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Influence of affirmative action
Affirmative action policy and its effects on education
Affirmative action policy and its effects on education
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“Since the social victim has been oppressed by society, he comes to feel that his individual life will be improved more by changes in society than by his own initiative.” These words belong to conversative author and social critic Shelby Steele. Steele is often criticized by the Black community for his right-wing views on ideas such affirmative action and multiculturalism. In Steele’s short essay, The Age Of White Guilt, Steele discusses how the black community has been and still is losing their sense of individuality to the “mob mentality,” and how the modern-day black community is a victim of no-racism. Although Shelby Steele is a wonderful writer with senseful rhetoric, his stance doesn't cover the whole, true scope of Black America. Steele’s view on the African-American community is a broad, straightforward take and Steele’s take on a less-racist community is incorrect, for racism has only become more subtle. While Steele’s main argument is faulty, the techniques that Steele uses to convey his ideas form a coherent and senseful essay. Steele opens his piece with an anecdote about him growing up as a black child in segregated Chicago. In the dying days of rhetoric, Steele not only uses this story to keep up with the times, but to also establish ethos with Black readers and others who would criticize Steele as an “Uncle Tom” who can’t relate with other Blacks. His black experiences depict him as a black man instead of someone who kisses up to white people. Steele’s second anecdote is about his experience and inspiration after watching Paris Blues, a movie starring African-American actor Sidney Poitier in which a young black man seeks to find his identity in Paris. Steele uses this story to illustrate Steele’s idea ... ... middle of paper ... ... of white guilt are exceptional, but the actual content within his argument is faulty. Despite the intense criticism he faces, he manages to convey his idea with fluency and confidence. Sadly, Steele overgeneralizes the Black community and replaces the idea of racism with the “ Age of White Guilt ideas.” While the archaic and brute stereotypes of the old Black America still clench on, the only way to release the grip is to defer the argument, and look towards the future. Works Cited Montopoli, Brian. "U.S. Prison Population Falls for Third Year." CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 25 July 2013. Web. 13 May 2014. Powell, Brian. "Fox News' Racial Crime Coverage Is Hurting People." Media Matters for America. Media Matters for America, 23 Aug. 2013. Web. 13 May 2014. "Statistics on Discrimination of Minorities." PapBlog Human Rights Etc. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 May 2014.
In the article, “A Letter My Son,” Ta-Nehisi Coates utilizes both ethical and pathetic appeal to address his audience in a personable manner. The purpose of this article is to enlighten the audience, and in particular his son, on what it looks like, feels like, and means to be encompassed in his black body through a series of personal anecdotes and self-reflection on what it means to be black. In comparison, Coates goes a step further and analyzes how a black body moves and is perceived in a world that is centered on whiteness. This is established in the first half of the text when the author states that,“white America’s progress, or rather the progress of those Americans who believe that they are white, was built on looting and violence,”
Both memoirs—John Griffin’s Black Like Me and Dick Gregory’s Nigger—examine race marginalization as it existed in mid-twentieth century America. Griffin’s Black Like Me intimately explores the discrimination against the black community by whites to expose the “truth” of racial relations and to “bridge the gap” of communication and understanding between the two races through a “social experiment”—an assumption of alterity (Griffin 1). In Nigger, Gregory also recounts personal racial discrimination as a black man trying to survive and succeed in a discriminatory society. But unlike Griffin’s experience, Gregory’s memoir progresses from a position of repressed “Other” to a more realized, dominant identity. However, the existence of a dual persona
This understanding marks the last shift in the essay. Steele is more sure of himself and his solution in this portion than earlier on in the text. This is perceived through diction like “we must” and “necessity” (610-611), these imperative words develop a strong opinion. This adds to the argument because an audience will tend to adhere to someone who is confident in themselves and what they are saying. Steele’s solution entails that people must begin to individualize themselves. As mentioned earlier, the black community became a singular people and although unification can be a positive idea, with unification comes division, which leads to seclusion. This is because unification is created by a group sharing a common trait, however, there will always be those that do not have this trait and that is where division occurs and eventually seclusion is created. For this reason, Steele encourages his audience to move beyond “Race-as-identity”. He explains that individualization can be beneficial because it prevents general associations from being formed and without these associations people will feel less compelled to conform to them. Moreover, he wishes to rid society of the victim-focused black identity because it “encourages the individual to feel that his advancement depends almost entirely on that of the group…[and] reimposes limitations that can have the same oppressive effect” (610). Writing “On Being Black and Middle Class” was Steele’s way to work through this issue that society has. Steele clarifies the issue and comes to the conclusion that the contradictory norms of being black and being middle class puts a strain on those who are both and the only way to lift this burden is for all of society to focus less on victimization and concentrate more on
Racism is not a factor of the heart, according to Tommie Shelby in “Is Racism in the ‘Heart’?” He writes “the ‘heart’ does not have to be involved in order for an action or institution to be racist” (483). Instead, Shelby argues that racism is based on the effect of a person’s actions on deepening racist institutions or promulgating the oppression of a particular group of people based on their race. The individual intention of a person or the “purity” or his or her heart does not take precedence over the effect of his or her actions. Shelby’s argument is constructed as follows: Individual beliefs can be true or false but not inherently immoral. Therefore, it is not appropriate to morally condemn someone for holding a particular belief. However, when the particular belief leads to “race-based hatred...actions...or institutions” that is when it becomes appropriate to hold the individual with the belief morally culpable for racism.
Racial prejudice began an undoubtedly winding journey, meandering through decade after decade. In the Norton Reader 14th Edition the personal narrative "Black Men and Public Spaces" by Brent Staples describes the multiple experiences he had with being racially stereotyped and how it affected not only him, but also other black men in society. His specific experiences become imperative to the meaning and all inclusive power of narrative, bringing to women 's attention that not all black men pose a threat. By revealing his emotions, Staples creates a multifaceted narrative expressing the effects of the misfortunate events of his life by using imagery and specific diction.
In the article, Rape, Racism, and the Myth of the Black Rapist, the author, Angela Davis, discusses on the creation of the myth of the black rapist. This article brings two main ideas together to in order to make a valid argument to why both claims are false and hold no legitimacy. Davis argues that one was created in order to cover up for the other I order to veil the true offenders of sexual abuse. Davis also elaborates on the issue by adding to the argument and stating that white women are also being affected by these myths in a negative way because of the women’s bodies are being perceived as a right.
Reading my first book for this class, I was really looking forward to it. The book, The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, is an interesting book because it touches base on mass incarceration and the caste system. Figuring out that society is on a war on drugs and racism in the justice system is upsetting, and yet interesting. Michelle does a really nice job in organizing the book and presenting the plot. The fact that this book informs and explains arguments, what is happening with the justices system is complete true. Our lives would look complete different; and some of her points are happening. People do not realize getting incarcerated will take some of rights away. This essay will reflect on the book its self, answer questions,
I was late for school, and my father had to walk me in to class so that my teacher would know the reason for my tardiness. My dad opened the door to my classroom, and there was a hush of silence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on my father and me. He told the teacher why I was late, gave me a kiss goodbye and left for work. As I sat down at my seat, all of my so-called friends called me names and teased me. The students teased me not because I was late, but because my father was black. They were too young to understand. All of this time, they thought that I was white, because I had fare skin like them, therefore I had to be white. Growing up having a white mother and a black father was tough. To some people, being black and white is a contradiction in itself. People thought that I had to be one or the other, but not both. I thought that I was fine the way I was. But like myself, Shelby Steele was stuck in between two opposite forces of his double bind. He was black and middle class, both having significant roles in his life. "Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. If you were black, you were just black and that was that" (Steele 211).
Baldwin and his ancestors share this common rage because of the reflections their culture has had on the rest of society, a society consisting of white men who have thrived on using false impressions as a weapon throughout American history. Baldwin gives credit to the fact that no one can be held responsible for what history has unfolded, but he remains restless for an explanation about the perception of his ancestors as people. In Baldwin?s essay, his rage becomes more directed as the ?power of the white man? becomes relevant to the misfortune of the American Negro (Baldwin 131). This misfortune creates a fire of rage within Baldwin and the American Negro. As Baldwin?s American Negro continues to build the fire, the white man builds an invisible wall around himself to avoid confrontation about the actions of his ?forefathers? (Baldwin 131). Baldwin?s anger burns through his other emotions as he writes about the enslavement of his ancestors and gives the reader a shameful illusion of a Negro slave having to explai...
The structure of a society is based on the concept of superiority and power which both “allocates resources and creates boundaries” between factors such as class, race, and gender (Mendes, Lecture, 09/28/11). This social structure can be seen in Andrea Smith’s framework of the “Three Pillars of White Supremacy.” The first pillar of white supremacy is the logic of slavery and capitalism. In a capitalist system of slavery, “one’s own person becomes a commodity that one must sell in the labor market while the profits of one’s work are taken by someone else” (Smith 67). From this idea of viewing slavery as a means of capitalism, Blacks were subjected to the bottom of a racial hierarchy and were treated nothing more than a property and commodity that is used for someone else’s benefit. The second pillar involves the logic of genocide and colonialism. With genocide, “Non-Native peoples th...
In The Marrow of Tradition, author Charles W. Chesnutt illustrates examples that signify the thoughts that whites had of and used against blacks, which are still very much prevalent in public opinion and contemporary media. Chesnutt writes, “Confine the negro to that inferior condition for which nature had evidently designed for him (Chesnutt, 533).” Although significant strides have been made toward equality, the media, in many instances, continues to project blacks as inferior to whites through examples observed in television shows, music videos, films and newscasts.
Today, blacks are respected very differently in society than they used to be. In “The Help”, we see a shift in focus between what life is like now for the average African American compared to what it was like for them to live in the 1960’s.“The Help” teaches readers the importance of understanding and learning from our history. The novel is a snapshot of the cultural, racial and economic distinctions between blacks and whites in a particularly tumultuous time in American history. “The Help” encourages readers to examine personal prejudices and to strive to foster global equality.
In the article “ The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander, highlights the racial dimensions of the War on Drugs. She argues that federal drug policy unfairly targets communities of color, keeping millions of young, black men in a cycle of poverty and behind bars. She claims that racism is not dead and the Jim Crow laws still exist only now in modern form. Although, Alexander may have some interesting facts, I do not agree with her completely. Communities of color, whether it be black or brown make themselves a target. After all, if someone partakes in a crime, shouldn’t he or she have to suffer the consequences?
In Chapter 5, The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander gives us a great aspect on what society calls, “where the black men have gone”. In addition, the chapter also reveals, why many black children have been raised by single mothers. Michelle Alexander does an astonishing job going into depth and providing us with great information. Furthermore, I made a connection between the chapter and Coach Carter, a film that analysis the experiences of many black young men living without a role model so call, their fathers.
In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).