...THE ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES Prior to October 2007: 1. EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES COMMISSION [EOC] The EOC worked to try to eliminate sex discrimination: By providing advice and information to the public about their legal rights, what options they have, and the next steps they can take. By taking legal cases under the Sex Discrimination Act and the Equal Pay Act. These cases help to secure equal treatment for women and men in the areas of pay, pensions and caring. By publishing research and statistics about women's and men's lives. These show clearly and simply where change is needed. By running high-profile campaigns to change public opinion and the law. By investigating organisations or areas of life where sex discrimination is common.. 2. THE COMMISSION FOR RACIAL EQUALITY [CRE] The CRE's legal powers The CRE had statutory powers under the Race Relations Act 1976. These included powers to: • advise or assist people with complaints about racial discrimination, harassment or abuse • conduct formal investigations of companies and organisations where there is evidence of possible discrimination; if the investigation does find discrimination, the CRE can oblige the organisation to change the way it operates • take legal action against racially discriminatory advertisements, and against organisations that attempt to pressurise or instruct others to discriminate — such as employers instructing employment agencies not to send them applicants from ethnic minorities...
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...American Society DeVry University Abstract The subject of slavery has been the focus of a variety of controversies, debates, and protests throughout American history. Besides the Civil War era there has not been another time in history when slavery has been such a volatile topic as it has become in the last half decade. Even in modern day America the subject of slavery evokes significant discussions and has influenced legislative decisions such as the recent removal of the Confederate flag from South Carolina’s State House grounds and other government and public locations throughout the South. This paper seeks to review the literature attaching the history of slavery and present examples of the ethnic and cultural contributions that aided in the growth and diversity of America. It will also introduce examples of today’s societal issues including educational, economic, and social variances; the right to support cultural heritage; and the significant role history plays in influencing decisions made in America today. Introduction American history is filled with heinous acts that many would like to forget happened; slavery is no exception. Although it was a necessity of the times, slavery is undoubtedly one of the most volatile topics of discussion today; not just because of the inhuman and discriminatory treatment that was inflicted on an entire race, but also because of the perceived continued existence of some of those same behaviors today. In spite...
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...Discrimination at Work In a model world it would be assumed that everyone would be treated fairly when applying for a job and advancing within the field. The issue of discrimination due to diversity is still a major issue in today's time. Discrimination still plays a dominant role in the hiring, firing, and promoting of individuals. Diversity does not just include dissimilar races, but age, gender, and religion as well. Most people do not sit and analyze the larger picture. Discrimination affects people all over the world. People of all ethnicities and from all different walks of life are influenced in some way by workplace discrimination. "Discrimination" means unequal treatment. One of the most common elements discriminated against is a persons ethnicity, or their race. This is called Racial Discrimination. Could you imagine being limited by something that has nothing to do with your skill or ability? If you look at the leadership positions of many of the world’s top companies, you will find few women occupying them. This contrast can also be related to the role of African American people in companies. It is very apparent when you think about the number of Black CEOs versus White leaders, something is preventing them from reaching the top. Although many people believe racial discrimination is mostly a thing of the past, it is still prominent as an invisible barrier in one of the most prominent areas of life, the workplace. Racial discrimination happens all the time...
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...He used the metaphor of brotherhood to encourage the audience to consider the freedom and equity across the racial differences. King also used the word “heat” to metaphorically refer to the oppression while the word of oasis to refer to freedom and justice. King encouraged people to believe their faith so that they were able to “hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.” In here, the mountain referred to the despair people had at that time; the stone refers as the hope they should have in minds for the future. Moreover, the terms of jangling discords referred as the fighting issues for the racial issues and word of symphony of brotherhood referred to connection across the different races. King used many examples in this paragraph to demonstrate his hope that the black and white people can get well along and the freedom ring everywhere across the...
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... Among these people, 2.2 million were incarcerated in federal, state as well as local correctional facilities. Such incarceration rates dwarf the rates of all other countries globally. However, its magnitude is not void of challenges. The criminal Justice System is ailing form a vast array of challenges. Of importance to us with regard to this context is racial disproportionality within the criminal Justice system. By definition, racism is the perception that inherent differences between various racial groups consequently lead to the superiority of certain races and discrimination of other groups. This is the perception that great men such as Booker. T. Washington, as well as Martin Luther King, fought against during the 1960’s in a bid to end racism. For years these men under the African- American Civil Rights movement advocated for equality for all leading to the ‘end’ of racist perceptions. Today, the belief that their efforts halted racism stands to be questioned, on further examination of this subject it is eminent that racism is still existent in the twenty- first century. Racism has simply found ways of adapting to our daily activities thus dodging the common eye. To achieve this, racism has gradually encroached into fields such as education where coloured students experience disproportionality in disciplinary measures and in the criminal justice system where African Americans are inevitably the victims of the criminal justice system. This paper thus seeks to succinctly...
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...CRASH Crash is a movie made in 2004, by the director Paul Higgs. The movie is about racial and social tension in the “mean” streets of Los Angles, California. It’s about several real life incidents that portray discrimination and different stereotypes amongst different racial groups. Within a 36 hour day period car crashes, shooting, carjacking, racial profiling are all mentioned. They reveal the distance between different strangers due to racial tension. Rarely do you see fathers taking an active role in their children’s lives. Most fathers are the bread winners in their family and don’t have time to be in their children’s lives as often as a mother. Most fathers are usually the ones that get involved with the sports life of the child. Involved fathering is a father who actively takes a hand on role with the family, doing more than providing economically. In the movie Crash (2004) Daniel Ruiz’s (Michael Peña), character is a Mexican American who is a locksmith, who faces discrimination because he looks like a “Mexican gangster.” He is actually a devoted single father who takes care of his young daughter; Lara, who seeks for a safe environment for his daughter because of a bullet through her window in their previous home. When he found a safer neighborhood he enrolled her in private school so she would get an excellent education. She has to stay home by her self while she sleeps, so he made up a wonderful story about a “cloak”. He said that it would protect her from being...
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...about a man and a woman committing themselves to each other for life, it now encompasses, gay and lesbians as well, as they pledge to love, honor, and trust each other all the days of their lives . Today same-sex marriage is one the biggest controversies and it seems like no one could ever come to a common agreement. Personal characteristics such as upbringing, culture, religion, ethnicity all play a major role in determining ones feelings on a given controversial issue. Although gays, just like any other human being have a right to a life of dignity, pursuit of happiness, people against homosexuality term such unions as unnatural. In this essay I will persuade the reader why same-sex marriage should be allowed to get married and what civil unions like LGBT are doing to fight back. One of the most arguments against gay marriage is that if they are legalized, the institution of marriage will lose its significance. Traditionally, we think of marriage as a union between a man and woman recognized by law. However the definition of marriage varies different meanings for different cultures but when defined broadly, marriage is considered a cultural universal. If this is true, then why can’t a person be accepted to love a person of the same sex? As American citizens we are promised our rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness then why doesn’t it mean the same thing for a gay person? Why shouldn’t gay families be given a right to live with respect by legalizing gay...
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...The Role of the American Government in creating Race Wars and Racial Tension There has been a long standing history of cultural divide in this country. The United States of America was built upon this premise. Race has always been a defining factor of what position you have been placed in society. America was founded upon a revolutionary approach, and once America was conquered by Europe, they set their government up to only include Europeans. The system was developed by Anglo-Saxons as a self-serving mechanism that excluded all other races. The Native Americans experienced this first hand when their country was occupied by British, French, and Spanish crusaders. This, amongst other invasions, led to the first examples of racial wars and tension in American history. We have seen this play out throughout the generations of our ancestors, who have experienced this state of racial tension, segregation, and slave ownership on both sides of the equation. America has always had racial tension from its inception. Several Civil Wars have occurred on American soil, and race has been an issue in most of them. We have been taught in society that being a certain race can define your future and potential for success. This has been proven in every aspect of American life. The infrastructure of the United States was built by several different races, some by choice, and some through slavery, and this is the driving force behind the deep seeded tension experienced by current Americans today...
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..."Please Jesus, no. Please no. Please no, don't let him be gone,” a woman cried after her husband was fatally shot by the police while reaching for his wallet. Police brutality has become one of America’s biggest, and most controversial topics. Scrutiny surrounds the law enforcement as new cases of shootings, beatings, and assaults emerge every month. Minorities, especially African-Americans, in the country feel targeted, and hopeless against a system they perceive as oppressive, and racist. This issue has created a divide between the police, and the public. In addition, citizens question if the cops are protecting them or not. Although, it may seem like a problem with the law enforcement, both sides contribute to this issue, and continue to increase racial tensions in America....
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...Racial & Ethnic Short-Answer Questions (15) Should reparations be paid to the descendants of victims of slavery? • Some reject the decision made in the Bakke case that providing a remedy for the effects of racial discrimination is unconstitutional. They argue that the idea of reparations is rooted in international law. • Affirmative Action is inadequate, the ‘Maafa’ (meaning disaster, i.e., slavery) is a crime against humanity, and therefore compensation is required. • In the past 50 years apologies and financial compensation has been given to a wide range of groups, including survivors of the Jewish holocaust (as well as descendants of the victims), Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned during the Second World War and native Americans who had their land illegally seized in the USA. • African Americans have been demanding compensation for slavery since the end of the American Civil War. Immediately after the abolition of slavery, the demand was for 40 acres and a mule to ensure they would not be dependent on their former slave-owners. Then, between 1890 and 1917, there was a movement to lobby the government for pensions to compensate for their unpaid labour under slavery. Since 1989, Congressman John Conyers Jnr (Michigan) has introduced a bill every year to study the case for reparations. Each of these initiatives has been largely ignored by the political establishment. • Reparations would ensure full recognition of the scale of the Maafa and, at the same time...
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...Case of Rodney King By: Donald Gilliam March 4, 2014 Tim Morris Criminal Law Case of Rodney King: Within today’s society police brutality and racism go hand in hand together, and play a huge part with shaping our society but unfortunately today police brutality is a major concern in the United States. Within many cases, violence is an ongoing battle for millions, and from this stems the many types of violence such as racial discrimination, gang violence and unpredictable outbursts of brutality and from saying that there will always be the cold hard fact that there are some authority figures abusing their power. Cases of police brutality can be traced back to centuries ago, unfortunately when one usually thinks about the given topic, the biggest incident that comes to mind is the Rodney King trial. Since I will be touching on one of the most controversial cases in police brutality it is safe to say that police brutality is still “one of the most serious human violations in the United States. For years the negative use of force used by police officers and local authority has been of a main concern and a large issue throughout our nation” ("LA riots,"). Everything begins when, police officers abuse the use of force that has been given to them, meaning that it has become a growing concern about the abuse of police officers using unnecessary force. And as people have become more educated and aware of what’s taken place, more people have united. People have filed many...
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...Subject: Anthropology Title: The role of the Catholic Churches in the genocide of Rwanda Thesis Statement: There is historic evidence of the Catholic Churches being responsible for the 1994 genocide that claimed the lives of nearly a million and this demands the church to accept responsibility and make amends Introduction: This paper is objectively aimed at presenting the issue of the Rwandan Genocide and the role of the church in this gruesome massacre. The preaching of Christianity professes brotherhood and love and violence of any kind does not find its place in Biblical literature and practice. History is witness to the fact that the genocide in Rwanda claimed the lives of millions and has scarred the survivors for life. It has been proven beyond doubt that the church authorities were responsible for creating racist ideologies in the minds of the Rwandan population over a period spanning several decades which led to the eventuality of the creation of ethnic groups’ i.e. the Tutsi and the Hutu. The ideologies based on racism led to intensification of the hatred and dissention between the groups thereby leading to several massacres right up to the 1994 genocide. Later on post the genocide, the church did exclaim guilt and repentance for having been instrumental in causing the genocide. Is it acceptable that after a genocide that claims the lives of nearly a million, an expression of guilt and repentance would undo the harm done? Would this act restore faith of...
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...The media as a whole has many hidden messages or ideas that the entertainment world wants to get across. The media uses subliminal messages through radio, television, and advertisement. “A subliminal message is a signal in the form of a picture or sound that is designed to pass the normal limits of perception,” which means when people receive images or ideas consciously they also receive it subconsciously in their mind (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). There have been many controversial issues concerning the usage of this technique (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). There were rumors stating that Bush has used subliminal messages in some of his campaign speeches in order to deliver hidden messages to the world (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). One example of this would have been when; “A similar accusation was made against a promotional film of the Liberal party of Canada, where after dissecting their ad, one could clearly see a gun being fired at the viewer” (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). The Bush promo is rumored to be filled to the brim with subliminal images of a disturbing nature: fire, explosions, terrified children, mutilation, ghost-like figures and several acts of violence” (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). In the manipulation of many viewers, it was first to be just a tested experiment that could determine the facts of subliminal messages (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). A movie theatre in New Jersey did an experiment...
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...On Reasonable Accommodation INTRODUCTION Our modern society has long been governed by classic liberal notions advocated by thinkers such as John Stuart Mill and John Locke, Emmanuel Kant. A traditional conception of equality is generally prioritized in their work, outlining a highly formal approach premised on uniform treatment, colour-blindness and an emphasis on the Rule of Law. However, in the contemporary context of today, such an ideological hope tends to play the role of the ignorant fool, who disregards the complexity of our society. We are in need of a system that opens its eyes, stops hiding behind a “veil of ignorance” (Sandel, 1998:24) and adopts a more flexible approach. The Bouchard – Taylor Commission demonstrates exactly this notion. This essay will argue in favour of one of the major claims made by Gerard Bouchard & Charles Taylor, that reasonable accommodation, in essence a more substantive equality perspective is a necessary, if not mandatory approach that a multicultural society is in dire need of adopting, clarifying and deeply enforcing. I will discuss the logic and rational that underpins harmonization measures by exploring how social norms & ideologies have played an especially important role is systemic discrimination, then, how Canadian Law and legal institutions have played a role in constructing and maintaining racial stereotypes, and then, how the media plays an especially vital role in further denouncing minority groups. I will then provide...
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...be college aged, she has a young child with her and seems to be pregnant with a second. Again, you walk by, hesitating only slightly, deciding you do not have time to stop. Many of the corrupt parts of society have become the norm. Everyone is trying to get ahead without stopping to think, why? Why is it that we as a species have found that the best way to survive is to get ahead of others? Can we not work together to bring everyone up? This idea that survival is based on winning has been ingrained into our minds. Society has forced the individual to act alone and do whatever it takes to win the game of life. People tend to have a sense of superiority or self righteousness. They act as though they are...
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