The American culture had been dealing with controversial issues throughout its history, from slavery in the 17th and 18th centuries to immigration in present times. No matter how serious the issue seems to be the American culture faces its biggest and toughest problems with extreme delicacy and seriousness. But there is one issue that seems to be repeatedly put behind the curtains and left unsettled. This issue involves serving the Unites States Armed Forces while being openly gay. For a country that makes the statement that the Unites States is the country of opportunity and freedom, this statement is nothing but a cheap propaganda that contradicts itself by denying its citizens the right to serve their country just because their sexual orientation.
Racism is a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and those racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race. Prejudice is an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics. Xenophobia is the fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners or of anything that is strange or foreign. And ethnocentrism is characterized by or based on the attitude that one’s own group is superior. Although each word has their own specific meaning, all four are interconnected creating the same product that is nothing but hate and violence towards mankind.
The world has, and will always face the problem of discrimination, Discrimination is highly discussed and a big problem in society today, and yet no permanent solution has been found. Many countries around the world subscribe to one main type of discrimination that affects different groups of people. The definition of discrimination is the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, caused by factors such as, colour of their skin, gender or religion. The world we live in today has been struggling with discrimination for over 100 years. Alot of people think/believe discrimination has made big steps forward, but has it really?
However, the debate still rages throughout the world on the legitimacy of gay marriage, particularly in the United States of America where there is a large conservative and religiously fundamental community. In his essay, “For Gay Marriage,” Andrew Sullivan believes that marriage is a “public contract between...two people,” (266) no matter what each person’s sexual orientation happens to be. He considers legalizing gay marriage a step towards equality among all people. Conversely, William J. Bennett, in “Against Gay Marriage”, argues that sanctioning gay marriage would harm the tradition of marriage, and bring chaos to humanity. This essay will attempt to establish that, compared to Bennett, Sullivan provides the reader with the more complete and sincere argument backed with valid assumptions and an effective use of literary devices.
Have ways changed? Are we able to maintain control of our actions? Well I am here to say to you the reader, NO WAY!! Racism and sexism still define some of the most brutal parts of today’s society. Racism is the biggest problem still in today’s society.
For instance, the African American niche station BET (Black Entertainment Television) was found to, “represent a venue of minority voices, [but] it is also a source of problematic representations of gender” according to Melinda Messineo. This television station provides desired representations for their culture that could not of been easily afforded if on any other white dominated television station. With this said, automatically, their advertisements are going to be biased towards the African American stereotype. This would be just as true with any other television station with predominantly white viewership. Print media has always interpreted heterosexual culture over homosexual culture in America wrong simply because it is the stereotypical way of doing it.
The harsh conditions that the prisoners were faced with are a major violation of human rights by the United States. Many countries look to the United States when it comes to human rights and would like to instill them in their country. But constantly the US violates human rights and gets away with it. Our actions aren’t setting a good example for other countries because if we can’t
With the agenda that media of all sorts throws at people everywhere they turn, what does this do to a person’s perception of love, relationships and sex? “The American Culture values connection and intimacy above everything else. Because this culture’s greatest fear is being alone- according to the media in which Americans are constantly immersed” (Kircher & Kircher, 2011, p. 69). Can the very technology that is depended on by this culture help intimacy? In some ways it can, but not without paying the price on relationships.
Everybody has personal prejudices based on race and it is inevitable. To deny them would only result in you lying to yourself. Racism, discrimination, white privilege, and prejudices are very real and exist around us. The following paper will conclude the differences between Race, Racism, discrimination, white privilege, and prejudices and will give thorough explanations of what each word means in America’s society today. A solid start to understanding the differences is to understand what race is and the role it plays.
How would you feel if someone randomly approached to you and tell you “you’re gay”? Yes, you, like me or everyone else in this classroom, would definitely be angry and baffled because you take that comment as condescending. It generally means stupid or weird, but as you all may know, the word “gay” stands up for something else as well – a homosexual person. Homosexuality, (or bisexuality inclusive), has been the key word for ethical, religious, social, or any kinds of debate in the United States in the recent years. Despite such rapid development of human beings and extensive globalization, our view towards people who are different from us still remains narrow and conservative.