The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is set in 1885 America, roughly twenty years before the Civil War. Although slavery had been abolished by the time the novel had been published, racism was still a major issue in the country. The black Americans were belittled and termed as “niggers”. According to Grogan the derogatory term nigger or negro is believed by etymologists to have derived from “… a Northern English word neger that was itself derived from Negro, the Spanish word for black. Despite stemming from fairly neutral root words, they were manipulated specifically to provoke and hurt.” (1) This label was also given as a way to dehumanise black Americans as it places them in an inferior category within society and establishes the superiority of white Americans over them.
In 2008, a black man was elected the President of the United States. African Americans have come a long way and made a lot of progress in society. It seems as if the movement is over, yet there are still subtle inequalities all around in education and the workforce. Black people still have the problem of stereotyping and racial profiling. Seventeen-year-old Trayvon Martin was gunned down and murdered by a neighbor as he walked home from the store in February 2012 because of racial profiling (Martin).
Haiti and the Dominican Republic have long been divided by their culture, heritage and language. The people of Haiti speak Creole, and are mainly of African ancestry. Whereas Dominicans speak Spanish and identify themselves with their European and Amerindian ancestry; rejecting their black heritage. To be Haitian, is to be black and that is something Dominicans do not want to identify themselves with. Antihaitianismo ideology has long permeated the Dominican Republic’s culture, their ideology and identity.
Calling Nooses What They Are –Terrorism vs. Ignore the Noose Makers George Curry starts off his essay by stating a few incidents where nooses have been publicly displayed as an act of racism. He also states the high frequency of such events “Hardly a week passes without reports of some incident involving a noose…” Curry then talks about the origins of the noose in southern America post-civil war. According to Curry, African Americans in the south were viewed as cruel and harmful for white women. He also stated that the lynching of black people was often used as public displays to show Caucasian dominance over African Americans.
Roxanne states, “two Barney’s customers, Trayon Christian and Kayla Phillips, said last week that they were racially profiled and detained by police after making expensive purchases." She hopes that Jay-Z will use his "celebrity leverage" to bring retail racism to light. Roxanne says, "Racial profiling has been “business as usual" for too long. Jay has the power to bring change. And I'm betting Brooklyn's finest will rise to the occasion."
He also brings up about how civil right leaders have the right to bash these black celebrities that are putting down their own race. They fought so hard to be free and have the same rights as a white person so he is confused on why they would bash their own race. He should have added more statistics and maybe where he got his facts. He says the homicide is on the rise for black woman and rape is often found with black girls primarily. Where did he get those statistics?
Brent Staples opens his essay “Just Walk on By: Black Men and Public Spaces” provocatively to make a point through example. Upon reading “my first victim was a woman—white, well dressed, probably in her early twenties,” many will conclude that Staples assaulted the woman. After reading and learning similar assumptions made about Staples based on his race, readers may feel sheepish about their prior thoughts (Staples 404). Staples’s ironic, bitter tone demonstrates that he wants their guilt to stay with them, keeping them from judging as quickly in the future. Many could argue they could not possibly have judged Staples’ race in just the first sentence since he never once describes himself.
. A prejudice person uses the term "niggerr-lover" to put out the idea that an induvidual is treating an African-American with special rights. In other words, giving an African-American respect, which was unheard of in the past. Atticus is givin the job of defending Tom Robinson in court against his charges of raping Mayella Ewell. Throughout the entire process of the preparing for the trial, Atticus treats Tom no differantly than he would treat any white man.
A Question of Identity We, no doubt are aware that America is a melting pot of ethnic, persuasion and diversion. Americans often classify people by these measures. However, in certain circumstances these traditional measures do not apply. For example, how would one measure a Puerto Rican of Latino origin who possesses a “black as carbon skin”? (128) In America there exist a parody between skin color and ethnicity: race and ethnicity are often confused and creates questions of identity of the people subjected there under.
(179) Rose makes a good point when she says that had he beaten up the white business man, he could have waved good-bye to his career. His attack attracted media coverage that perpetuated the notion that black men are aggressively uncouth, but at least, in the eyes of the some, he was only hurting his own race. Written in 1994, Black Noise does not dissect that since the 1991 beating, which caused Barnes to file a multimillion dollar lawsuit that has taken an extremely long time to settle (itself an interesting point), Dr. Dre has gone on to tag team a song with Eminem that references the incident. “Guilty Conscience” off the Slim Shady LP features Dr. Dre as the conscience and Eminem as the devil on the shoulder as a series of scenarios play out. At the end of the song, a man named Grady finds his wife in bed with another man, and the following takes place: [Eminem] Okay!