Analysis Of The Trouble With Wilderness By William Cronon

Race is still an open topic in America and in the world, as it has always implied differentiation, inequalities and division among human beings, and has been the basis for some of the most tragic events in history.

We should learn to respect wilderness by how it is. In the article, “The Trouble with Wilderness; or, Getting Back to the Wrong Nature” by William Cronon, it says that we should learn to honor and respect the wild. This concept relates with the Yellowstone National Park. It talked about how people had different views and values towards Yellowstone. Cronon mentions that we should think about nature in a sustainable way also. That means to consider it in non-use. So bears should not be fed by humans, especially since they cannot tell the difference between natural and unnatural food sources. Also, fires should not be caused intentionally because human lives and homes are at stake. Causing intentional fires can also significantly change the landscape.

As humans, or better put, as animals, we need the wilderness to remind us that we are small even insignificant. These large empty spaces, no matter where they are, forces us to realize that we are part of something bigger. When we create a world made purely of technology, we lose part of our animal selves and we are not happy. In “Wilderness Letter” Wallace Stegner outlines the idea of wilderness and how we need that idea in order to be happy. While making a point about becoming stuck forever in our own world, Stegner writes, “Without any remaining wilderness we are committed wholly, without chance for even momentary reflection or rest, to a headlong drive into our technological termite-life” (111). The wilderness allows us to be outside

A Wilderness so Immense by John Kukla explores the events leading up to and the enduring effects of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Kukla begins his story almost twenty years before Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France and analyzes how factors ranging from major revolutions to personal relationships all culminated to make the most famous land acquisition in American history possible. He argues that the Louisiana Purchase was not only a case a good luck on Jefferson’s part or solely the result of Napoleon’s failed caribbean ambitions, as some historians that came before him argued. Rather, Kukla explains that the roots of American expansionism are older than the republic itself. American politicians worked and made very

Humans define race by how they conceive and categorize different social realities. Thus, race is often referred to as a social construct. The differences in skin color and facial characteristics have led most of society to classify humans into groups instead of individuals. These constructs affect us all, and they often result in situations where majority racial groups cause undue suffering to those that are part of the minority. The understanding of race as a social construct is best illustrated by the examination of racial issues within our own culture, specifically those that have plagued the history of the United States.

Throughout American history, relationships between racial and ethnic groups have been marked by antagonism, inequality, and violence. In today’s complex and fast-paced society, historians, social theorists and anthropologists have been known to devote significant amounts of time examining and interrogating not only the interior climate of the institutions that shape human behavior and personalities, but also relations between race and culture. It is difficult to tolerate the notion; America has won its victory over racism. Even though many maintain America is a “color blind nation,” racism and racial conflict remain to be prevalent in the social fabric of American institutions. As a result, one may question if issues and challenges

Racial Formation in the United States by Michael Omi and Howard Winant made me readjust my understanding of race by definition and consider it as a new phenomenon. Through, Omi and Winant fulfilled their purpose of providing an account of how concepts of race are created and transformed, how they become the focus of political conflict, and how they shape and permeate both identities and institutions. I always considered race to be physical characteristic by the complexion of ones’ skin tone and the physical attributes, such as bone structure, hair texture, and facial form. I knew race to be a segregating factor, however I never considered the meaning of race as concept or signification of identity that refers to different types of human bodies, to the perceived corporal and phenotypic makers of difference and the meanings and social practices that are ascribed to these differences, in which in turn create the oppressing dominations of racialization, racial profiling, and racism. (p.111). Again connecting themes from the previous readings, my westernized influences are in a direct correlation to how to the idea of how I see race and the template it has set for the rather automatic patterns of inequalities, marginalization, and difference. I never realized how ubiquitous and evolving race is within the United States.

What if we lived in a world where there were no races? What if people were not discriminated against because of the color of their skin or because they are different from what we see as acceptable? This is what Kwame Anthony Appiah tries to examine in his essay “Race, Culture, Identity: Misunderstood Connections.” Appiah tries to point out that “American social distinctions cannot be understood in terms of the concept of race.” (102) That America is made up of so many different races that no race is the more superior or in other cases inferior to one another. America is defined by its cultural diversity; it is what makes America the nation that it is. It is the reason that we as Americans have freedoms other people

When we hear the word "race" we're more than likely inclined to automatically think of the color of someone's skin. Though this isn't entirely inappropriate, there is so much more to race than that. Sociologists say that race is a social construction created in society, meaning it's basically a set of "stories" we tell ourselves and hear overtime to make sense of the world. Since we hear these stories over and over again, we act on them, ultimately making them true. This can be said of many aspects of culture and society, however, it seems to happen with race without our realization.

Socio-cultural definitions of race are created by society as a tool to further economic goals. The development of

The principles of genetics and evolution show that race, biologically does not exist. The differences that appear in humans does not come from an allele that marks for a specific race. Usually most of the variations we see in humans comes from mutations that occur. The change in DNA is a major factor of variation in humans, it is something random which means certain attributes aren’t associated with a specific race. Another important thing to note is that all humans share the basic structure of DNA. This reinforces the idea that race is a social construct, not a reality of nature. Another main source of variation comes from gene flow (the movement of alleles to and from a certain location). Populations have always been moving from one place to another, and through this a trait can become more unique or more common. So there is less to do about

Think about how much race affects a person every day. Maybe today you disclosed your race on the SATs or were passed over for a job opportunity because your name is too “black”. Race exists in our culture, but racism should not. Everyone tries to get rid of it, but humans ultimately created it, because it is a construct of cultural. Every day we form judgements and fall into stereotypes. Our children watch this discrimination and let it carry into their own futures. Strangely, these judgements and stereotypes are not technically race, merely the creations of an ignorant culture. To begin avoiding this, people need to learn that technical race and our world view of race are very different, and that humans may be too unique for concrete groupings.

One of the most prevalent themes throughout the world’s history is the dispute over race and racial differences. But, there is a problem: the majority of the population doesn’t have a clear understanding of what race is. Race is a socially constructed grouping of people that was created in order for people to differentiate themselves from one another and has many sources of influence. While most people believe race is determined by biological characteristics (hair type, skin color, eye shape, etc.), this is not true. To make things more complicated, there is no cut and dry definition to race. Authors of Race and Ethnicity in Society, Elizabeth Higginbotham and Margret Anderson, claim that there are seven different distinct ways to define race. They begin with the popular belief of biological characteristics, and, as mentioned before, through social construction. They go on to note that race can be formed from an ethnic group, from social class rank, from racial formation by institutions, and also can form from one’s self-definition (Higginbotham & Anderson, 2012, p. 13). All of these ways to define race have been seen throughout our history, and many of them have caused problems for minorities, especially in the United States.

According to William Cronon’s “The Trouble with Wilderness”, the main concerns with the wilderness term being humanly constructed and lack of concern with the local environments. Cronon emphasize much of the historical and philological meanings of wilderness as a human construct via spiritual and religious perspectives. He desired for people stop putting so much emphasis on the above and beyond that is out of our reach and focus on the present. He pushed this into the idea of one should start putting emphasis and care into one’s own environment rather than just focusing on environments beyond the local one. He believes change should start locally.

Changes in the Land, by William Cronon, is the story of how the Europeans came to the New World and how their life in New England changed. However, the story can not be told without describing the life of the Indians, who were in the New World far before the Europeans. The Europeans introduced civilization, as they knew it back in Europe, to the Indians, who already had their own civilization; these conflicting beliefs made the lives of Europeans and Indians of the 16th century radically different.