...The Novel I decided to read is called “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin. On October 1959, John Howard made a decision that changed his life completely. Griffin wanted to see how much the skin color influenced the way people saw the world but also the way the world treated people. He wanted to see if people truly treated people accordingly to the way they looked. Griffin was brave enough to medically dye his skin black and experience the racism that black people experienced at that period of time. Not only was he mentally attacked but also physically; in 1975, John was a victim of a tragic attack by the Ku Klux Klan. In my opinion, John’s story is one of a kind; it shows a very sad and awful side of humanity. From October 28 to December 15, 1959, John Howard Griffin made a complete shift and he lived a life that was completely unfamiliar to him. John decided to live his life as a black man after reading some articles that talked about the oppression and racism black people experienced every single day of their lives. He wanted to know what it was like to live with all the injustices and racial discrimination these people suffered from. On November 7, 1959 Griffin became a real black man thanks to the help of a doctor who helped him darken the pigmentation of his...
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...Have you ever wanted to experience what it would be like to be a different race or to see how you would be treated if you were a different skin color then you are today? Well, in the book “Black Like Me” by John Howard Griffin, Griffin decided to do something like that and go see the outside world in a different race. Although Griffin only did this experiment for a couple of months I believe that he knows what it is like and truly experienced what racism against Negroes is like. Throughout this experiment it taught him what he could do to try and fix the racism against black people. Frist, Griffin decided to start his journey in New Orleans, Louisiana to see the racial discrimination. There was a lot of racial discrimination with every where...
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...perspective of black women. Banks looks at the issue from many different angles, including race, sexuality, and gender. Hair as a symbol of femininity is discussed and then connected back to the idea of hair length as an indicator of sexual orientation. Perhaps the most important part of the article is Banks’ quoting answers from her interviews with black women about hair and femininity (Banks, 2004). The discussions she had were relevant and came from real life sources, which drove home the idea that hair and femininity are related. One sentence from the work gives a good summary of the thesis: “… the argument here presents hair as a cultural tool that shapes black women’s ideas about race, gender, sexuality and images of beauty and power.” (Banks, 2004, 144). The experiences of the interviewed women are used in an attempt to completely...
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...Archives last week in the library allowed me to take a walk into the past of UMass student activism. However what struck me and made an interconnection was what I need to focus on and that being my capstone paper. While spending time in Amsterdam and looking at Northern European policies around incarceration rates I wanted to compare the two countries. Unsure of what I wanted to research in the archives, and how this trip could later develop into another paper I needed to write, I started to piece things together as I began to recall articles read over the last two semesters in STPEC in order to bridge together the bigger picture of social and economic injustices impacting communities of color and working class populations....
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...survey of African American literature, introducing students to genres, trends, and major periods of African American literature, ranging from the 17th-, 18th- and 19th- century autobiographies and narratives to 20tth –century works. Authors include: Jupiter Hammon, Briton Hammon, Sojourner Truth, Nat Turner, Claude McKay, Zora Neale Hurston, Sterling Brown, Richard Wright, Lorraine Hansberry, Amiri Baraka, Toni Morrison, Haki Madhubuti, Ton Cade Bambara, and August Wilson. COURSE OBJECTIVES By the end of this course, you will: o be able to distinguish amongst genres of literature; o be familiar with various works by and about African American writers in various literary genres; o be familiar with the Black Aesthetic, as well as other literary theories; o gain...
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...detentions, poor conditions and beatings of detainees by guards at Lindela Repatriation Centre, assaults by police officers involved in the arrest of suspected illegal immigrants, and arbitrary and verbally abusive conduct towards asylum-seekers by Department of Home Affairs officials (Amnesty International, 2001). Xenophobia is defined by the Merriam Webster Dictionary as ‘fear or hatred of strangers or foreigners or of what is strange or foreign’ (Mish, 1997). The literal meaning of the word suggests that xenophobic people would dislike all foreigners equally, as it is their ‘foreignness’ that makes them objectionable. However, the patterns that emerge of the targets involved in incidents that are attributed to xenophobia, as well as empirical research investigating xenophobia, suggest that this is not the case. Particular groups of foreigners are targeted, and the ethnic origins of...
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...contend that the disparate number of minority populations in prison is an accurate portrayal of how crime is committed in the United States. In order to understand the cause of this disparity, I will delve into the arrest rates and sentencing statistics that attempt to show why minorities are incarcerated at a higher rate, and why they're incarcerated for longer periods of time, than their white counterpart. These two focal points, arrest rates and sentencing statistics, I believe, are the best for gathering data, considering it is where the justice system both begins and ends. Though many may think that there is a racial bias concerning the disparate number of minorities in prison working against minorities, an article entitled, “Are Blacks and Hispanics Disproportionately Incarcerated Relative to Their Arrests?” provides impressive data to oppose this claim. This article boasts being one of the first studies to include the Hispanic ethnicity in their data, which other studies omitted from, or never incorporated into, their findings, making this study much more reliable in terms of determining the cause of the referenced disparity, and more accurate in comparing the races involved. The disparity in prison populations, according to this article, reflects "considerable consistency across stages of the criminal justice system of disparities observed in racial proportions of arrests" (Harris, C., et al., 2009)....
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...The title of my research paper will be Modern racism. I choose this topic because of as an American that was born in Africa it is always something that has been an interest to me. I came to America around the age of seven. I was young, and coming from Nigeria we were not taught anything about racism. My views on racism in America didn't really come from studying the history of slavery and civil rights in America, but rather from personal experiences I went through. In elementary school even though I was taught the history of African American I never really understood the impact of slavery. I merely took what I was taught as part of the curriculum, which I needed to pass a test. I never really absorbed much from learning. Most of the racist...
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...Divorce has become the norm in American society, but what has not become the norm are the effects that it has on children. Divorce impacts all individuals connected to the relationship but children are effected the most. Because of their innocence and immaturity they are not able to cope with the stressful events and aftermath of divorce like adults are able to. No one knows exactly how a child will react to divorce but more than not their behavior can be characterized as explosive and sporadic. The purpose of this research paper is to provide credible information on the effects that divorce has on children and the impact that it makes on their overall outlook on life before and after the divorce occurred. It will also highlight the stress that comes along with the relationship between parent and child as well as some insight on common practices used to help the children cope with the overall impact of divorce. Last but not least I will be adding some insight from my own personal experience about the effects of divorce. The demise or end of marriage has various and lasting effects on everyone connected to the couple going through that situation. Along with that comes a huge amount of stress, ill willed feelings, confusion, emptiness, and a plethora of other things that I would need three more pages to list. Children are the most vulnerable to the effects of these things. With their simple mind set and understanding of things, the concept of daddy and mommy not living...
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...understood logical thinking. The open air of writing was always intimidating to me. However, during my 11th grade English class, I realized I was capable. It wasn’t black and white, but rather all the colors imaginable. It was this realization that really helped me progress as a writer. A shift in paradigm made all the difference. My strong points in writing are usually fact-based works, such as research papers. My love of research branches off from my love of logic. It either is… or it isn’t. If I can choose the topic of my writing, I usually achieve a better result. Interest in the topic is what really drives me to do well with the matter at hand. I could write ten pages in a heartbeat about Ford Mustangs, but...
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...either contradict myself or come off as “strong left wing liberal” as some of the kids from our composition class would say. Throughout this essay I was doing countless research from the documentary on racism that we viewed in class to statistics regarding racism in the court system. I find that research in essay allows for us to gain knowledge in order to support our own ideas in the paper and to better grasp the realism of the pigeonholes that are present in our society today. The most valuable piece of evidence in my essay would be the interview I had with one of my former professors from high school who was a law teacher and was my mock trial coach. We read some Iowa court cases that were deemed to be racist primarily from the early fifties and late sixties when prejugdism and racism were much alive and well in the...
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...ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR BUS 311 Proposed Topic for Research Paper Gilbert Lee Gragg March 4, 2015 Topic #1. Newport News shipbuilding recurring racial and ethical issues regarding treatment of non-white workers. Topic #2. Consistent questionable treatment of employees at Newport News Shipyard. Topic #3. Preferential treatment of white employees over black employees at Newport News Shipyard. I worked at Newport News Shipyard in 2008 as a security guard and unlike recent cases state, treatment showed all workers showing disrespect and racial based jokes at the other group’s expense. A noticeable difference was the education in which the black work force lacked over white counterparts. Such a large workforce with considerable educational and historical backgrounds can lead to tension, especially when a group feels at a disadvantage. I plan on interviewing some of the management staff, equal opportunity representatives and possible employees in relation to the proposed topics of interest. There are few articles regarding the topics listed, however research conducted by interviewing employees and staff at the shipyard should and will yield the proper amount of needed evidence to conduct a thorough paper. This topic is of interest to me, because I would like to delve deeper into the organizational and psychological aspect to see if only people of non-white origin have wanted to search for a monetary gain and if it should be the company or the individuals...
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...essay. I knew going in to this exploratory research assignment that I would be challenged to think outside the box and ask problematic questions about relevant topics. I thought about it and decided to write my paper on something that is familiar to me. I wanted it to be about something that I am experiencing at this very moment. After reading through more and more of the assignment it occurred to me I had never really researched an issue like this. I’ve been listening to a lot of Politics lately and shocked to hear stuff about what is happening to our country. I then found the Embry Riddle Aeronautics University’s HUNTS library. I never knew anything about APA style writing and to be honest, at the beginning, it is a lot to learn in a very fast way, in a short period of time. I found myself questioning if I could even complete this assignment, let alone this course. I have never been one to give up though, at least not in this stage of my life. Anyway, since I did that HUNTS Library training online I thought, HEY! This could be useful to find good information about issues that I hold dear, issues that I believe are borderline and just about to go over the edge, into the never ending black hole of immorality. I could finally research my question in a “scholarly” way. That word is a new one to my vocabulary! Sometimes it is hard to get into the zone and just write. So after I find how useful the HUNTS Library is, I began my research. Since my question had to do with the future...
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...Black Like Me Mr. John Howard Griffin, author of the book Black Like Me, had questioned the experience of the Negro in the Deep South in America. There was lip service from the white America that the relationship with the Negro was one of harmony. Mr. Griffin felt this not to be a statement of truth and with this questioning decided that he would find first hand by transforming himself with dye, ultraviolet light, and medication to take on the characteristics of a Negro man. He immersed himself into the Negro culture and experienced racism at its finest in New Orleans, Louisiana. His book was a diary form account of his life as a Negro from October to August in 1959 and 1960. Mr. Griffin became interested in class effects and racism as he studied in France and experienced the treatment of Jews. He had long studied and written of the Negro experience, however could not truly experience the discrimination until he carried out his experience. He secured finances from a friend who published a magazine for blacks. The agreement was made with the magazine publisher to have rights to publish Mr. Griffin’s research in a story for his magazine. During his transformation with medication to obtain his blackness, there were concerns for his wellbeing and health. He was apprised of the danger in his treatment and also of the outcome that he would encounter as a black man. His family supported him in his experiment, however feared his dangerous circumstance that he was near...
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...Theory “Waiting to Exhale…” While delving into the assigned literature for this week, I noticed that it controlled me—my soul sometimes evoked a sense of pride, waves of applause, but most of all, anger. I immediately became aware of the forced sense of solidarity that I am assigned, the voice that always whispers to me when one of “us” appears intelligent: “Yes, these authors made us look like we had some sense! Look how analytical they sounded!” But why on earth do I have to feel like that in this marvelous, post racial society? After reading, I noticed that despite the year tacked on to the assigned readings, the content barely changed. From Dubois (1903) to Wingfield and Feagin (2012), we are still acknowledging the same woes that a society assigns particular groups of people. We are still attempting to come up with dire solutions in hopes that everyone will begin to “get along” with one another. But most of all, because of this…People of color are still waiting to exhale. In this essay, there will be two parts: Firstly, a general analysis of the assigned literature for this week. In this compartment of my paper, I will analyze extracted points from the readings thematically as it directly relates to certain points in the “Critical Race: An Introduction” excerpt. Here, I will also be giving a respectful critique of Dubois’ postulations in the “Souls of Black Folk.” Secondly I will critique Allport’s (1954) contact hypothesis that was discussed in Hewstone and Swart (2011)...
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