Race and Racism free essay sample

Racism, this simple word conjures up images of abhorrence and suffering. Brother hating brother because of the colour of their skin. Whole ethnicities of people discriminated against because they are different, and the discriminators are not taking the time to understand them and their culture. There is a book called â€Å"Racism, a very short introduction† by Ali Rattansi, in this essay I will justify that this book is superior to the book â€Å"Black in Latin America† by Henry Louis Gates in explaining racism to me. Both books do a sufficient job of explaining racism from a technical analysis and a historic point of view, but I feel that Rattansi has provided an enhanced understanding of racism and how society arrived at that conclusion. These are the reasons why: 1) Rattansi does not restrict himself to one geographic area (the Caribbean) as Gates does. 2) Rattansi discusses a number of definitions connecting science and racism. We will write a custom essay sample on Race and Racism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page (Rattansi 2007: 2) 3) Gates talks mostly about his experiences in various cultures as they relate to his travel through various countries around the Caribbean. (Gates 2011: 2), while Rattansi covers broader topics that are not limited to his personal views and experiences. This essay will explore those reasons and expand on them while defeating the counter arguments against this point of view while educating the reader about the implications of creating an anti-racist society. In the first argument Rattansi looks at racist themes from all different places around the world. For example one area of focus is anti-Semitism, he talks about how the Jewish people are not loyal to any one country but to the Jewish faith all together and that instills fear from Europeans who are loyal to their country. (Rattansi 2007: 56) Rattansi taught us about the 18th century English people and their views on the native Indians from India. The English brutally took over their lands and imposed a foreign culture on them, despite the way that they felt; they adopted native dress and married Indian women. (Rattansi 2007: 47) Also discussed in Rattansi’s book was about the symbolism that occurred in the European Middle Ages. Christianity made the association between darkness with filth and evil, and light which was associated with purity and goodness. This could be seen as the earliest form of racism, judging someone based on their appearance. (Rattansi 2007:17) In chapter 8 the reader learns about British Immigration Policy around the 1940’s, Britain encouraged the immigration of Black and Chinese people for labour purposes. This lead to a â€Å"coloured minority† population explosion. (Rattansi 2007: 151-152) Sadly most of these people were given back breaking labour with little pay and horrible working conditions simply because of the colour of their skin. Secondly Rattansi’s book explores the science behind racist ideals. Eugenics is the study of race, which was supported by â€Å"Social Darwinism†. Basically Darwin’s theory of survival of the fittest is reflected here, inferior cultures and races should be supressed or bred out to support only the superior â€Å"master race†. (Rattnasi 2007: 54) Scientific Racism is based on genetics and how each race is different to each other based on their genetic and phonotypical variation. (Rattansi 2007: 72) One study even went as far as to measure the heads of black persons and compared them with heads of white women; both were considered inferior compared to the head of a white male. However scientific racism was deemed as nonsensical and lacked creditability. (Rattansi 2007: 74) The last argument is that Rattansi covers a broader range of topics relating to racism ranging from the Greeks to the medieval era to Immigration in the US and even the case of Enoch Powell and his denial of being a racist. (Rattansi 2007: 93) He looks at the history of racism and provides details behind events leading to discoveries and theories behind them. This essay will now provide a counter argument in favor of Gate’s book for all points listed as my thesis. The first argument is about geographic area, while Gates writes mostly about his experiences in Latin America and the Caribbean he does expand his scope to Africa where the majority of slaves (11. 2 million) were taken from. (Gates 2011: 2). Another point was about how European people emigrated from various countries to provide services of â€Å"whitening†. (Gates 2011: 10) Rattansi did an excellent job of covering racism from a scientific perspective, but in Gate’s defense, he covered the classification of skin colours from all the different countries he visited. That is an aspect of science, botanists and explores have to scientifically classify their discoveries usually using Latin names. A complete list of each country and the way that they distinguish various skin colours ranging from very light to absolute black can be found in the appendix. (Gates 2011: 223) In the argument of broad topics not relating to personal experience can be won by looking at how Gates covers the culture and history of each country’s people. In Haiti he talks about Vodou, (Gates 2011: 157) in Brazil they have Capoeira, which is a martial art disguised as dancing. (Gates 2011: 24-25). Mexicans have their folk hero, a comic book character named Memin Pinguin. African-Americans were outraged claiming that the character was a racist portrayal of blacks, but the Mexicans loved him. (Gates 2011: 82) This just proves that there are many things that Gate’s explains that are not based upon his personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Both books by Gates and Rattansi have explained their positions on race, class, and those who would discriminate against them. I have observed a common theme that both books portray, which is the implication of fighting racism. I believe that it is educating other people about various cultures, races, and ethnicities. Knowledge is the best way to overcome prejudice, and xenophobia. Both books educate the reader about how we as a society are biologically the same. We have families, passions, cultures, and the right to life free from fear. Although there has been a rise in support for neo-fascists in the last decade of the 20th century, there needs to be a movement to end it. (Rattansi 2007: 164) In this essay we have looked at three reasons why I feel that Rattansi’s book has best explained racism to me. We also divulged into a counter argument in the favor of Gate’s book, and looked at the implications of fighting racism. In conclusion the author of this paper would like to suggest some ways to fight racism and abolish it like the way that slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888. (Gates 2011:16) Education may be the best way to overcome the ignorance that is a main part of racism. One can look at the scientific reasons behind skin colour, which darker pigments evolved as a result of the climates that people lived in, and that human blood types have no co-relation with skin colour. (Rattansi 2007: 74) Taking action against racism can be done by using common sense, embarrassing those with racial beliefs, writing blogs about equality and fairness, and refusing to patronize businesses that promote racism and hatred. Fighting racism can also be accomplished right in your own backyard, if you hear a discriminatory joke coming from a family member, co-worker or friend; stand up to them and mention its inappropriateness. Educate your children that the world’s population comes in many colours and cultures, take them to cultural events and restaurants. It is up to you, gentle reader, to fight racism however you can and make the world a better place.

A Very Short History of Chad, Africa

A Very Short History of Chad, Africa Brief History of Chad Chad is one of several potential sites for the cradle of humankind in Africa following the discovery of seven-million-year-old human-like skull, now known as the Toumaà ¯ (Hope of life) skull. 7000 years ago the region was not as arid as it is today cave paintings depict elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, cattle, and camels. People lived and farmed around the shores of lakes in the north central basin of the Sahara. The indigenous Sao people who lived along the Chari river during the first millennia CE were absorbed by the Kamen-Bornu and Baguirmi kingdoms (which stretched from Lake Chad deep into the Sahara) and the region became a crossroads for the trans-Saharan trade routes. Following the collapse of the central kingdoms, the region became something of a backwater ruled by local tribes and regularly raided by Arab slavers. Conquered by the French during the last decade of the 19th century, the territory was declared pacified in 1911. The French initially placed control of the region under a governor-general in Brazzaville (Congo), but in 1910 Chad was joined to the larger federation of Afrique Équatoriale Franà §aise (AEF, French Equatorial Africa). It was not until 1914 that the north of Chad was finally occupied by the French. The AEF was dissolved in 1959, and independence followed on 11 August 1960 with Francois Tombalbaye as Chads first president. It was not long, unfortunately, before civil war erupted between the Muslim north and Christian/animist south. Tombalbaye rule became more brutal and in 1975 General Felix Malloum took power in a coup. He was replaced by Goukouni Oueddei after another coup in 1979. Power changed hands twice more by coup: to Hissà ¨ne Habrà © in 1982, and then to Idriss Dà ©by in 1990. The first multi-party, democratic elections held since independence reaffirmed Dà ©by in 1996.

EU Integration and Citizenship Law Dissertation

EU Integration and Citizenship Law - Dissertation Example EU is, however, a work in progress and while it is done with such tasks as border control and economic integration, the Union has to move on to the more difficult areas – home affairs, immigration, defense, among others – which have strong social dimensions. As more and more states aspire for EU membership to partake of this umbrella of protection, its further enlargement poses new challenges to European integration. For one, the nature and histories of the possible candidates for new membership are unlike any of the existing member states. The problem becomes even more complicated after EU approved the Maastricht Treaty establishing the Citizenship-of-the-Union law, which many perceive as an attempt to reconfigure and supersede the national citizenship and identities of member states. This EU-wide citizenship statute has stimulated an acrimonious debate about the social, political and citizenship structure of an enlarged Union. In essence, the debate centers on whether it is wise for EU to make forward steps to strengthen European citizenship or keep it as a largely theoretical proposition. Should people under EU be called European citizens and in the process forget their original British, French, or Turkish citizenships, as the case may be? Or should they be allowed to assume a new EuroEuropean citizenship on top of their respective national identities? This paper examines the relationship between EU integration and the implementation of the new citizenship law for Europeans. Special attention will be given to the causes and effects, the pros and cons, and the conceptual basis of identity formation on the community, national and regional levels. The objective of the treatise is three-fold: 1) illumine the reasons for the enactment of the EU citizenship law and its relevance to the integration process; 2) assess the validity of the objections to the idea of European citizenship; and 3) determine what form and characteristics of European citizenship would find greater acceptance. 2. Enlargement and Integration Further enlargement is a necessity for EU because it would serve to strengthen the Union's capability to maintain the balance of peace in the continent1. As the Union counts more member states, it becomes stronger in the process. The earliest nucleus of EU was composed of Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Ireland, UK, Luxembourg and Netherlands. They were joined by Greece in 1981 and Portugal and Spain in 1986. Austria, Finland and Sweden followed in 1995. The year 2003 saw the accession of a group consisting of Cypress, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, while

Bhopal Disaster Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Bhopal Disaster - Essay Example Regardless of the overall loss of life or the nature of the explosion that caused the subsequent release, the pertinent business issue associated with such a horrifying event is seeking to determine culpability for the tragedy. As such, this essay will discuss overall culpability as well as seek to define where ownership begins and culpability ends. Before delving into such a topic and seeking to weigh economic costs and benefits, the author of this piece feels incumbent to reiterate the sheer scale of this disaster so that the reader might not in any way seem to misunderstand that this analysis has not taken into full account the suffering and loss of life that such a careless and poorly managed disaster has effected on countless rural and working poor in Bhopal, India (Bloch 2012). As such, although this analysis will seek to determine the overall level to which a business entity should be held responsible for a tragedy of epic proportions, such an analysis will seek to address bot h moral and ethical issues associated with the Bhopal crisis without merely focusing on the positive and negative business factors that could affect such a decision. Only days after the Bhopal disaster, CEO of Union Carbide was testifying before the United States Congress exalting the â€Å"commitment to safety† that Union Carbide has exhibited in the past and plans to exhibit in the future with reference to ensuring such an incident would never occur again. Ultimately, Union Carbide agreed to pay over 300 million USD to the victims of the Bhopal disaster as a means to attempt to evade any further litigation surrounding the matter. However, due to the sheer size and scope of the Bhopal tragedy, such a sidestep was impossible (Kripalanin 2008). Eventually, the legal ramifications of the Bhopal disaster forced Union Carbide to divest itself entirely of its Indian holdings and sell of the remainder of its operations within the subcontinent. As such, many individuals, both within India and within the remainder of the world thought that a likely end to the legal wrangling surrounding the Bhopal incident would likely draw to a close. However, this was not the case. Due to the sheer size en horror of the incident, it remained indelibly seared onto the minds of the populace and government entities within India. As a function of this, when DOW chemical bought some of the components that originally constituted Union Carbide in 2002, many officials within the Indian government as well as human rights activists that had closely monitored the legal back and forth between Union Carbide and its affiliates in the wake of the disaster began to make immediate demands upon DOW chemical to don the mantle of responsibility for the disaster (Ali 2012). Eager to have a recognizable MNC at the helm of the now defunct portions of Union Carbide, many believed that DOW should be responsible for the final remediation and civic responsibility associated with the Bhopal disaster. At the risk of sounded calloused and with a long and storied reputation to uphold, DOW chemical found itself at a severe impasse. Rather than outright denying the claim and risking alienating key shareholders within one of the fastest growing markets in the world, DOW found itself

Primary and Support Activities of Value Chain Essay Example for Free

Primary and Support Activities of Value Chain Essay Raytheon Company has created new software that improves the logistics system of the company by providing constant tracking data of all products in the inventory, which has saved the company nearly $9M. MTrak is a web-based system that includes the Microsoft . Net technology, which is used to capture bar-code scans and combines it with information from the mainframe computer to provide tracking of all inventories anywhere within the company. A lot of stuff got lost, company had to have multiple people sitting by the phones to take the calls asking where the parts were. The creation of MTrak brings Raytheon online with its competitors in the industry. While the system does not create a competitive advantage to Raytheon, it does negate the disadvantage of a bad supply control system. The creation of MTrak contributes to the entire value chain by tracking the products from the beginning of the chain at Inbound Logistics, through Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing and Sales, through to the end of the chain at Service. The Technology and Competitive Forces The major problem at Raytheon was lost inventory. The suppliers were not to blame because they were able to account for every piece of property they supplied through their fully automated supply chains. From the beginning, the goal was to create a system that would track all materials used by Raytheon such as resistors, capacitors and customized computer chips from the time of order through receiving, testing, placement in inventory and final use in a military field radio, handheld motion sensor or some other Raytheon product . Whenever Raytheon received calls for a missing delivery personnel would physically search the area to see if the product was still there. In some cases, if the item couldn’t be found the employees would reorder the item so production schedules could be met.. The MTrak is a web-based system that includes such technologies as Microsoft . Net and Biz Talk 2004. These technologies, which captures bar-code scans and other information on incoming deliveries, combine it with other information from the mainframe system such as purchase-order inventory, anufacture-scheduling data. The integration of the MTrak and mainframe computers is possible through the use of software provided by WRQ Verastream. This system lets employees track the status and movement of parts throughout the entire company from a web browser. Competitive Forces-Value Chain The Value Chain consists of five Primary Value Chain Activities and four generic categories of support activities. The primary value chain activ ities are supported by the generic categories. In this case the primary chain activities that are being supported are the Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, and Marketing and Sales. The supporting category is Technology Development. Raytheon created this technology in-house with publicly available software. Even though integrating the software into the daily business of the company did not create a competitive advantage, Raytheon was able to save money in many areas including lost inventory, delayed production, and outsourcing software development. Supporting the Company The MTrak tracking system provides a state-of-the-art software package that provides Raytheon with the means to track its entire inventory throughout the entire company from a web browser. This technology improves the value chain of the entire company. Though the use of this technology, Raytheon will be on a level playing field with other companies in the industry. It may even spur Raytheon an advantage in the future as the company continues to grow.

Langston Hughes and Religion Essay -- African American Poets Poetry Li

Langston Hughes and Religion Langston Hughes in several poems denounced religion, inferring that religion did not exist any longer. In reading these poems, the reader canes that Hughes was expressing his feelings of betrayal and abandonment, against his race, by religion and the church. Hughes had a talent for writing poems that would start a discussion. From these discussions, Hugh es could only hope for realization from the public, of how religion and the church treated the Black race. Hughes wrote two poems that generated a lot of discussion about religion and African-Americans. One was â€Å"Drama for Winter Night (Fifth Avenue),† the other was â€Å"Goodbye Christ.† Once when Hughes was asked about religion, he responded, â€Å" I grew up in a not very religious family, but I had a foster aunt who saw that I went to church and Sunday school† (qtd. In Emanuel 914). Even though Hughes grew up attending church and Sunday school he could see how religion and churches treated his race. This is evident in â€Å"Drama for Winter Night (Fifth Avenue)†. The poem begins: You can’t sleep here My good man, You can’t sleep here. This is the house of God. The usher opens the church door and goes out. (1-5). In doing this, the usher of the church on â€Å"Fifth Avenue,† abandoned someone less fortunate in order to maintain a good appearance. This â€Å"house of God,† which should be opening its doors to give a he lping hand, turns away a man in need of help. Hughes shows betrayal in the same poem, when the less fortunate man asks St. Peter if he can stay. St. Peter replies, â€Å"You ca... ...nt of the Black race by religion and the church. I feel Hughes was successful in this endeavor. Hughes sums his whole perspective of religion, the church and the Black race, when he told a reporter, â€Å"Religion is one of the innate needs of mankind. What I am against is the misuse of religion.† (qtd. Emanuel 914). Works Cited Berry, Faith. â€Å"On Hughes’s Repudiation of ‘Goodbye Christ.’ â€Å" Meyer. 916-17 Emanuel, James A. â€Å"Hughes’s Attitudes toward Religion.† Meyer. 914-15. Hughes, Langston. â€Å"Drama for Winter Night (Fifth Avenue).† Meyer. 891: ---. â€Å"Goodbye Christ.† Meyer 898-99. Meyer, Michael. ed. â€Å"Langston Hughes (1902-1967).† The Bedford Introduction to Literature 4th ed. Boston: St. Mart in’s Press,1996. 883-89. Meyer, Michael. ed. The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 4th ed.Boston: St.Martin’s

1984 and V for Vendetta Comparing and Contrasting Essay

George Orwell’s 1984 and the movie V for Vendetta both have similar views on how society is being run. Since The book 1984 was written before V for Vendetta, so perhaps V for Vendetta may have based some of its ideas on this book. Both 1984 and V for Vendetta have similarities like the way the themes and how the male protagonists are the one in charge of overturning the government. The first similarity between 1984 and V for Vendetta is that the society is being run by totalitarian rule. It is the government that controls the lives of the people and how the society should be run. In 1984, ‘Big Brother’ aka the Inner party, is the figure that keeps an eye on the people and uses telescreens to watch their movement while in V for Vendetta; ‘Leader’ aka Adam Susan, is in charge of England, its people and the Norsefire party. Another thing is that both factions have secret police. The jobs of the secret police in 1984 and V for Vendetta are basically the same as they spy for the government and try to capture people who are against the government. The people are being controlled by the leaders of their country to make sure they behave themselves and not try to rebel. The contrast between 1984 and V for Vendetta for the totalitarian rule are a bit different. In 1984, the government, more specifically the inner party, watches every move of the people and check carefully what they do while in V for Vendetta the government, more specifically the Norsefire Party, is a bit more lenient as they don’t set up cameras on the houses of every people but still set up cameras on public properties. The secret police are quite different in 1984 and V for Vendetta as in 1984, the secret police are deeply loyal to the inner party and don’t express their behaviours like in sexual desires unlike the secret police in V for Vendetta as in page 11, the secret police tried to attempt rape on Evey. Also in V for Vendetta, there are also normal police forces unlike in 1984. Freedom of speech, freedom of your owns thoughts and actions, the right to happiness. In our society today, we have all these rights, but imagine if we id not. 1984, written by George Orwell, and V for Vendetta, directed by James McTeigue, both paint accurately scary descriptions about the government in the future and the dystopian society. 1984, written in 1949, was intended to be a portrayal of the future and V for Vendetta, made in 2005, shows Britain in power in 2038. Both of these pieces of literature were not far off from their description. As every single year passes by, our own society starts to reflect images from these books. When the government has this much power over the people, the people rebel, but can they be a success or not? 1984, written by George Orwell, illustrates a perfect example of a dystopian government. The setting is in Oceania, Britain. The government is full of spies and secret police that carefully watch the common people for any mistake they might make that can harm the government in any way. As shown with Winston Smith, the protagonist of the novel and many other citizens in Oceania, the government manipulates these characters into their pawns. The government asserts their power over the people in many ways. They have large telescreens in the people’s houses. The telescreens show the government what people are doing at all times. It can be dimmed down, but can never be turned off. Although Oceania is well off in money, the government rations food. The government’s philosophy is that if the people are given too much to eat, then they will learn to think for themselves and will see all the atrocities that the government commits and rebel. All the records of the past have been omitted and destroyed and created all over again to fit the government’s beliefs and to show that the government is always right. Big Brother has its own secret police, the Thought Police the themes were similar but there were many differences as well. for example, the resistance in 1984 was subtle if it existed at all while the resistance in v for vendetta was violent and actively opposing the government through force.