September 19, 2016

Dear President of the United States of America:

Imagine a world where everyone is paid the exact same amount of money for doing the exact same job. You might be thinking, isn’t that already the case? According to an article in Fortune magazine, “the average woman will make $430,480 less than her male counterpart over the course of 40 years of work.” Does this seem fair to you? In article one of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations, “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” This principle isn’t happening right now. Equal pay is a right that everyone should have. People should be paid the same amount of money for doing the exact same job. That means women should be paid the same amount of money as men for the same job, and if you are a minority you should be paid the same amount of money as a white person. I myself am a minority. When I am an adult, I want to be paid the same amount of money as my co-workers. Hard working people and future generations should be guaranteed equal pay for equal work.

As President, you should support and serve your people. You have an obligation to support the people of America. Currently, your citizens are not being paid equally. Ask yourself, is it fair to be paid less for your gender or skin color? When you became president, you swore that you would do your best to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. That also includes serving your people. According to an article by Bryce Covert, “women are earning 80 percent of what men earn.” How is that fair? They should be paid the same amount as men. You have a daughter. Do you want this to happen to your daughter? Do you want her to be discriminated against? African-American and Latina women have it even worse than most other women. A study showed that they are underpaid by $22,000 and $25,000, respectively. These people are getting oppressed. It’s your job to help these people. People elected you to help them and others. There are many solutions to this problem.

This image represents white males earning the most money and female minorities earning the least.

You could also support changes with a goal of solving these problems. Although there is a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), it doesn’t seem to be solving the issues at hand. For example, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act allows individuals to challenge pay discrimination, but there is still a wage gap. To close the wage gap, you could do more to support working women, such as further supporting moms and caregivers, and helping women get higher paying jobs. Also, you could have investigators check the salary of everyone in the business. If they are doing the same job, compare the salaries. The team of investigators could help even the paycheck. These are some of the ways you can help and demonstrate your caring nature.

I want a President with strong leadership and also compassion. I will support someone who cares about minorities, even if you aren’t necessarily a minority; and someone who helps others before helping themselves. You should help the needy without using them to your advantage. Voters and I will look for a person who can make a difference. You should aim to do something great for everyone. It doesn’t matter if they’re poor or rich, white or minority, man or woman, immigrant or not, you should be determined to help them. Voters and I look for someone who will help them through hard times and support them in times of need. They want a man or woman of the people. Be the person that we are looking for.

Sincerely,

Gabriel