Race and Ethic in our Society Gertrude Perkins ENG125: Introduction to Literature Instructor: Paul Wiltz July 2, 2012 Race and Ethics in our Society Racism and Ethics in “Country Lovers” and “What it’s Like to be a Black Girl” both of these reading are told by a young black girl who have struggled with being discriminated against them. Both of these girls deal with discrimination on their lives because they are black. Whereas “Nadine Gordimer” and “Patricia Smith” in “Country Lovers” and “What it’s like to be a Black Girl” reveal the themes of race and ethnicity versus ethics to underscore the meaning of discrimination. Each author also uses themes of gender role and growing up to argue the ideas of a person’s role in to society. Racism is something that people deal with daily.
UNIVERSITY OF PUNE ABEDA INAMDAR SENIOR COLLEGE Topic: Racial Discrimination in The Bluest Eyes Paper: Fiction, IV (3.4) By: Kwran Omar Mustafa Roll NO. : 29 Email: kwranmustafa@yahoo.com Cellphone No: 8421783804 2011 - 2012 Introduction This paper is about the issue of discrimination on the ground of race against blacks an American novel, The Bluest eye by Toni Morrison. In the novel it is shown how blacks are treated as the Other and sub human by the American white racists during the slavery period. In the paper the racial discrimination against blacks is elucidated and illustrated by referring to some specific situations in the story of the novel. Two kinds of racial discrimination is pointed out, one is white against blacks and the second one is blacks against blacks.
How far did conditions for black Americans improve in the period 1945-56? Civil right was a major issue in America during 1945-56, especially in the Deep South. This was because conditions of African Americans didn’t improve much, it was mainly the start to any change that happened, with some limited progress. The first issue is ‘Jim crow’ laws; this was a law in the Southern states of America that introduced segregation between black and white people, by passing laws which denied them access to white facilities. Many of these facilities were, education, healthcare, transport, cinemas, restaurants and churches and even housing and estates were segregated.
In this short essay I will define institutional racism, its history in American and who it mostly affects. Institutional racism also known as institutional oppression refers to racism perpetrated by government entities, major cooperation’s, schools, the courts or the military (Moore 2008). Unlike the racism perpetrated by individuals, institutional racism has the power to negatively affect the bulk of people belonging to a minority group. This form of racism still persists in America because dominant groups are unwilling to share or give up the benefits inherited from past generations. Through numerous examples, Institutional Racism demonstrates how inequality and racial exclusion are embedded within the fabric of American society.
In Kate Chopin’s short story “Desiree’s Baby” she attempts to show the racial ideologies that were prevalent in her day. She does this by not only implementing a shocking twist into her story but by using very subtle clues that can be found upon close study. By comparing the circumstances in her character’s lives before and after they become “aware” of their own or other’s racial heritage, Chopin points out that blacks were seen as an unhappy, miserable people and that only among whites can true happiness be found. Chopin creates these differences by using imagery and descriptions to stereotype both the blacks and whites in her story. While examining the circumstances surrounding Desiree’s life after she “becomes” black we can see Chopin’s genius at work.
They are still considered inferior by some people. Many of the traumas, injustices and pains caused by slavery have never been solved and they remain in the minds of African- American people as a terrible heritage of that era. It has been almost impossible for the African-American families to create a stable and safe home where they could bring up their children. I am going to focus on the issue of separating the families, mothers and children and on the problem of the impossibility education of black children by their mothers as it is depicted in Uncle Tom´s Cabin. 1.
Many still face injustices of racism even in today’s world, where major inhumane actions such as slavery are largely a thing of the past. I interpret Margaret Walker’s quote in a variety of ways. First, I think she goes out of her way to point out the struggles of many African Americans in an elegant and unique way. The dehumanizing of slavery and segregation is something that I believe has happened many times. It’s easy to study these subjects time and time again and become numb to the fact that real people had to suffer through such conditions.
For over a century, women have been speaking about the double enslavement of black women and how not only are they handicapped on account of their sex, but they are mocked almost everywhere because of their race as well. In “Multiple Jeopardy, Multiple Consciousness: The Context of a Black Feminist Ideology,” Deborah King illustrates how the dual discriminations of racism and sexism remain pervasive, and how class inequality compounds those oppressions. In the case of Pecola Breedlove, the protagonist of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, this triple jeopardy of race, gender, and class ultimately leave her feeling socially powerless in society. Pecola must suffer all the burdens of prejudice of having dark skin, as well as bear the additional burden of having to cope with white and black men because of her sex. The beauty standards of white Western culture, the sexual abuse of Pecola by her father, and Pecola’s low economic status have multiplicative effects on Pecola and all aid in her progressive alienation from society as well as her fall towards insanity.
African-American author Toni Morrison’s book, Beloved, describes a black culture born out of a dehumanising period of slavery just after the Civil War. Culture is a means of how a group collectively believe, act, and interact on a daily basis. Those who have studied her work refer to Morrison’s narrative tales as “literature…that addresses the sacred and as an allegorical representation of black experience” (Baker-Fletcher 1993: 2). Although African Americans had a difficult time establishing their own culture during the period of slavery when they were considered less than human, Morrison believes that black culture has been built on the horrors of the past and it is this history that has shaped contemporary black culture in a positive way. Through the use of linguistic devices, her representation of black women, imagery and symbolic features, and the theme of interracial relations, Morrison illustrates that black culture that is resilient, vibrant, independent, and determined.
For example to discriminate socially is to make a difference among people on the basis of class or group without regarding one’s value. There are some instances of social discrimination such as disability, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and ethnicity. There are still some forms of discrimination in society today as one knows discrimination has been around for centuries that date back to slavery of African Americans. Society has made some improvements on how society deals with discrimination, which is still a major problem in America society. It is not only occurring in certain parts of the world but also over the United States.