...Racism has been a trait common in the human race for thousands of years to this day. Many have suffered because of it and many still do. From African Americans, Caucasians, Hispanics, Asians, Jews, and Homosexuals, racism has not just been directed upon on a certain group of individuals but to many shades of humanity. Some more infamous cases of racism have been committed against the Jewish people. In 1941 the nation of Germany lead by Adolf Hitler committed one of the most horrid acts of racism known to man. Adolf Hitler’s hatred towards the Jews was so great that as he took over more and more European countries he developed a plan known as the “Final Solution” in order to eliminate the Jewish race. His plan ultimately created what historians today call the Holocaust. During Hitler’s reign he first started the racism against the Jews by requiring them to wear the Star of David in order to identify who was a Jew and who was not. This act of labeling was bad enough but it would only grow worse. After humiliating and branding the Jews, Hitler then funneled the Jews living on his land into cramped ghetto quarters barred from the rest of the public. There they perished from disease and poverty with no hope in sight and as time progressed so did the vile ideas of Adolf Hitler. Not only did he put the Jews into ghettos, he also forced millions of them into death camps where they were forced to work until they could no more. In these camps the ones who were too weak to participate...
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...produced by the Levitt family that gave World War II veterans a slight taste of the American Dream. Levitt & Sons committed ‘one of the most colossal acts of mortal creation’ (Kushner 61) by turning the housing industry into a manufacturing process, ultimately building 30 affordable houses a day. The Levitt’s’ design included houses, community swimming pools, neighborhood parks, baseball fields, schools, churches, a town hall, and shopping centers. Nevertheless, the American Dream was not afforded to everyone. Like many homebuilders of the time, the Levitt’s believed segregation was necessary to ensure the success of a new suburb. However, Levitt’s decision not to sell houses to blacks was “an opportunity tragically lost (Kushner 198).” Post WWII increased the demand for houses so sharply that even if a portion of blacks moved to Levittown, whites still would have moved in. Levittown is the embodiment of how relations between different racial groups befit to dominance and subordination. Through ethnocentrism, competition for resources, and unequal power Levitt & Sons created ‘the most perfectly planned community in America’ (Kushner 61) where middle-upper class citizens enjoyed a utopian lifestyle, one that was completely denied to an entire race. If non-whites had been accepted into Levittown from the establishments of suburbia, the problem of racial segregation that still exists today would be subdued or non-existent. Ethnocentrism: Levitt’s white ethnocentrism...
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...Racial discrimination “is a term used to describe unfair behavior afflicted on individuals based on their race” (LegalCyberTips, 2007, Para 1). The concept of racism has existed for decades. The act of one race attempting to exert supremacy over others has often resulted in racial discrimination (LegalCyberTips, 2007). Racial discrimination is a constant reality in the lives of Hispanic Americans in the United States. Due to alarming migration rates over the past several decades, the United States has experienced significant growth in ethnic and racial diversity. However, racial minority groups like the Hispanics; “the largest and fastest growing population in the United States, continue to struggle for full acceptance and equal opportunity” (Louie, 2005, Para 1). The migration of Hispanic groups such as the Puerto Rican Americans was not readily accepted by the United States causing immediate social inequality. This social inequality caused segregation and forced the Puerto Rican Americans to work the lowest paying jobs and live in the poorest communities. This paper identifies factors that influence past and present discrimination trends that have lead to the segregation, racial redlining and stereotyping of the Hispanic American in the United States. The term Hispanic was established by the United States Government in the early 1970's, “in an attempt to identify a diverse group of people among the population with a connection to the Spanish language or culture” (U.S. Diplomatic...
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...suffering from many political and economical issues. Not only were there economic and political issues but there were social issues as well. Disintegration and segregation became especially prevalent during this time. South Africa wasn’t the only place that dealt with these racial discriminations. It was common during this time for countries to have laws that physically separated one race from another. The United States being one of those countries. African Americans faced racial discrimination and segregation when it came to many aspects of life. Crime rates skyrocketed during this time period and many whites found themselves falling victim to the displeased African Americans. Tribes were left...
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...Police Brutality Police abuse remains one of the most serious human rights violations in the United States. Unjustified shootings, severe beatings, fatal chokings, and rough treatment have all contributing to the ever-present problem. The abuse we see from police officers today is similar to when ending segregation was a national issue. The mistreatment then caused riots to be seen in the news. Police abusing their power has again taken their toll on communities. Recently, just as it did in the past. But today luckily, we have stopped the violence and moved to peaceful protests and marches As Baldwin says in Notes of a Native Son, “It was better not to judge the man who had gone down under an impossible burden. It was better to remember: Thou knowest this man's fall, but thou knowest not his wrassling” (1335). I take this to mean you can't judge people because they crack under a wight, but that you need to understand them and see why they acted the way they did. On August 1, 1943 a World War II veteran , Robert Bandy, was shot in the arm when coming to the aid of a black woman named Margie Polite. The white police officer , James Collins, had gotten called to the incident because Polite had been unruly and loud at a hotel and yelling at staff (“Harlem Riots of 1943”). When Collins tried to arrest Polite, Bandy appeared to defend her. After a brief argument, Bandy struck Collins with his own nightstick and Collins shot Bandy in the shoulder.Rumor spread that Bandy had been...
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...He read array of novels as he grew up and his education helped him realize the unjust ways of segregation. In 1927, Wright moved to Chicago after the peak of the Harlem Renaissance (a pivotal time for African Americans to express themselves through music, writings, and art). In Chicago, he worked as a postal worker, but was laid off with the depression. Wright then joined the Federal Writers Project, a state sponsored guild for authors, in which Wright composed his first novel, Uncle Tom’s Children. During this time, Wright joined the Communist party, which was often carried out into his writings. By 1939, Wright had moved to New York City and kept ties with the party for only a few more years. He married in 1941, and had left the communist party by 1944. During World War II, Wright lectured around New York. With the end of the War, Wright moved to France in 1947 where he continued to write his novels, which often contained themes of racism, poverty, and political matters. His books were often partly based on his life and what he had observed in his lifetime. Wright was the first African American author to be featured in the “Book of the Month Club” for his novel Native Son. In 1995, all of Wright’s books were reissued in 1995 in their original context after being censored by publishers for the explicit nature of his novels (which contained themes of sexual, Communist, and racial content). However, Wright was unable to see the reissued books, for Wright was laid to rest in...
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...right now, the only way you can do it is with a ballot or a bullet. And if you're not ready to get involved with either one of those, you are satisfied with the status quo. That means we'll have to change you." (Malcolm X) While Martin Luther King promoted non-violence, civil rights, and the end to racial segregation, a man of the name of Malcolm X dreamed of a separate nation. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the conscience of his generation. A Southerner, a black man, he gazed upon the great wall of segregation and saw that the power of love could bring it down. From the pain and exhaustion of his fight to free all people from the bondage of separation and injustice, he wrung his eloquent statement of what America could be. (Ansboro, pg.1) An American clergyman and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, he was one of the principle leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement and a prominent advocate of nonviolent protest. King's challenges to segregation and racial discrimination in the 1950's and 1960's, helped convince many white Americans to support the cause of civil rights in the United States. After his assassination in 1968, King became the symbol of protest in the struggle for racial justice. ("King, Martin Luther, Jr.," pg. 1) In 1964, Malcolm X founded an organization called "The Muslim Mosque, Inc. In an interview conducted by A.B. Spellman on March 19, 1964, Malcolm...
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...“Revolution in Texas” Texas has had a long history of conflict, revolution, animosity, and racial skirmishes. Once occupied by a vast majority of Mexicans, Texas was first claimed by the Spanish, and later declared its own independence in 1836, seceding from Mexico to become the Republic of Texas. This newfound independence was short-lived however, in 1845, the United States government decided to annex Texas in order to create a new state for the growing country. Although at the time Texas’s population was still dominated by Mexicans, slowly whites began to migrate to Texas to take advantage of fertile, cheap land, perfect for ranching and agriculture. This growing number of whites brought many problems among the native Mexican people; these will later be explored in this essay. Mexico did not take well to Texas’s secession and the United State’s recent annexation; consequently they saw the state as a rebel territory. From 1846 to 1848, the Mexican/American war was fought; ultimately, the United States won, but it did not put a stop to the localized conflicts and battles still being fought between Mexicans and the immigrating whites. Ben Johnson, author of Revolution in Texas, explores the revolution following the conclusion of the Mexican/American war. Johnson speaks of a different revolution, separate from the original war, a revolution that was fueled by racial, land, cultural, and border disputes. When the railroad finally reached Texas in 1904, this sparked a massive...
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...Name Professor Course Date NOTES OF A NATIVE SON Introduction According to Baldwin J, the life of the native was divided into different sections in terms of interaction, communication and livelihood in general. The relationship between the family members was also an issue that created an unthinkable segregation. Baldwin J gives a believe history of how the community he lives in was interacting and how life was as a native and especially a Negro. The writing revolves about the interaction between the natives and especially regarding their family lives. Baldwin misjudged his father but as he grew up and faced the reality he came to understand why his father’s attitude was valid and genuine even though, the attitude was bad. Baldwin change of altitude is much visible in the context of his writing. Change of Baldwin’s attitude Baldwin developed hatred toward his father at a very tender age. According to James, he being young exposed him to very difficult things that made him develop hatred for his own father. It is evidently seen when Baldwin states that “In my mind’s eyes I could see him, sitting at the window, locked up in his terror; hating every living soul including his children”(590). The attitude of his father not connecting or communicating well with other individuals made his see that his father was proud and self-centered. As a young boy, Baldwin could see how his father distanced himself from other people and especially the white people. Baldwin could not understand...
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...The Black Experience: 1865 to Present Valery Taylor HIS 204 Prof. Steven Harn September 10, 2012 The Black Experience: 1865 to Present In the late nineteenth century our country has been defined by native born versus immigrants, rich versus poor and worker versus capitalist. But, in the former Confederacy, despite the call for the New South after Reconstruction tension still focused on the relationships between blacks and whites. Being of African American decent and raising a African American son I can still see the systematic effects of segregation, discrimination and isolation. However, through the civil rights movements of the past African American have attained equal rights in the present. In this paper, I will take a journey through the historical timeline of slavery. In addition, I will discuss historical events from 1865 to present that ended segregation, discrimination and isolation to attain equal rights. Africans were shipped to North America as Slaves in the 1600's, by 1787 the writers of the United States Constitution decided that slaves will count as three fifth of a person when deciding how many representative each state will have in Congress. In 1820 the Missouri Compromise was designed to maintain the number of free and slave states. During that period there were many notable freed slave that played significant roles in the advancement of the slaves. Isabella Baumfree also know as Sojourner Truth played a significant role...
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...Student Name Professor Name Name of school The Harlem Renaissance: A review of how the works in the oral tradition reflect key social, political, economic and artistic aims of the Harlem Renaissance. “Originally called the New Negro Movement, the Harlem Renaissance was a literary and intellectual flowering that fostered a new black cultural identity.” (Rowen and Brunner). It was the African-American boom of cultural expression that peaked in the 1920s. Though it was centred in the Harlem neighbourhood of New York, many French-speaking black writers from African and Caribbean colonies that lived in Pairs were also influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was a celebration of African-American heritage expressed through an outpouring of art, literature, music and dance. It was also described as a “spiritual coming of age” in which the black community was able to seize upon its “first chances for group expression and self determination.” (Rowen and Brunner). With racism still rampant and economic opportunities scarce, creative expression was one of the few avenues available to African-Americans in the early twentieth century. The timing of the coming of age was perfect. The years between World War I and the Great Depression were boom times for the United States, and jobs were plentiful. The Harlem Renaissance was helped along by intellectuals and the expansion of urban cultures. Artistic expression and articulated appreciation of African-American culture...
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...ETH/125 Denise Langdon Final Project Throughout the class I have learned many new things about different racial groups, sexual orientation, religious groups, and gender. The media has a strong role in promoting diversity and creating prejudices and stereotypes. In school I was taught that Blacks were separated from Whites in the south, but I did not realize this was until 1964. That is not that long ago. Living in California I do not see racial separation still today, but in a visit to South Carolina you can see the separation still exists. I guess I had assumed that segregation ended soon after the freeing of slaves. In 1964 that would have been part of my Mom’s generation and this is not something that she had ever mentioned, but she did not grow up in the south. I do believe many people make assumptions of other people and that is part of the problem we have with the issues with prejudice and stereotyping races. I feel if I traveled to South Carolina again I would have greater empathy for the Black Americans from that area. Before I could see that the Black American’s were different from the Black American’s I met here in California but I did not know why. My sister lived in South Carolina for a few years while she was in the Navy and she too noticed the difference in the Black Americans that lived there compared to those she knew in California. Personally I had not researched the treatment of people of my ethnic background. During school I learned about the potato...
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...become part of the majority American society. For a long time African Americans, Native Americans (Indians), Mexican Americans, and women were treated differently compared to everyone else (white men) and not in a good way. World War II brought about a lot of changes including, more working opportunities and military opportunities for minorities. African Americans, Native Americans, Mexican Americans, and women were allowed to join the military although there were still some segregation and discrimination. African-Americans gained economic independence during WWII because of the job openings throughout the industry. African-American soldiers were welcomed into certain branches of the armed forces in this war, but, like other wars, there was discrimination and segregation. Soldiers still fought in segregated units throughout the war, but there were advances in the number of commissioned officers. Other forms of racism included barring African-Americans from the Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Army Air Corps, and the Navy only allowed African-Americans as mess men. These conditions were not promising, and these policies have been called “Jim Crow military”. Some changes were made with the 1940 Selective Service Training Act which stated that all men between 18 and 36, regardless of race, were eligible to volunteer in naval and ground forces without fear of discrimination. It also prohibited racial and/or color discrimination in selection and training of military personnel. This...
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...explore the effects of distinctive voices in Martin Luther King’s ‘I have a dream’ speech, John.F.Kennedy’s Inaugural address and Nelson Mandela’s Inaugural address. Passion is a fundamental aspect of speeches and it comes through the sustained use language techniques, which Martin Luther King Jr explored in his ‘I have a dream’ speech. MLKJ was a passionate leader and a civil rights activist who pushed for racial equality in America in 1963.King’s lavish use of metaphors such as ‘America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked insufficient funds’ which signifies how America has overlooked the Negros, is a clear representation of how distinctive voices need great ideas. One of the key ideas King proposed was racial discrimination for instance ‘the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land’ portrays the white people’s disclaim towards the Negros.Another strong metaphor are ‘slaves’ for example,’ I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down...
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...The Melting Pot Illusion: Understanding Race and Power by Rethinking American History Race in Media Mid-Term Paper April 18, 2014 When it comes to race in the United States, America has always thought of itself as a racial and ethnic melting pot. This “melting pot” message has always been known throughout the world as a key aspect of America’s national identity, built on the promise that all people of various colors, races and ethnic backgrounds are afforded basic civil freedoms and opportunities to pursue their dreams within a democratic society. In fact, in school classrooms throughout the United States, where most of us received our initial understanding of American history, we often witness a romanticized narrative of Americans striving forward towards progress with limited or partial understanding of race, the complex story of Native Americans and their removal from conquered lands, and the enslavement of African-Americans. The purpose of this essay is to rethink prior understandings of American history and what race means, as well as how it has determined and limited citizenship and opportunity for some Americans, by exploring the voices in author Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove’s book Voices of a People’s History of the United States and other literary sources, and what American citizenship means to those not designated white, rich or male. The definition and concept of race, a human classification system used to group human beings into large and distinct...
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