Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
The effects of religious stereotypes
Religious influencers in the african american experience
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: The effects of religious stereotypes
What is not mentioned in the vignette is Tonya’s religion. African-Americans tend to be committed to their spirituality and the church serves as an extended family (Stevens & Smith, 2013). Studies have shown that spirituality can counteract the negative effects of cultural stereotypes and trauma as well as provide to favorable mental health outcomes among African American females (Blakey, 2016). Religion can provide the client with the ability to find hope and self-efficacy. Blakey (2016) study concluded that women had found that trauma and substance abuse had routed them away from church and their spirituality, but with sobriety and regaining their relationship with a higher power helped bring the women back to a life they had left behind.
Although in this study the women were deeply traumatized, it is possible that Tonya’s father’s death was equally as life altering as others with different traumas. As a counselor working with Tonya, asking her about her spiritual beliefs could help her in recovery, especially if she attends a twelve-step program. She may not be religious, despite what research has shown, if not, a twelve-step program may not be the right fit for her.
The Power of an Author Authors have the ability justify the worst actions. Authors have a way of romanticizing certain situations in order to convey a specific message. A good author has power to influence the reader into believing whatever it is the author wants. When it comes to the story of Hannah Dustan, authors such as John Greenleaf Whittier have romanticized her captivity story along with the actions she took throughout her journey. Introducing a character that will be seen in the story is one of the most vital parts when creating a piece of literature.
Collin thinks “race, class and gender represent the three system of oppression that most heavily affects African American women”. She also believes there are other groups than Black Women being affected by this oppression.
In literature, a dynamic character changes significantly as a result of events, conflicts, or other forces. In the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, Mary Warren, the young servant of the Proctor’s is a dynamic character. Throughout the play, Mary’s personality takes a turn for the better. At the beginning of the play, Mary is shy, timid girl who hides in the shadows of Abigail Williams and lets people walk all over her. As the play develops, Mary realizes that what Abigail is doing isn’t right and rebels against Abby. Instead of following Abby, she follows in the footsteps of John Proctor to bring justice to the girl’s accusing innocent people of witchcraft.
The Author of this book (On our own terms: race, class, and gender in the lives of African American Women) Leith Mullings seeks to explore the modern and historical lives of African American women on the issues of race, class and gender. Mullings does this in a very analytical way using a collection of essays written and collected over a twenty five year period. The author’s systematic format best explains her point of view. The book explores issues such as family, work and health comparing and contrasting between white and black women as well as between men and women of both races.
Religion is a pervasive theme in most of the literary works of the late Georgia writer Flannery O'Connor. Four of her short stories in particular deal with the relationship between Christianity and society in the Southern Bible Belt: "A Good Man Is Hard to Find," "The River," "Good Country People," and "Revelation." Louis D. Rubin, Jr. believes that the mixture of "the primitive fundamentalism of her region, [and] the Roman Catholicism of her faith . . ." makes her religious fiction both well-refined and entertaining (70-71). O'Connor's stories give a grotesque and often stark vision of the clash between traditional Southern Christian values and the ever-changing social scene of the twentieth century. Three of the main religious ingredients that lend to this effect are the presence of divine meanings, revelations of God, and the struggle between the powers of Satan and God.
To live in a world where there is no such thing as racism or stereotypes is a world that is imaginative. In Chimamanda Adichie’s transcript, “The Danger of a Single Story,” she writes about the ways in which people become single minded about races through the experiences they go through in life, as well as how people are misguided about cultural behaviors in reality versus what they see or hear. Ross Gay, author of the article, “Some Thoughts on Mercy,” focuses on the struggles black men go experience, as well as addresses the stereotypes that occur in this world. Both Adichie and Gay use childhood anecdotes to explain their first encounters with racism, include different perspectives to show the struggles of black people, and make assertions
Anna Julia Cooper’s, Womanhood a Vital Element in the Regeneration and Progress, an excerpt from A Voice from the South, discusses the state of race and gender in America with an emphasis on African American women of the south. She contributes a number of things to the destitute state African American woman became accustom to and believe education and elevation of the black woman would change not only the state of the African American community but the nation as well. Cooper’s analysis is based around three concepts, the merging of the Barbaric with Christianity, the Feudal system, and the regeneration of the black woman.
These are relevant because I wouldn’t counsel a white atheist female the same way I would counsel a black African Methodist Episcopal male. By using the Black Identity Development Model I would say that Biko is in the preencounter stage. Biko’s parents went to a historically black college (HBC) and wanted him to go to one as well. Biko decided not to because he doesn’t want to follow in his parent 's footsteps so he went to a primarily white college. This means that Biko doesn’t want to attend an HBC because he thinks it will make him an angry person. He is unconsciously devaluing African Americans and his culture. Biko may think that he identifies with being African American but by choosing a white school over a black school because he believes that attending a black school will make him an angry aggressive person is discrimination. “Blacks at this stage evidence self-hate, low self-esteem, and poor mental health” (Vandiver, 2001). Biko’s self-esteem is low because he has had females use him and this also caused him to have problems trusting people. Also, his girlfriend goes out and parties and doesn’t answer the phone for him while he is at home worrying and getting angry at her. If he had better social skills then he could go to parties with her or go out with his own
By writing Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery Bell Hooks gave black women a chance to relate to one another on issues that we are often afraid to express. In PSC 318 we often discussed the stigma of being a “strong black woman” and the negative aspects of that stigma. In my eyes thee is nothing negative about being strong and there is surely nothing negative about being a black woman. But, as a black woman we are looked at providers, caregivers, mentors, mother figures, a shoulder to lean on and much more. Bell Hooks touches on the touchy subject in the black community and that is mental health. Often times as black people we worry about physical health and spiritual health, in the black community our answer to everything and anything going wrong in our lives is to pray about it. Yes, God can heal and help us but Bell Hooks tells us in writing Sisters of the Yam: Black Women and Self-Recovery that we need to take care of our mental health as well as pray. Black women rarely go to therapist to talk about their problems because they are so worried about helping everyone else handle their problems.
"African American Communities and Mental Health." Mental Health America. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2014. .
Sernett Milton C. African American religious history: a documentary witness. Duke University Press (1999) p.98
During slavery, African American women were the ones that stayed home all day and cooked and cleaned for their families. These women were always told to just keep quiet and believe in God or their religious belief through everything they were going through. African American women didn’t have a voice in society so they couldn’t express their feelings like others could. This cultural aspect of African American women, just going through life and not being able to express themselves has contributed to many of the ladies suffering from depression. Depression amongst African women is very high because of past cultural experiences. African American women are one of the major groups of people that have sacristy of resources. Many times when African American women go to their doctors the doctors tend to diagnose them incorrectly or some time even give them the wrong treatment (Carrington, C. H. ,2006). African American when were always made to just deal with the problem that they were going through at the time not matter the mood they were in (Carrington, C. H.
Toni Morrison’s novel, Beloved, explores the physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering that was brought on by slavery. Several critical works recognize that Morrison incorporates aspects of traditional African religions and to Christianity to depict the anguish slavery placed not only on her characters, but other enslaved African Americans. This review of literature will explore three different scholarly articles that exemplifies how Morrison successfully uses African religions and Christianity to depict the story of how slavery affected the characters’ lives in the novel, even after their emancipation from slavery.
My initial impressions of Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology by Barbara Smith was just shocked. I was shocked to see how many similarities that I was able to draw between my life and Smith’s. Smith’s family fled Georgia and moved to Cleveland to escape the racial tensions of the south. When I was young (round two years old) my family had moved from Nigeria to America to escape economic struggles and in pursuit of education. Similarly, while Smith and her sister were raised with a southern upbringing and emphasis on home being Georgia, I was raised with a Nigerian upbringing and emphasis on home being Nigeria—a concept that I couldn’t comprehend until my first trip home in 2009-2010. I lived in an poor community in Baltimore, like Smith
As a child I watched television shows, and movies where African American’s played a role. Though, my first encounter with an African American was when I was 14 years of old and visiting my Aunt Eleanor, where she lived in a Dallas/Fort Worth suburb. She took me to the mall which housed an ice-skating rink where the gentleman who cleaned and distributed the shoes at the shoe counter was a Black man. Therefore, I do not have much experience with African American people. However, the media whether it be on the news, movies, or social media depict African Americans in a different perspective from what was mentioned in chapter 13. Furthermore, the perspective from a professional African American woman is obviously a better version from what has