...November 24, 2009 Still I rise: Against all Odds Maya Angelou is an accomplished African-American author, poet, historian, and civil rights activist in the United States. Growing up in the South, she continues to face greater challenges for both being black and a woman. Most of her literary works, if not all, provide not only messages of oppression, and moments of unhappiness, but have a rich context of triumphs, resilience and hope. Angelou’s poem, “Still I Rise” can be viewed from both cultural and historical perspectives. As a source of inspiration, the poem shows African Americans and women that the human spirit can transcend difficulties. In her poem, “Still I Rise,” Maya Angelou includes sturdy themes of racial oppression, personal value, cultural pride, and fervent optimism To observation of racial oppression as a theme in Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise,” can be view from a historical perspective base on diction used through out the poem. DiYanni states, “The older form of historical criticism, still in use today, insists that a literary work be read with a sense of the time and place of its creation….Understanding the social conditions and the intellectual currents of that time and the world illuminate literary works for later generations of readers” (2166). It is not a secret that racial oppression against African Americans originates from slavery. The residue of racial oppression is not just about physical bondage, but also mental and social bondage. They drink from...
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...Throughout American history, racism has fractured this country in many aspects. The United States is notorious for a racist history towards people of color. Why has the African-American culture been handled differently for numerous years in the United States? Martin Luther King Jr. posed this very question in his “I Have A Dream” speech to the American people. In August of 1963, Dr. King delivered the speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. His speech contained multiple rhetorical devices, including repetition, allusion, imagery, symbolism, and irony. Rhetorical devices are used in order to arouse an emotion, inspire to take action, and persuade a new point of view. This speech is celebrated as one of the most inspirational speeches in history, and it served as the turning point of the Civil Rights Movement. Throughout “I Have A Dream,” Dr. King emphasizes that segregation is erroneous by utilizing different literary elements....
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...The Confederate flag has been one the most controversial and divisive symbol in American history. Recently, in the wake of the Charleston church shooting, the country has been in an uproar over the confederate flag. The shooting sparked discussion on whether the flag is hateful or represents the south’s history. Numerous people wanted the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house. Many people believe that the confederate flag represents southern pride and southern history, but in the mind of many others the flag represents slavery and the years and years of the oppression of African-Americans and other minorities. One of the reasons the confederate represents represents hate is that many hate-groups use it. Today, more than 500 extremist groups use the Confederate flag as one of their symbols, but the most known hate group that uses this flag is the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan’s predominant goal is to establish white supremacy in the south. Most of the KKK hate crimes target African-Americans, multiracial families, and interracial couples. The KKK also torched black churches and lynched mostly African-American people, or people that went against their beliefs....
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...Native American Oppression Santucee Bell Case Western Reserve University Native American Oppression Introduction & Focal Population Imagine living in a world that consistently devalues your existence and is heavily populated with individuals who are quick to use and abuse your resources, but are slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society. This is especially true for the American Indian/Alaska Native population. This population continues to be one of the most vulnerable minority groups. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Overview of Race and Hispanic Origin: 2010 (2011), “American Indian or Alaska Native refer to a person having origins in any of the original peoples of North and South America (including Central American) and who maintains tribal affiliation or community attachment” (Humes, Jones, & Ramirez, 2011, p. 3). 2,475,956 out of 308, 745,538 people that live in America are believed to be American Indian/Alaska Native, including those who report affiliations with tribes and South and Central American Indian groups (Humes et. al,, 2011, p. 4). This number is...
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...AAS 133 Midterm 11/11/13 “The Production of Knowledge through Lived Experiences” The history and legacy of US colonialism has had a subjective view of the migration of Filipinos, particularly Filipinos immigrating from the Philippines to the United States. It is through this lived experience of Filipino Americans that has given useful forms to their lived realities, transforming their subjective experiences into objects of knowledge. One will find that it is often through the perspective of an insider that will provide us the most authentic and most informative perspective of the transformation of a lived experience to an object of knowledge as it provides us a more personal social commentary of the ideologies present at the time. The production of knowledge of these lived experiences comes from the construction of an alternate world view that is particular to the Filipino American community. The transformation stems from the idea of empowerment through the colonial oppression of Filipinos in the Philippines as well as the racial oppression and backlash that Filipinos faced in America when they immigrated here. This is the case in Carlos Bulosan’s “America is in the Heart” as the author provides us his own personal story in order to personalize the history of Filipino immigrants in America who came to America to fulfill “promises of a better life”, the ideological belief of the ‘American Dream.’ From Bulosan’s accounting of his story, one can uncover the experience of Filipino...
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...The Myth of the “Model Minority” and Its Effects on Minority Racial Groups When we talk about race it is almost exclusively in black and white with occasional mentions of Latinos. The struggles of the races in-between are often left out of the conversation and arguably none more so than that of Asian Americans. People often see Asians are the exception to racism, the successful marginalized group that highlights the American dream. This mindset has been captured in the idea of the “model minority”, referring to Asians and their perceived successes in the United States. The myth of Asians as the “model minority” is an idea constructed to protect white privilege and prosperity by creating a culture of racial minorities competing against each...
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...The Theme of Oppression Since the beginning of time people have been opressed through means such as slavery, prejudice as well as other injustices.The theme of oppression is a theme that has been used in writing ever since books became more popularized after the invention of the printing press. In more current times the theme of oppression is used in fiction to depict dystopian futures . Oppression is a very important theme to both read and understand.There are multiple purposes for both writing and reading about oppression. To begin with, authors write about oppression to describe some of the worst atrocities of history in order to not repeat them. One example of this is Night by Elie Wiesel where the horrors of the holocaust were brought...
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...much hostility. The British invaded their land and oppressed the Native American people for hundreds of years due to their cultural differences and lack of understanding. James Cameron’s 2009 film, Avatar mirrors the discovery of the new world, albeit in a very different light. The American military colonizes and destroys land on Pandora, while showing no regard for the welfare of the Na’vi. Avatar serves as an allegory for warfare and cultural hatred based on ignorance and a lack of multi-cultural acceptance and understanding. The Na’vi society of Pandora is an extremely naturalistic people. The Na’vi are the dominant species of Pandora, much like humans on Earth. They are a humanoid species that very much believes in the spirituality of nature and the world around them. In Na’vi society, there are marriage parallels, and they believe in an all-knowing God figure. This is itself, is a very strong correlation to the Native American cultures of early North America. Many of those cultures had similar beliefs. A lot of these Native American cultures believed in a strong connection between the physical world and the spiritual world, just like the Na’vi and their connection with the “Tree of Souls”. This seems to be a very obvious and intentional symbolization of the Na’vi people and a huge foreshadowing of the persecution they would endure, much like most Native American tribes. On the other hand, the American military force that forces there way upon Pandora and into Na’vi territory...
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...Black Americans experienced a radical change in their goals, strategies, and support of the civil rights movement during the 1960s due to the eruption of new leaders, sympathetic presidents, radical groups, and a rejuvenation of history and heritage. From the “separate but equal” laws of Plessy v. Ferguson and the Jim Crow Laws of the late 1800’s, the new goals of Martin Luther King Jr. would strive to change African American civil rights through non violence and revealing oppression, while other groups would emphasize the embracement of black culture, both still against the oppression in the United States. Strategies were born from MLK’s ideals, about demonstrating to the American people the horror of oppression, while the Black Power movement...
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...were centered on the theme of bits and pieces of the Black culture being lost or forgotten. The Deficiency Paradigm argues that Blacks have no real culture, that slavery destroyed it, and that what passed as Black culture was simply a pathological reaction to Whites, a duplication of them or an expression of lower-class culture rather than a specific Black culture. The Crusian Paradigm argues that although culture must be seen as central, the three factors of culture, politics and economics must be welded together into a dynamic synthesis and social strategy. Both of these paradigms argue that Whites have tried to destroy black culture by forcing their ideas and ways upon blacks. The argument in both of the paradigms is also that an American culture existed instead of a Black culture. There are differences between the two paradigms. The basic idea behind the Deficiency Paradigm is that blacks have no culture of their own and that what they do have is borrowed from the white culture. The Deficiency Paradigm argues that there is a misjudgment...
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...According to Heldke & O’Connor (2004:530), oppression means the unfair treatment of people by the ruling group. People are not always oppressed by cruel tyrants with bad intentions. Oppression also creates injustice in other circumstances, as well. In many cases, a well-intentioned liberal society can place system wide constraints on groups and limit their freedom. Oppression can be the result of a few people’s choices or policies that cause embedded unquestioned norms, habits, and symbols These societal rules can become a “restrictive structure of forces and barriers that immobilize and reduce a group or category of people” (Heldke & O’Connor 2004:530). “Class refers to endure and systematic differences in access to and control over production of goods and services, as well as the resources for provisioning and survival” (Acker 2006: 442). “Gender, refers to the socially constructed differences between male and female and the beliefs and identities that support difference and inequality, is also present in all organizations” (Acker 2006:444). “Race, refers to socially defined differences based on physical characteristics, culture, and historical domination and oppression, justified by entrenched beliefs” (Weber 2001 :10).This paper will analyze and discuss the issue of oppressions in relation to class, gender, and race using W.E.B. Du Bois’ thoughts on race, gender, and class. Also, the intersectional theory according to Patricia Hill Collins will be used for analyzing...
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...that oppression, in the absence of slavery, legally mandated segregation, and its other overt manifestations, has been eradicated from modern society––we cover ourselves with a blanket of goodwill and inclusivity, and pat ourselves on the back as we remain oblivious to the fact that oppression’s lessened tangibility does not actually negate its existence nor its ability to cause suffering. In 1963, when society still demanded rather than overlooked oppression, civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” in direct response to the clergymen who criticized his peaceful demonstrations against segregation in the city of Birmingham, Alabama. King argued that positive change...
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...Throughout the 1960s, progress in terms of racial equality became evident as the national government began to respond to protests held by groups of African Americans seeking equal rights. Since the ratification of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 signaled significant development, members of society often came to the conclusion that racial equality had been achieved. However, in reality, society was far from establishing this equality. Though, in writing, discrimination against individuals based on color could no longer take place, states still found ways to subtly put specific groups at a disadvantage. Even today, over half a century later, states continue to treat different groups of individuals unequally based on...
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...Assignment 1) a) In the article by King and Springwood (2000), “Fighting Spirits: The Racial Politics of Sports Mascots”, the authors go into detail about how “whiteness” (at Ole Miss) and “redness” (at Florida State) have been used to create a controversial symbol of power that has produced a racial discrepancy between opposing races taking offense to the mascot used by both schools. In the case of Florida State University, the school has developed a mascot (Chief Osceola) that portrays the American Indian as an aggressive savage. “When Osceola leads the FSU football players onto the field, he signifies armed resistance, bravery, and savagery, and his appearance builds on the prevailing understandings of Indianness that construct Native Americans as aggressive, hostile, and even violent” (King and Springwood [2000], p. 285). This portrayal of savagery is at the heart of the arguments by native Indians to remove their names from colleges using their image as a motivational and war-like incentive. I have never viewed the mascots of colleges as being an offensive form of racial disparity, but this article made me view this issue from the other side and opened my eyes as to why groups of people may be offended by how their name is being represented to the public. For example, I grew up an avid sports fan, but history never really caught my interest. Therefore, my view of the American Indian is distorted from the reality of their true image because I have only seen their name...
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...Racism is a form of discrimination that has a variety of definitions, depending on which dictionary one reads. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, racism is a belief that all members of each racial group has characteristics or abilities specific to a particular race, especially to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to another racial group or groups. The Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherited superiority of a particular racial group. Racism, as defined by Webster’s New American Dictionary , is “a belief that some races are by nature superior to others.” The Macquarie Dictionary defines racism as: "the belief that human races have distinctive characteristics which determine their respective cultures, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to rule or dominate others." The common thread between all of these definitions seem to be the idea of superiority versus inferiority when comparing whites and blacks, in particular. Because of this notion of whites feeling superior and blacks feeling inferior, segregation still seems to exist, especially in high schools and on college campuses. Racial segregation in public schools was the norm across America in the early 1950’s. Although all the schools were supposed to be equal, most black schools were far inferior to the white ones. Linda Brown...
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