Study Like a Boss
“It begins with a relatively minor incident: A traffic stop. A burglary. A disturbance. Police arrive and tensions escalate. It ends with an unarmed black man shot dead” (Somashekhar). Already a total of,”896 people shot dead by police this year” (“Investigation: Police shootings”). The 31 of which were of a weapon unknown, which means,”could not … Read more
In Between the World and Me, last year’s celebrated epistolary memoir, Ta-Nehisi Coates centers the bodies of black folk and their struggle against the grain of America’s racial cosmology. Written in a posture of intimacy, Coates reflects on the hypervisibility of his raced body: “by now I am accustomed to intelligent people asking about the … Read more
Racism is a very strong word. To many people, it means many different things. The actual definition is when a person or group of people feels superior to another because of their race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or simply who they are. So pretty much what makes a person human. Every since the Americans first brought … Read more
Labelling Approach- This theory is based on how people from one culture who do the same things as another culture but only one of the groups may be considered deviant. (Schaefer, Richard, T. 2012, p. 18). I see this actually see this often through courts and trials and media. I can most closely associate it … Read more
There is nothing like crossing the line between being the one getting advice and being the one giving it. As irritating as it can be to hear it, the lessons learned and mistakes made in the past can benefit those who follow in the same footsteps. The most important thing to understand is self worth. … Read more
Segregation during World War II was at its lowest point in history, but one group called the Triple Nickles worked through it and became highly tuned fighting machines, never getting to show their worth in the front lines of the war. The African Americans of the 555th trained the same if not more than the … Read more
When we consider the act of influencing people to act against their own wills, it is natural to describe the physical. One may think of the gravity of a firearm, or of any threat of physical violence. While surely and realistically these concrete powers are involved in strong-arming another person or group of people, some … Read more
As stated above the convict leasing system started in Alabama. Alabama started the convict leasing system almost twenty years before the rest of the southern states, beginning in 1846, and throughout the time Alabama continually had the harshest conditions. In 1883 almost forty years after the start of convict leasing in Alabama ten percent of … Read more
Adetiba and Almendrala’s article details the traumatic side effects to viewing videos of police brutality, focusing specifically on its impact on Black people. While discussing the side effects, which are similar to that of post-traumatic stress disorder, the authors explicate the reasons as to why the Black community is particularly vulnerable to these symptoms. Citing … Read more
In American literature, Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most outstanding and memorable African American writers. While pursuing her work in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance, Hurston was acknowledged as the first modern African American to collect and publish folklore. Along with being a folklorist, she was also an anthropologist, novelist, and … Read more
Even today you can find cultural appropriation in our modern music. M and M is a famous, white male rapper, Justin Timberlake who sings rhythm and blues, and Katy Perry are just a few celebrities who have been criticized for stealing music, and clothing from the black culture. M and M is known across the … Read more
It was August 28, 1963. Mom was yelling and holding up her “Martin Luther King, a liar, a troublemaker” sign. Next to her were my brother and my dad, they just mumbled and cursed. While everyone cheered and jumped for joy when Dr. King uttered the words, “I have a dream that one day on … Read more
After examining the books To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne it is clear that they have many similarities when it comes to the theme of discrimination. In both books theme of discrimination is emphasized by aspects of the plot. This theme helps us to … Read more
The Statue of Liberty is a lie. She stands tall and proud, asking for the world’s tired, poor, and “huddled masses”; and yet the Immigration Acts passed between 1875 and 2005 have told a different story. Time and time again only certain people, ironically dependent on their wealth and ethnicity have been welcome. “Undesirables”, which … Read more
Imagine you were put in a tough position, where everybody was cheating on a math test, and you are the one person who knows it is the right thing not to cheat on the test. Would you give in and cheat just because the other people are cheating? Or would you ignore them and take … Read more
In To Kill a Mockingbird, the author Harper Lee, uses different themes to bring a deeper level to each of the characters. Each person helps contributes to the themes through their personality traits. Harper Lee uses the themes of maturity, racism, and loss of innocence in her novel To Kill a Mockingbird. Many characters including … Read more
“Afro-American Music, without Apology”: The Motown Sound and the Politics of Black Culture Chapter 4 in the book Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit by Suzanne E. Smith focuses primarily on Motown’s popularity and “the question of the relationship of the negro artist and his or her art to black … Read more
My topic for the debate was to argue that society was the one responsible for Mary’s death and not Bigger’s. In the book, Native Son by Richard Wright, Bigger Thomas is a young black man living in a society that is ruled by the white people around the time of the 1930s. He lives in … Read more
Throughout the Harlem Renaissance time period, many black Americans struggled to make ends meet and live a fulfilling life. Most black Americans were poor and few had the luxury of comfortably working and living among white Americans – who often reject their identity as a black person. In addition, some poor black Americans hid their … Read more
“Integrity means everything to me. That’s what my father had taught me when I was a young’un. If anyone asked me how I would like to be remembered in the Roller hobby, I would say | want to be remembered as a man of integrity because if you don’t have integrity, you have nothing! After … Read more
The apartheid of South Africa and the segregation system of America divided the nations by skin color and allowed for human rights to be neglected. The segregation laws of the United States heavily influenced the future apartheid which explains the various similarities between the two systems; however, culture and environment constructed differences as well. The … Read more
Here at the University of California, San Diego, we are known for our diverse student body. With such an environment, I believe it to be appropriate to bring in stand-up comedian Wanda Sykes to come and perform for the university, but not just for the laughs that she will surely bring. Comedy is known to … Read more
August 9th of 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri, unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by police Officer Darren Wilson, Michael Brown’s body left in the street for four hours after his death. Following the incident was a national unrest and uproar, leaving racial tensions at high that was last seen to that extent from … Read more
The movie The Help, produced by Kathryn Stockett, depicts the average lifestyle of African American women during the 1960’s, at the advent of the Civil Rights Movement. The most conventional job for an African American woman during this period was a maid for an American family. The movie has a social message and “explores race … Read more
Whether we understand it or not, the entertainment we enjoy has a profound effect on how we see the world. Entertainment not only shows societal values, but helps shape them as we embrace what hear and see as normal and acceptable. Entertainment can also impact our emotions as a well crafted piece of art creates … Read more
Do you know who was the first African American major league baseball player was? Well, it’s Jackie Robinson. Most people know him as the first African to play in the MLB, but most do not realize that he first played in the negro league. In fact, all most all of the African Americans that played … Read more
A Celebration of Identity: A Literary Analysis of Coal by Audre Lorde There was a point in history that the color of the skin determines the identity and fate of people. It mostly affected the black race as they were condemned and their rights were constantly violated during those times. Further, not so long ago, … Read more
Americans often remember the battle cry of Patrick Henry “Give me liberty,” though many forget that with the liberation of America in the 1770s from British control, Black Americans remained in bondage in this nation. The American Revolution revealed the hypocrisy of liberty; as the colonies fought for independence, enslavement remained an integral part of … Read more
Intercultural competence is a grand concept that involves many pieces. One important piece of intercultural competence is the idea of race. Race and culture have been socially tied together to the point where we see race and assume culture. This carries a major influence on how we interpret culture and how different groups live together … Read more
Justice is colorblind. All people are subject to the impartiality of the law; however, the backward attitude of Southern society can allow racism to take precedence to the law. In her novel To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee portrays how racism prevails in Southern society as white people view blacks as being inferior to them. … Read more
There have been numerous debates questioning the role and the agenda of the Black Lives Matter; however, since its inception, the movement has managed to propel the implementation of some policies to ensure that African Americans have been accorded the same treatment as the other US citizens (King). Some of the accomplishments which the group … Read more
How Can Music help the ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement considering its influences in The Civil Rights Movement? The ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement is a descendant of the Civil Rights Movement. Although several decades apart, both demand the social equality of African Americans. The Civil Rights Movement succeeded in some aspects, but there is obvious room … Read more
The Civil Rights Movement was a time in which African Americans struggled from the mid-1950s into the 1960s to gain civil rights that made them equal to that of whites. The movement was intended to restore the citizenship of black people, which had been tarnished and tainted by Jim Crow laws of the South. These … Read more
“Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past, threatens the future and renders the present inaccessible”, Maya Angelou once said. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a historical non-fiction novel that deals with racial inequality. Tom Robinson, an African American man, was one of the characters in the story who was accused of … Read more
Art is Restricted by the Chains of Censorship The thought that the book they have to read in class was close to being banned at one point in time, might delight a lot of high school students. The book The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was and is still criticized for the exceeding … Read more
Race in media is a topic that has been getting a lot of attention due to many people becoming more aware of underrepresentation of people of color, suppression of color which is a result of whitewashing in order to be more accepted in white culture, and stereotypes that have been placed upon them from preventing … Read more
In Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow” book, Alexander challenges the belief that racism does not exist in America today. She instead, suggests that racism exists today but in a different, more subtle, way. She explores America’s history and key points the significant movements our country has gone through in regards to racial discrimination. In … Read more
Educational Gerrymandering to Avoid Racial Minorities According to a Committee on Education, in 2015 a law was enacted in New York City requiring schools to annually report school demographics in community schools and high schools. This means that New York, a relatively progressive city, is making sure that their schools can stay racially diverse because … Read more
What does the American Dream mean? Is it this perfect life? Who is able to obtain this dream? The American Dream was debauched back in the 1920’s and it really made this concept of the American dream very elusive and a bit illogical. It was viewed as too perfect in a sense. In The Great … Read more
Even though President Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation to free the slaves, the white people showed their power over the black people through sharecropping, which is known as another form of slavery. In the book Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry, written by Mildred D. Taylor, Cassie Logan, a nineyear old black girl, starts to … Read more
More than two million people in the US self injure a day, privilege for those with lighter skin is still being granted, and a woman’s natural hair is still not fully accepted in American culture, but isn’t black America still a part of America? From the year 1619 until present day, the social and mental … Read more
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) is the oldest civil rights organization in America. It served as the most important organization and was very unique in many ways. The founders of the NAACP are a biracial group which include W. E. B DuBois, Mary White Ovington, William English Walling, Oswald Garrison … Read more
Ralph Ellison an American novelist, literary critic, and scholar is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953. A story of a black man and collegeeducated stuck in a vendetta between a racially divided society, trying to overcome and succeed in the stigma that a black man is … Read more
Growing up in America, , as a black male in Philadelphia, Pa, throughout my life I have seen many of my ethnic group arrested and convicted for various crimes and offences. This has had a profound effect on my perspective of the Pennsylvania Judicial system, including police, courts and prison. Being in an environment that … Read more
One of the many social problems here in America are the high rate of African Americans placed in the prison system. According to NAACP, from 1980 to 2008, the number of people incarcerated in America quadrupled-from roughly 500,000 to 2. 3 million and out of the 2. 3 million incarcerated 1 million are African Americans. … Read more
Firstly Truman had a positive impact via his setting up of the Civil Rights Committee and his empowering speeches that were focused on equality. Truman set up the Civil Rights Committee shortly after being outraged at the treatment of Black veterans coming home. The main aim of the committee was to monitor the progress of … Read more
Recently, the deaths of Tamir Rice, Eric Gardener, and Mike Brown, all at the hands of police officers, have sparked national protests and conversations around state sanctioned violence and police brutality, particularly in Black communities. An underlying component in these discussions and protests has been that of mourning, with discussions and protests often acting as … Read more
Police brutality is the use of any excessive force that is unreasonable or unwanted. Police brutality has had a long history in the U. S. In the early days of policing, acts of mass brutality were usually attributed to the poor labor workers. Back in the day young black slaves were targeted to be beaten … Read more
Picture this: a society split into two separate groups, two different colors, two opposing rights, the blacks and the whites. The 1900s was an important century in American history; from the funding to the NCCAP and the countless race riots to the invention of the modern television, this time, hit many landmarks that bettered some … Read more
C. P Ellis in his memoir, accounts his times as reputed member of Ku Klax Klan and through series of experiences, the change in his perception towards people of color. His prejudices against the black people came not inherently but from his childhood struggles that led to frustrations in his adult life and already present … Read more