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More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Importance of social responsibility
Ways to destroy racism
The history of racial inequality in America
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Individual Social Responsibility is a belief where we as individuals, have a duty towards society. Being “socially responsible” is all about people acting ethically and realistically towards social and economic problems. We have to start being accountable for our actions and being aware of the impact our actions have. We can achieve this by being an active contribution in changing the way of society. Some people feel obligated to maintain equality when it comes down to racial equality. The issue of racial equality is a social barrier that Americans have yet to overcome. We have come a long way from how we used to treat each other, but somethings are still the same. As a society, progress has definitely been made but racism will never fully Which is what caused racism to transform from people disliking each other, to the permanent foundation of common racism and prejudice in America. During the Civil Rights Movement, activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a name through his inspirational and empowering speeches regarding justice towards people of color. One of his most famous speeches, “A Letter From Birmingham Jail” responds to the letter that the eight clergymen asking Dr. King Jr. to stop protesting in Alabama. Dr. King responds to this letter respectfully, but at the same time with a reverence tone. In the letter, he states, “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained.” Dr. King was trying to promote a non-violent protest but was also aiming for the African American community to start taking their social responsibility by push an equal amount of force on the justice system. Racism is said to have been obtained from many places, one of the most common ideas being your childhood. As a child, you are defying your parents to help you become who you are. Part of involves their own choices, of which children don’t have the maturity to inquire on their own. They rely on their parents, and this is often where the problem begins. If you were told all Asians are smart, all whites are superior, oral blacks are slaves, you can see you are going to feel this way about them. Even if we allow ourselves to get to know the truth about different races, this will always be in the back of our mind. “Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and
In this excerpt, King conveys the prejudiced feelings that every African American would feel in this kind of society, which causes the reader to automatically feel sympathy towards the cause. Martin Luther King Jr.’s approach towards ending segregation was not only tactful, it was forthright in the ideals of racial equality. His argument holds such strong logic, that it seems like it is unchallengeable. This letter is solid proof of the intelligence and passion that contributed greatly towards African Americans gaining the rights they fought for, and rightfully deserve.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested on April 12, 1963, in Birmingham, for having a protest without a proper permit. On the exact day King was arrested, eight clergymen from Alabama wrote a letter called “A Call for Unity.” The letter called for termination of civil activities and demonstrations and designated King an “outsider” and saying that outsiders were the problems in Birmingham and not the blacks that are from there. On April 16 King wrote “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, which was his responds to his fellow clergymen. He wrote the letter as a means to convince the clergymen and the white moderate that the nonviolent demonstrations that had got him arrested, were a necessity and to enlighten them on why the segregation laws in the southern states needed to be changed. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” King uses logos, pathos, and ethos to persuade the clergymen and convince them in assisting him in putting an end to segregation laws of blacks in Birmingham, Alabama.
People in America are not all seen as equal, and this is especially true when it comes to people of color. According to “Theories and Constructs of Race” by Linda Holtzman and Leon Sharpe: “The continuous racial targeting of people of color and the privileging of whites, along with the misinformation about race passed along from one generation to the next and reinforced through the media, has imbued people of all races with a distorted sense of personal and group identity” (Holtzman and Sharpe 604). This quote means that people of color are often targeted in a negative way, which shows that racism and discrimination is something that can be passed down or learned from the media. Today, there are people who still think minorities are inferior based on the color of their skin. “Theories and Constructs of Race” also mentions how from an early age, minorities become the target for racism, blame, and overall hatred. According to “Theories and Constructs of Race” by Linda Holtzman and Leon Sharpe: “The myth of racial inferiority and superiority has been upheld not only by physical violence and discriminatory policies but also by the psychological violence conveyed through stereotyping and racist messaging” (Holtzman and Sharpe 604). This quote means that minorities are constantly targeted both physically and psychologically, which shows that inequality is a “monster” due to the damage it causes to individuals on multiple levels. Racism can also lead to internalized racism, which causes individuals to adapt a self-deprecating attitude and engage in self-destructive behavior. Furthermore, hate, racism, and discrimination often result from people not understanding that not everyone is offered the same opportunities due to the lack of
The Letter from Birmingham Jail was written in 1963 by Martin Luther King, Jr. During this period, the African Americans were involved in a battle for white and black equality. This is evident from the vocabulary used by King including “Negro” which was common during that period but not used commonly afterwards. Moreover, the letter’s context tells it argues that King wanted was African Americans to have freedom. The letter’s purpose is that King wants to persuade the clergymen what he together with his people were demonstrating since it was extremely necessary during that period. In achieving this, King utilizes persuasive and condemnatory tones so that the reader can consent with him. King Luther King, the author of Letter from Birmingham Jail, presents a valid argument through the use of ethos, pathos, and logos in the entire piece with the intention of explaining his actions and changing the audience’s opinions.
Martin Luther King, Jr. is known to be a civil rights activist, humanitarian, a father, and a clergyman. He is well known for fighting for the equal rights of colored people and ending discrimination. King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is an important part of history that showed King’s opinion of a letter that he happened to read in the newspaper written by a group of clergyman. In this letter, the group of clergyman report that colored people, also known as black people, are being violent towards Birmingham City. Also, the clergymen believed the time that will allow segregation to be diminished was not happening anytime soon because it is not convenient. King refuted the clergymen’s argument in a variety of ways using tactics of argumentation and persuasion like appeal to emotion through real life examples, appeal to logic, and even articulating certain phrases through metaphors and word choice. Many of these different tactics of argumentation and persuasion made his letter very effective and is now seen as a great piece that is looked upon highly today.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a pastor, activist, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Mr. King was a man of honor and respect, even in the troubling situations of serving jail time. People who were supposed to support him questioned his actions, but Dr. King still stood by what he believed in. In Birmingham, Alabama, Dr. King hoped that the white religious leaders would come to his aid but instead found reluctance and opposition. In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. refutes his critics claims through the use of passionate tones, metaphors, and allusions.
Social responsibility deals with the moral belief that each individual has the job to leave a positive impact on society, and more importantly they must carry out what is expected of them by society. It is about being responsible for our behavior and being mindful of the effect our behavior have on others, our communities, and the environment as a whole. For a student, that could mean being respectful and caring towards other students. For an adult, this could denote paying taxes or driving at the required speed limit. F.Scott Fitzgerald integrated the concept of social responsibility into his American Classic Novel, The Great Gatsby, to fight the infidelity, dishonesty and greed that is ruining the peace of the society. In this novel, the
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the leader of a peaceful movement to end segregation in the United States this mission led him in 1963 to Birmingham, Alabama where officials and leaders in the community actively fought against desegregation. While performing sit-ins, marches and other nonviolent protests, King was imprisoned by authorities for violating the strict segregation laws. While imprisoned King wrote a letter entitled “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, in which he expresses his disappointment in the clergy, officials, and people of Birmingham. This letter employed pathos to argue that the leaders and ‘heroes’ in Birmingham during the struggle were at fault or went against their beliefs.
In 1963, Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the South, so civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. brought his campaign of nonviolent resistance to Birmingham. After leading a demonstration on April 12, 1963, King was arrested for violating demonstration ordinances. Shortly after, eight white clergymen in Birmingham sent out a public statement claiming that although they support desegregation, they advise against anymore protests advocated by King, stating that the “demonstrations are unwise and untimely” (Carpenter et al). While in jail, King took an opportunity to continue his campaign by responding to these eight white clergymen. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” King uses religious and philosophical allusions to effectively convey his intellect and credibility to his audience: the clergymen and his followers.
Rosa Parks said, “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.” Racism has troubled people for hundreds of years and has not solved. It seems as a chameleon; people may hardly to detect it, but it not means it does not exist. As Mary Mebane states in her article, “The Back Of The Bus”, she experienced how white people segregate black people in her lifetime. As Martin Luther King JR shows in his speech, “I Have a Dream”, he awakened black people struggle to against inequality with government and society. John Blake demonstrates in his article, “The New Threat: Racism Without Racists”, black people are still being treated unfairly in reality. “In 'Born free'
Prejudice, racism, discrimination have always been present in society. Combined together, they form one of the most terrible and dreadful ways of treating and thinking about another human being. The effects of these actions and views on individuals have impacted society in an irreparable and tragic way. Judging someone by the color of their skin creates permanent impacts in people’s lives. A consequence caused by that old-fashioned way of thinking and seeing society in general is the effects these views have on black children education: a considerable number of American black children suffer to get a good education since they are in preschool.
Over the past four-hundred plus years, racism has plagued the history of American society. The idea that one person is inherently better than another because of the color of their skin has always been present from our founding to today. During the rise of the Civil Rights movement in the mid 1900’s, racism was repeatedly being dealt blows by those brave enough to stand up for the rights they felt belonged to citizens of all shapes and colors. One important event that led to progress for people of color was the desegregation of the schooling systems. From young girls walking into all-white schools to black men being selected to participate in different academies, the Civil Rights movement to desegregate schools was influential in how progress
Racism had always been present, but not until the early 1900’s where the African Americans got tired of being treated differently. They decided to do something in order to change this. African Americans began protesting, provoke segregationists, demand federal government to enforce the civil rights, and did many dangerous things to get noticed. Many of these actions risked themselves and could have ended up losing their freedom (Winter,12) The birth of the Civil Rights Movement started by the courage of many unfreedom people. “Birmingham, Alabama became a landmark of the Civil Rights Movement, the site of the turning-point battle in the long African American struggle for freedom.” (McWorther p.8)
Such a simple but revealing quote captures the essence of a new form of racism that has evolved in America. Appalling cases of overt racism still manifest themselves, but the racism of today has become considerably more subtle than in the past. This subtlety is likely the cause of America’s disillusioned attitude towards racism. As Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “The absence of brutality and unregenerate evil is not the presence of justice.” Many have falsely assumed that with the eradication of explicit segregation laws, the problems of race and more importantly racism had been solved. The racism of today might not be as embedded within the law, but the racism of today quietly, yet undeniably, benefits and privileges certain groups over others. I would challenge society to reconsider its definition of racism, and use that new understanding to help make for a better tomorrow. The first step is for society to concede that America has produced a systemized hierarchy, one that has become known as white privilege.
The hardest aspect of growing up and becoming an adult is claiming responsibility over oneself. For most individuals this level of maturity occurs when they leave high school and begin college. The author’s experience with personal responsibility began when he left high school; it wasn’t the big change that most college students received like being independent and paying for their own tuition, or living in dorms far away from parental guidance. Instead he was a college student whose parents provided him with everything he needed, from food to paying for tuition. To most his situation seems carefree and not all that independent because his parents were responsible over his expenditures. However the author’s focus on responsibility specifies