...Siobhan Somerville argues that there is a link established that intertwines sexuality with race in her article Queering the Color Line: Race and the Invention of Homosexuality in American Culture. The journal article is written about the nineteenth century American culture. Homosexuality stems from the debates about the correlation of race and gender. She wants to demonstrate the way that writers formed the concept about the dependence in ideas of race, therefore forming people’s understanding of relationships in the world. Her first idea that she talks about and articulates is the start of sexuality in the U.S. She begins by giving the readers a view of the portrayal of homosexuals and the way they were classified. Any type of sexuality...
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...Writing Women into Romanticism: A Heroine's Journey Through Culture, Race and the American Frontier. “Every trail has its end, and every calamity brings its lesson!” (Cooper, 159) During the time of the French and Indian War, animosity between native Americans and Colonists was at it’s peak. Cora and her younger sister Alice Munro are kidnapped by hostile Indians while on their way through the wilderness of upper New York. The young women are traveling to visit their father at Fort William Henry. The kidnapping of the Munro sisters is a ploy by the Indian Magua. Magua seeks bounty for all he feels that the commander Colonel Munro has wronged him and his peoples of. Alice and Cora are the only major female protagonist in the...
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...American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang, shows the struggle of adapting to white American culture, from the viewpoint of a non-white race. It shows how white Americans tend to ostracize other races and because they are “different”. Other races are grouped as one culture, even if they aren’t in the same culture. Because you are ostracize, you also tend to look as yourself as different. Jin and the Monkey King are the perfect examples of how your race or looks can define you and your culture. It also shows how a person can change themselves to try and fit in with a race or status. Throughout the book, we see differences between Jin and his cousin, who turns out be the Monkey King. Even though Jin follows American culture and his cousin follows...
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...diversity of its people. With different cultures, ethnicity, and race all being intertwined in one country, the definition of a melting pot has been formed. Over the years, the United States has matured from being a white supremacy country to a diversified country that gives every racial person born in the United States a chance to lead its people. This historic moment happened in 2009 when Barack Obama became the first African American President in the United States. But even with all the progress we have made, there is still prejudice, discrimination, and idealistic beliefs that have overshadowed a cultural movement that is trying to free this country from a divided line of beliefs. As a result, we must look into the meaning between culture, race and ethnicity to understand the world we live in. “Culture is that unique characteristic that separates the human from the rest of the world of living things.” (Naylor 3) According to Naylor, culture is the basis of human thought and behavior and gives us a sense of identity. He also states that culture makes all humans basically the same, yet it also makes them different as each human group creates and develops its own version of culture designed to respond to their own particular needs and wants, and because of the choices they make. (Naylor 3) The author states that culture is different for each individual and that the environment that one lives in, has a major effect on how they define culture. . With each experience the individual...
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...Abstract The point of this paper is to help the reader grasp the different aspects of human identity construction with regards to ones race and/or ethnicity. This is a topic that is incredibly important to all races of people regardless of economic class or whatever else is seemingly more important. It is quite impossible to go throughout life without forming an idea of who you are or where you have come whether you care to make it a part of your daily life, have no choice or acknowledge it when it is convenient; without that knowledge I find it difficult to fully make the most of life. Through the readings from the semester and class discussions I have come to the conclusion that White ethnics choose to either assert their ethnicities thickly or thinly, or they chose to incorporate it into their lives symbolically. Blacks on the other side of the spectrum lack choice in their racial identity because their race is visible and so it is assigned to them. Asians have both the ability to choose to assert their specific ethnicities but they are racially assigned. The issue with racial and ethnic construction is that it is born of social construction-what others believe of your race to be true. This can make the identity construction process much more difficult depending upon your racial or ethnic background. Regardless, I find this to be an important part of the identity construction journey. How many cares one loses when one decides not to be something but to be someone. ...
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...DEFINATION OF RACE Name of Student Institution affiliation DEFINATION OF RACE Social constructionism relates to the socially create nature of social life. Social constructionism is therefore created by a group within a society by happens due to the fact that the society encourages and supports it. Social constructionism can therefore be considered as a social norm and it continues to be relevant as long as people put timeinto practising it and talk about it.A race can best be described as a group of people who are perceived to some physical characteristics which are quite distinctive; which mainly include skin colour and facial structure. These two distinctive racial characteristics are perceived to be inherited biologically.This paper, therefore, aims to highlight on the view of race as a social construction. The human race is not only dependent on the distinct physical attributes and skin colour but alsoreligion, language and nationality play a significant role in distinguishing race in human beings. In most cases race is used as an ethnic intensifier where it often try to justify or exploit one one group over the other.In the American society, the idea of race seems to be so fixed that it seems impossible for the society to take up an open-minded approach when challenging this idea.In the American society, race is perceived as a discrete scheme of classification. Therefore, it is mostly considered as a social construction. On the other hand in these society race is also...
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...The results after taking the Race Implicit Attitudes Test (or “IAT”) showed I had a slight, automatic preference for African Americans over European Americans. The IAT models itself on the strengths of association between ideas and evaluations, so in the case of the Race IAT, I had to identify facial images of African Americans and European Americans with words relating to good and bad. I found the IAT to be incredibly biased since the test switched moral concepts between blacks and whites, and often I would get confused with associating words to either race. I later discovered that the IAT is designed to predict behavior and preference towards race, and also connects implicit preference to racial discrimination in the job field, healthcare,...
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...Nhung Le Ms. Rodriguez ETH/125 31 March 2012 Cultural Competence 1. Explore race relations in your community. What is the cultural/racial make-up of your community (For demographics of the city you live in search http://factfinder.census.gov/ , or other credible source)? Are you a member of the majority or minority racial or ethnic group in your community? What does it mean to be ________________ (your race) in your community? What does it mean to be ________________ (your ethnicity) in your community? How do community members treat you because of this? Do the leaders in your area represent community members like you? Do the local media (I.e. news, newspapers) represent community members like you equally and fairly? Are there racial/ethnic inequalities in your community? Explain. I explored the race relations in my community and the cultural/racial make-up of my community using 60135 is: Subject | 60135 5-Digit ZCTA, 601 3-Digit ZCTA | | Number | Percent | RACE | | | Total population | 6,007 | 100.0 | One race | 5,948 | 99.0 | White | 5,753 | 95.8 | Black or African American | 9 | 0.1 | American Indian and Alaska Native | 13 | 0.2 | American Indian | 7 | 0.1 | Alaska Native | 0 | 0.0 | Both American Indian and Alaska Native | 0 | 0.0 | American Indian or Alaska Native, not specified | 6 | 0.1 | Asian | 16 | 0.3 | Asian Indian | 0 | 0.0 | Chinese | 1 | 0.0 | Filipino | 5 | 0.1 | Japanese | 0 | 0.0 | Korean | 0 | 0.0 | Vietnamese...
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...Race and religion Anthony James Wolf ETH/125 July 20 2014 Erica Willis Race and Religion Race and religion are two of the biggest topics and reasons for discrimination today. This is because people do not understand others beliefs and ways and instead of learning more about a person or group of people they make jokes about them or choose to hate those people. It is important to learn about different cultures so we have a better understanding of that culture. I chose to look at the religion of Hinduism because I have no first-hand knowledge of this religion and I wanted to learn something about the religion. Hinduism can be traced back as far as 1500 (bc). (The Columbia encyclopedia, 2013). Hinduism also has nine beliefs. Reverence for revealed scriptures, all pervasive divinity, three worlds and cycles of creation, the law of karma and dharma, reincarnation and liberation, temples and the inner worlds, yoga guide by a satguru, compassion and non-injury and genuine respect for other faiths. (Hinduism today, 2009). The one thing that differs from most religious groups is the belief in reincarnation, Christianity, for example believes that you only have one life and when that life is over, you go either to heaven or to hell. The one thing that Hinduism has brought to America is yoga, as it I has become very popular over the last few years. One example of where Hindus have been discriminated against is in Malaysia. According to the pioneer (2010), Hindus in this country...
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...The American national identity is solely based on cultural subjects such as race, class, ethnicity, and gender. The American people can perceive as a melting pot, but usually at times of crisis, such as 9/11 or Hurricane Katrina, when we all come together as one nation. On another side of that we can be seen as salad bowl, which is pretty much saying, even though we are all in one nation we still see each other as different or unequal to each other. The American national identity can be something’s in American culture we choose Identify as one whole Melting Pot or a national salad bowl. One of the controversies America faces on its national identify is how much race impacts our culture either individually or as a whole. We can say we see each other as one nation one people, none divided, all equal, but the truth is most of it is a lie. We see each other as different because of the color of their skin; we divide each other based on race through propagandized media and our own stigmas as to which race we can trust and which race we tolerate. Thinking about it there are some moments in history were we have shown that in any situation we are still one nation, but the sad part is it is only time of natural disaster or times of turmoil, when we feel as though we need to be one nation to show everyone else that we are strong and will overcome any obstacle. The annoying thing is that we choose to do this on occasion, instead of sticking together at all times. When race is the major...
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...When I think of the term race, the first thing that comes to mind is skin color. As young children, we are taught that race is solely related to color because it is easier to explain. We are often classified by race. Even though we may be of different nationality, we are classified by the color of our skin (e.g. black, white, red, etc.). As a child growing up, people of the same race generally lived in the same community. What defines a community? Webster defines a community as a group of people with common characteristics or interest living together within a larger society (Merriam-Webster, 2010). The common characteristic in this case was race. As a child, I did not know anything about the importance and affect that race played in the state and city I lived in. This paper will provide an overview of my experiences within my community and focus on ethnicity and the way race and ethnicity has shaped my personal life view and a few of the problems that it faced when it comes to race relations. The community that I belong to or associate with would be the African American community. I am an African American black female and I reside in Atlanta, Georgia. Atlanta has a population around 61% African American, 33% Caucasian American and 6% other nationalities (Census, 2009). However, the entire state of Georgia has a population around 28% African American, 65% Caucasian American and 7% other nationalities (Census, 2009). Atlanta was one of the major cities that played...
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...The Chains of Race It can be argued that since the Europeans sailed the ocean and landed in America, the notions of inferiority and race have been prevalent. The Europeans had “discovered” America and in the same way “discovered” the Native Americans. The question became, how do the natives fit into the Europeans’ belief-system. The Natives were ultimately seen as inferior due to their beliefs which differed from the European’s belief patterns. The Native American’s color became one of the indicators of their inferiority. It could be said, that race, was created in order to separate the cultures and set up categories, inferior and superior groups. Eugenics was the study and perhaps a justification of how races were deemed inferior due to traits inherited from ancestors and was believed to be true by many. By modern standards Eugenics can be seen and identified as a phony science. The European trend of thought on this topic remained consistent, and this ideology was later imposed on yet another, the African Americans. Therefore, the African Americans’ humanity was also questioned and denied. Race later became recognized as a social construct used to distinguish cultures from one another. Race has always been a major crisis here in America since the Europeans “discovered” the natives, to the slavery of the African Americans, and the labor abuse of the Asians, and race will continue to be a basis for many humanitarian movements, as well as a tool it as an incentive for voters...
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...Running head: RACIALIZED REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BEAUTY 1 Racialized Representations of Female Beauty in Popular Culture (Name) University of New Mexico RACIALIZED REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE BEAUTY Racialized Representations of Female Beauty in Popular Culture 2 For the past 22 years People magazine has composed a list of the 50 most beautiful people. The list typically includes movie and television stars, musicians, British royalty, models, and television personalities. Every year the magazine crowns the year’s “most beautiful” and features them on the cover. Of the 22 most beautiful 19 have been women and out of the 19 women 16 have been White. This signals to People’s readers that beautiful means White and everything else does not equate beauty. However, this is not unique to People or even magazines like it, but instead represents a larger trend that is present in all forms of Western popular culture. In the various mediums of popular culture, ideologies about female beauty are exceedingly prevalent and constantly managed and reproduced. These ideologies carry with them the notion that in order to obtain ideal female beauty one must be very thin, young, have long hair, and wear expensive or revealing clothing (Stern, 2004). In addition to this there is also a raced definition of beauty, which predominates Western popular culture and dictates that White women with light hair and eye color can only attain true beauty. By looking closely at fashion magazines...
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...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...
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...Culture Diversity in the United States culture Diversity in the United States For decades, the human race has been identified as nothing more but unique! From the various shades of skin to the native language and geographic native land, people are diverse and have a major impact on our world and society. United States has had major culture changes as money continues to be one of the leading causes to mankind’s problems. However, knowledge of justice has help citizens and the governments realize to a degree, humans are the primary concern rather than the root to all madness “Money”. The effects of money has had an impression on the cultural diversity of the United States primary because power played the role of inequality that lead to the destruction of many families of minorities by the majority because of money. Moreover, the United States has overcome barriers to fix the disarray that power has had on individuals to help the citizens to reach out for understanding and answers that has led to the combination of knowledge, awareness and solutions. Let’s examine how! Understanding the history of how the United States met with cultural diversity has helped me to see that through history the effects begin with a negative view and later after harsh treatment was administered; lawmakers examined the outlook of the country to benefit the citizens. Two unique situations were race and gender that had an influential role of the American culture. Race was distinguished between...
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