One of the most important and major characteristics about a big city is its population. Its population creates an environment that affects the city either to attract more people or to keep people away. For example, if a city has a reputation of not being safe, then people would not want to live there. However, if it has a reputation of having a friendly environment, then people would like to visit or even move there. As a result, the city would have to increase in size to fit all of its population. Cities with a friendly environment, like Philadelphia, increases in population, therefore they have to create recreational places. Recreational places are areas where people are able to participate in activities for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure …show more content…
and are considered fun. Places like this include parks, museums, public sports centers, basically places where the general public can gather together and enjoy themselves. People start to interact more in these recreational places until it becomes a cosmopolitan canopy.
A cosmopolitan canopy is not brand new, one can go back to Roman times and notice that there is a lot of diversity in piazzas in Rome and people were from everywhere (CalvinCollege). The cosmopolitan canopy is a term created by the author Elijah Anderson in his book The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life. As Anderson explains, “cosmopolitan canopies are public spaces...generally involves people from close proximity, people from various cultures or ethnicities. All kinds of people…get along together” (CalvinCollege). An example of a recreational place in Philadelphia that has become a cosmopolitan canopy is Rittenhouse Square. People are always present in this park and interacting with each other, which has led to the formation of friendships and people to socialize with. Even though the environment of the park is friendly, there are times when homeless people are not welcome at all. This is due to the fact that Rittenhouse Square is in an upper-middle class area. In Anderson’s book, he created this idea of how a recreational place can transform into a cosmopolitan canopy. I observed the area of Rittenhouse Square to test his observations, experience what is like in a cosmopolitan canopy, and how recreational places can convert to a
cosmopolitan canopy. Rittenhouse Square is one of the five original parks by William Penn, located in Center City, surrounded by luxury apartments, stores, and restaurants (Welcome to Rittenhouse Square). The park is located between Walnut Street and Locust Street and it covers the entire block. There is a lot of space for people to work out, families to play with their kids, and groups of friends to sit on the grass to hang out. When walking around this park, you can find groups of people sitting on the grass, while others are walking or working out. People who are sitting on the grass are families spending time together, friends hanging out, or couples going on a date. Some others are seated on some benches located around the park, looking around, and taking in the view. The rest of the people present are either running in the park, working out, or walking around and trying to find something else to do around the area. There are also little kids with their parents trying to make them play with them. Walking around the park, you are able to see many young adults walking into the restaurants that surround the park, all dressed up in their business clothes, while at the same time you can witness a homeless person asking for food or money. Finally, yet importantly, people visiting Philadelphia gathers together in this park, as a result people from all around the world can be found in Rittenhouse Square. In different words, in this park there are people of different race, gender, and social class, just like Anderson stated, “Street life in and around Rittenhouse Square includes the occasional homeless person…. Immigrants are also in evidence” (Anderson 21). When walking around the park you can hear people speaking in different languages, such as Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese, and more, meaning they were born outside the United States. Therefore, their culture is completely different compared to the culture of those who were born in the United States. The amount of people speaking in a different language is incredibly high and makes Rittenhouse Square unique. When I was doing my observations, I saw a group of friends that were speaking in Spanish and a couple that was speaking in Chinese. I also saw African-Americans and White people. Ethnicity and race are important in society because is what makes a cosmopolitan canopy and creates diversity in the area. Having people from different countries, means that there are plenty of distinct races in an area, increases the culture of the place, and makes it more interesting for people to get to know others. If someone is from a different country, people would be more interested in getting to know that person because of the differences that they are going to find between cultures. People are going to start asking questions because they are curious about the other person and want to learn new stuff. As consequence, they meet more people and all because of cultural differences. When there is diversity, people start to know other people and the social part of this park takes place. Rittenhouse Square is a good place to get to know other people and when diversity is high in this area, the more likely it is for people so socialize. Just like Anderson explained when defining canopy, “In these areas people display a degree of cosmopolitanism, by which I mean acceptance of the space as belonging to all kinds of people” (Anderson 3). Once people start to socialize with people that have a different culture or ethnicity, it means they are accepting them for who they are. Due to this, diversity in Rittenhouse Square makes this park a cosmopolitan canopy because other people accept the fact that there are different kinds of people around them and start to socialize more with them. In a few words, as diversity increases, socialization increases. In addition to diversity that is related to Anderson’s definition of canopy, something else that makes Rittenhouse Square a cosmopolitan canopy is social class. Even though the majority of people that fill up this park are part of the upper-middle class, there are homeless people walking around the area. While I was doing my observations, I saw a homeless man walking in front a restaurant that looked expensive. The homeless man sat down outside the door of the restaurant and waited for people to walk by to ask for money, he made a huge contrast in the environment. This is because people walking around this area and in front of the homeless man, were in their business clothes. Some of these young adults were on their phone talking to someone else, while others were just trying to get to their destination. Some people gave money to the old homeless man, meaning they were accepting a poor man in that area where most people are part of the upper-middle class, and were not afraid of him at all. This is exactly what a cosmopolitan canopy looks like by Anderson’s definition. Even though the old man looked like he did not fit in the environment, people, including police, left him alone and did not say anything to him. People respected that he was there too, and no one said anything about the fact that he was a homeless man in an upper-middle class area. Even though I did not witness any problems between the homeless man and people around him, it does not mean and this issue is not present in this park. In fact, when Anderson was making his observations in Philadelphia to write his book, he was a witness of discrimination towards people that do not belong to this area. Anderson explains: I have seen black vendors spread out their wares of incense, bootleg music and videos, ties and carves, as well as African beads, statuettes, and other ornament items in this area only to find policeman come along and tell them they most leave (Anderson 6). There are times when Rittenhouse Square can make a difference by accepting everyone who walk in that park no matter their social class or race, but it also has its flaws. This park is a public space and it does not belong to just one kind of people but to everyone instead. The stores, restaurants, and apartments that surround Rittenhouse Square, attract people from all ages; teenagers, young adults, and elder people. Since Rittenhouse Square has so many places around and in it that are usually crowded, this makes people feel safe and comfortable. If someone feels safe in a specific public space, then that person will continue to go to the same place repeatedly. Hence, more people would feel safer by having more people in the same place, at the same time. In fact, Rittenhouse Square successfully provides this feeling of comfort and safety to everyone in this area. In addition to Rittenhouse Square’s feeling of comfort, its surroundings are what makes this park a cosmopolitan canopy. Anderson explained, “Cosmopolitan canopy…represents not only the great racial, ethnic, and class diversity of the city… but also the goodwill that is expressed and experienced by most who enter these premises” (Anderson 10-11). If a public space is not comfortable enough for people to spend time there or everyone there is just disrespectful and are unfriendly, then this specific place cannot be a cosmopolitan canopy. A place with negative vibes, such as danger, unfriendly environment, or discrimination towards certain group of people, does not make people feel comfortable or welcome at all. This is why it is very important to have a friendly and peaceful environment in order for people to be present at certain area. Rittenhouse Square is a place that helps everyone to relax and to spend time with his or her loved ones. Under these circumstances, the environment is friendly and everyone in the place is happy. I concluded this when I did my observations and saw the different kind of people in this place and how they seemed to not mind that different kind of people were at the same place. In conclusion, Rittenhouse Square is a cosmopolitan canopy because there is diversity in race, gender, age, and social class. It is also a place where people can go and spend time with their loved ones, feel comfortable, and get to know other people. In order for a recreational place to become a cosmopolitan canopy, then it has to meet all of the characteristics mentioned. If a recreational place does not fit the description, then people would not go to this specific place. This is because most people would just not feel comfortable in that kind of area. Elijah Anderson does a great job in explaining and demonstrating what a cosmopolitan canopy is and looks like. In Rittenhouse Square, people like to hang out with friends and family, spend their free time just observing their surroundings, or working out. Even though I did not experience any kind of issues while I was doing my observations, we cannot ignore the fact that the issue of excluding people just because of their social class is not present. In order to fix this issue, people need to respect and understand that Rittenhouse Square is a public space and it does not belong just to certain people. Regardless of this flaw, Rittenhouse Square fits perfectly in the various definitions of a cosmopolitan canopy.
Elijah Anderson wrote an interesting book, The Cosmopolitan Canopy: Race and Civility in Everyday Life, which describes social settings and people interactions in different parts of Philadelphia’s neighborhoods. This book was published on March 28, 2011 by W. W. Norton & Company. Anderson has observed these places in Philadelphia for over thirty years. He uses the observations he made and the stories that people shared with him during his endeavor to answer the following questions: “How do ordinary people in this diverse city interact across and along racial lines? When and how do racial identities figure out into these encounters? When and how do city dwellers set aside their own and other’s particular racial and ethnic identities to communicate
A Critical Analysis of Racism in Canadian Law and the “Unmapping” of the White Settler Society in “When Place Becomes Race” by Sherene H. Razack
The games also impacted the downtown area of the city as much renewal took place in order for Atlanta to put its best face forward. A more attractive inner city area was the result. Improvements were made to public transportation, retail amenities and public areas such as parks and walkways.
Race, gender, and socioeconomic status are enduring social characteristics that influence life outcomes and children and adolescents cannot control (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010). With the unequal distribution of society’s resources based on race and gender and the negative view of African American males, African American males’ ability to access and complete college is hampered. Although athletics is often viewed as a way to improve one’s life chances, African-American male athletes perform worse academically than any of their peers (Murphy, Gaughan, Hume, & Moore, 2010), which threatens their college completion goals.
Muhammad Ali, a famous boxer, once said, “Hating People because of their color is wrong. And it doesn’t matter which color does the hating. I’s just plain wrong” (Goodreads, 2015). For many centuries, ethnic conflict between the humans have existed immortally due the never changing differences of culture and values, spinning the cycle of war. Fortunately, some have ended however some still remain immortal in the eyes of those who have experience struggle to this date. The lack of awareness of problems in a cultural crisis concerning those who fall victim to a system and society that discriminates and alienates. With assistance of Critical Race Theory, this essay will examine how the role of race with has affected has caused consequences within the lives of marginalized groups within society through the lives and their relationship with those in their communities.
Race: The Power of an Illusion was an interesting 3 part film. After watching this, it made me questioned if race was really an illusion or not. It is absolutely taboo to think that the one thing that separates people the most may be a myth in itself. “We can 't find any genetic markers that are in everybody of a particular race and in nobody of some other race. We can 't find any genetic markers that define race.” (Adelman and Herbes Sommers 2003). Racism is something created in the U.S made to create supremacy for the creator. Racism is not just the way someone thinks, it is something that has is manifested in our society to separate us and can be traced to our everyday activities.
Social Construction Race Race has been one of the most outstanding events in the United States all the way from the 1500s up until now. The concept of race has been socially constructed in a way that is broad and difficult to understand. Social construction can be defined as the set of rules determined by society’s urges and trends. The rules created by society play a huge role in racialization, as the U.S. creates laws to separate the English or whites from the nonwhites. Europeans, Indigenous People, and Africans were all racialized and victimized for various reasons.
A very vexing topic of discussion indeed when it comes to the census and its racial undertones.
“Everyday Use” is a story based in the era of racial separation between communities of diverse ethnicity. “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker merely scratches the surface of racial heritage and the elimination of previous ways of living. This discontinuation of poverty driven physical labor shines through Dee as she grows to know more of her heritage throughout her years in school. An example of this is when Dee changes her name; this is an indication of Dee/Wangero wanting to change her lifestyle after the harsh truth she is hit with while going to school. Dee learns about the struggles of African Americans during this time, which changes her view on the unforgiving reality of her family’s lifestyle. In “Everyday Use”, the author opens the mind
This can be extrapolated to a community service as a recreational activity, where people have to interact and that way the life of a city becomes more outgoing. A dog park can be a good experience for dogs because they can feel the relaxing place where they do not have to use a leash, so they are free to move wherever they feel like inside the park. This situation can be helpful to the people, since they are free of worries of their dogs because a big, closed pet-friendly place would give them the confidence that there are no hazards, like vehicles, or any damage to the dog. Also, a dog park in the city would help to create friendship and an identity of community since dog owners do not have to go to other cities to enjoy these kind of parks. Instead, they can be part of an identity and recognize themselves in their own city.
Many people believe that racism is no longer present; however, racism is subtly interconnected with many aspects of ever person’s life, including school, upper mobility, access to services and their race many times determine the proper care given by a health care professional. Based on research, racism is interconnected with mental health care. This essay will offer a theoretical explanation that allows social workers a better understanding to clinician’s misdiagnosis of ethnic minorities. Critical Race Theory permits clinicians to purposely or unintentionally misdiagnoses ethnic minorities and will be used in understanding how racism ingrained in the mental health care system.
The concept of race is an ancient construction through which a single society models all of mankind around the ideal man. This idealism evolved from prejudice and ignorance of another culture and the inability to view another human as equal. The establishment of race and racism can be seen from as early as the Middle Ages through the present. The social construction of racism and the feeling of superiority to people of other ethnicities, have been distinguishably present in European societies as well as America throughout the last several centuries.
Introduction We live in a society where race is seen as a vital part of our personalities, the lack of racial identity is very often an important factor which prevents people from not having their own identity (Omi & Winant, 1993). Racism is extremely ingrained in our society and it seems ordinary (Delgado & Stefanic, 2000). However, many people denounce the expression of any racist belief as immoral (Miles & Brown, 2003) highlighting the complicated nature of racism. Critical Race Theory tries to shed light on the issue of racism, claiming that racism is ingrained in our society both in legal, cultural, and psychological aspects of social life (Tate, 1997). This essay provides us with the opportunity to explore this theory and its influence in the field of education.
This paper reviews equality, education and identity construction with a deep focus on race and ethnicity. It is difficult to define these terms and throughout this essay I will be creating an understanding with links to literature.
Culture has been a pervasive part of humanity since the beginning of civilization. Wood (2010), professor of communications, defines culture as "the totality of beliefs, values, understandings, practices, and ways of interpreting experience that are shared by a number of people" (p 78). The way I see it, culture shapes an individual and creates their worldview. Each culture emphasizes an important aspect of the humans and displays the complexities of our species. Even though culture includes many elements, I will discuss one of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions, Individualism, and explain how it creates a high or low context culture.