Managing Diversity
Final Research Paper
Why is Discussion of Race Taboo in America?

America is said to be a melting pot of cultures, a country of not one nationality but a diverse mixture of all different types of people melted into one nation. This term became famous in America from the 1908 play of the same name, “The Melting Pot.” The basis of the play was how immigration to America caused the nation to be a fusion of nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities. What the play failed to mention was that although some nationalities were indeed melting together, American’s that were of different races were being excluded. The physical differences in races, such as African Americans, had caused them to be excluded from reaping the benefits of all that America had to offer. The worst part about all of this is that the people being excluded from “The Melting Pot” were decedents of individuals who did not come to this country by choice. Instead they were brought to this country through kidnapping. Flash forward a hundred years to Nov. 24th, 2008. America elects its first African American president Barack Obama. Article after article published around this time had headlines reading, “Barack Obama: The End of Racism in America.” We finally did it! Racism in America was able to be totally eradicated through the election of an African American as our nation’s president. If only it was that easy. Now in 2014, eight years after the election of our nation’s first African American president, our country is experiencing one of the biggest racial unrests since the civil rights movement in the 1960’s. It has been 149 years since the end of slavery, 46 years since the end of the civil rights movement, and 8 years since America elected it’s first African American president. How can it be possible that Americans still face inequality due to their race? The reason is