"Equality" only for some minorities?

This is replicated from one of my journal entries where I went off on something of a tangent. I'd love to here some viewpoints. No offence is meant to anyone, members of minorities mentioned or not, and I apologise if any is caused. The views herein are based on observation, and the author recognises that outside of his sphere of reference the observations could be wildly inaccurate.

That brings me on to a point that's been going around my head for a while. Anyone notice that the Hispanic community is pretty much a servile under-class in the United States? Certainly in California, it would seem.

I work in a multi-cultural team. An Englishman, a Korean raised by Japanese parents, a Seikh, an Egypitian, an African-American, and a Cantonese person. I see this spread replicated throughout the company. Yet I see no Hispanics on this 8,000 person strong campus, other than cleaning or in the cafeteria. And yet California has a very, very large hispanic population.

Why is this? I can't get my head around it. This company one of the best for ethnic diversity, and yet one facet of our community is seemingly completely over-looked. Is this community so badly overlooked in the schooling system that they cannot obtain the skills necessary to work outside of the service industry? Do equal opportunity laws not adequately protect this community in the same way that they have had succes with other, perhaps more vocal, minorities?

Food for thought - are we providing the illusion an equalitarian society by providing leg-ups to the minorities that shout loudest, rather than striving for a level playing field and leaving the individual to fight the good fight and get as far as he, or she, desires?

If those that do servile work don't want to do it anymore then they should get an education and learn job skills. Many of the hispanics that come to the US are are unskilled labor so they end up in the nasty jobs. Plus many do not make an effort to learn english and that limits their job opportunities too.

I agree, to an extent. Certainly if anyone chooses to not advance themselves, then it's exactly that - a choice.

There are plenty of whites and blacks in the service industries too. I just found it funny that the Hispanic community, large as it is in this area, seems to not be represented at all in corporate America. I'd have imagined that there must be a percentage of Hispanics that have ambition to succeed. Where are they?

Are they being held down by racism? Are they not getting the same opportunities? Maybe they are just succeeding in other areas? Maybe those that are succeeding are doing so on their own terms, with businesses of their own, which is why I don't see them.

I find it difficult to place the stereo type that all hispanics are lazy and choose not to learn English or strive for a better education.

Maybe there are many hispanics in your corporation but you just don't see them. Not all are brown skin and foreign born. The people you see doing the cleaning and the cooking tend to be illegal immigrants. Most of those industries that hire them ignore their legal status and pay them less than minimum wage. And since the bulk of illegal immigrants are hispanic they tend to dominate those jobs. No company will hire an illegal immigrant into a corporate position no matter how educated because it's against the law and the higher up the position in the company the more responsible the hiring practices would be. I hope anyways.

And why so much emphasis on making sure this race or that race is represented in a company? Why not hire based only on merit and experience? I would hate to think I was hired on my job just to fill the asian quota.

In my experience, many hispanics I've known have been illegal immigrants so they work for low wages. Most hispanics I know also have a strong work ethic so that is not the problem.

I think they have equal rights, but if someone is here illegally they don't normally shout for their rights.

Oh I agree, I really do. And my company, to my knowledge, does not have race quotas. Though you do have to justify why you hired one person over any other applicants.

I was just wondering why I only ever saw hispanics in the service industries. Some good points have been made by all.

She's right, I am a full blooded hispanic woman, My last name is Marquez, but if you look at my pics you'll see i look white

hello everbody,
i would be pleased if there were some members in here,interested in topics,such as racism,xenophobia,racist attacks,etc...as i'm currently creating a website concerning these topics i would be happy to receive mails from everyone who thinks he or she has to say something about it.and i'm sure everybody have experiences concerning racism.whether as a victim,an observer of racist attacks or even as an offender.write me honestly what you are thinking about current events or events occuring in the past.and also,if you think that this topic is given too much interest in the media,just write me.i would be happy to find out more about your opinions.
thank you very much indeed,
stefanie