In the contemporary society, most of minority people based on any measure can be said to have gained recognition. Looking at the 111th congress of America, a lot of revolution can be deduced. It can be said to be a congress comprised of the most diversified representation in the American history. Tracing the changes and composition of the congress and the senate, racial division is not very evident or even does religious division seem to be very evident (Lin, 1).
Looking at the history of the American politics, the greatest change can be traced in racial balance. All the way from the 1st congress, the whites had the majority representation. Men had more power compared to ladies and even the black and women had no voting rights. After the American civil war, the constitution was revised to allow the minority to have more political rights. Blacks and women were allowed to vote and since then, their representation in the senate and congress has drastically improved (Gill, 12).
Turning to youth representation, there was a trend that the young people were not fit for leadership posts but with time and population demographics changing, the youth have gained more representation in government organs. This has changed governance greatly leading to an almost discrimination free America (Lin, 3).
Taking a look at religious discrimination, non-Christian representation was very poor. This can be traced back to the colonial masters of this country. Muslims were believed to be almost inexistent in America and this can be traced as partly the reason why America reacts much intensely to Muslim related crimes. In the 111th congress, there are representatives from almost all religious faiths with two Muslims, two Buddhists but the Christians still maintain the highest representation. This means that minority representation in America is almost balancing the majority representation. The composition of American political platform is only a representation of what is happening in almost all countries in the world. This can be affirmed by the representation of other political faiths in Pakistan, a country where the most prevalent religious faith is Islam (Lin, 3-5).
In the contemporary American society, I believe that minority legislators are gradually gaining power and voice in the house. With their number increasing, they are also gaining power in policymaking and in the near future, I believe they will gain more power and be at the same level with the majority (Lin, 2). The idea of political glass ceiling is almost inexistent in the American politics. This can be attributed to the revolution of American politics to incorporate peoples from all walks of life. This can be taken as realization of Martin Luther junior’s dream of judgment by content of the character.
Works cited
Gill, L. African American Women in Congress Forming and Transforming History, Rutgers University Press 1997 Print.
Lin, Joanna. 111th Congress reflects greater religious diversity in the U.S. LA Times 2009 Print.
