...The collection of short stories ‘The Thing Around Your Neck’ written by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie demonstrates that in Nigeria, men women, boys and girls are treated differently, and these relationship in which gender inequality exists leads to family conflict. And corruption exists in Nigeria and also the violence. These issues have lasting impacts on the characters. Many of the characters experience violence, some due to civil war and conflict between religious groups, and others due to corruption. In the story ‘Cell One’ Nnamabia both witnesses and experiences violence in the Nigerian jail. When Nnamabia has been caught and put in jail, his family bribed police and guard to see Nnamabia. Also Nnamabia paid police to treat him better. These actions demonstrate that corruption is common thing in Nigeria. In addition, it shows the violence in jail. An old man is arrested because the police couldn’t find his son. ‘if they don’t find the person they are looking for, they will lock up his father or mother or his relative’. This shows how the violence exists in Nigerian society. Also Nnamabia is severely beaten when he tries to protect him. At this point, the writer uses the symbolism to highlight Nnamabia’s decline. ‘…he looked oddly sobre, an expression I had not seen before’. And author also highlights that the violence can change the identity of the person. At the end of story, Namabia has changed that no longer tells stories in a cheerful way and feels great compassion for old...
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...Managing Diversity Final Research Paper Why is Discussion of Race Taboo in America? America is said to be a melting pot of cultures, a country of not one nationality but a diverse mixture of all different types of people melted into one nation. This term became famous in America from the 1908 play of the same name, “The Melting Pot.” The basis of the play was how immigration to America caused the nation to be a fusion of nationalities, cultures, and ethnicities. What the play failed to mention was that although some nationalities were indeed melting together, American’s that were of different races were being excluded. The physical differences in races, such as African Americans, had caused them to be excluded from reaping the benefits of all that America had to offer. The worst part about all of this is that the people being excluded from “The Melting Pot” were decedents of individuals who did not come to this country by choice. Instead they were brought to this country through kidnapping. Flash forward a hundred years to Nov. 24th, 2008. America elects its first African American president Barack Obama. Article after article published around this time had headlines reading, “Barack Obama: The End of Racism in America.” We finally did it! Racism in America was able to be totally eradicated through the election of an African American as our nation’s president. If only it was that easy. Now in 2014, eight years after the election of our nation’s first African American...
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...Race and Inequality Race and inequality have gone hand and hand in the United States since the U.S. was established. What this is still a major concern in today’s society and will continue because it is de jure. As an African American male I have experienced inequality because of my race first hand on multiple occasions. There are social stigmas that come with being a black man in America; some are that we are aggressive, ignorant, or associated with crime. In my case a few police officers assumed that I was all three and attempted to pin a crime on me that I did not commit. When I was seventeen years old I lived in San Diego California in a small town called Tierresanta. My home was in a military housing complex due to the fact that my dad was in the navy. One night I was standing on a corner of a street waiting for my dad to pick me up from a friends house when a police officer pulled up and asked what I was doing. I explained that I was just waiting to be picked up by my parent. Another police car pulled up next to him and asked where I was before this and began to bombard me with questions, I answered all questions calmly. As soon as I finished one officer looked at the other and said I looked like I fit the description for a kid who was selling drugs, and they began to get out of the car and reach for their handcuffs. I asked why I was being arrested for something I didn’t do and he told me I was being detained for further questioning and searching. As this is happening...
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...African-Americans teenage boys have been the trending topic lately. It is hard to distinguish why these events happen. Certainly, there is no one, or race, to blame for this happening, however, understanding the root cause may help. The high incarceration rates of minorities is an examples and the killings proves how the criminal justice system is extremely flawed to this day and has always been built off of the privilege whites inherited and that blacks do not have. It has been proven time and time again that black and whites are not equal within the criminal justice system. History even says that the early conception of the criminal justice system and punishments were formed under conditions of colonialism and slavery. An example is white police offers repeatedly killing African American Males and being found not guilty; from Emmitt Till to the Ferguson case. Which is history repeating itself, the more things change, and the more they remain the same. In each generation, new tactics have been used for achieving the same goals—goals shared by the Founding Fathers (Alexander). Which is also known as institutional racism, which is systematic domination of people of color, embedded and operating in universities, corporations, legal systems, political bodies and other collectivities. History has shape the way African Americans are treated, and how people perceive them still. Which conveys that skin color and physical characteristics explain the differences amongst...
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...In the 1960’s, the Camelot era, everything was looking upwards for the U.S. First, a man was on the moon by the late 1960’s and scientists were advancing in every way. Jim Crow Laws were abolished and racism was finally overcome. The March on Washington, Civil rights movement, and great leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. were prominent in ending this secondary to nothing crisis. Bravery and overflowing pride outlined the 60’s for all African-Americans. Proud individuals fought and struggled to make America the land of the free. People were hopeful, they knew America could jump over their obstacles to be the world's greatest nation. First, televised debates, then rock and roll music and computer technology and America was finally starting to...
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...dive into the racial history of the United States. In The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander states even though slave owners, Ku Kux Klan members, and unjust police men, didn’t exist in the same period, each group of men is responsible for many of the lives lost due to the fear of intimacy created by the different racial caste systems—a system that has survived the test of time and continues to affect many black men in the United States but is now more imperceptible to the American public.( (Alexander 2012). History has repeated itself, but also brought something new to consider in each moment. She makes a point and expresses that different racial caste systems appear to fade, but then new systems take their place with the needs and limitations of their generation. As the names of the racial caste systems change, so do the names of the victims and their murders....
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...Alexis De Tocqueville believes that African Americans and White people should be equal, however when rights were given to the African Americans there was still a divide between the two races. Racial inequality did not only happen in Alexis De Tocqueville’s era, however it occurred from the Civil Rights Movement and current time. Police brutality occurs a lot in recent years because of racial tension occurring between a white police officer and an African American male. These occurrences happen in the low-income neighborhoods because crime rates are higher. African American people are in lower income neighbors because of racial inequality in workplaces and society. In society, African American are hired far less than any other minority individual in this country. Poor conditions forces more African Americans to be pushed out of cities creating gentrification in poor neighborhoods. These actions occurring, such as the system pushing African American down and police brutality creates anger from Black Communities. These tension between the two races created the Black Lives Matter movements. These protest occur all over Americans, which provides insight that racial inequality goes against Aristotle’s view on happiness in democracy. A group of minority protest against the system creates a clear vision that our government and democracy creates a division from the African American community and the White community. A unity needs...
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...Racial disparity in u.s prisons MBOGO .W. APOLLO (MOI). Professor: Institution affiliated Date: Racial disparity in prisons in America can be conceptualized as a situation where the population of a specific group of people is the most in the criminal justice system as compared to the general population. Prisons in U.S.A are a significant constituent of the criminal justice system. The main function of the American prisons is to protect society from violation of law, to rehabilitate also punish the law breakers in order to assist them to be responsible members of the society. The prisons in the state continue to grow in order to meet the demands of the correctional and the criminal justice system in general. However, the trend in the justice system, especially in the prisons, is characterized by ethnic disparity. This normally compromises the level of justice dispensation. It has been a controversial issue for several decades among the prisons in the state. Some individuals seem to defy the concept of existence of disparity in the justice system. They believe that it does not exist. For instance, statistics that were presented by Marc Mauer proved that if the argument that there existed racial discrimination in the prisons, then the extraordinary rise in the American prisons in the past three decades would be explained in six fold increase. This to him would eventually lead to incarceration of two million Americans. For instance, “one in every eight African –American...
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...Joe R Feagin states his idea in the book Racism America, “every part of life cycle, and most aspects of one’s life, are shaped by racism that is integral to the foundation of the United States” ( 2 ). According to The New York Times, the research have found that blacks often got wrong diagnoses more than whites, school administrators treat blacks more strict and police arrest blacks much more often than whites. In addition to the effect, even a company judge and choose résumés by common white-sounding name or black-sounding name (Kristof). These factors make us realize racial inequality makes an actual difference in social status. According to Charlene Crowell in The Louisiana weekly, the gap between black family median income and white family median income had narrowed $48.106 to $28.000 in past two decades, but significant racial income gap is still exist in our society (Crowell). And when the wage gap is growing, it influence on education, health and crime rate like a negative chain. Urban Institute declares, “higher education gap between black and white...
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...Black and White: The Problem with Institutional Racism In recent times the media has contributed to racism by only showing the acts of cruelty of Caucasian’s towards the minority in the United States. This is an example of institutional racism. Just what is institutional racism? Institutional racism is a pattern of social institutions, such as the media, government, schools, banks, and etc. This leads to the issue of inequality among the citizens of the United States. One key detail about institutional racism is that a person does not need to discriminate intentionally to have the label attached to them. For example, judges in the court of law might intend to impose similar sentences for similar crimes; yet if Caucasian citizens receive a...
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...Panther Party, initiated nearly fifty years apart, were formed primarily to fight against police cruelty against the African-American people in the United States. The Black Lives Matter was established primarily to terminate the prevalent murdering cases of the Black adults and children by the police officers. On the other hand, the Black Panther Party for Self -Defense was a revolutionary movement founded to terminate the state-sanctioned victimization, curb racial discrimination and aid some communities in several social programs in the USA. This article explains the strategies and plans used by the two organizations, their political influences, and ideologies of each movement. Zero Campaign plan and ten-point program of the Black Lives Matter movement and Black Panther party accordingly, are broadly discussed. Further, the paper elaborates on the means of communication particularly social media and newsletters employed by each organization such as cell phones and press in disseminating their information to the general public. In addition, the community impact and the services provided by the two movements are explicated in depth. The Black Lives Matter and Black Panther groups have effected a substantial political influence in the United States using various dogmas. The organizations’ mission of fighting for the rights of the African-Americans has overwhelmed the whole nation. Neither the police officers nor the country constitutionalists have been able to stop their influences...
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...This article points out the disparity in wealth and inequality of incarceration between whites and blacks with similar family characteristics and education. It also points out that poor white kids are less likely to go to prison than rich black kids. I feel that the whites started out with an enormous advantage over blacks because whites had a longer history of prosperity so a large percentage of whites tend to get more of their family inheritances. For instance, assets like houses are passed down from parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and they appreciate throughout the year. The blacks on the other hand had generations of discrimination, mass incarceration, and voracious finance. This have prevented the blacks from succeeding and disallowed them from building wealth for themselves and their families. They are treated unfairly when dealing with police officers, in the court system, applying for a house loan of any sort and in workplaces. For example, a white man receives a job offer over a black man with more qualification and educational background....
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...Social Issues Position Paper Racial and Ethnic Inequality Amongst Blacks : A Economic Problem of Society Tameekah Myers SOC 1000-Comtemporary Social Issues Thesis Statement In this essay one will come to a better understanding of racial and ethnic inequality and why it exists. It is evident that Inequality amongst certain races is evident however it also linked to a variety of perspectives that account for the continuation of racial, ethnic discrimination and inequality. Inequality amongst Races and Ethnicity ▪ What is race and ethnicity? ▪ Should race exist ▪ Inequality among races Racism against African Americans ▪ Slavery ▪ Racial Profiling ▪ Stereotypes ▪ Causes and Effects of Racism Social status and race inequality ▪ Social/Racial classification ▪ Education inequality ▪ Labor/income Inequality Laws and Policies ▪ Affirmative action policies ▪ Equal Opportunity Policy ▪ Civil Right Act The social stance of American Minorities Now ▪ African Americans Conclusion In this essay one will come to a better understanding of racial and ethnic inequality and why it exists. It is evident that inequality amongst certain races is evident; however, it also linked to a variety of perspectives that account for the continuation of racial, ethnic discrimination and inequality. The story of race is intricate and may challenge how we think about human differences and race as...
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...for 2011 show that, “More than half (52%) of white male prisoners were age 39 or younger, compared to 63% of black and 68% of Hispanic male prisoners.” There remains disparity when age is factored into the incarceration rates with eleven percent more Blacks and sixteen percent more Hispanics incarcerated than Whites for those 39 and younger. In addition, one must consider that African Americans have higher rates of arrest, conviction, and incarceration when they total a minority number in the population. When evaluating these numbers, one must consider the role that structured inequality plays. “The unfortunate reality we must face is that racism manifests itself not only in individual attitudes and stereotypes, but also in the basic structure of society”, (Alexander, 2010, p. 179). This built in racism and resulting stereotypes and attitudes towards minority groups encourages structured inequality. The...
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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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