Free Essays on Racism

RACISM Racism is a certain kind of prejudice, based on faulty reasoning and inflexible generalizations toward a specific group. The word prejudice comes from the Latin noun praejudicium, which means a judgment based on previous decisions formed before the facts were known. If a person allows their prejudiced beliefs to block the progress of another, it is discrimination. Those who exclude all members of a race from certain types of employment, housing, political rights, educational opportunities, or a social interactions are guilty of racial discrimination. Racism is an undeserved fear or dislike of a people because of their ethnic heritage. When color is not a reason, other reasons such as language, religion, nationality, education, sex, or age become the reason of prejudice. Sociologists, historians, anthropologists and archeologists believe racial discrimination happens more often and most harshly when two groups with different skin colors and unique physical features come into contact with each other and the two compete for the same thing. History shows that all attempts at a racial dominance result in conflict and avoidance. But, some communities without disturbed racial conflict can take advantage of all its citizens potential and move toward elimination. The most effective way which I believe this issue can start to be stopped is by talking it out rationally without involving racism at that point in time and bringing everybody together as equal as the next. Not being able to defend yourself against the hurt that people can put a person through, can scar you for life. We need to see what the world is doing to each other and instead of turning to violence or some other kind of defense to get even. It would be easier if we just come together as one and help the people who are discriminated against in understanding that they are not what people say they are. From birth to about age twelve, children collect information a... Free Essays on Racism Free Essays on Racism Throughout the history of the country, America has been considered a fairly racist union. Undoubtedly the greatest injustice in the United States to this day is the white’s treatment of African-Americans, specifically slavery. The vast majority of non-black people of that time believed that blacks were not equal to other races. White Americans of the slavery period specifically held this view. It was nearly impossible for a black to live free in America, and it was even more difficult for a black to find a job. As time passed, however, many people began to change their views on race relations in America. After slavery was abolished, fewer and fewer people believed that they were supreme over the African-American race. Not only were blacks free, they were becoming accepted as people in our society. They were even becoming accepted in the workplace. Many employers were no longer bothered by giving a job to an African-American. America seemed to finally be turning around for the better. After all, African-Americans only asked for equality, and they were getting closer and closer to that goal with each passingday. Suddenly, however, some people began to lose sight of the mission they set out to accomplish. Instead of just trying to make America equal, they felt that they should attempt to make up for the times when it was not. Many places in society, such as the workplace, the court system, and the entertainment industry, seem to have shifted to being easier for blacks to advance themselves in than whites. The intent, to improve race relations in America, was good. The problem that comes about, however, is that it begins to enter people’s minds that it is better to be black than it is to be white. African-Americans should certainly feel confident with themselves, but they should not be given a reason to feel superior, either. Nobody should be able to feel superior to another person simply because of race. Everything that this country ha... Free Essays on Racism Where do thoughts come from? I don’t think there is really one specific answer for this question, but I have often found myself looking for one. It usually happens when I’m at school, volleyball practice or sometimes while thinking quietly to myself that my mind begins to wander off and ends up in a place I never thought it would be. Immediately I am puzzled about how and why I arrived at this point. I then try to retrace the steps of my thought process in an attempt to discover how, for example, I am so affixiated on what shoes I wore two days go in the middle of taking a math exam. This process of â€Å"spacing out† is similar to thought I process I had when choosing a topic for this paper. Although I have never read Richard Wright’s novel Native Son, while reading the introduction for this novel, I began to think about the origin of racism. Not just when racism began during the days of slavery or the Holocaust, but actually where the word race ca me from and why it was associated with the discrimination of people. I began to think about the word’s true definition. The concept of race is by no means a new concept, and is one that has come up recently in many of my classes. On the first day of my American Studies 185 class my professor wrote the word language on the blackboard. My professor then defined it as loaded, having baggage and carrying many different meanings. Never having heard language described in this way, my professors’ statement intrigued me. I thought about not only the many different languages which are spoken right here in America, but how within one language a single word can and does have many different meanings. Such meanings go beyond the definitions found in a dictionary because a word in any language is assigned a different meaning each time it is spoken and heard. A word becomes either negative or positive based on the tone in which it is said or the way in which it is perceived. It is ... Free Essays on Racism Racism: The Disease of the Land â€Å"Racism has been to human relationships what cancer has been to human existence. It is a disease that eats away at the very fabric of humanity itself. Rather than ending in the death of a mortal being, it usually culminates in war. A war of Nations Against Nations, People against People,† Oscar Peterson. Racism is something that has been a part of our world since the beginning of time. Many of us may think that it has really gotten better. The question is has it really gotten any better? I personally feel that no one has a reason to be racist. I am writing this essay to help people understand that there are people of all different races and colors, but we are all the same. Whether people realize it or not, the number one reason most people are racist is skin color. There are also those people who are still dwelling on the past, during the time of slavery. Although many may feel they have a good reason to be racist, there is no good reason t o hate a group of people. One of the main causes of racism is pride in one’s own race. For some reason, many racist people tend to think that there is something different between the different races. I think it is not only just the color of the skin that is the problem but the fact that there was once a time when they ruled just about everything. They owned blacks as slaves and now we are free and are able to live as they do. Some people can not adjust to that. In addition, they think if they put blacks down it would make their race stronger. Racism is but one of the largest problems in our society. It is used in so many different ways that many people are not aware. When will there be an end to this, many of us may wonder. In my opinion, it will go on forever. There does not seem to be too many people who really want to put an end to this controversy. Most of us do not realize how serious racism is and what it is doing to our society. In addition, if people do no... Free Essays on Racism Social Unjust Cause and Effect Paragraph How can the color of someone’s skin, rely on who they are and how they should be treated? The color of blood is the color of life, and red is the color that everyone shares, no matter what ethnicity they belong to. Martin Luther King states, â€Å"An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the Moral Law.† In society, an example of a social unjust that is of the past and present is racism. Racism is more prominent in the past than the present, but it all roots back to slavery. Rich, white, American farm owners would go to Africa and take Africans back to their farms and use them for labor. The farm owners would mistreat them just because of the color of their skin. The problem was mostly in the south, but even through slavery has been abolished, racism is still a problem. During the time of Martin Luther King’s letter, blacks had practically no rights in America. Segregation was a very common thing, and it was also an unjust law. America had mad e a law saying that all public facilities would be separated, one marked â€Å"white† and the other marked â€Å"colored.† One of the reasons that racism is still very common today is from adults teaching racism to children. During that time, even teachers had separated black children from white children in the classrooms. The white children would grow up feeling a sense of inferiority towards blacks. The white man’s opinion of blacks would be taught to his children and the cycle would go on. Since initially the cause of racism was slavery, there have been long-term effects that still linger on to this day. The effect of segregation, today, is the displacement that people have towards people of color. There has been a predisposed stereotype given to children from their parents, and they are raised thinking that people of color are always of a lower status. Racism today especially in the northern part of America has calmed down qu... Free Essays on Racism According to the chain of life the lion is known as the â€Å"King of the Jungle†. This hierarchy starts at the top with the lion; superior to all; and ends at the bottom with the smallest, the teeny insect. This chain of life seems natural and harmless. However, it is different for humans; that is Racism! Racism is the belief that human beings can be divided in to races and one race is inferior to another. One who believes in racism is racist. Because racists believe they above or superior, they feel they deserve special rights and privileges. Racism is a belief. There is no known fact, or scientific evidence support, agree, or back up the claims of superiority. Racism is worldwide and it has caused major problems. Due to the belief of racism, racial superiority: discrimination, prejudice, apartheid, segregation, racial profiling, slavery and genocide have resulted. Many people do not look for the same qualities in other groups that they admire in their own. Even so, they don ’t recognize the different yet impartially worthy qualities that other groups have. Racism has walked a long road; its form and face have changed as well. Racism is not the hierarchy of the jungle, it is the division of man. To accurately pinpoint the origin of racism, would be ludicrous. However, one of the most influential thinkers of racism was Joseph - Arthur Comte de Gobineau. In the middle of the 19th century, Arthur published a four volume Essay on the Inequality of Human Races. He taught that superiority of white race over all others. Many others also followed this racist claim: Lathrop Stoddard, Houston Stewart Chamberlain, Ludwig Woltmann, and Madison Grant. Their belief excluded many by status, family, religion, or nation. Gradually, the terms â€Å"race† and â€Å"class† became interchangeable. As this approach became popular, â€Å"races† were characterized by skin or hair type. Also accompanying characteristics of intelligence, physical ability, sexua... Free Essays on Racism Most of these feelings towards another of a different skin color are deeply rooted in our minds from previous generations. Many, many years ago, African-Americans were used as slaves. The slave owners treated them badly. The owner’s own children then grew up with the same ideals and passed them on to the new generation. Through the years, people have spoke out about these ill-conceived ideas making the ominous threat of racism more discreet than ever before. While in a search online, I discovered a numbered list of Klu Klux Klan, Aryan, Skinhead, and many other white supremacist groups. I was shocked when I saw how many this one list had. It listed over 800 different groups. I know that number is not nearly accurate because there are many smaller groups that have not yet made themselves known publicly. Even people that do not belong in these racially biased groups perform some acts of racism. Racial profiling- the discriminatory practice by police of treating blackness (or brown-ness) as an indication of possible criminality. "Driving While Black (or brown)" is a campaign started by the American Civil Liberties Union because a study showed that minorities only make up 16% of all drivers, yet they are 74% of all drivers stopped and searched. Generally, only 12 to 13 percent of the U.S. citizens are African American, although Black inmates make up 40.29 percent of death row's population. As of 1996, there have been 232 citizens executed under the death penalty since 1977. Only one white person has been put to death for the murder of a black person. One perfect example of true racial profiling and discrimination is this next story. Danny Glover, a famous African-American actor, was in New York City. It was late at night and he was trying to hail a cab. None of the cabs would stop and pick him up because of the fact that he was an African-American male. Stereotypical views like those of the cabby’s are not rare. When a black perso... Free Essays on Racism PERSUASIVE WRITING Topic: Racism The basis of all racism is ignorance and ignorance knows no country or colour. Is it possible that outward appearance or â€Å" looks† are what we judge people by? The evolved, apparently modern and superior Western world is actually backward and primitive; how could intellectual, profound, clever people discriminate and categorize others by beliefs, physical aspects, nationalities or sex ? Remember the holocaust. Take a moment to reflect on how many people were killed, a whole society demolished, and who authorized it ? Who tried to stop it ? How many people rebelled ? How many had the guts to risk their own lives in order to save a population ? Very few. The evolution of our world has caused us to become spoilt, unappreciative and selfish, our main priority is personal privileges and profits: anything or anyone who is different from us, unfamiliar, is considered wrong, unacceptable â€Å" less worthy†. What kind of social philosophy is that ? Unfortunately one that dominates the Western world and causes people to live in harsh, depressing and completely unfair conditions with limited possibilities of succeeding in life, simply because the so called cultured society decided that they don’t fit into the restricted categories of idealistic perfection which in fact, ironically enough we ourselves don’t belong to either. Racism is reinforced and perpetuated through the media in subliminal ways: lyrics of songs, poems, movies, literature, these are all means of communication which influence the public and fortify negative thought patterns by glorifying racist behaviour. Racism has been alive throughout our history from the Ku- Klux clan in the 1900’s who persecuted and murdered blacks and Catholics, to slavery, right up to present day with conflicts between different beliefs. After the tragedy on September 11th that occurred in America but effected the soul of the entire world, and left... Free Essays on Racism Racism (according to Webster’s Dictionary) is an excessive and irrational belief in or advocacy of the superiority of a given group of people or nation on racial grounds alone. Racism in this country has been a problem since the beginning of civilization in America. Although not all people have a prejudice to others it still has affected our culture and equality dramatically. Frantz Fanon, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Langston Hughes are some of the people that spoke and fought for the â€Å"All men are created equal† vision. Unity is the pillar and foundation of our struggle to end the misery, which is caused by the oppression which, is our greatest enemy. This repression and the violence it creates can not be ended if we fight and attack each other. Racism bloats and disfigures the face of the culture that practices it. Racism belongs in a characteristic whole: that of the shameless exploitation of one group of men by another that has reached a higher stage of technical development that legitimizes racism. The habit of considering racism as a mental quirk, as a psychological flaw must be abandoned. Fanon argues that racism is a singularly important consequence of colonial rule, a result of the â€Å"shameless exploitation† of one group by another. Fanon speaks with the understanding that racism generates harmful psychological constructs that both blind the black man to his subjection to a universalized white norm and alienate his consciousness. A racist culture prohibits psychological health in the black man. Fanon states that â€Å"If culture is the combination of motor and mental behavior patterns arising from the encounters of man with nature and with his fellow man, it can be said that racism is indeed a cultural element. There are thus cultures with racism and cultures without racism†. In his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King Jr. stated that â€Å" Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice ever... Free Essays on Racism RACISM Racism is a certain kind of prejudice, based on faulty reasoning and inflexible generalizations toward a specific group. The word prejudice comes from the Latin noun praejudicium, which means a judgment based on previous decisions formed before the facts were known. If a person allows their prejudiced beliefs to block the progress of another, it is discrimination. Those who exclude all members of a race from certain types of employment, housing, political rights, educational opportunities, or a social interactions are guilty of racial discrimination. Racism is an undeserved fear or dislike of a people because of their ethnic heritage. When color is not a reason, other reasons such as language, religion, nationality, education, sex, or age become the reason of prejudice. Sociologists, historians, anthropologists and archeologists believe racial discrimination happens more often and most harshly when two groups with different skin colors and unique physical features come into contact with each other and the two compete for the same thing. History shows that all attempts at a racial dominance result in conflict and avoidance. But, some communities without disturbed racial conflict can take advantage of all its citizens potential and move toward elimination. The most effective way which I believe this issue can start to be stopped is by talking it out rationally without involving racism at that point in time and bringing everybody together as equal as the next. Not being able to defend yourself against the hurt that people can put a person through, can scar you for life. We need to see what the world is doing to each other and instead of turning to violence or some other kind of defense to get even. It would be easier if we just come together as one and help the people who are discriminated against in understanding that they are not what people say they are. From birth to about age twelve, children collect information a... Free Essays on Racism The focus of this paper is the inequality involving racism. Racism exists because of a combination of prejudice and discrimination. Racism is a social problem that still occurs today, against entire ethnic groups in most cases. Causes, examples and wide ranging effects of racism will be examined in this paper. What contributes to racism? The first thing is prejudice, which is an unjustified prejudgement about a group of people. Having a prejudice attitude, which usually tries to make one group better than another group. Prejudice exists against many groups, especially blacks and jews. Members of these groups are often stereotyped, which is an ignorant action against these people. McIntyre argues that â€Å"Prejudice is a negative and persistent judgement based on scant or incorrect information about people in a group. Prejudice involves beliefs and attitudes. More technically, we might define it this way: prejudice is a negative or hostile attitude towards a person who belongs to a group, simply because he or she have the objectionable qualities ascribed to the group.† (1999 : 222) Yet, the functionalist perspective on prejudice states that prejudice must be developed, because it is necessary for solidarity, and to distinguish between groups. The second thing that contribut es to racism is discrimination, which involves behavior, instead of attitudes and beliefs. Yet there is no evidence that prejudiced attitudes will become discriminatory behaviors, as Allport (1954) argues that what people actually do in relation to groups they dislike is not always directly related to what they think or feel about them. Two employers, for example, may dislike jews to an equal degree. One may keep his feelings to himself and may hire jews on the same basis of any workers– perhaps because he wants to gain goodwill for his factory or store in the Jewish community. The other may translate his dislike into his employment policy, and refuse... Free Essays on Racism The sizzling streams of sunlight were just beautifully glimmering down on the crisp green school yard. Such a wonderful day that was. Nothing could have ruined it. Little Jimmy, since it was such a wonderful day decided to go to the corner store and buy himself a little treat. As little Jimmy started walking over to the store, clouds flocked over the dazzling sun and the sudden pitch dark meant no trouble. On the other side of the road were three white boys from Jimmy's same school. Upon recognizing Jimmy, the boys ran over the street to where he was. "Hey Negro, what's up?", one of the white Boy said. "Did your mamma pack you enough to eat to-day?", another hooted. "Just leave me alone.", Little Jimmy said "Oh no, Jimmy's really getting pist off!?", the first boy retaliated. "Just shove off and let me be," Jimmy answered. It is like this everyday, everywhere, and everytime, people suffer discrimination. All because they have differences amongst each other. Different beliefs, differe nt cultures, different skin colour, all of these act like building blocks to help construct what we know as Racism. Racism has become one of the many burdens amongst multi-cultural worlds like Canada and the States. Racism is a part of each and every one of us. No doubt, we are all racist, but this the term racism has been used too loosely. Racism has been mutated to such an extent that it could be a reason for war, a symbol of terrorism, and even an excuse for neglecting. Is that all there is to it? No, actually it is just the beginning. Racism is just like warfare in which there is no shelter and nobody is neutral. Nobody is exempt from this demon. He has haunted us with a bitter curse. On one occasion I remember, nobody would play with me at school. I would walk around by myself and ask people if we could play together. Everywhere that I went, like the process of induction, everyone would avoid me. Like two inducted poles with the same polarity, they ... Free Essays on Racism Racism is the most important and persistent social problem in America and in the world today. It is on the rise in increasing ways. Whether we are talking about ethnic cleansings, group hatred or retraction of equity laws under the guise that these are unfair, the underlying issue is the same. One group, threatened by the perceived loss of power, exercises social, economic and political muscle against the other to retain privilege by restructuring for social advantage. Such actions and efforts call for an understanding of the basic concepts of prejudice and racism, and how to lessen their destructive effect. It is a normal human response to racial, social, sexual and other forms of differences, because all human beings tend to prejudge others on the basis of limited knowledge, especially if they are different from us. Most of what passes for prejudice in society is the result of ignorance of other groups and their way of life and social condition. Because of the way American society is presently structured, most Whites have almost no conceptual idea nor first-hand experience of life in the African American and Latino communities. This is because the prevailing norms of separation and segregation that prevent people of different racial/ethnic groups from interacting with each other in a meaningful and positive way perpetuate this ignorance of groups, which in turn gives rise to attitudes of prejudice. What we have in American society is the problem of maintaining stereotypes and actions of discrimination which dehumanize, and in many ways make less of human beings. We must stop seeking to mold people after distorted human images and allow them the right to be born into the beautiful image of God, thereby bringing about a divine corrective to a dehumanized and dehumanizing world. It is then and only then, that we will have some semblance of a chance to end prejudice and racism. White people are often ones to be racist agai... Free Essays on Racism The issues of race and ethnic identity have always been central to American society, yet at the same time our American identity as a â€Å"melting pot† has in part been forged by denying this as the principal basis of our identity. Racism has been a pervasive and disturbing reality throughout American society. How do we respond morally to the fact that racism exists in our society and to the role that it has played in our history? One response suggests, â€Å"we owe compensation to those who have been wronged in the past†(CMI P.258). Compensation programs seek to determine who has been wronged in the past and to make up for it in the present and future. An example of a program aimed to provide some kind of special support, consideration, or advantage to groups that have previously been discriminated against is Affirmative Action. Instead of monetary compensation for the injustices women and minorities have endured throughout history, Affirmative Action seeks to en sure that these groups are not discriminated against in the work force or in education by establishing racial quotas for firms and universities. It also creates more diversity at the work place and at colleges and universities. On the other hand, many will argue that preferential treatment promotes racism. It is often referred to as reverse discrimination. Many argue the fact that Affirmative Action maximizes the likelihood that blacks hired for a job, or admitted to a university, will be less capable than the whites beside them. The most common objection to Affirmative Action is that the job should go to the most qualified candidate. Why should a person who is less qualified for a job get hired over a better-qualified person just because that company has to meet a certain racial quota? Another argument is that such programs have created resentment and animosity among non-minorities, especially white males. In addition, Affirmative Action programs have sti... Free Essays on Racism The history of the United States is one of duality. In the words of the Declaration of Independence, our nation was founded on the principles of equality in life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Yet, long before the founders of the newly declared state met in Philadelphia to espouse the virtues of self-determination and freedom that would dubiously provide a basis for a secessionary war, those same virtues were trampled upon and swept away with little regard. Beneath the shining beacon of freedom that signaled the formation of the United States of America was a shadow of deception and duplicity that was essential in creating the state. The HSS 280 class lexicon defines duality as â€Å"a social system that results from a worldview which accepts inherent contradictions as reasonable because this is to the believer’s benefit.† The early years of what would become the United States was characterized by a system of duality that subjugated and exterminated peoples for the benefit of the oppressors. This pattern of duality, interwoven into our culture, has created an dangerously racialized society. From the first moment a colonist landed on these shores, truths that were â€Å"self-evident† were contingent on subjective â€Å"interpretation.† This discretionary application of rights and freedoms is the foundation upon which our racially stratified system operates on. English colonists, Africans, and Native Americans comprised the early clash of three peoples. Essentially economic interests, and namely capitalism, provided the impetus for the relationships that developed between the English colonists, the Africans, and the Native Americans. The colonialization of North American by the British was essentially an economic crusade. The emergence of capitalism and the rise of trade throughout the 16th century provided the British with a blueprint to expand its economic and political sphere. The Americas...

Names of World Cities in Spanish

Names of World Cities in Spanish Its obvious why the American city of Philadelphia is spelled Filadelfia in Spanish: the spelling change helps make certain that the citys name is pronounced correctly. Less obvious is why the British capital of London is Londres to Spaniards or, for that matter, why Americans think of the German city of Mà ¼nchen as Munich. In any case, numerous major and noteworthy cities worldwide are known by different names in Spanish than in English. With the Spanish names in boldface, here are some of the most common ones: Addis Ababa - Addis AbebaAdelaide - AdelaidaAlexandria - Alejandrà ­aAlgiers - ArgelAthens - AtenasBaghdad - BagdadBeijing - Pekà ­nBelgrade - BelgradoBerlin - Berlà ­nBerne - BernaBethlehem - Belà ©nBogota - BogotBucharest - BucarestCairo - El CairoCalcutta - CalcutaCape Town - Ciudad del CaboCopenhagen - CopenhagueDamascus - DamascoDublin - Dublà ­nGeneva - GinebraHavana - La HabanaIstanbul - EstambulJakarta - DjakartaJerusalem - Jerusalà ©nJohannesburg - JohanesburgoLisbon - LisboaLondon - LondresLos Angeles - Los ngelesLuxembourg - LuxemburgoMecca - La MecaMoscow - Moscà ºNew Delhi - Nueva DelhiNew Orleans - Nueva OrleansNew York - Nueva YorkParis - Parà ­sPhiladelphia - FiladelfiaPittsburgh - PittsburgoPrague - PragaReykjavik - ReikiavikRoma - RomaSeoul - Seà ºlStockholm - EstocolmoThe Hague - La HayaTokyo - TokioTunis - Tà ºnezVienna - VienaWarsaw - Varsovia This list shouldnt be viewed as inclusive. Not included are cities that use City in their English names, such as Panama City and Mexico City, which are usually referred to as Panam and Mà ©xico in their respective countries. Note also that practices vary among Spanish writers in placing accented vowels within foreign names. For example, the U.S. capital is sometimes written as Wshington, but the unaccented version is more common. Spellings in this list are those that appear to be the most commonly used. However, some publications may use alternate spellings of some names.