Ethnic Groups and Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Ethnic Groups and Discrimination Essay On May of 1607, the first English colony in the present-day United States was founded at Jamestown, Virginia (A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States of America, 2007). After many years, a Dutch ship arrived at the port of Jamestown and brought about twenty African slaves to the English colonists. Thus, the so-called African slave trade began. The African slaves came from the savannahs of central and southern Africa. The Dutch often called them â€Å"humanlike† monkeys, barbarians, and uncivilized brutes. Thus, the Dutch preferred locking them in the sub cabins of their caravels (A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States of America, 2007). They were irregularly provided with food. Most of the times, they were held in chains (because the Dutch were afraid that they might cause some trouble in the ship). When they were brought to Jamestown, their condition worsened. They were forced to work in flat farmlands at least 15 hours a day. Large plantations of cotton and other agricultural products were assigned to them by the English colonists without pay. Although they were provided with housing, it was in shambles. The houses were designed in the form of â€Å"barnyard† to accommodate as many slaves as possible (a form of segregation). Added to that, this type of housing was a means for the English colonists to â€Å"distinguish† themselves from these â€Å"lofty and barbaric† human beings. The food provided by the English colonists was never adequate to balance the energy the slaves consumed in farm work. Added to that, the children of African slaves were also forced to work in the plantations. Their work varied, from weaving cotton to harvesting agricultural products. The landlords, insensitive to the contributions of these African slaves to their estates, usually utilized the â€Å"whip† against the African slaves as a form of disciplinary measure. Thus, not only the African slaves provided a cheap and efficient source of agricultural and household labor, they were also the source of prejudice, discrimination (described above), racism, and â€Å"embarrassment† to the English colonists. For example, the English colonists did not regard the African slaves as a separate race. The English colonists regarded them as â€Å"subhuman, but a little higher than primates. Even after the Declaration of Independence, the descendants of these slaves were not better of. Usually, the American landlords regarded them as personal properties. They had no civil or political rights. At times, American colonists in the West used them as soldiers (unpaid) in its wars with Indian tribes. Thus, it can be said that the history of African-Americans was a history of discrimination, oppression, and prejudice. They were the target as well as the source of racial cynicism of white Americans, British, and almost all Americans of European descent. The stigma attached to them by these cultural groups remained until (as one may notice) the present time. The labor market in the United States at the close of the 19th century was comprised of poor white farmers and African slaves-descent laborers (using the term Black is a form of discrimination in this case) (Bohmer, 2007). In 1876, an alliance between African slaves-descent laborers and poor whites was defeated by Southern landlords. The alliance was formed out of the perceived oppression of their class by the ruling Southern landlords. For example, their pay was inadequate to support their families. Nonetheless, their working conditions under these Southern planters were really â€Å"bad† in terms of long-working hours and high rents. Their defeat was magnified y the 1896 Supreme Court ruling that segregation was constitutional. Although their labor produced much of the wealth of the Southern planters, they were never given safety nets (such as social security) in the procurement of their labor in the market. In contradiction to the conception that African-Americans are never interested in environmental issues, here are some African-Americans who contributed much in protecting the environment. George Washington Carver can be regarded as one of America’s finest agricultural researchers. He was able to develop throughout his lifetime over 325 new products from peanuts and over 100 products from sweet potatoes. He often told his students that nature was his best teacher (A Selection of African-American Environmental Heroes, 2007). Vernon Jones is another African-American who led the struggle to preserve government-owned lands in a county in Georgia. In March 2000, he was able to pass a 125 million dollars bond referendum to acquire public lands for the construction of parks (A Selection of African-American Environmental Heroes, 2007). This is an indication that even if African-Americans are still discriminated, they would never be indifferent to issues that can affect the lives of people outside his ethnic group. Affirmative action can be defined as a set of state policies and objectives created to help eliminate past and present discrimination based on race, color, ethnicity, religion, and sex. The United States government under the terms of different presidents implemented a series of affirmative actions in order to eliminate forms of discrimination in the United States. For example, President Truman issued an order to the Bureau of Employment Security to implement nondiscriminatory labor policies (Sykes, 1995). Today, the Equal Employment Opportunities Act was passed to put an end to â€Å"discrimination† in the workplace, by giving minority groups opportunities to assert their employment status (Sykes, 1995). These series of affirmative action was the result of struggle of minority groups, especially African-Americans, to assert their rights as citizens of the United States. In the present, however, discrimination in the workplace against minority groups (e. . African-Americans) is never totally eradicated. Redlining, or more particularly service redlining, is the custom of refusing to provide goods and services to people of low-income and minority groups (Fuller, 1998). In the United States, African Americans, Latinos, and other minority groups are experiencing this form of segregation. Some â€Å"white† establishments typically create â€Å"excuses† for the purpose of not allowing minority groups (especially African-Americans) to procure goods and services. This was the most controversial issue in the 1950’s. There were different types of services: one for whites, and one for African-Americans. Although this system was abolished, many â€Å"white† retail stores in the United States still find â€Å"excuses† of not providing goods and services for minority groups. African-Americans today face what sociologists call double jeopardy. Because African-Americans are discriminated, they have difficulty of finding good jobs. It is estimated that a majority of African-Americans in the United States today are in the poverty threshold. They comprised also the majority in service sectors jobs. Their poverty reinforces their minority status. Thus, the so-called â€Å"ladder of discrimination† as what sociologists call is also reinforced. African-Americans have the difficulty of upgrading their status by economic means. Thus, white Americans always associate African-Americans with poverty. The institutionalization of discrimination was the most noted issue in African-American history. Before the handing down of the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (which abolished segregation in public schools) in May 1954, all public schools in the United States were segregated. African-Americans were provided separate public schools, usually close to their communities. Added to that, the formulation of educational curriculum of some states was also segregated. This was in line with the â€Å"early† belief of white Americans that higher forms of education were only a matter for white Americans. Segregation could also be noted in the construction of residential areas. Reverse discrimination can be defined as the negative effect of an affirmative action to some members of the dominant ethnic group which is seen as tantamount to another form of discrimination (Pincus, 2002:1). Often some white Americans complained that they were rejected in some jobs because of preferential treatment for African-Americans. They call it â€Å"reverse discrimination. † This is though not really a form of discrimination since it does not â€Å"question† the nature of the ethnic group to which one belongs. In the case of African-Americans, the opening of new opportunities is a means to upgrade their economic status. It cannot be a form of discrimination. Glass ceiling can be defined as the barriers or blocks that confront minority groups in reaching the upper ladder of corporate America (The Glass Ceiling for African, Hispanic (Latino), and Asian Americans, 2004). African-Americans today have little difficulty of reaching the upper ladder of society (noted personalities like Oprah, Morgan Freeman, and Janet Jackson serve our examples) although not as easy as that of white Americans. Personally, I identify myself to the cultural group I belong, although I recognize the commonalities between African-American and white cultures (especially those which relate to equality and freedom of the individual).

Nutrition - Teaching our Children to Eat Well Essay -- Health Nutritio

Nutrition - Teaching our Children to Eat Well When I look back at my experience through elementary and secondary school, and think about school lunch my memories are not cherished. The gray messy masses that smell and jiggle in a nebulous blob while the lunch lady deposits it onto my tray. No, those were not fond memories at all. I do remember having to look at the month ahead with my mother, because she wanted me to eat at least eat one school prepared meal a week. These were tough decisions for an elementary student, with picky taste in food. I remember most of the students in my class eating the chocolate cake or the cookies as the main course of their meal. Now that I look back on this, I realize how foolish it was that teachers did not pay better attention to our diets. American's "sweet tooth is tied to sour health" according to Jane Brody of The New York Times. We are "squeezing out nutritious foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products that can help to prevent disease." A nutritionally complete diet should involve no more than ten percent of its calories from added sugar; "American children now consume nearly twice that amount. The average teenager derives 19 percent of calories from added sugar, with the average boy consuming 34 teaspoons and the average girl consuming 24 teaspoons of added sugar daily, according to Federal surveys. Younger children, too, have diets far sweeter than desirable: 6- to 11-year-olds get 18 percent of their calories from added sugars" (Brody, 7). Yikes, these numbers do not look good when trying to promote nutrition, but how does one teach children to eat things like vegetables? Some children do not like to eat the vegetables that are given to them because they are not quite sure what is in the mushroom surprise. A lot of children just do not like school lunches, while others really enjoy them. Some may think that they are fattening, rubber in them, too greasy and unhealthy. While others find them more convenient, taking some chaos out of their morning routine, since they do not need to pack a lunch, or worry about what to eat. Nancy Polk, for the New York Times, wrote why in the past 5 years, the regulations for the School Meals Initiative for Healthy Children needed to be put in effect. This drastically changed the way we feed American youth. They specifically looked at makin... ...bits for life. Life-long learning and health have been proven to go hand in hand, teaching our children to eat well is just as important as teaching them to read. This might be the key to unlocking a whole new power. A power for learning. A power that will someday set the standard for the world in which we live. Bibliography: Brody, Jane. "Increasingly, America's Sweet Tooth Is Tied to Sour Health." New York Times. New York. September 21, 1999. Friedman, BJ. "Nutrient Intake of Children Eating School Breakfast." American Dietetic Association. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Chicago. February 1999. Gottlieb, Robert. "The State: In Reforming Schools, Don't Forget Students' Stomachs." The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles. California. December 27, 1998. "Guidelines for School Health Programs to Promote Lifelong Healthy Eating." Journal of School Health. Washington D.C. January 1997, Vol. 67, No. 1. "Healthy School Meals†¦Healthy Kids! A Leadership Guide for School Decision-Makers." Food and Consumer Service (USDA). Washington D.C. 1997. Polk, Nancy. "Better School Lunches, Fitter Children." New York Times. New York. February 21, 1999.

Crucial Scene in Macbeth: The Dagger Soliloquy Essay

So far, the play has hurdled through seven scenes of mounting tension and now  tithers on the threshold of regicide. At this point, Shakespeare freezes the action. In the tension of silence, both character and play develop on new levels. For Macbeth, this soliloquy, in A.C. Bradley’s words: â€Å"is where the powerful workings of his imagination rises to a new level of visible intensity as his conscience manifests itself as an air-drawn dagger.† This is the first glimpse of a vigorous imagination from which stems the guilt-inspired hallucinations that will torment him. Bradley concludes that â€Å"his imagination is a substitute for conscience†, but this isn’t all. This soliloquy expresses macbeth’s most profound fears and hopes, and the dagger symbolises the fulfilment of his black desires. It conveys his internal struggle to divest himself of fear and scruples to become wholly committed to murder. His attempt to grab the dagger indicates his desperation to accomplish the deed before any regrets. Yet the past tense in â€Å"the way I was going† suggests that realisation of his desires has blunted blind courage. Macbeth’s difficulty in overcoming his conscience demonstrates that murder goes against his person, and he has to fight his own nature to carry it out. This soliloquy halts the action for us to absorb this crucial element in his characterisation. His struggle also alerts us to his suffering and heroism. The â€Å"heat-oppressed brain† and his confusion as his eyes and touch contradict each other emphasises his tortured, conflicting mind. Macbeth seeks the reassurance of reality, drawing his own dagger in fear and frustration of confusion. He ultimately rejects the illusion, attributing it to the ‘bloody business’. S.T. Coleridge suggests that macbeth â€Å"mistranslates the recoiling of conscience into selfish reasonings due to his cowardice.† From then on, there’s a grim acceptance of the deed and Macbeth bids the earth to â€Å"hear not his steps†. According to Samuel Johnson, â€Å"that Macbeth wishes to escape the eye of providence is the utmost  extravagance of determined wickedness†, yet Bradley interprets Macbeth’s aligning himself with evil as â€Å"frightfully courageous†. From such varied analysis emerge a humanly complex man driven by his internal turmoil to the point where survival requires that courage straddle fear. On the play’s level, this scene guarantees Duncan’s death. The dagger is a symbol of Macbeth’s resolution, turning its handle toward his hand, spurring him to ‘clutch’ it. The personification of ‘withered Murder† gives the deed a concrete tangibility. And Macbeth’s final words â€Å"whiles I threat, he lives† show his cold determination. In confirming Ducan’s death, it marks a turning point in the play, as Macbeth fulfils the witches’ prophecy. Another turning point is in Macbeth. He lets the dagger marshal him toward the deed, pursuing the illusory rewards offered by evil. In David Elloway’s words: â€Å"He’s entered a world of deceptive dreams and moves through it with the mindlessness of a sleepwalker.† Macbeth expresses his fear of the ‘sure and firm-set earth’, which is a symbol of reality. This shows his tendency to take meaning at face-value, justifying his blind confidence in the witches later. The soliloquy’s dark imagery enforces the magnitude of Macbeth’s crime, and foreshadows its consequences. Blood appears both on the blade and handle of the dagger, insinuating that he cannot emerge cleanly from the deed. Associates of night and evil are evoked to set the scene for murder. The apparent death of nature during night connotes the unnaturalness of the deed. Coleridge believes that â€Å"the dimensions of murder are expressed in the portrayal of its movement.† Murder moves in three ways: stealthily, as that of a trained assassin. Then, with Tarquin’s ravish, equating it with rape. And, like that of a ghost’s, a mindless wraith â€Å"alarumed† to fulfil his sole purpose. By portraying the diverse facets of murder, Shakespeare demonstrates its profound unnaturalness, and the magnitude of its consequences. Also, this crucial scene reinforces the themes and motifs of the play, extending upon their importance. Primarily, it illuminates the conflict between appearance and reality. Despite the apparent solidity of the dagger, Macbeth cannot grasp it. This dramatises the deceptive nature of appearance. The latent meanings of many lines epitomise the idea that the full truth is hidden by face value. The phrase: â€Å"dagger of the mind† doesn’t merely mean an imaginary weapon, but also the bane of the mind – a rancour in his peace. Only both meanings together can convey Macbeth’s turmoil and the depth of his thoughts. The image of blood in ‘gouts’, the darkness of night, and the non-restriction of action to merely human agencies are potent elements of this soliloquy. These are what create the ominous ambience of the play. According to Bradley, â€Å"macbeth gives the impression of a black night broken by flashes of light and colour.† Here, the glimmering dagger and the potent colour of blood create this effect. Such vivid and violent imagery are what characterises Macbeth. Shakespeare’s pre-eminence as a dramatist is due to his capacity to create vivid images that embody powerful human emotions. This soliloquy brims with such imagery and symbolism, and is imperative in promoting Macbeth, the simplest of Shakespearean tragedies, to be the most broad and massive in effect.

The School Of Prison Pipeline Essay - 2154 Words

The school-to-prison pipeline in the United States is a figure of speech used to describe the increasing patterns of interaction students have with the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems as a consequence of procedures used by many school systems. A specific procedure would be the zero tolerance policies and the use of officers in schools. Currently in today’s American schools many children of color are being unfairly judged and treated by the public school systems zero tolerance policies. Zero tolerance policies have been implemented in schools in the last 20 years that include inserting school resource officers in schools and cracking down on all behavior that any authority figure may deem as a form of bad behavior. The policy is based upon deterring future misbehavior and is central to the philosophy of zero tolerance, and the effect of any punishment on future behavior is what defines effective punishment (Skinner, 1953). Zero tolerance policies causes the sch ool environment to feel more like a prison and ultimately leads to black and Latinos being judged and guided to the prison system. A zero-tolerance policy orders predetermined penalties or punishments for specific wrongdoings. As a black kid that graduated high school only a couple years back I have seen the effects the zero tolerance policy has had on me and the peers around me at school. In my experience of the Georgia school systems zero tolerance policies punishes the black students in schoolsShow MoreRelatedThe School For Prison Pipeline1834 Words   |  8 Pageskeeps being repeated. That cycle is known as the school-to-prison pipeline where students are punished based off the policies that have been made by the school districts and court of law. Consequently, minorities have been disproportionately punished by schools and the justice system. You may be aware that the funding towards the school district is underfunded which leads to less resources and policies that enforce inequality of race throughout the school system. For example, 30 teachers had to be laidRead MoreThe School to Prison Pipeline2688 Words   |  11 PagesThe School to Prison Pipeline: The Criminalization of American Students The School to Prison Pipeline: The Criminalization of American Students Kimberly N. Wright Western Governors University Introduction Your permanent record! The thing that was held over most of our heads when we were in school. Your teacher or maybe your parents threatened that your bad behavior was going to end up on your â€Å"permanent record† and ruin your life. We shrugged them off, thoughtRead MoreThe School Of Prison Pipeline Essay1441 Words   |  6 Pagespublic schools around the country is the school to prison pipeline epidemic. The school to prison pipeline is a term used to describe how students are being pushed out of public school and into the criminal justice system. This epidemic is a result of the education system’s zero tolerance policy that enforces harsh punishments for misbehaving students. Although its goal was to eliminate misbehavior, studies have shown that the increased disciplinary actions have resulted in a modified school environmentRead MoreThe School For Prison Pipeline978 Words   |  4 Pageswhat has become a pressing question, is what is to become of the future if our youth are behind bars instead of in schools? Youth today are being pushed into the criminal justice system at an alarming rate. This issue is known as the school to prison pipeline ─ the rapid rate at which children are pushed out of schools and into the criminal justice system. The school to prison pipeline is a term that came into use by activists in the late 1970’s and has gained recognition throughout the years as theRead MoreSchool to Prison Pipeline1948 Words   |  8 Pagesï » ¿ Topic: School-to-Prison Pipeline Research Paper What is meant by the school-to-prison pipeline? What are ways to address this problem? The school-to-prison pipeline is a devastating part of reality for all too many students. The pipeline in definition is simply a term representing the tendency for certain students to easily end up in prison during or shortly after schooling. To decrease this tendency, it is important that teachers are aware of the issue andRead MoreSchool to Prison Pipeline2888 Words   |  12 PagesSchool-to-Prison Pipeline: Does the Current Educational System Demonize or Criminalize Our Youth? In today’s society our children go down one of two paths: become successful or become criminals. The question then must be asked: have we allowed our children to be tracked down such opposite paths by using discipline as an excuse? There may well be an argument that ultimately the school and prison system have nothing to do with one another; however, I believe they have become one in the sameRead MoreAlternatives For School And Prison Pipeline962 Words   |  4 PagesAlternatives to School-to-Prison Pipeline Changes to Viewing the System This problem in Americas school system does not have to continue this way. There are changes that can be made and policies that need to be changed in order to provide the proper access to education for all students. The Association of Mexican America Educators presents research done with educators of low-income Latino students and what they believe needs to be changed to provide well for students. The article shares four mainRead MoreBreaking The School Of Prison Pipeline859 Words   |  4 PagesBreaking the School-to-Prison Pipeline How would you feel if the outcome of your interaction with authority depended on whether you were black, Latino, or white? Unfortunately, police brutality is the sad reality that many black and Latino boys experience in their childhood. The disadvantages of their upbringing results to the reinforcement of societal restrictions on their success. On a positive note, education becomes salvation to marginalized group because it provides them means to escape theRead MoreThe Juvenile Justice School To Prison Pipeline634 Words   |  3 Pagesrelationship between educational institutions and the juvenile justice system which was once created to protect children, has displayed an ultimatum for minors through â€Å"zero tolerance† policies which results in sending individuals through the school to prison to pipeline. Studies have shown that these zero tolerance policies are not beneficial to students or the educational environment that should be guaranteed to children. Opponents argue that the policies promote safety, but through this research it canRead MoreLiterature Review Of School To Prison Pipeline970 Words   |  4 Pagessimilar to my question, â€Å"How is School to Prison Pipeline affecting juveniles around the United States?†. In 2014, Fader wrote an article called A Promising Approach to Narrowing the School-to-Prison Pipeline: The WISE Arrest Diversion Program. In the article, it mentions how the school to prison pipeline came about and how hard it is for a student who enters the school to prison pipeline to get out of it, there’s a stigma to the kids once they have entered the pipeline. By having an afterschool program