...Race and My Community By: Silvana Bafumi June 19, 2010 I was raised in a small community in Kansas where everyone got along regardless of the race or ethnic background, but groups were segregated as far as houses and neighborhoods within the community. There was not any hate crimes against any particular groups or anything like that, it was just the way of life people was use to living. So growing up as a child I learned to love people for them and not for their ethnic background. As I moved to a small community in Southwestern Pennsylvania in the year 1989, I was use to having friends of different races. As my I proceeded to make new friends in my new community and school, I had friends that was African American. Well needless to say I was in many physical confrontations with others, was called names and threatened just for being friends with others that are not like me or the other White Americans in my community. As my family as well as I believes that everyone on this earth is equal and no one should be treated any different, we moved to the community I reside into today and still remain friends with the people I choose to be friends with. The majority of the members in my community look like me, as the majorities are white hard working average citizens. There are a few members of the community that are different as there is a variety of African Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, they ways they are different are; they have darker skin complexion...
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...Race and My Community Lakeysha Talley ETH 125 February 13, 2011 Maudine Johnson Race and My Community Although economic status does not indicate the measure of a person’s heart and people tend to express themselves in a politically correct manner versus their true feelings, income levels penetrate racial and ethnic divides by allowing a variety of people to cohabitate and learn about each other this does not however equate to equality. The members of my community vary in ethnicity and races. In any given day I can go for a walk and see Asian, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Black, and White people. I can recall always thinking that my prior hometown of New York City was a melting pot and although it was home to many ethnic groups and races. There was a definite lack of melting because most groups lived quite segregated. I can remember thinking to myself when I moved south to North Carolina that I would likely encounter racism. My time of eight years spent here has rendered those thoughts to be true. I am older and wise enough to know that the location of a person bears no weight in the content of his or her character. In my apartment building there are people who look like me as well as people who do not. The population of Raleigh as of 2010 was 394,744 and the majority of the people are White at 61.8%, Black or African American at 29.6%, American Indian and Alaskan Native at 06%, Asian at 3.9%, Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander N/A, Some other race...
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...Race and My Community Ethnic and racial issues continue to exist in many communities today. Before I took this class, I thought that race and ethnicity meant the same thing. After reading chapter one of the required text book for this course, I found out that they have very different meanings. I believe that, as a minority, no matter where you move to or what town you decide to make your home, whether it is temporary or permanent, you will encounter some form of ethnic and racial issues. The meaning of ethnicity is a group set apart from others because of its national origin or distinctive cultural patterns. On the other hand, race is described as a group that is socially set apart because of obvious physical differences. As an African American, I grew up on the South Side of Chicago, Illinois, in an all-Black neighborhood, and lived there until around my mid 40’s. I moved to the South Suburbs of Chicago, first to Harvey, and lived there for about four years before moving to where I now currently reside in South Holland. I lived in Harvey, Illinois, for about three years. It is a town dominated mainly by African Americans. According to the 2010 U.S. Census Bureau statistics, Harvey, Illinois, is home to 75.8% African Americans and 19.0% Hispanics. The White population of Harvey is only 10.0% (State and County Quick Facts, 2010). There is a lot of crime that goes on in Harvey within the African-American neighbordhoods, and I believe that it is partly due to the environment...
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...Race in My Community ETH-125 December 4, 2011 Mamie Tapp Race in My Community The city of Columbia, South Carolina seems to be diverse enough like any other metropolitan area in the Unites States. From the outside looking in you may think that the cultural diversity in this city is leveled, fair and consistent; nevertheless there are several political, financial and racial factors that display a different truth. Anyone with little knowledge of this city perhaps will think that fairness in the marketplace and job sites is impartial; clearly that is the apparent view. Some racial issues for my thesis are connection with problems among Hispanics, Whites and Black Americans. The infrastructure of the city is evidently diversified among these three races; they each display their interest in the community in a very particular way. The representation of willful racial segregation is evident among those groups, and sometimes to the extent where hate and racial crimes are committed. From the financial perspective, the city is mostly influenced and control by the white population, Black Americans are the secondary driving factors with little influence by the Hispanic community and other minorities such as Asian Americans and Middle East descent citizens. During the months that I have lived in Columbia I have noticed that the majority of the citizens do not look like me. Growing up I was part of a largely Hispanic community in Miami, FL and the influence of Hispanics...
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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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...Race and My Community This paper is about the different races in my community. How the races treat one another being leaders, business owners and people of the community. Most communities are made up of different races and this paper will tell you about my community. I have lived in my community for twenty- four years and it is a small community, where everyone that lives in the community knows one another personally or socially. Some people look like me which I am White American. Also, some people are different and they are African American, Hispanic American, Native American and Asian American. In my community there is White American, African American, Native American and Asian American owned businesses, also the leaders of my community are made up of different races. The leaders of my community treat people who are like me the same as the other people who are different. I have not experienced or read of any of the leaders discriminating against anyone in the community. The people of my community are friendly to everyone in the community; it is a very close community. When people see each other in town they are always polite. But in the past there seemed have been crimes against African Americans. According to an article in the newspaper while researching for any racial incidents in my community, I found out apparently in nineteen hundred and forty-six there was four African American sharecropper’s that were lynched at the Moore’s Ford bridge which is still unsolved (Milligan...
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...Race and My Community James Dutcher ETH 125 1/30/11 Andrea Solomon Minorities face trials and tribulations associated with being a minority in a country with a dominant white race. Being able to overcome these trials and tribulations makes them a stronger person, in my eyes. People do not understand what it is like growing up being an outsider to the dominant race. Everyone comes to the United States with an idea of having a better life; they do not know the adversity they are going to face until they get to the United States. Many people feel like the minorities are coming to the United States taking all the jobs from the citizens. If people would worry about how they are taking their job for granted instead of focusing on the people that are taking their jobs, they might be able to keep their jobs. The minorities are taking the jobs because they are willing to work harder. Can you blame the boss who is going to take the harder worker out of the two employees? Community leaders have a huge voice in my community. I can see where the difference in race and how they treat people. I hope they do not do it on purpose, but they do treat different races differently. The rich areas of town have nicer schools and have better education. Programs have been developed for kids who live in poverty stricken areas and problem neighborhoods. The Boys and Girls club has been introduced in my community in 1990 (Boys and Girls Club South Central Kansas, 2011). This year they just built a...
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...Race and My Community I am from the general area of Pittsburgh, more specifically Peters Township. The township however does not have that many historical events to make you want to deviate from any future road trips to come and visit. The only real “claim to fame” that our little town is that the Wright brothers were one of the first few people to settle the land (Peters Township History). Peters Township however is predominantly a “White Community”. With White being 96.2%, African American 0.5%, Asian 2.0%, etc. (Peters Census). Since Peters is nothing really to “write home about”, my paper will be more focused upon the Greater Pittsburgh Area. When I refer to Pittsburgh, I am usually talking about The Greater Pittsburgh area. Now in talking about Pittsburgh itself you will have to know some of Pittsburgh’s history. Pittsburgh has always had its “Issues”, mostly with pollution back in the days that the steel mills ran. Now days however, violent crimes are a much known issue if you are a citizen of the Pittsburgh Area. With the average year having around 3,370 violent crimes. The comparison being, there are an average of 10 violent crimes per 1,000 people in Pittsburgh, while Pennsylvania as a whole only has an average of 4 violent crimes per 1,000 people (Pittsburgh Crime Rates). This is 2.61x the national average. Why do I bring this up? It’s because Pittsburgh back in the prohibition era was known for being ran by the “Italian Underworld”. There were two major...
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...This paper is going to be about the area that I just moved to Jacksonville, North Carolina and about how diverse the population around me is. This paper will also talk about the different races and issues that come about with having such diverse amounts of cultures in the community that I live in. This paper will also talk about other issues that come up in my community that might not happen in other communities being that there are two military bases in the city that I live in, along with many others in the surrounding area. The community that I am living in currently is somewhat a different kind of community. I have only been stationed here with my husband and children for three months and I am learning many new things about the area. Not only does this community have many different cultures and races but people from all over the country. The reason that Jacksonville, North Carolina has such a wide range of cultures is partially because this is a town that is full of military men and women. I live within ten miles of Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base and Marine Corps Air Station New River. There are many different kinds of people in my community. There are many who do look a lot like me, and there are others who don’t. There are many women that are military wives out here where I live and they are around the same ages as myself and also have children. I do not have trouble finding people much like myself out here. There is also one thing most of us have in common with...
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...Race and My Community ETH150 7/23/2010 I have a very different perspective of what I consider a community. I am married to a soldier and I work for the military as a civilian contractor. Ours is a community formed out of a single commonality, the military service of ourselves or our loved ones, and a deep love for the country, so vast and accepting of new people, cultures, traditions, and religions. Brought together to protect the very right to display all these differences and even the ability to speak out against those who serve to protect you. We are wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, children, and friends; we love our soldiers equally and believe the person standing next to “our” soldier is his/her brother, regardless of the color of their skin. The color of one’s skin has no bearing on their ability to be my husband’s battle buddy, to have his “back” when he needs it, and my husband would have theirs. The diversity in the military only enriches the lives of those involved, bringing a fresh new perspective to someone who has gone through multiple deployments, bringing comfort to those left behind. For no matter how different we look, all our soldiers look the same when they put on that uniform, and all the families will proudly display a yellow ribbon for deployed service members and wave those flags when they come home. The members of my community all look alike yet look very different, we are military families. We are made up of all races, religions, and social-economical...
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...Race and My Community ETH/125 Race and My Community Throughout this class we have learned about many different cultures and many religions. Some of the cultures I have learned valuable information about, and there are other cultures that has peeked my interest. When we talk about cultural diversity in our community there is one major group that stands out in my mind, and it is not a group that is covered in this class. They tend to stay to themselves, very religious, and extremely family oriented. They are the largest diversity group that we have in the area, they are the Amish. The community that I call home is a little town called Highland, Minnesota. The population in this quiet, very serine town is about 50 or so. In light of this fact I have chosen to consider the entire Fillmore County as my community. The population of Fillmore County is 96,975 as of 2009. 98.7% of the population is white, whereas the other largest group is Hispanic/Latinos with .08% of the population, then fallows African American with .04%, Asian Americans at .02%, and Native Americans at .01% (US Census Bureau, 2010). Another group that I want to address also; however, the statistics are for the whole state of Minnesota. The Amish have a population in Minnesota of 2835 and have 12 different settlements with 21 church districts (Young Center for Anabaptist & Pietist Studies, 2010). Although in our area none of the groups appear to live in “mini-communities.” They are equally dispersed throughout...
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...religions, and ethnicities have lived together for so long racism is still a factor. I believe it is time for an opened-minded approach to cultural diversity, when this is accomplished our society will accept all ethnicities without prejudice. I believe to overcome prejudice and racism the people and communities must take responsibility in educating themselves. Can this goal be reached, if so how? I believe if this issue became a priority the goal is a possibility; to achieve this goal will be extremely difficult, and must be addressed one person at a time. I live in Brooklyn, New York and I am lucky to have grown up in an area that has many different ethnicities and cultures. I also believe I am lucky to have been brought up in a family who has been able to see past a person’s color, nationality, or religious beliefs. New York is clearly is one of the most diverse cities in the world. According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2009), New York holds a population of almost nine million people; Brooklyn has a population of nearly 2.5 million people. Brooklyn’s culturally diverse population consists of 43.7% Whites, 38.1% African Americans, and 8.4% Asian Americans. In my community which is very diverse, prejudices still exist. Although the prejudices might not be as blatant, there are a few cultures and ethnic groups that tend to surround themselves with members of their own group. Most of the Catholics and Jews send their children to Catholic schools or Yeshivas; the reason being...
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...Race and My Community Nicole Petitta ETH/125 April 1, 2012 Jade Pumphrey Abstract In order to understand race and how it relates to my community, I must first identify my community. Through identifying characteristics of the people of my community as well as my personal experiences, I can analyze race within my community. In order to understand race and how it relates to my community, I must first identify and provide background information on my community. I live in a small suburban town named Oaklyn. My town is located in Camden County of South Jersey. Oaklyn is approximately 1.61 square miles, with White Horse Pike, or Route 30, as the main road running through the middle of town (Advameg, Inc. 2011). Oaklyn’s middle school is called Oaklyn Public, and when I attended this elementary school, my classmates and kids in higher leveled grades discriminated against people based on their race and physical appearance. The jokes, making fun of, and prejudice towards these minorities would force people of the same or similar physical features, like skin color, into a group or alliance. I believe this was a direct result of how they were raised by their parents. Racial prejudice can be strong strongly passed down from generation to generation. According to Schaefer (2006), “Race is a social construction and this process benefits the oppressor, who defines who is priviledged and who is not (Chapter One). I think race follows those who instill it in the next generation,...
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...Race and My Community Larry Wynn Axia College UOPX April 1, 2012 Race and My Community Even though community leaders, educators, and various groups in my community have fought and continue to fight for equal rights and treatment for all races, discrimination still plagues my community. Diversity in my community is limited, the lack of diversity causes many of the citizens of my community to be unfamiliar with other races and cultures which leads to ignorance, which leads to discrimination. I have lived in Galion, OH for almost three months. Galion is a small city about one and a half hours from the state capital of Columbus. The racial differences that are so different in this amount of a distance are profound. On numerous occasions I have encountered racism, bigotry, and intolerance directed toward various minority groups. The vast majority of people in my community are very similar to me in appearance. The population is primarily made up of Non-Hispanic Whites. The people of my town are not exposed to many races or ethnic groups, there is very little diversity; in contrast, Columbus has a much greater minority population, which I believe is the reason for the noticeable differences discrimination and bigotry. See Figure 1 below. [pic] As Figure 1 shows my community is basically 100% white. As of the year 2011, Non-Hispanic Whites totaled 96.1% of the population, the largest minority, two or more races, only totaled 2.5%; compared to Columbus...
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...Introduction In analysis of diversity in my community, the race relations are moderate and tolerable in my neighborhood with exceptions. In recent years diversity has expanded to increase the importance and acceptability in non-controlled environments that allows personal growth in race relations within communities. The fundamentals of exposing oneself to the particulars of race challenges provide an interesting investigation to how current experiences are now different than ten years ago. The review of my neighborhood proves the notion on how promising diversity has changed the local community. Perspectives in Race in the Community Currently living in the suburbs, the neighborhood has a 2 to 1 ratio, in which, the majority is the minority race in the community. In my immediate neighborhood, the experience with my fellow neighbors are a welcoming aspect due to the flexibility of tolerance. The diversified demographics within my community are races from different ethnicity not just black and white but Latinos, Mexicans, Jamaicans, and Japanese. The perspective in my community provides an understanding how diversity enriches the awareness of other cultural lifestyles within the context of interaction with different ethnic groups. Do members of your community look like you? In what ways do they look the same or different? The members in my community are welcoming and thoughtful by projecting respectfulness in sharing the same amenities in the neighborhood without conflict...
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