Dear Future President,

Is our country really united? Because of their race, gender, ethnicity, or sexuality, individuals in the United States constantly feel like they're not being treated equally. It is 2016 and our country has come so far and has achieved so much. So why does this problem still exist?

A primary example concerns the wage gap between men and women. As of 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, the gross U.S. gender wage gap (the average gap in wages between all female workers and all male workers, not accounting for specific differences such as education level, work experience, occupation, and race) was an estimated 23 percent (when basing calculations on annual earnings). This means that female workers made on average 77 cents for every dollar made by male workers.

Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1964, it is illegal for an employer to discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex or gender, religion, or national origin. This applies to all employment situations including hiring, firing, training, promoting, benefits, and wages. In 2013, four researchers submitted 9,400 fake resumes of nonexistent recent college graduates through online job applications for positions based in Atlanta, Baltimore, Portland, Oregon, Los Angeles, Boston, and Minneapolis. They sent four resumes per job and randomly changed certain variables in the applications, such as college major, work experience, gender, and race. To signal ethnicity, the researchers gave half the candidates “typical white” names such as Cody Baker, Jake Kelly, Claire Kruger, and Amy Rasmussen. They gave the other half “typically black” names of DeShawn Jefferson, DeAndre Washington, Ebony Booker, and Aaliyah Jackson. (The choice of these names was based on statistical data about name popularity among different ethnic groups.) 

The results concluded that young African-Americans still face persistent discrimination in the job market, and it is not due to their economic status, a lack of a degree, or other factors. Overall, black applicants were invited in for interviews 15.2% of the time, while white applicants received invitations 18% of the time. To put it another way, African-Americans were 16% less likely to get called in for an interview. Why is racial bias still in existence when there is only one race: the human race?

So please, Mr. or Mrs. President, I strongly advise you to not pass any unnecessary laws that would cause the "United" States to become even more divided than it already is. Instead, try resolving the many unfair issues that still exist today. It isn't fair for individuals to be mistreated and feel like they have disadvantages compared to their counterparts. 

Sincerely,

         Leanne