Thursday, January 30, 2020

Race and Racism Essay Example for Free

Race and Racism Essay In comparison to the almighty universe in which people all live in, human beings are merely a speck of dust at the size of it all. Then here are these beings on planet earth, with all 7 billion people under the same moon, divided. No longer are human equals as beings, but separate because of the system of ignorance, exploitation, and power used to oppress people on the basis of ethnicity, culture, mannerisms, and culture (Marable 1). Racism is the issue Americans have swept under the rug; the problem is being ignored, leaving cultures in the dark of their own history causing blame to be shifted on to all sorts of hosts, and it’s time to pick up the rug to dust. Society as a whole seems to have broken down what makes a person unique, dehumanizing them and leaving them susceptible to oppression (Marable 2). One must not be so quick to forget that every single human being is made up of the same genetic material, to forget something so broad is to undermine the gift of thinking itself. Manning Marable writes in Racism and Sexism that stereotypes are at the heart of every form of racism today. Racism is not a topic that sits around at the front of everybody’s brain. Racism does not twist on the tip of your tongue begging to be talked about. Racism is something that is ignored and denied. Shocking statistics from Tim Wise’s On White Privilege were discussed, stating that in 1962, 80% of white folk believed that racism was not even a problem. In the same year, 90% of white folk believed that colored children had equal education opportunities as white children. To believe that racism was not even a problem would be to say that over the 750 race riots 228 people were not actually killed, 12,741 people were not critically injured, and that the 15,000 acts of arson did not leave black urban neighborhoods in ruins, in the same year of 1962 (Postrel). White people are completely unburdened by race; where as colored people constantly feel their capabilities are always being second guessed. However, Charles M. Blow, author of Escaping Slavery, explains to the reader that apparently white people think their actions are justified! And Blow goes as far as to say that â€Å"the idea that progress toward radical harmony would or should be steady and continuous is fraying† (Blow 1). In On White Privilege, the speaker Tim Wise pointed out that white people were asked in 2009 if they believed that racial discrimination is still a problem and only 6% said ‘yes. ’ To put that into perspective: more people would believe that Elvis is still alive than to believe that racial discrimination is still a problem (Wise). Perhaps the density of the universe compromised the carrying capacity of the human brain causing a malfunction making it so the only thing people can think about is them self. Definitely not progress (Blow 2). The white system of ignorance and exploitations is causing the cultures of color to completely lose track of their own histories (Marable). People who are oppressed themselves begin to lose touch with their own traditions of history, community, love, celebrations, struggle, and change (Marable). Tim Wise reminds viewers whose history we are truly learning in school- text books are filled only with white history; people of color are forced to regurgitate white history, white literature, white art, white theater, etc. , while if a white person does not know an ounce of black history, it can go virtually unnoticed in this country (Wise). Actions speak louder than words and people seem to continue to prove their ignorance. As part of the Civil Rights Movement and an effort to create a solution to unlawful discrimination in housing based on race, color, sex, nation origin, or religion, the Fair Housing Act was passed in 1968 (Russell). Fast forward 38 years later where 2006 showed the highest level of discriminating housing complaints based on race (Wise). 38 whole years later and the only thing society can show on terms of progress is the lack of acceptance being distributed around the country. There is not enough change taking place as a country in order to move forward into truly being the United States of America; home of the Brave but we still fear what we do not know. It is always easier to accuse other forces for a problem than to admit that you are actually making the mess yourself. It has been said that if one is not a part of the solution then one is a part of the problem; however, some people are purely unburdened by race, they don’t know racism because they have never had to experience it- people are completely surrounded by and completely oblivious of the problem. Failure to talk about racism feeds the denial (Wise). The finger can be pointed in any direction, and instead of calling it â€Å"blame† the word â€Å"cause† is used instead because that is more constructive, and let’s face it, we need as much progress as we can get. However, progress seems to be unbearably intangible when Blow points out that the pillars of the institution- the fundamental devaluation of dark skin and stained justifications are for the unconscionable- have proved surprisingly resilient (Blow). The ignorance and lack of education only feeds the pillars’ strength. Completely blinded by utter fear, America seems to be in a standstill of progress towards the issue on racism. Starting with Charles Blow’s work in Escaping Slavery, down to Manning Marable’s Racism and Sexism, and what Tim Wise said in On White Privilege, it can be assumed that progress will always need to be made to bring this country closer to unity. Breaking down racial barriers and stereotypes have proven to be an especially lengthy process, however that does not justify the slothfulness of it all. Open minds and hearts is what it is going to take to shatter the structure that leaves this country divided. Word Count: 1,100 Works Cited Blow, Charles. â€Å"Escaping Slavery. † New York Times 4 January 2013. Marable, Manning. â€Å"Racism and Sexism. † Race, Class, and Gender in the United States, 5th ed. Ed. Paul Rothenberg. New York: Worth Publishers, 2001. 124-129. Pring. Wise, Tim. On White Privilege: Racism, White Denial, and the Costs of Inequality. The Media Education Foundation, 2008. DVD. Postrel, Virginia. The Consequences of the 1960s Race Riots Come Into View. The New York Times. N. p. , 30 Dec. 2004. Web. 18 Feb. 2013.

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Free Great Gatsby Essays: Genre :: Great Gatsby Essays

The Genre of The Great Gatsby If you want to find out, into which literary corner F. Scott Fitzgerald's masterpiece, the "Great Gatsby", belongs, you’ve got to take a look at two main genres of novel-writing, the so-called "novel of manners" on the one hand and the romance on the other. The novel of manners gives, using most of the time a rather satirical tone, a sharp portrayal of the actual life as it really is and also of the social behaviour and attitudes that are closely related with it. This type of novel concentrates on people of a certain class, time and place are clearly defined. The individual attitudes of those people, their inner desires, get into conflict with the more conventional values, which are defined by the society they live in. The result is, that the protagonist has the problem of combining himself and his desires with the rules (the manners) of society, that he himself as a part of this society helped to establish, involuntarily. Examples for this special kind of novel are creations of authors like Henry Fielding and Jane Austen. On the other hand there is the romance, not aiming at a detailed description of life, but wanting to show it as it is imaginatively seen. The romance concentrates on the inner aspects of human nature, it is not concerned with ordinary events. It is difficult to decide to which literary type the "Great Gatsby" belongs. It is possible to read it as a novel of manners for it presents life and atmosphere of the Roaring Twenties in America, the Jazz Age, marked by prohibition, the organised crime, the new woman as well as the wealthy upper-class and their carelessness in most affairs. Fitzgerald is also using a satirical and comic tone most of the time. But the book could as well be read as a romance. This seems to be even more appropriate for the book is concerned with the portrayal of a man's idealism in all its glory but as well in all its unreality and unworldliness. Gatsby is presented as a mysterious figure, fitting well within the fantasy and magic of his naive dream. He is Prince Charming, the gallant knight, trying to get his Princess in white, it's a perfect example for a sad and tragic fairy-tale. While writing the "Great Gatsby", Fitzgerald got influenced by several other books, such as "The Decline of the West" by Oswald Spengler, published 1918-1922, which is portraying the Western civilisation as being in a state of decay.

Tuesday, January 14, 2020

Bucket List

Bucket List The Bucket List was an amazing movie; it was a movie that showed two older men on a journey to find the meaning of life. Mr. Edward Cole a corporate billionaire and a scholarly mechanic Carter Chambers met in the hospital because they both had Cancer. The time that they spent together in the hospital did not only bring them great friendship but also together they found the joy and meaning of life. While sitting in the hospital together slowly dying from cancer they decided that they were not ready to die and they still had a lot of things they wanted to do for themselves before it was too late. So, they made a bucket list, and decided to escape the hospital and do everything that they always wanted to do. Carter Chambers was married to his dear wife, Virginia, for 45 years he had a happy marriage and a wonderful family but, Mr. Chambers felt as if something was missing. He explained that for the last forty five years of his life were mostly dedicated to his family and wife, now he wants to have time for himself and do the things he always wanted to do, but didn’t get a chance to do. Even though his friend Edward Cole was a billionaire; he also felt as if there was something missing out of his life, he had a lot of money and many divorces, and a daughter that he has not spoken with, that didn’t make him feel like he had the true meaning to life. As a person approaches late adulthood, health problems are not just the issue, but problems regarding one’s meaning of life. Both of these men felt unsatisfied or incomplete, with their overall feeling, they were both suffering from a terminal disease, and they both felt if they were going to die they wanted die knowing they got the best out of life, with no regrets, and lived life to the fullest. Both Edward and Carter where demonstrating Erikson’s Last stage of development. His last stage is integrity vs. espair hoping that one will gain strength of wisdom so that person will not be afraid of death. Erikson believes that much of life was preparing for the middle adult stage and the last stage is to recovering from it. When a person is older and is able to reevaluate their life with happiness, and feels fulfilled with a deep sense of life and meaning is when that person is experiencing integrity. If a person is experiencing that they failed at life, and have no meaning to life this is when the person is displaying despair. They fear death because they have not got all out of life

Sunday, January 5, 2020

The Debate Over Genetic Engineering - 1772 Words

Over the past few decades genetic engineering has caused plenty of controversy not only in politics, but as well as in science and the lives of everyday people. Controversy is not new to this subject, in fact it has a rich history of it, from cloning to patenting several types of DNA. Some scientist in this field even oppose this subject. While there are many cons in this subject such as people taking advantage over the technology, there are also a lot of pros that come out of it and has helped society such as creating cures for diseases that are not yet curable today. This paper will not only present the pros and cons of genetic engineering, but also part of the history and the basic principles and concepts behind it. In genetic†¦show more content†¦Germ-line therapy is mostly used to cure inheritable diseases such as sickle-cell anemia and hemophilia to name a few, unfortunately this type of gene therapy is illegal in many countries. Furthermore, in somatic cell therap y they switch the â€Å"bad† gene for the â€Å"good† gene. Somatic cell therapy is not inheritable because it only effects that one patient’s other cells besides sex cells. This ultimately ends up as a safer method because it only affects the cells that are targeted. In somatic cell therapy, they use gene splicing, which is the focal point of genetic engineering. Gene splicing is where a gene is cut vertically and joined with another piece that is also cut vertically. After this is done and the new piece of DNA is formed a method called gene transfer is used to incorporate the new DNA into an organism’s cells. Somatic cell therapy is used to cure a number of disease including cancer and muscular dystrophy. â€Å"Gene therapy can simply depicted by using an analogy: all it is like taking one recipe from a cookbook and rewriting it to make it better and putting into different cookbook.† (agbiosafety.unl.edu) Indeed, genetic engineering is simply a method by which you physically extract a gene from an organism and put it into a different one, which gives that organism the power to convey that trait encoded by the gene. Genetic engineering also has a rich history, but has made its big leaps just recently. The basic breeding started in 1865 with an