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Ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination
Ways to reduce prejudice and discrimination
Negative impact of prejudice and discrimination
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Why do people dislike economic and social society? What causes people to build up so much anger towards it? In the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith said that “No society can surely be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of the members are poor and miserable” (). Victor Joseph and Sinesio are great examples of this. Sherman Alexie and Jose Antonio Burciaga show the struggles, poverty, and undesirable situations these two characters endured. Victor Joseph lives in an unwelcome social situation while Sinesio lives in an adverse economic situation. Each character approached life differently, but both hold the same animosity. In “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”, Victor Joseph is an alcoholic who loathes everyday life …show more content…
(). In “La Puerta”, Sinesio is willing to leave his family behind and travel to another country, in order to make a better life for himself and his family (). Joseph can be seen more enraged with anger in the beginning of his story until he accepts his situation. Whereas, Sinesio is more acceptable of his situation in the beginning of his story until he realizes that his wife may have destroyed their future by damaging their winning lottery ticket. There are many similarities and differences between Victor Joseph and Sinesio. Both individuals show anger towards society and each makes vast changes towards the end of their stories. In “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven”, Victor Joseph is a minority who is treated differently by society (). At one point Joseph is pulled over by a police officer in a “nice neighborhood” (). Victor Joseph is well aware of the racism that exists and he knows that someone “must have been worried” when the police showed up (). While the police officer had probable cause to pull Victor Joseph over for being suspicious, he also confirmed the mentality that existed at the time. The police officer informed Victor Joseph that he should be more wary of where he drives because Joseph was in a neighborhood he was not suppose to be in. Minorities did not belong in the “nice neighborhood” ().How could Victor Joseph not be angry with a social society that thought of him in such a way? In another situation, Victor Joseph went to a 7-11 for a creamsicle. The clerk in the store was concerned because he though Joseph was going to rob him (). Once again, Joseph was well aware that he was being judged by his looks. Even though the clerk attempted to make small talk commenting about the weather, Victor Joseph knew the clerk was fearful. When Joseph teased the clerk with the simple comment that it was “hot enough to make you go crazy” (). Victor Joseph could see the fear in the clerk as he swallowed. Joseph knew he was different and did not consider himself as an ideal citizen of his country (). Victor Joseph was treated in the same way his ancestors were treated.
Joseph’s increasing anger could be attributed to the way he was treated, the way his ancestors were treated, and the way he saw other minorities being treated. Because of this foolish treatment in social society, Joseph had a nauseating outlook on the world that caused him to have a lot of anger. Joseph argued with his girlfriend a lot and at times they fought so much that the only thing he could do was leave and drive for hours (). Joseph’s girlfriend was white and Joseph may have argued with her so much because those arguments allowed him to express the anger he felt towards the other white people who treated him different because he was a …show more content…
minority. Sherman Alexie did an awesome job illustrating “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven” (). Alexie portrayed Joseph as a person who exhibited anguish, poverty, hostility, and alcoholism. He also depicts Joseph with wit and humor towards society. Sherman Alexie best describes what it was like for Joseph, as an Indian man, who had constant struggles in the white American society. Like Sherman Alexie, Jose Antonio Burciaga best illustrates his short stories with humor, racism, and discrimination.
In “La Puerta”, Sinesio is a minority who works for a mattress factory (). Sinesio cannot make a living working at the factory. In fact, he cannot afford to purchase anything from the factory. Writer Burciaga shows how poor Sinesio and his family were by illustrating that he lived in a house with “tin, wooden, and cardboard roofs” (). This could be a reason Sinesio is angry towards his economic situation. But despite being poor, Sinesio took it upon his self to purchase a lottery ticket ().
Jose Antonio Burciaga depicts Sinesio as a calm individual who seems to take matters day by day despite his nagging wife. He shows Sinesio as someone who is willing to leave his family behind in order to make a better life for him and his family. This is evident after he receives the letter from his brother. In the beginning of “La Puerta”, Sinesio receives a letter from his brother who spoke about finding a job in the country of abundance. After reading his brother’s letter, Sinesio could fantasize about being there. After working for a couple of days, Sinesio decided to make the decision to leave
(). When Sinesio went to work days later he overheard two guys having a conversation about the idiot who won the lottery and had not cashed in the ticket (). When Sinesio got off the bus, he raced home to check the ticket he brought but it was missing. Why? Because his wife used it to stop the rain from coming through the door. Sinesio and his wife checked their ticket and realized they had won. He and his wife tried to take the ticket off the door. They tried everything but nothing worked (). Sinesio went into a rage because he saw his family’s future slip right from under them. Where does this anger comes from towards his wife when the lottery ticket is damaged? Like Victor Joseph, he is mad with the society he is in. Not only is he mad because he may have lost a lot of money but this anger came from being stuck in the same situation over and over again. Jose Antonio Burciaga did a great job with the imagery of Sinesio’s anger. Sinesio was so angry “he pushed the door out into the downpour and swung it back into the house, cracking the molding and the inside hinges” (). He broke the door off completely because he had until seven to redeem his winning ticket and he was running late (). Joseph and Sinesio compare and differ in many ways. Sherman Alexie and Jose Antonio Burciaga best illustrates their anger towards society. For example, when Victor Joseph and his girlfriend fought, the anger could have been directed towards her because she is white. He was in a social situation where he dislikes how he and other minorities were being treated. Unlike Victor Joseph, Sinesio is in an undesirable economic situation When Sinesio realized his wife may have destroyed their future by damaging their winning lottery ticket; he took his anger out on her. Both literary characters have issues with their society. Another comparison, each individual also changed their attitudes towards the end of their stories. Joseph was angry with society but chose to tame his anger in the end and Sinesio was calm until he became angry when his lottery ticket was damaged by his wife. Even though both persons has almost the same issues Joseph and Sinesio handles their problems differently. This is what makes them similar and different.
Summary of “The Money” by Junot Diaz In this essay, the author recounts a life event from his childhood. The story begins with Junot describing his family's financial status and living arrangement. Diaz and his four siblings lived with their two parents in a catchpenny apartment in a rough urban borough. Not steadily employed, his mother and father were in a constant struggle to keep the family afloat monetarily; to the point where decent, alimental food was not a likely sight in the household. Despite their meager inhabitance his mother was stowing $200 to $300 monthly and sending it to her parents in the Dominican Republic.
Papi had lost both his house and land in Mexico after Abuela Evila had taken “ill and frail” (p.239) and Tia Emperatriz had managed to get Abuela’s signature on the deed of the property, which included both the land and Papi’s dream house. According to Tia Emperatriz, Papi did not need the house as he already was living in a “beautiful country” (p.239) and as he already had too much. Papi had wanted to speak better English and had wanted to move his family into a better neighborhood and had decided to enroll into adult school for evening class in order to reach his goal, however, after the incident with Tia Emperatriz, Papi stated “I’ve never felt
Joseph is showing her opinion in her poem. She, most likely, has had experience with people expecting her to speak like her mother and this is shown in the quote “Why don’t you sound like her, / they’d ask. [She] didn’t sound/ like anyone or anything” (22-24). There are so many questions that the “black” community has that may never be able to be answered and so many conversations that are just waiting to happen that never will happen. Every time one person looks at another person, they make a judgment call whether they mean to or not.
To begin with, the narrator happily took the job knowing that having a construction job will make his parents proud. “I would tell my father only after the summer was over, when I could announce after all, I did know what “real work” is like.” (Rodriguez 103) At the start of the story, the narrator begins to realize the diversity within the group of workers. “Carefully completing their work sheet; talking about the fortunes of local football teams; planning Las Vegas vacations; comparing the gas mileage of various makes of campers—they were not los probres my mother had spoken about.” (Rodriguez 104) Thinking that only los probres or the poor, worked menial jobs, the narrator soon realized that what his mother
In Junot Diaz’s essay “The Money” he explains where his family stands economically. Stating that his father was regularly being fired from his forklifting jobs and his mother 's only job was to care for him and his four siblings. With the money brought home by his father, his mom would save some. Her reason was to raise enough to send to her parents back in the Dominican Republic. When his family went on a vacation, they came back to an unpleasant surprise; their house had been broke into. Eventually Diaz was able to get back their money and belongings. Diaz returned the money to his mother although she didn’t thank him for it, this disappointed him. Like Diaz I have also encountered a similar situation where I was disappointed. When I was in second grade, my life life took a completely different turn. My dad took an unexpected trip to Guatemala, on his return, the outcome was not what I expected.
...the Reverend. Others elect to cope through doing the best they can to fit in like Bessie. However, the most threatening members of society are the people like Bigger Thomas. These people do not accept the status quo and attempt to gain control through abnormal ways. A need for control drives actions like drug dealing which give money that allows one to have a higher social status in their environment. An elevated social status in a constrained environment gives the illusion that one has control over their lives. Others turn to gangs or other violent institutions because they can directly have control over another human through the violence and fear that they create. People similar to Bigger Thomas will continue to be created unless society destroys the class discrepancies that exist which would allow a person to pursue their own individual control over their lives.
La Puma utilizes the first paragraph as mini-ethnography to portray the unity of the Vitale family. The introduction states,
His execution of imagery, diction, and dialogue throughout the text were very prominent regarding these three factors. The authors use of pathos, sickly diction, and humanistic dialogue were very important agents to bring this piece altogether and alive. Especially with the subject of poverty and how it effects not only Flavio’s family, but as the text says “Pockets of poverty in New York's Harlem, on Chicago's south side, in Puerto Rico's infamous El Fungito seemed pale by comparison. None of them had prepared me for this one in the favela o[ Catacumba.” Poverty effects a lot of people, and awareness needs to be brought up through messages like
The group of parasites, or as the novel labels them, “looters,” live futile lives. The looters are those who prefer not to think, not to act, not to truly exist if at all possible. They attend trivial social gatherings and follow, like a mindless herd, the latest fashion trends. In Atlas Shrugged, the primary social concern among these second-handers is that of equality in capitalism. They cannot provide, so they attack those that can. They pretend to act as champions for the underdog in an economy that seems to be falling apart. They believe that anyone who works solely for the sake of success is evil, and must be stopped. Those looters, who ride on the backs of such people, completely believe that they are owed a life because they exist. They feel they should be loved because they are alive, not for any accomplishment or display of worth on their part. To these people, the existence of anything innovative, strong, or fearless is a slap in the face, so they adjus...
Looking at this from the different perspectives of a functionalist, symbolic interactionist, and conflict helps to show other points of view. If you were to look at this book from a functionalist’s perspective you would be looking at it from an extremely greedy aspect. A functionalist would say that their parents and society told them that only people with money were good and successful. Thus, causing you to feel like “trash” or class if you did not make a huge salary, and live a wealthy life. A symbolic interactionist would tell you that they grew up where all of their peers drove nice cars, and had large homes, so to fit in, you need to be able to buy those things. However, a person with a conflict point of view would say that it was her ongoing struggle with society, and having to defend her class, that has made her who she is today.
Society today is split in many different ways: the smart and the dumb, the pretty and the ugly, the popular and the awkward, and of course the rich and the poor. This key difference has led to many areas of conflict among the population. The rich and the poor often have different views on issues, and have different problems within their lives. Moral decay and materialism are two issues prevalent among the wealthy, while things such as socio-economic class conflict and the American dream may be more important to those without money. Ethics and responsibilities are an area of thought for both classes, with noblesse oblige leaning more towards the wealthy.
It's true that this desire for things is what drives our economy. The free market has given us great blessings, but it has in some ways also put us on the wrong path -- the path to a selfish, unhappy society. Michael Lerner, who worked as a psychotherapist to middle-income Americans notes that
Economic inequality is ingrained in our society. Because of this fact, many would argue that “that’s just how it is,” but in reality this is not how a community is suppose to function. As Michael Sandel writes in his book Justice, “As inequality deepens, rich and poor live increasingly separate lives.” Sandel makes an excellent point. As economic divisions, such as the ones present in the United States, worsen, the classes diverge on every level. Wealthy people attend different schools, purchase luxury cars, and live in gated communities. Meanwhile, the poor live in squalor, use public transportation, and attend failing schools. Aside from the lack of a quality education making it harder to escape poverty, the poor are from birth at a disadvantage to those on the other side of the economic scale. The United States is not a land of guaranteed equality of result, that is...
...y are bombarded from birth that they should desire and pursue money, power, fame, and success. Without achieving these goals they are seen as failures. Strain theories have shown that placing too much emphasis on individual success and the pursuit of happiness through the accumulation of power and wealth, can lead to an increase in crime.
Greed is so powerful in a person that it has the ability to destroy them, their friends, and family relationships. I have lived in the poorest country my first nine years, so when I was adopted, my mom gave me everything I ever wanted, everything I ever needed. However, using myself as an example, I was so mesmerized of the materialistic things that were available, that I stole. I took something that was not mine because I felt greedy. I felt like I needed that object for whatever reason. My mom tore my butt when I got home and I never thought of steeling because of my own selfish need of wanting. Not to mention how greed made me afraid. It made me afraid because I knew what I did was wrong. People are constantly being bombarded with images of things that we believe will make us happy and the selfish thoughts of greed makes us wanting more. For example, the iPhone 6 Plus came out September of 2015, now there is iPhone 7 which has new camera zoom, ear pods, and better quality. However, the week before it was released, everyone talked about wanting it because it’s the new “cool” thing. However, what people fail to understand is that the reason they want