I appreciate and thought the essays were illuminating. Peggy McIntosh’s piece was the most persuasive because it goes into specifics that allows readers to make personal and thus stronger connections. In closing, a point, I would like to raise about white privilege is that there is definitely individual variation in experience. Some European Americans have had it easier than others, most likely because they came from wealthy families that gave them even more privilege that just being white. Some European Americans have had it tougher than others because they came from families with less means.…
family is living in a small apartment. Fair housing can benefit a community because people can find affordable homes. Attending college was possible. Examples of unfair housing are segregation. Minorities are affected because they cannot live where they want.…
Our nig which is the name given to a free black slave, even though this name was given to a slave that was free did not mean you were free. This story exposes how the racial dynamics of slavery are replicated in the interracial encounters outside slavery. Our Nig was a story of a slave that fit under this category of not being free when freedom existed. In this passage I will give my critical analysis of my interpretation of Our Nig…
In “White Like Me,” Thomas Wise discusses the many ways White privilege influences other race’s, from a White male’s perspective. Three of the most interesting point relate to the of “white supremacy” and how the common white citizens unknowingly uses their powers. He expresses the belief that Whites should “guard their white privilege” because the United States, as a capitalist society, honors the majority. Another point he makes is that Whites are able to escape the blame for their unjust actions, whereas people of color would be slaughtered in the media for such things. An impactful example he uses is terrorism. In Oklahoma there were two white terrorists who bombed a government building, killing many. This horrific action was headlined…
Laissez Faire has always held up an ideal that if one works hard towards a goal, success…
Gary Nash discusses the impact of black people in a white peoples colony. The first negro people to come to America in Virginia were probably indentured servants who would receive some type of reward after their time of service was over, until 1660. After 1660 though many of the “Negros” that came to America were slaves, purchased as property. By the 1800’s every colony in America had “slave codes” which stripped black people of every right they had and made them property. His biggest claim was his stating of, “More than anything else it was sugar that transformed the African slave trade.” The slave trade became an extremely profitable enterprise for European nations once the sugar plantations reached the New World. Many of the New World colonies sought to buy slaves to work on the sugar plantations. It wasn't until the last third of the seventeenth century were the English involved with the slave trade and since it was their royal colonies that were buying most of the slaves they saw a new opportunity to get more money from their colonies. Once the English started to get involved it caused most European nations to war over who dominated the slave trade since it was such a profitable enterprise. pg 38-39.…
In the article, “White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack”, Peggy McIntosh talks about the various privileges white people receive. Her basic idea was to inform the readers that whites are taught to ignore the fact that they enjoy social privileges that people of color do not because we live in a society of white dominance. McIntosh lists some daily white privileges; a variety of daily instances where white dominance is clear. Her examples include privileges relating to education, careers, entertainment, child care, confrontations, physical appearance, and public life.…
"Can we still claim the status of 'the greatest ' when one out of two Americans is living in poverty or near the poverty line?”…
Economic freedom is the fundamental right of every person to control his or her own labor and property while political freedom is the freedom to exercise one’s rights as guaranteed under the laws of the country. In 1865 the African American Freedmen were finally given these rights under the 13th Amendment. It is not possible for the Freedmen to become politically free since they are not economically free because of the Vagrancy Act, the effect sharecropping had on their ability to make their own decisions, and the black codes implemented by the Southern States.…
Individuals living in climates that support the life cycle of these mosquitoes are more at risk than those who do not. If temperatures fall below 68 degrees Fahrenheit the mosquitoes cannot complete their growth cycle. Africa, parts of South America and Asia have incurred the majority of the malaria epidemic (Global Health - Division of Parasitic Diseases , 2010). I this paper I will cover: populations vulnerable to malaria, factors that make these populations vulnerable, modes of transmission, methods used to control the spread of malaria, the role of social/cultural influences and share community health promotion and wellness strategies.…
“Race is a cultural construct, but one with deadly social causes and consequences” (Lipsitz 2). In his book, The Possessive Investment in Whiteness: How White People Profit From Identity Politics, George Lipsitz argues that it is in the best interest of white Americans to “invest in whiteness, to remain true to an identity that provides them with resources, power, and opportunity (Lipsitz vii).” Lipsitz’s book gives a substantial amount of evidence to show America’s investment in whiteness with historical facts, stories, and statistics. Although at times Lipsitz’s arguments are biased and hard to reference, because overall he gives competent, emotional, and logical evidence, it does not deter from his main argument that Americans do indeed have an investment in whiteness and his assertion that it is the duty of every person of color to take action to rid of this investment.…
By the 1960s, Arthur G. Gaston was probably the richest black man in America. Born in 1893, Gaston grew up in poverty in the small town of Demopolis, Alabama. Working as a coal miner, he tried out an idea to turn a profit by selling boxed lunches prepared by his mother to his fellow miners. It was such a success that he started to sell popcorn and peanuts on the side. Gaston saved an amazing two-thirds of his combined income at this time. Once he had enough money in hand, he took on the informal role of banker, extending loans at 25 percent interest to his coworkers. Gaston also started a quasi-insurance company which helped coal miner widows berry their husbands. He began with insurance but didn’t stop there. Gatson opened up a mortuary…
Shelby Steele uses a select choice of diction, word choice, and language to her advantage in order to convey "being black and middle class". A perfect example is when Steele says, "Not long ago a friend of mine said to me that the term "black middle class" was actually a contradiction in terms. Race, he insisted, blurred class distinctions among blacks. But today, when I honestly look at my life and the lives of many other middle-class blacks I know, I can see that race never fully explained our situation in American society." The author uses strong diction and tone, along with words such as contradiction and blurred to explain that American society has a problem with distinguishing classes by race. His well-built belief that being black does not automatically put you into a certain class is greatly exhibited. Another great example in which Steele uses intricate language to convey his ideas was when he said, "...Still, hate or love aside, it is fundamentally true that my middle-class identity involved a dissociation from images of lower-class black life and a corresponding identification with values and patterns of responsibility that are common to the middle class everywhere..." The complex language, through phrases like "fundamentally true" and "dissociation from images" help put across this idea that by being a middle-class black, his values are more associated with the common middle class white family and their values, instead of the stereotypical lower-class black life. Lastly, there's one more quote in which I thought Steele used diction and language to his advantage, and that was when he said, "This is a profound encumbrance today, when there is more opportunity for blacks than ever before, for it reimposes limitations that can have the same oppressive effect as those the society has only recently begun to remove." Phrases such as "profound encumbrance", "reimposes limitations", and "oppressive effect"…
A great writer once said, "Those who the Gods would make powerful must first organize." Dr. Claude Anderson displays a straight forward manner in presenting how the labor of black men and women, from the days of slavery to present, helped to lay the wealth building foundation for this country. Dr. Anderson, based on his background, is well qualified to write about this subject. Anderson is president of PowerNomics Corporation of America, a corporation that is involved in major business development (PowerNomics, 2007). He first drew the nation's attention to the advantages of rebuilding the black communities in this reading of Black Labor White Wealth. Widely recognized as one of America's most influential, intellectuals and authors, it has been said that Dr. Anderson "popularized" Black history (PowerNomics,2007).…
In the American Apartheid, Massey and Denton argue that discrimination in employment in the early 19th century confined low-wage blacks to particular neighborhood areas, and that in the 1960s, discrimination in housing specifically caused this segregation to continue. Unlike other formally marginalized groups, like immigrants, whose enclaves collapsed as they assimilated into new communities, blacks were held apart by means of violence, gentrification, restrictive covenants (contracts stating that a house could not be sold to people of or outside a particular race, outlawed in Shelley v. Kraemer (1948)), lack of access to housing subsidies due to redlining, and well-cloaked urban…