Preview

Emily

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1467 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Emily
Intro: As a society, people are quick to draw conclusions about certain individuals based on their physical appearance. Many times, it is a misconception of what the individuals being judged are actually like. While searching for a movie that demonstrates individuals’ behavior and their positive or negative interaction within a society, I came across The Great Debaters. The Great Debaters was an inspiring movie that exemplified struggle as well as determination to overcome challenges placed by ignorant and closed minded individuals. It is a motivational movie that proves that anything is possible. What mainly interested me to this movie is the fact that just because one is viewed as less than others, change is always possible through hard work.
Summary:
The Great Debaters is a movie that involves the harsh reality of racism during the 1930’s through 1960’s. Racism has always been an everlasting damaging problem in humanity. It is not only the belief that one racial group is superior over another but also the belief that if an individual possesses certain qualities then that individual is considered worthless therefore they should be subordinates to the other group. During a time of separation within a nation, four individuals demonstrated that importance and strength behind knowledge. In The Great Debaters, three young college individuals were led by a knowledgeable professor in a debate team. Mr. Tolson was a strong willed individual who stood up for what he believed. He taught these acute students how to be proud, confident, and intellectual. They became resourceful and discussed many topics other people were unwilling to talk about. The debaters not only struggled to remain unified they also had to deal with the harsh reality of racism in the South from witnessing unfair treatment of the law to a lynching of an African American. Through his rigorous teaching methods and their determination to be the best, Mr. Tolson led the debaters to become



Cited: Brown, Rosemary. Overcoming Racism and Sexism-How? Ottawa, 1990 Dred Scott Decision. Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia. Copyright 2012 www.ushistory.org/us/32a.asp Macionis, John J. Sociology. Boston: Pearson, 2010. Print. Plessy v. Ferguson. http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0163_0537_ZS.html

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    [9] Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1993.…

    • 4756 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    HUM3321 Capstone Essay

    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Cited: Andre, Judith. "Stereotypes: Conceptual and Normative Considerations." Multicultural Film: An Anthology. By Kathryn Cashin and Lauren Martilli. Spring/Summer 2013 ed. Boston: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2013. 79-83. Print.…

    • 1631 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though no idea of how this relates to the audience, the teachers, comes to mind, this speech by James Baldwin gave me some ideals to contemplate. It recounted the horrors that the American “way of life” afflicted the African American populous. Furthermore, Baldwin connects the American “way of life” to how “it is the American white man who has long since lost his grip on reality.”(p.128) Truly, this is not a speech intended for school teachers, but an explanation of how racism forced children to believe the lies; the lies about their humanity.…

    • 441 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Emily Murphy

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages

    To be a powerful and influential individual is to be able to convince others of a certain idea in order to get what one desires. Emily Murphy was born on March 14th 1868; she was the third child in a family of eight. Throughout her living years she accomplished things that are still to this day well recognized by the country and the British Empire all together. Her many leadership qualities led her to great success with her career and with marking Canadian history. Emily Murphy was a personality of power and influence.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Eye of the Storm-Sociology

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages

    “A Class Divided” is a film that everyone should view no matter what race or ethnicity a person might be. Whether we realize it or not, everyone is prone to some form of discrimination or prejudice. Most Americans are not part of the dominant group; therefore, due to being a minority, we undergo a feeling of inferiority. This film presents us with a different view on the color of someone’s characteristics. After viewing this, a person will hopefully be less likely to focus on the differences they have with other people and see people all as equals. This topic was of great interest to me due to the fact that I witness discrimination many times a day. I know that myself, an Asian-American woman, has faced discrimination many times in my life. This film helps those who do not face prejudices in their everyday life, realize what it is like to be on the other end.…

    • 1616 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Racism in Battle Royal

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ralph Ellisons’ “Battle Royal” is a story about racism and discrimination in the 1940’s. In “Battle Royal” an unnamed narrator fights to gain respect in a society ruled by white people, symbolizing African Americans’ fight for equality. At the beginning of the story the narrators’ grandfather, on his deathbed, tells his son and grandchildren that “our life is a war and I have been a traitor all my born days” (1272). He then explains that in order to protect their self- respect and pride they must “keep up the good fight” by pleasing the white folks with meek behavior, but maintain their resentment towards the white people (1272). At his graduation the narrator gives a speech about humility and how through humility progress will be made, even though this belief contradicts what his grandfather told him. The narrator then receives an invitation to give his speech at an all-white gathering in the community.…

    • 542 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Shadow of Hate

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The documentary remarks on the origins of race and how it has affected history and its people. There has been a history of intolerance in America against the “them”, the others. “Them”, being the different, the unknown. It is clear that people are afraid of the unknown because of the uncertainty it brings thus they immediately label anything different as “them”. The ultimate concept I was able to derive from the documentary was that race is an idea created by society to further certain people; whether it be on a political, social, or economical aspect. The Shadow of Hate accounts the troubling relic embedded in our country, which is the overwhelming prejudice that has occurred in America for centuries. Quakers, Native Americans, and the Japanese-Americans are a few groups that have been significantly affected by whites’ obsession and preoccupation to remain “superior” to the rest, the “them”. The documentary even brings forth current tensions that cause rifts between our cities and communities.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    A Rose for Emily 16

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages

    "A Rose for Emily," written by William Faulkner, "Good Country People" by Flannery O'Connor, "The Birthmark" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Toni Cade Barbara's "The Lesson" all share a common theme of isolation. The four stories also share a common thread in each of these short stories is the protagonist's arrogance and pride leads to their ultimate downfall.…

    • 1220 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The concept of stereotype is defined as “a belief that associates a group of people with certain traits” (Kassin, Fein, & Markus et al., 2008, p. 133), which can influence a person’s thinking process and perception of others as well as the world. Stereotypes are related to other concepts, such as prejudice and discrimination, which strengthen the distortion of people’s reality. Another component of a stereotype includes the concept of outgroup homogeneity effect which is the “tendency to assume that there is greater similarity among members of outgroups than among members of ingroups” (Kassin et al., 2008, p. 135). The concept of outgroup homogeneity effect refers to a misconception of others caused by people’s tendency to overestimate the similarities between outgroups and to underestimate the similarities within ingroups (Kassin et al., 2008, p. 135). The purpose of this research is to show the depiction of stereotypes through the movie Gran Torino, and to reveal the reality of those stereotypes through a New York Times article by performing an illusory correlation between the two sources.…

    • 1464 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Stereotypes are evident throughout all forms of media. Television shows and movies in particular use stereotypes to eliminate the details of a character, this allows the audience to know them without needing to spend vast amounts of time developing the character. However, stereotypes often create characters that poke fun or marginalize the group the stereotype represents. Since media stereotypes are used so often, the same stereotype being repeated over and over again, they become the only way an audience views the marginalized group. Stereotypes can have many different effects on the ways the real being marginalized in the stereotype live: they may feel ashamed to branch out from activities defined by their stereotype, they may be forced…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bias in College Admissions

    • 2328 Words
    • 10 Pages

    Taylor Jr., S. (2003). "Myths and realities about affirmative action." National Journal, 35(15), 1125. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from Academic Premier database.…

    • 2328 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Wilson, H.W. Affirmative Action. Ed. Robert Emmet Long. New York: The H.W. Wilson Company, 1996.…

    • 2352 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Weatherspoon, F. (2006). RACIAL JUSTICE AND EQUITY FOR AFRICAN-AMERICAN. North Carolina Law Journal. Retrieved from http://users.law.capital.edu/fweatherspoon/Publications/racialjusticeandequity.pdf…

    • 1808 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Identity and Belonging

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Stereotyping is one of the biggest conflicts that misrepresent who we really are. We are misunderstood sometimes as people who do not know who we really are, view us as something that we are not because of what they have heard because of attitudes toward certain roles in society, therefore affecting our identity. In the film Gattaca, the culture within the Gattaca Corporation shows clearly the human tendency to stereotype. Assessors discriminate against new applicants with undesirable genetics rather than testing each person…

    • 1129 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Does anyone ever remembered what it takes to be stereotypes? In most instances, many of us have being at one point being misjudged based on our race, gender, ethnicity and appearances. Racism and gender bigotries couple with stereotypes plays an enormous role in the manner in which individuals are being perceived especially with regards to race and gender. Stereotypes on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity and physical appearances have been eating away at the fabric of our society. It is unfortunate that most individuals are faced with being misjudged based on stereotyping which is a factual veracity that occurs in our societies on a daily basis. Some of the most acute challenges or problems of racial and gender stereotypes is that, the most brilliant individual can be completely be misjudged and underestimated due to his or her race, gender and physical appearances which falls under certain levels of categories. In “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, and in “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Spaces” by Brent Staples, these two authors talk about…

    • 1125 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays