. That is not even the worst of it African American and Muslims are violent people who only want to cause damage according to stereotypes.

Equality can be achieved if all people are given a fair chance at life. Imagine if everyone had a chance to go to college. No matter their background. In order for this to happen college tuition prices would have to lower quite a bit. This would level the playing field by allowing all to have the equal amount of education.

In conclusion, all people are equal. Therefore, one ethnic group, religion, or gender should not be treated opposite of the other. By changing the way, we look at others this could be achieved. As Hubert H. Humphrey once said “Equality means equality for all-no exceptions, no, ‘yes, buts,’ no asterisked footnotes imposing limits”.

Sincerely,

Michalynn W.