Throughout America’s history, there have always been issues between the white race and other races, mainly the black race. These problems in history have always and may always be questionable on whether they are right or wrong. Up until this very day, everyone seems to have their own opinion to this question; should the white race reign over America, the minorities, or should we all just live together in harmony. The truth of the matter is that not only does this affect social relationships, but also political affairs which affects where we stand now in this “United Nation”. Political campaigns get altered and misrepresented, because of this battle between races. The video that my friends and I chose to watch is titled “American History X”, which is based on the clash between the whites and blacks. Being only under ten years old, the video is a perfect example of how people, even after the Civil Rights Acts and the freeing of slaves, still think today. The video demonstrates how skinheads go up against the minorities attempting to spread the word of “white power” through riots and other violent acts. Although it may seem like this video has nothing to do with politics, it in fact ties in perfectly with it. It provides a brief explanation as in why we’ve never had a black president, and why there’s so much criticism dealing with the presidential candidate Barak Obama.
Looking left to right, I see discrimination amongst us everywhere. Schools, shopping malls, and even at our jobs; it is truly unavoidable. Everyone has their own beliefs in which they are entitled to, but some people take it beyond the comfort zone. In American History X, I saw discrimination to its full potential with the brutal murder of three young black men by ...
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...nd different beliefs greatly influence who we choose to stand with and who we would like to vote for. It is all a race for superiority just like the D.O.C. and the Crypts, with opinions changing from time to time. Even though there will always be a constant struggle between whites, black, Hispanics, etc, we cannot simply dislike a person and judge them by their skin color, or race. As in the movie, in politics we should all listen to what each candidate has to offer and not rule them out. It’s just like the saying that I’m sure we’ve all heard at some point in our lives “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. My friends and I completely agree with that saying and everything else in this paper. The movie was indeed graphic, but not meaningless. We recommend this movie to anyone who pursues an explanation as to why some people act the way they do and how they can be changed.
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
Gone are the days of legalized slavery, of Nazi Germany, of women being incapable of having a notable opinion. No longer is there a system of racial segregation adopted by an entire country, complete white supremacy or lynchings performed by the Ku Klux Klan. Yet, although we are no longer exposed to such past experiences and despite us living in a world where diversity is embraced more than ever, the existence of prejudice remains. Today we have universally come to accept multiculturalism, varied ethnic backgrounds and those populations who historically were forever stigmatized. But in spite of these developments prejudice has manifested itself in other, more subtle ways and no matter how modernized society become such unfavourable attitudes
Racial discrimination is a pertinent issue in the United States. Although race relations may seem to have improved over the decades in actuality, it has evolved into a subtler form and now lurks in institutions. Sixty years ago racial discrimination was more overt, but now it has adapted to be more covert. Some argue that these events are isolated and that racism is a thing of the past (Mullainathan). Racial discrimination is negatively affecting the United States by creating a permanent underclass of citizens through institutional racism in business and politics, and creating a cancerous society by rewriting the racist history of America. Funding research into racial discrimination will help society clearly see the negative effects that racism
Since the beginning of colonization, America has been controlled by religiously and ethically diverse whites. The most profound cases of racism in the “United” States of America have been felt by Native Americans, Asians, African Americans, Mexican Americans, and Muslims. Major racially structured institutions include; slavery, settlement, Indian reservations, segregation, residential schools, and internment camps (Racism in the U.S., 1). Racism has been felt and seen by many in housing, the educational system, places of employment, and the government. Discrimination was largely criminalized in the mid 20th century, and at the same time became socially unacceptable and morally repugnant (Racism in the U.S., 1). Although racism was
In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level.
In the United States, racial discrimination has a lengthy history, dating back to the biblical period. Racial discrimination is a term used to characterize disruptive or discriminatory behaviors afflicted on a person because of his or her ethnic background. In other words, every t...
It is hard to believe that after electing a minority president, the United States of America can still be seen as a vastly discriminatory society. A question was posed recently after a viewing of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream…” speech of whether his dream has become a reality. After consideration, a majority of the viewers said no. Although many steps have been taken to improve racial equality in America, there is still no way to legislate tolerance. Dr. King’s message of equality for all has been lost in a black and white struggle over the taken meaning of his context. Until our society can allow all people to live in peace we will never truly achieve King’s dream. Case in point, referring to President Obama as our "our First Black President" should not be considered a statement of pride over how far we have come. Placing this racial qualifier, even in a positive light, only serves to point out his minority status, not the fact that he is the President of the United States. According to Dr. King's dream, a man or woman, black or white, would be viewed as President without qualifying their differences from mainstream America.
Discrimination has always been there between blacks and whites. Since the 1800s where racial issues and differences started flourishing till today, we can still find people of different colors treated unequally. “[R]acial differences are more in the mind than in the genes. Thus we conclude superiority and inferiority associated with racial differences are often socially constructed to satisfy the socio-political agenda of the dominant group”(Heewon Chang,Timothy Dodd;2001;1).
The statistics of today show its still racism in the United States with hate crimes of 47 percent including police brutality, salary wage between men and women, mass incarceration with young men in prison who in this economy have little advantages if they have a family to support can’t. Justice has not been served for individuals who experience racism encounters either with the police or being murder for the color of your skin. Racial Discrimination applies to specific economic and social opportunities that influence others to think or behave negatively.
... supremacist gang, to rioting in an Asian owned grocery store, to finally brutally murdering someone. We observe as family ties become increasingly strained in every way, the viewer can easily conclude that Derek’s racism as well as his eventual influence on his younger brother ultimately contributed to their own downfall. As controversial as this movie maybe for the offensive language and brutal violence, it is a movie that deserves to be seen, and even discussed. It really provides insight into some factors within society that cannot be contained by the law or even deterred by even the harshest punishments. Even though American society is becoming more modernized as time goes by in terms of tolerance, racism will unfortunately always be prevalent in society and inevitably it will also lead some individuals to violently express their distorted mentalities.
In conclusion, after view this film, it is clear that one can see how black youth are being viewed as killers and savages. This is not true. There have been many admirable scholars and scientists who come from the African American culture. This movie, though it depicts what goes on in South America, takes the violence committed by black youth too far. One cannot view a film and take it that this is what a race is like. The filmmakers depicted black youth in a harsher light.
This movie does provoke a dialogue on race that, according to author and journalist Jeff Chang, "has been anathema to Hollywood after 9/11." During the first viewing of
American History X (1998) illustrates how segregation is aggravated by missing father figures as well as the herd mentality of the characters in the film. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of the herd mentality states that people need a concept or a worldview to adopt in order to give meaning to their lives. This herding of people who choose to adopt this certain ideal or ideals in effect causes the stifling of individual thoughts or creativity because everyone chooses to think a certain way (Floyd). This mindset that people are attracted to is not always chosen or forced but is rather seen as an obligation because of loyalties certain people have to others.
“We fight each other for territory; we kill each other over race, pride, and respect. We fight for what is ours. They think they’re winning by jumping me now, but soon they’re all going down, war has been declared.” Abuse, Pain, Violence, Racism and Hate fill the streets of Long Beach, California. Asians, Blacks, Whites and Hispanics filled Wilson High School; these students from different ethnic backgrounds faced gang problems from day to night. This movie contains five messages: people shouldn’t be judgmental because being open-minded allows people to know others, having compassion for a person can help people change their views in life, being a racist can only create hate, having the power of the human will/goodness to benefit humanity will cause a person to succeed at any cost and becoming educated helps bring out the intelligence of people.
Discrimination is not just a growing problem in the United States rather it is a global problem. However, throughout the years, there have been many laws that have been passed to give everyone their “separate but equal” rights—originally granted by the constitution of the United States. Examples of this include the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (to list a few). Brown v. Board of Education was a landmark case that ended legal segregation in school systems. The success of this case was due largely in part to the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This ruling not only paved the way for the integration of different race but also a victory for the Civil Rights Movement. On the other hand, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a key piece of the civil rights legislation in the sense that it, “established the legal standard barring employers from excluding anyone from employment on the basis of race or ethnicity” (Sweet and Meiksins 184). Another example would be affirmative action. Affirmative action is a policy favoring those who have suffered from discrimination. One noticeable group is the minorities of the United States consisting of Asians, African Americans, Hispanic or Latino, and much more. Even though affirmative action allows