If You Come Softly, By Jacqueline Woodson

The fact that prejudice prevents us from seeing the good that lies beyond a person’s appearance, religion or race is represented to a great extent in The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. The novel is set in 1930s Germany during the times of rising anti-Semitism when Adolf Hitler, the leader of the ruling Nazi Party put his discriminatory ideologies into practice and began persecuting people of the Jewish race. This persecution is known as the Holocaust in which 17 million Jews were killed by the Nazi Party who described them as a shame upon Germany even though over 100,000 Jews fought for the country in WW1. The Book Thief is riddled with examples of racial prejudice whether it’s when a Jewish shopkeeper is beaten in the name of German patriotism or when the character of

During the Civil rights movement many leaders faced many adversities, but one leader named Malcolm X wrote,“Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time” hence he tries to say that there is no better way to develop skills than an adversity. At the present time, when people are faced with a challenge they either give up or take the easy way, thus leading to potential going to waste. Although adversity can bring harm, it helps introduce us to ourselves and our unknown skills with the potential to improve them.

The prejudice dilemma is exasperated by the distinctive treatment black people receive from the world, consequently strengthening the feeling of mediocrity in the colored community and forming their negative perspectives on whites. As Jablonski noted, associating “skin color with inferiority has been one of the most powerful and destructive intellectual ideas of all time, leading directly to slavery, civil war, and, more recently, segregation and apartheid.” Racial discrimination still causes hardships suffered by many people. Wilkins expresses deep concern regarding racial integration “not only because of the past but also because of the future.” Even though the former segregation laws have been done away

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman, is the story of two very different cultures lacking understanding for one another leading to a tragedy due to cultural incompetence. Today in America there are very many different cultures. Health care providers need to be aware of cultural diversity and sensitivity when caring for patients. If a health care provider is not sensitive towards a patient’s culture it can cause a relationship of mistrust to form, lead to barriers in the plan of care, and increase health care cost. The current guidelines to promote cultural competence in the clinical setting include completing a cultural diversity self-assessment, identify the need of the population served, evaluate barriers in the community and practice, educate staff to cultural diversities, schedule longer appointments, clarify limitations, and identify alternatives offered (Cash & Glass, 2014).

This applied theory paper will analyze both the macro and micro analysis of the Novel, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, by Anne Fadiman (Fadiman, 1997). In the book “The Spirit Catches You and Falls Down”, the character Lia illness resulted in a cultural divide between the Hmong culture and the American culture. Throughout this paper both the conflict theory and the family systems theory will be used to examine themes of behaviors among the characters in the text. The family and medical team use the applications of a number of different social work theories to navigate through her illness implementing a number of different strategies to nurse her to health. The author Fadiman explores the Lee’s family

Prejudices are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education: they grow there, firm as weeds among stones.

For centuries, racism has become the universal epitome of culture, despite the efforts of various civilizations, such as the Western and European to combat these indifferences among people. A race is specific social group that can be differentiated through various ways, from facial features and hair textures, to social norms and habits that constitutes to that group. These differences contribute to our uniqueness and humanity. Because people can be grouped by any number of differences, Man, lead by his ignorance, perpetuated the issue once social-hierarchies began to develop, splitting society to its various groups. As a result, social disparity from one’s upbringing became the common tendency to look down, or look up at people of other

In this paper I will discuss what happens when we allow biases and prejudice to affect our actions toward others. I will then conclude my paper with what we can do to prevent or eliminate discrimination.

The world is composed of millions of people that come from different locations, are part of different races, believe in different religions, and have developed different cultures to those of everyone else. Over the course of human history, the differences that we have developed have played an enormous role in dividing us. Perhaps the chief problem that has plagued society in the past, and continues to do so to this day, is the idea that one’s race is superior to that of others; in other words: racism. Racism has led to the discrimination, oppression, and deaths of countless numbers of people. In the present, racism is often closely associated with stereotypes. In today’s society, being stereotypical often gets you the criticism that “you

Racism is a plague spreading through the world. Over a million people have died due to lynching, burnings, stabbings, and beatings. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the dangers of racism and discrimination and the pain they cause, while offering solutions to help counteract them.

Racism has been an ongoing social justice issue for decades, and we seem to always fail to make it stop. According to Dummett (as cited in Fernando, 1984), racism is the behaviour and attitude that emerges from our beliefs that certain people are different from us. These differences are mainly based on race, where people come from, physical characteristics, such as colour and hair type or behavioural characteristics, and that people categorized must be treated differently based on their needs, capabilities and rights. Usually there is one dominant and superior group and a few inferior groups (Dummett, as cited in Fernando, 1984). Coates and Morrison (2011) suggests that what we distinguish as real and true may not always be real and that things may not always be as it seems. Coates and Morrison (2011) also states that we live in a racial matrix, where we have this illusion of reality and that differences associated with racial status and hierarchies are perceived as the norm in society and this perception of reality is not easy to get rid of. There are four types of racism; subtle racism, colorism, internalized racism and reverse racism (Nittle, 2016). Racism can be explicit, but it can also be very subtle and covert, which is a huge problem, as most people do not even notice it and they do not realize that it happens on a day-to-day basis (Coates and Morrison, 2011). Racism is not only one problem or concern, as it is brings along a variety of other problems and is compiled

In the suspenseful book, When You Reach Me, by the great author Rebecca Stead Miranda develops three different relationships that are carried throughout the story. Miranda in the book is the protagonist and the main character. Some people that she develops relationships with are her best friend Sal, Mom, Marcus/ The Laughing Man, Julia, Annemarie, Richard, Jimmy, Belle, Louisa, Mr. Tompkins, Colin, and Anthony. To begin with, Sal, Colin, and Annemarie are one of Miranda’s closest friends. Louisa is Sal’s mom who is good friends with Miranda’s mom, and Richards is Miranda’s mom’s boyfriend. Secondly, Marcus who is also the Laughing Man is one of Miranda’s good friends. Anthony is Marcus’s older brother. Julia and Miranda become friends at the end of the book. To continue with, Belle listens to Miranda talk about her favorite book, “A Wrinkle in Time”, while Mr. Tompkins is Miranda’s teacher who helps Miranda discover other books besides “A Wrinkle in Time.” Lastly, Jimmy is the person Colin, Miranda, and Sal work for during their lunch, making sandwiches. Three important relationships Miranda had were with Julia, Sal, and Marcus. To conclude, Miranda developed three important relationships throughout the story.

In the reality, racism is a part of our daily lives. Where we lives, where we go to schools, our jobs and that who we interact with and how another group of people interact with us. Also, it seems that the belief in human races carrying along with it the prejudice and hatred of racism in our culture and in global politics. We have learned that races are as a hierarchical order and that some races are better than others. Even if we are not racist but, our life’s are affected by this ordered structure. Also, we are born into a racist society.

Over the years the world has been shaped and formed by prejudice and discrimination. Discrimination is just now in the last two hundred years been openly criticized. Often times prejudice is learned from immediate family and friends. This is mostly true during children’s younger years when they map their footsteps after their parents. This discrimination is passed down through the generations and is fueled by social pressure and events. Also, discrimination is created through media and learning environments.

For instance, if we accept that discrimination is wrong within ourselves, then this injustice is less likely to happen, but if we believe that discrimination is right then this injustice is more likely to be repeated. We as humans are destroying our own peace and stability. We are creating division amongst ourselves with this injustice, leading our humanity to be more intolerant, offensive, judgmental, immoral and cruel. One the other hand, one way that this injustice can be controlled is if we change our attitudes and behavior. Awareness and acceptance of differences are crucially important to help stop this injustice. First, we must be more cautious about the way we speak and act, then we must respect other’s choices, wants and needs. One can’t stop this injustice alone but coming together can. Unification is key to overcome and end discrimination. We need to do it for our children, families, friends, communities, but most important for ourselves to create an environment where we can feel safe, free of unequal treatment and unfairness.