Essays on Racial Inequality

Introduction

Katherine Dunham is a legendary dancer and choreographer whose contributions to the dance culture are admirable and great. She is an important figure to the dance culture because of her revolutionary and transformative choreography in the 1930’s. She revolutionized dance styles in America by investigating and establishing the roots of African and Caribbean dance and rituals and transforming them into critical creative choreography that resonates with all. She also pioneered the use of ethnic and folk choreography by introducing it to mainstream dance styles and fusing them. Katherine further founded the anthropological dance movement; showing the whole world ...

Protests against racial inequality has led to serious political polarization in the country where students beside conscious population acted as a mass opposition force in the system of state-monopoly capitalism. In social terms, the youth movement was a reaction to the sharp contradiction between the new processes related to scientific and technological revolution and the capitalist system in its entirety - from the relationship between private owners and government and ending the sphere of culture. Thus, the characteristic of the youth movement was organic plexus social, political and cultural aspects. The Afro-American question has been on the agenda in ...

The time period between the 1890-s and the World War I, known as the Progressive Era, was difficult and controversial in American history. It was the time of industrial and urban development, political changes, economic growth (Frankel, and Dye 1). At the same time racial discrimination was prominent in the South, regardless of the legislation which abolished slavery and promoted equality between white and black members of the society. ‘Jim Crow laws’, or rules, applied mostly in Southern states, introduced segregation. Its beginning is associated with the Plessy vs. Ferguson case of 1896 (Williams). The progressives managed to bring ...

The Importance of Keeping Affirmative Action in the U.S.: The Struggle for Rights by the Chicano People The Importance of Keeping Affirmative Action in the U.S.: The Struggle for Rights by the Chicano People In a country like the US where racial and ethnic inequalities are a major social problem, affirmative action has become an important aspect of alleviating such differences and inequalities. Affirmative action programs are those policy actions that are meant at correcting past injustices that have been perpetrated against a group of people and any inequalities that exist between them and the native people in a ...

Despite the fact that both the United States and Brazil have a history of the institution of slavery, each country documented a different reaction to the emancipation of those in bondage. Racial relations among Brazilians were significantly different in comparison to the documented experiences of African Americans residing in the United States after the abolition of slavery. For instance, while African Americans became subject to discriminatory laws that included Jim Crow Laws and Black Codes, Brazil did not experience the same form of government-imposed racism. In other words, legislations did not institutionalize racism among the people of Brazil; however, ...

Question 1: Primary Source

"Progress In Brazil-The Economiste Francais." Times [London, England] January 22, 1889. The Times Digital Archive. Accessed May 22, 2016. http://ntserver1.wsulibs.wsu.edu:2164/ttda/infomark.do?&source=gale&prodId=TTDA&userGroupName=pull21986&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearchForm&docId=CS85512246&type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0

Question 2: Annotated Bibliography

Andrews, George Reid. Blacks & Whites in São Paulo, Brazil, 1888-1988. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1991. Finkelman, Paul. “How the Civil War Changed the Constitution.” The New York Times, June 2, 2015. Accessed May 12, 2016. http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/06/02/how-the-civil-war-changed-the-constitution/ Before the emancipation of Brazilian slaves in 1888, the United States of America had already abolished slavery in 1865. Subsequently, the American societies witnessed the government’s attempt at assimilating persons of African descent as free citizens, equal to the whites. ...

Introduction

Rosa Parks was born on 4 February 1913 in Alabama. Parks grew up in Pine Level, Alabama, on her maternal grandfather’s farm. Parks had to experience racial discrimination early in her life, with race divided schools in Alabama. As a child, Rosa suffered from poor health, especially her sore throat. She was also weak for her age and used to be bedridden with her sickness. Rosa grew up in segregated South where she had to live in an environment that rejected African Americans to enter segregated hotels or restaurants (McDonough, 2010, p. 1-12). Her long struggle toughened her ...

Katznelson is one of those leading writers who have proved themselves in providing much knowledge to the readers about social and political history. A professional in political science and history, he is best known for his influential research upon United States and covered topics such as social knowledge, liberal state, inequality, and institutions. His work always brings exceptional aspects that have been most important in the history of America. He has highlighted various features that have been a part of American history and has unfolded the inequalities that were evidenced in the 20th century. A collection of his books ...

Racial inequality is one of the most discussed and urgent problems in the USA. At first, non-white people fought for their freedom, for their human right to be equal with white people. And now, while other countries believe that in USA there are no racial discrimination, non-white people still suffer from unfair distribution of opportunities, powers, rights, and economic resources. Consequently, we can blame 300 years of physical, cultural, and political discrimination as a reason for current inequality. Different politicians, researchers, and writers are trying to come up with the theories, ideas, and historical background of racial identity of ‘ ...

Introduction

The United States is depicted as the most democratic nation in the world. The aspect of democracy arises from the choices that people are presented with. The ability to determine one’s leaders, goods, services, regions and rights are some of the choice elements that the American population is presented with. Another aspect that can be associated with the United States is its diversity in regards to the ethnic groups and races; immigration has resulted in the creation of one of the most interracial communities in the world. Nearly all races are present in America as a result of ...

Q1

Functionalists

The theory about the nature of mental states stipulates the doings of the mental state but rather not what makes up the mental state. The sociologist theory clarifies the conflict in the society arising due to difference in people’s mental states.

Conflict

Social conflict theory states that, in capitalism, there is a destructive interaction that results to no mutual benefit between two parties. The theory argues that in some circumstances where any individual is in somebody's debt that ought to be paid occasionally, there inequality and favors and hence resulting to conflict.

Symbolic Interactions

Social conflict among the members of ...

Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes are two great American poets who were concerned with the future of America. In the poem “I Too (Sing America)” Hughes describes a segregated and not perfect America, a world divided by color rather than ideas and freedom. Whitman imagines a brighter future of America in the poem “One Song, America, Before I Go”. Both poems describes and yearns for a better human experience in America. This papers seeks to examine and explore the depiction of America as a place with the potential for freedom and equality. It further explores the treatment of the ...

Inequality is one of the greatest social problems as the result of the racism. The differences can be perceived not only economically, but also politically and is one of the major global challenges. Studies show that inequality can result in poverty and creation of social classes in the societies. This situation can be elaborated by Marxist theory of Communist Manifesto. The theory states that states that those who own the means of production ‘capitalists’ take advantage of the poor ‘proletariats’ and amass wealth which causes the social class issues. I am going to discuss the inequalities that result as ...

The African American population had endured a long struggle for justice and equal rights. Having arrived in the United States as slaves, their struggle for equality in an all-white nation became a daunting task. The liberation and rights that are now enjoyed by the contemporary African-American population did not come at a low price. The focus of this essay is comparing some of the ideas espoused by the liberators of the African American people with those of Marcus Garvey. The Progressive Era was a crucial period in the quest to advance the rights of African-Americans. However, many of the ...

Racial inequality is still evident in the country today, but as one goes over the material, it becomes apparent that it is institutionalized. Since the end of slavery, those in power have worked hard to continue the inequality between races. The division is still present for most minorities, with the occasional exception. For example, not as many minorities graduate high school or college as do white students. Similarly, not as many minorities come from two parent households as do white children. This is in stark contrast, however, to the stereotype that black fathers are often absent from their children’ ...

Of

Race Matters by Cornel West

Summary Race Matters by Cornel West is a book which peeks into the new meaning of black conservatism in America. It gives us a glimpse of how racial discrimination was defined earlier and how it is defined today in the modern world. At the beginning, the author talks about several works by famous authors who wrote about the black community. Thomas Sowell’s Race and Economics is an aggressive black intellectual conservative assault on the traditional liberal idea of blacks. The Pittsburgh Courier by George S. Schuyler and the letters of the famous Afro-American woman Zora Neal Hurston ...

Peer Reviewer:

Write three critical comments (things the writer can work on to improve the essay) and one positive comment (something the writer does well).

Critical – The flow of the paper is a bit dull and does not keep my interest.

Critical – I cannot connect the thesis with the content. Critical – Grammatical errors are distracting me from understanding the message that the writer was hoping to deliver. Positive – I like the choice of subject matter involving the current racial controversies that have run rampant in the United States. What controversial portrayal is the writer discussing specifically? How does the writer explain how that controversy has affected the portrayal they are discussing/their topic? The controversial portrayal the writer ...

Gentrification has been a very controversial topic in urban planning since 1964, when it was first introduced. Though upper and middle classes can benefit from this process, it can bring significant loss to low income residents. Some people see this process as the one that improves the quality of life, others are left with nothing but hatred for people who took their places and changed their communities. There are different views and opinions on whether gentrification has more advantages or, on the contrary, more negative sides. In this paper there are many researches on gentrification discussed and compared, as ...

Summary of the Paper

The ‘Municipal Housekeeping: The Impact of Women’s Suffrage on Public Education’ by Celeste Carruthers and Marianne Wanamaker is an informative paper that provides details on the extent to which women’s suffrage influences public education. From the paper, it is well evident that the reduction in the black-white gap has contributed substantially to the improved quality of black schools. The paper proposes that all these changes are as a result of major contributions by women. Today, as opposed to the past, more women exercise their voting rights thereby increasing the pivotal voter’s preferences for public education. The ...