Lord Of The United States

In Danielle Evans’s collection of short stories Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, the story “The King of a Vast Empire” talks about how traumatic events affect a family’s bond. The main trauma in this story is a car accident that haunts this family. Liddie, Terrance, and their parents got in a car accident one night. The dad was driving the car when he was going around a dark curve in the road and hit another car. The other car was stopped in the middle on the road because there was a fallen lumber in the middle of the road that their dad was trying to remove. The other car did not have their emergency lights on. When the dad hit the car, all of the kids in the backseat was killed

Myles Brand issued a “self-evaluation” to 31 colleges to examine their choice of mascots and the

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines mascot as, “a person, animal, or object used as a symbol to represent a group (such as a sports team) and to bring good luck.” Hopeful sports teams around the United States rely on their mascots to bring in positive energy as motivation to help win the game. The mascot often serves as the face of a team, and acts to define the team’s character to their opponents. The mascots represent the community that the team belongs to, and that is a big role. When a mascot is offensive or isolates a particular group of people, the mascot can also bring negative attention to the team. The negative publicity will often result in a mascot change.

Another major predicament that plays a large role in the amount of African Americans that do not receive a higher education is once they get to college, they do not have a typical or enjoyable experience once there. In today’s society, it is hard to imagine that there is still racism and segregation in schools and colleges today but the reality is, it still does very much exist. This is especially true when black students attend predominantly white universities. Even though most colleges promote themselves by talking about how diverse their

“In 2011, at every education level, white workers were more likely than black workers to be in good job –one that pays at least $19 per hour, has health insurance, and has some kind of retirement plan” (Jones and Schmitt). The American Dream promises equal opportunity and acceptance for every citizen in America, but sometimes that does not seem to be true to people of an opposing race. Although some people claim that America still provides access to the American Dream due to all of the different opportunities that our government and schools offer, others believe there are some setbacks that can occur while trying to achieve one's goals; such as equality struggles within race and gender.

INTRO: Prompt: What should “diversity on campus” mean and why? Hook: Does diversity help liberate narrow-mindedness? What exactly is diversity? To say that diversity is approached on school campuses is an understatement to the level of understanding in this increasingly globalized world. By its definition, “diversity” requires inclusion. Are school’s really working toward the inclusion of everyone? This means including color, national origin, socio-economic status, and sexual orientation. Looking at court cases and polls shown in the short articles, “Introduction from Place, Not Race: A New Vision of Opportunity in America” and “The Trouble with Diversity: How We Learned to Love Identity and Ignore Inequality,” their approach to strengthening

“Affirmative action ensures that African American students are allowed access to prestigious universities such as Harvard and Berkeley, which have long been gateways to positions of power and influence in American society” (Glazer 14).

Companies and educational institutions greatly benefit from the guidelines of affirmative action because they profit from the different ideas, work styles, and contributions unique to each diverse individual. As quoted in Paul Connors’s compilation, Affirmative Action, President of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, addresses the importance of a diverse educational system by stating, “The experience of arriving on a campus to live and study with classmates from a diverse range of backgrounds is essential to students' training for this new world, nurturing in them an instinct to reach out instead of clinging to the comforts of what seems natural or familiar” (12-13). A statement by Southeastern Oklahoma State University further supports the idea that success in modern day society stems from diversity saying, “Our country is strong because of the rich diversity of our culture, not in spite of it” (Affirmative Action).

When a person presently looks at university school systems, one never imagines the struggle to obtain such diverse campuses. With Caucasians, Asians, Latinos, and African Americans all willing and able to attend any institution, it is difficult now to envision a world where, because of one’s skin color, a person is denied university acceptance. In actuality, this world existed only fifty years ago. In a time of extreme racial discrimination, African Americans fought and struggled toward one of many goals: to integrate schools. As a pioneer in the South, a man named James Meredith took a courageous step by applying to the University of Mississippi, an all white

Addressing the people who disagree with me, whom feel the name of the school and the mascot should represent this city in the past, I understand and respect why you made that decision in your own opinion, so please try to understand and respect my opinion. I feel as if our city should be shown off for our amazing accomplishments, just like any other city, but we need something that anyone can comprehend. Visitors from out of town would not recognize anything from our past and disregard it as if it wasn’t important. But, if we were to have something from present day, something that makes our city famous, so everyone will recognize our intentions, and understand what our wonderful city has done in the past. Hopefully with my decision we’ll be able to share amazing stories of our great city, and be proud of where we came from.

Although to some, the mascot may appear as a minute factor, the problem lies deeper than the mascot. The students at Amherst College submitted a list of demands to the President of the college and it is critical that the President takes some of these commands into consideration. The President has set the tone for how other administrators will deal with racial tension and issues regarding students.

The equal opportunity that affirmative action provides has also increased the amount of minority applicants applying to each school. It has “resulted in doubling or tripling the number of minority applications to colleges or universities, and have made colleges and universities more representative of their surrounding community” (Messerli). Since the playing field has been evened, it has encouraged more of those who are disadvantaged because of their ethnicity to apply for and get admitted into college. However, the quotas cause schools to admit under qualified students of minor races who don’t meet the limit over highly qualified students who’s race has reached the limit.

On a personal level, society needs a shift in its approach to race. Instead of creating divisions, Americans should try to understand their biases. Recently, initiatives with this goal have sprung up in universities. Soon after the Civil Rights Act, many universities in America implemented affirmative action initiatives, which sought to level the playing field between white and minority applicants, the latter traditionally having a disproportionately low acceptance rate. Doing so increased the minority population on campuses and brought the issue of discrimination to the forefront of national attention. By acknowledging historical patterns of discrimination and taking explicit action to reverse that trend, a peaceful method to decrease racial inequality emerged. However, white applicants have protested affirmative action, labeling it “reverse discrimination.” Yet this only emphasizes the faults in racial understanding – members of traditionally privileged groups recoil at the notion of elevating minorities, not realizing that their lower starting place necessitates a boost later. For unity, both groups must reach a mutual understanding about race’s role in modern society.

As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an

In order to study the need of a racially and culturally diverse college campus, the journey and battles fought must be dicussed. While there is a lack of diversity on college campuses today, they are not completely devoid of people of color. However, there was a time when college campuses were one hundred percent Caucasian. Jonathan R. Alger, Jorge Chapa and a team of researchers conducted studies on various college classrooms. They then went on to publish their findings in a book titled Does Diversity make a Difference? The purpose of their paper was to discuss the importance of diversity and reveal the effects of non-diverse campus. They begin their book by taking a look into the history of diversity in America. The start of the Civil Rights movement along with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s war on poverty took place in the mid 1960s. These events forced the country to face the reality of the people of color in America. These Americans of color did not have equal access to education, jobs, housing, or other valued resources (Alger et al. 2000). College administrators and faculty were starting to understand the necessity of a diverse campus. The realized that people of color had just as much to offer to the United States as the Caucasian majority. During that time, “many higher education faculty members and administrators were deeply concerned that abandonment of race sensitive admissions and hiring, at a time when most minority groups continue to be unrepresented in higher education, will severely limit campus diversity and would undermine the learning environment for all students.” (Alger et al. 2000). Additionally, a lot of the traditionally white colleges and universities were provoked and questioned by the concerns of their students. The universities and colleges began to notice their inability to extend the same educational