...Consider the Lobster in Birmingham in Jail After reading Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and David Foster Wallace's “Consider the Lobster” it became evident that the two pieces had completely different audiences. “Letter From Birmingham Jail” was written during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and directly responded to “A Call for Unity.” “Consider the Lobster” had an audience consisting of foodies. By just the audience itself for which the pieces are written, it becomes clear that the levels of importance vary. Although, the two pieces differ in importance, both Wallace and King use ethos and logos to appeal to the audience. King’s essay is historically significant in that it addresses the deprivation of human rights,...
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...After the Civil War African Americans were being humiliated, tortured, and even killed because of their color; the brutal denunciations deprived these people from numerous rights, practically everything that makes a man a free human being. During the time of racial segregation African Americans could be divested of housing, partaking at eateries, voting, and practically even citizenship. This treatment went on for one hundred years after Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed all slaves. These people could not be heard until a preacher from Atlanta, GA expressed his ideals on the issue of unfair racial discrimination. This man was named Martin Luther King Jr. During his life he addressed the cruelty of discrimination by leading nonviolent protests throughout the South; he was the leader of the civil rights movement for African Americans, and he had led Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Letter from Birmingham Jail," powerfully written by Martin Luther King Jr. with convincing and influential language, inspired countless individuals towards contesting for the equality of mankind....
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...Addressing Hidden Discrimination in Public Policies. Racial inequalities from the past continue to live on in several public policies today, often concealing hidden agendas that maintain segregation and economic inequality, especially against African Americans. Kevin Kruse’s “Traffic” and Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” offer important perspectives on how. Historically, seemingly beneficial laws have excluded African Americans, and increased segregation and economic disparity. Kruse reveals how creating the US interstate highway system, to expand economic growth, disrupted black communities and restricted their access to better jobs, healthcare, and education. Furthermore, Alexander’s...
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...the correct choice by choosing the one which most completely reflects what Dr. King exemplified and what he accomplished. The other sculptures are simply insufficient in expressing the importance of such a wonderful man. The sculpture of just Dr. King’s head and the one of him standing and speaking do not say enough about this true American icon. A closer look at these pieces will provide further evidence for the universities decision. Wendy Ross’ sculpture of Dr. King standing and speaking is actually quite similar to the top half of the one the university chose. Dr. King is captured standing up seemingly in the middle of one of his historical speeches. Dr. King’s posture, right foot forward with his right arm extended, illustrates his ability to command attention. Dr. King was a highly respected pastor with the profound ability to deliver life-changing speeches. His posture and stance highlight Dr. King the orator, a natural born motivator. Further supporting King as a great orator is the fact the he is depicted with his mouth open, clearly engaged in speech. This highlights King’s desire and fearlessness to speak out against persecution. From his “I have a dream” speech to his Man of the Year cover in TIME magazine, Dr. King was never afraid to speak up and demand equality of African Americans. Being shown with his mouth open truly communicates to people the impact one can make by standing up and speaking up for what...
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...the lives of many Americans for different reasons. Each of these amendments has to due with giving people equal rights no matter what race or gender that they may be. These are all tremendous milestones in American history. First, the 13th amendment was passed in 1865 to end slavery. African Americans were no longer allowed to be considered as property. Instead, they became viewed as real people, and slavery was banned unless it was used as a form of punishment This amendment was passed because before and during the civil war, most northern citizens strongly stood against slavery. They thought it was unjust to make people work for long hours and to be treated unfairly. This amendment clearly and effectively signified that no American citizen could own slaves....
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...Civil disobedience is the act of refusal against laws, taxes, or demands by a government usually staying peaceful in nature. Martin Luther King Jr. and Antigone implement civil disobedience to defy unjust law; however, both approaches used to go against the wrong laws are different. Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader for the civil rights movement to put an end to segregation through civil disobedience by stressing the importance of peacefully protesting; while Antigone purposely went against the law, knowing the consequences, to follow God’s law instead of man-made law in a holy effort to bury her late brother Polyneices. Martin Luther King Jr. goes against unjust laws through civil disobedience by initiating peaceful protests. He believed that using nonviolent tactics are better at showing the immorality the unjust laws’ and calls for black people to fight the long battle against segregation. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, he reveals the unjust treatment going on in Birmingham and why it is important for him to be there helping, “Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already...
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...Shakur was then tried in her hospital bed where her attorney barely prepped her for the hearing. The judge and a few officers came into her room, charged her and sentenced her on her hospital bed. Shakur was part of the Black Panther Party, a Party that was put on the FBI’s most wanted list for being a terrorist group according to them. Because of this, she was treated less than human during her time of hurt in that hospital. , Black Panther Party, original name Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, African American revolutionary party, founded in 1966 in Oakland, California, by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale....
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...African-American Males, Incarceration and Structural African-American Males, Incarceration and Structural Inequality Incarceration in the United States is one of the main forms of punishment or as many would like to state forms of rehabilitation. With that being the case, the United States, while being considered one of the most powerful and influential countries in the world boasts the highest “rehabilitation” rate in the world. The staggering part remains that not only do we have the highest prison population but our incarceration rate continues to grow as our creativity or desire to solve this problem continues to stagnate. One of the major issues when researching incarceration rates is the obvious elevated rate of young African-American males that are sentenced. While the percentage of African-American incarcerated males is extremely high the length of their sentences are shockingly elevated compared to the majority of population in the United States. “One in every nine African-American males aged 25-29 were in prison or jail in 2009, compared to one in twenty-seven Latino males and one in sixty white males in the same age group, according to the Sentencing Project”. ("State of Young America," 2009, para. 11) The question currently being dealt with in the United States is how do we accommodate all of these prisoners? Our countries answer has been quite simple, to build more prisons or as some would sugarcoat it, “rehabilitation facilities”. The correct question...
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...Letter from a Birmingham Jail, utilizes devices such as metaphorical language, diction, and antitheses to convey a sense of urgency, to toy with the emotions of his audience, and to break the chains of inequity. Metaphors throughout Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter urge the audience of the clergymen to act against the racial prejudices...
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...Johnson Dec. 9, 2013 Nonviolent Movements, Effective Results Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a response to criticism from American clergymen about demonstrations in Birmingham. It is among the world’s canon of the most influential writings. He successfully informs his fellow clergymen of the importance of African Americans gaining rights through nonviolent methods. He also speaks eloquently of the difference between just and unjust laws, which lies in the equality of rights. The 1960s were trying times for African Americans due to intense segregation. Despite these difficulties, Dr. King was able to respond with nonviolent methods. These methods are considered very praiseworthy as such a nonviolent response, particularly with such profound effects, is very rare in human society. Dr. King’s nonviolent approach for achieving equal rights, not only helps society make considerable progress on achieving equality, but also enlightens future societies to go for equality in a peaceful manner. According to Dr. King, the difference between just and unjust laws is whether or not everybody has equal rights; similarly, whether or not the law in question uplifts the human spirit. As Dr. King claims: “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (King 3). African Americans were forced to face intense segregation and had to witness their friends and family members be subjected to abuse and humiliation...
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...Johanna Ortiz HIS September 12, 2015 1st draft Is the existence of a negro the same as the being of a white human being? It is now, but years ago the response to this would be no. Lynching was utilized in a period of time, it was an expression that was defined to put to death an individual without any wrongdoing and no legitimate authorization. In Hale’s essay “Deadly Amusements”, she stresses on how lynching was seen as a social norm or public entertainment and self- justice. Lynching was used because individuals viewed it as a social norm. Public spectacle lynching was the most recurrent in the south and it was used to entertain the people. “The well-choreographed spectacle opened with a chase or a jail attack, followed rapidly by the...
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...anyone physically, and shows that people want change. Civil Disobedience directly aligns with freedom of speech and our American freedoms to have unique thoughts and opinions. In the constitution it is stated that Americans have the right to protest something that goes against their personal values, or they feel goes against the constitution. In addition, it is a major enlightenment ideal. During the formation of our country, and our Constitution, there was a time of enlightenment. France and Haiti were also going through revolutions. Many thinkers such as Adam Smith, John Locke, and even Thomas Jefferson were encouraging revolution, and governments for the people. All were backed by the ideals of protest when necessary....
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...Crime is defined as the violation of a society's formally enacted criminal law. I am interested in addressing crime because of the way it impacts my hometown particularly the African American communities. Currently Richmond is central Virginia's most dangerous place in terms of violent offenses per capita. Richmond recorded 7 violent offenses per 1,000 residents in 2011. It is not only violent crimes that plague these communities it is also street crimes such as stealing and drug dealing. Robert Merton's strain theory referred to this as innovation; created by society's importance on wealth and the lack of opportunities to get it. The text book points out the role gender and race plays in crime. 81.8 percent of arrest for violent crimes are men and 39 percent of arrest of violent crimes are African Americans. These statistics are partially a by-product of racial profiling and prejudice that leads police to be overzealous in arresting black people and being prime suspects of crime by white people in general. Not to mention blacks are six times more likely to be murdered than white people. So it is easy to see why more than two-thirds of African American children are born to single mothers because a vast number of black men are either dead or in jail. As a result of these conditions one-third of African American children grow up in poverty which increases the likelihood of street crime becoming more appealing to them. With violence in the communities spilling over into neighboring...
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...“Speak your mind even if your voice shakes.” was once said by Maggie Kuhn, as she talked about the importance about always speaking freely and never keeping your feelings inside. It is sometimes necessary to speak out about something because the words of one can change the world. On December 1st of 1995, an African American woman by the name of Rosa Park was arrested, due to the fact that she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. She simply said no and did not move from the seat to prove her point. Many African Americans were afraid to get killed or get sent to jail during these periods of time when racism existed and played a huge role in the state of Alabama. Rosa Parks wasn’t just like everybody else who stayed quiet and let...
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...University A lot of historical injustices have happened towards the black community over the years. It is clear that they have suffered a lot as they were considered part of the society that was not worthy of certain privileges. The African American communities were brought from Africa to work as slaves to the white people. They were property to be owned rather than people with feelings and needs. They were bought and sold just like any other property. A person who had the most slaves was considered to be the richest (Marte, 2014). The slaves were treated in whichever way that the owner felt. However, over the years, improvements have been made as the African American community have fought for their rights and have been acknowledged by the white community. However, black people are still being discriminated against especially when trying to secure employment. They are considered to be inferior to the white people and the skills that they have. Society can still be stuck in the cloud that most black people come from poor backgrounds and therefore do not have the same opportunities to study as their white counterparts. Therefore, they are not able to access the same job opportunities. Furthermore, the African American population is said to commit the most crimes and therefore making people afraid to hire them. Research has shown that a white person will always have an advantage over a black person for a job opportunity even when they have the same qualifications...
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