The And Its Impact On Society Essay

Often times we find ourselves thinking about the past only to try to force the memories away and return to our current delusion. We can never erase the past, but if the past is who we are, then should we just welcome pain back into our lives? Embarrassment, guilt, and pride betray us as we choose to bury our darkest memories in our head and look to a positive future without ever having to readdress them and acknowledge that they had ever happened in the first place. Thinking back now my weakest moment caught me by complete surprise.

Beyoncé Knowles, a well-known singer, songwriter uses two of her songs: “Freedom” and “Formation” to tell the story of herself. “Freedom” is the beginning of her story where she is searching for freedom and equality showing that there is still much inequality and injustice for African Americans in America today. The song slowly transitions to a more positive tone when she seems to have made something beneficial out of her difficult situation. “Formation,” however, has a completely different tone. While she does address negative situations from the past at the beginning of the song, she quickly transitions to a more positive tone full of pride in where she came from, who she has become, and what she has overcome. Together, the two songs

A country of immigrants, America is often considered to be a “melting pot,” a blend of different races, cultures, and people upholding diversity in its truest form. However, the term “melting pot” has regressed over time in American society to resemble what is more of a “mixing pot,” in which the mixing of disparate constituents is always in process, never seeming to reach a harmonious equilibrium. Americanah by Chimamanda Adichie realistically chronicles the struggles that such a society poses on “non-American blacks.” Similarly, through her blog post about the “Test for White Privilege” by Peggy McIntosh, Ifemelu sheds light on the constraints posed by racial discrimination exclusively based on skin color. Moreover, her distinct identity as an African, and not as an African-American, allows her to formulate a holistic perspective on the cultural factors that contribute to white privilege. As highlighted in these personal recollections, racism in American society is a complex mixture of two forms: traditional racism based on one’s skin color exacerbated by contemporary racism spurred from cultural differences.

America has always been labeled the “melting pot” and the “land of the free,” but when one is analyzing the history and social norms of the country, these statements are far from true. America has thrived through the oppression of minority groups and social pressure towards these groups to conform to the majority culture. In any historical sense, from the near extermination of Native Americans to the racial profiling of Muslim individuals after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, minority groups have always been the victims and have always been viewed as different if they do not assimilate into the “typical” American culture. Numerous works of literature have successfully displayed the struggles that minorities face when attempting to conform. Two works in particular, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Alexie Sherman and When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, tell stories of two different minority groups: Native Americans living in the 21st century and Japanese-Americans during World War II. While these stories are separated by several decades, it is clear that American culture has not changed, as each story exemplifies how difficult it truly is to leave old cultural norms behind in order to be accepted by the majority.

The United States of America is known as a country of independence, liberty, and rights; within the lines of our national anthem the Stars Spangled Banner, it is clear to see how the phrases "the land of the free and home of the brave", symbolize the ideals that have been centralized into the American Society for hundreds of years. Despite being recognized as a world power; for its military structure and the "believed" system of possibilities in terms of self advancement, the United States of America houses a very dark and inhumane secret; a sociological failure that perhaps is called that way, given the as a nation, we neglect, fail to address, and persecute those that because of their inherited skin color, look different than the accepted sociological norm of whiteness. It is shameful, to me at least, that the term "American" is a representation of the world 's largest incarceration rate; it’s even more shameful, how we prosecute, isolate, and declare what President Nixon once believed was the proper measure to take on poor communities; the war on drugs. For hundreds of years, we as a country have idealized with what Mustafa Emirbayer & Matthew Desmond have identified in their book Racial Domination, Racial Progress the Sociology of Race in America, as a mistake; mistake that has cost thousands of minorities their reputations and has impacted not only their tranquility, but their overall success rate in the promised land of opportunities.

Growing up in America, children are taught by their grade school teachers to be proud of being American. They chant “Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492” and harmoniously sing patriotic songs such as The Star Spangled Banner while being utterly oblivious of America’s corrupt political system. It may not be until one is pursing their final years of high school, or perhaps even in college when they are aware of America’s history of possessing a highly restrictive political system. For minorities, America is not the land of the free. It is the land of oppression to progression, yet we still wear our scars and our heads up high. Struggles to expand the breadth of political and civil rights in the United States have been critical to fostering greater inclusion and equality for racial/ethnic minorities in America. Various reforms such as the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Acts were implemented during the civil rights era as they helped promote greater inclusion and equity to, but not limited to, African Americans and Mexican-Americans.

The United States’ long history of savagery, discrimination, inequality, and racism surfaced in our nation from the time it was “founded” by European settlers. And although the US constitution states that “all men are equal,” minority groups such as African Americans, Asian Americans, Indian Americans, and Latinos endured countless sufferings from the European settlers and Whites. The Civil Rights era, however, marked one of the most significant events in our nation’s history for in this period, minority groups won several important victories that impacted the lives of many. The Civil Rights era is when our country became intolerant of racial discrimination and segregation, and minority groups were finally given the right to be part of the

America has not always been easy going on minorities. Ever since colonizers settled America, Americans have been terrorizing others, starting with Native Americans. Even in present day America, African Americans, Asian Americans, women, LGBTQ members, and Native Americans, and Latinos are still forced to fight for their civil rights. Groups like “Blacks Lives Matter” and the Women’s March Movement prove that inequalities still exist in today’s society despite the fact minorities have been fighting for their rights for over 100 years. All groups fight for their equal rights was a struggle no matter how “hard” or “easy” it was.

Because of these past accomplishments, people of today get to live the life they do now, looking the rest of the world in the face with an unwavering grin and saying that we are the greatest of them all. People take advantage of the priveleges they have, and look past the problems they still have, forgetting that this country isn’t perfect, denying that their whole lives. People may say they have freedom, but people don’t see how they are restricting one another from being fully and entirely free. Just as it states in ‘America’, by Claude McKay, “Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, giving me strength erect against her hate,” In this he is stating the hate and discrimination he faced in America, however he still stood his ground pridefully. In other words, there is still racism, sexism and unequal treatment out there, even if it isn’t as apparent as before. How people are labeled off of their appearance, not by who they are, labeled by skin color, gender, or a stereotype their appearance may reflect, people don’t take into consideration who a person is from the start. This thought and mindset will never change if we don’t try to change it, people grow up and without even realizing it our brought up to stereotype and label people off of appearance,

First, people knowing about the past are not prone to repeating the same mistakes again. No matter if the information about the past is being provided by personal experience or by the others, almost everyone tends to evaluate and analyze past occurrences related to his situation and then make an important decision. To oppose this notion many may argue that past occurrences may be forgotten and one may not

America, despite appearing as a beacon of hope for many, possesses very little glory once the American Dream facade fades. Throughout American history, every minority and underprivileged group fought tedious, uphill battles for the freedoms they hold today, yet many affirm America’s undoubted might. African-Americans, Native Americans, women, immigrants, and many other minorities persevered through generations of discrimination and loathing before any legal writ dictated their acceptance within American culture. Even now, decades after these laws came into existence, the xenophobic, discriminatory mindset still infects the psyches and consciences of many average American citizens. While individual freedoms and social issues support the lack

My name is Christi. I was born February 17, 1999. And I know I have been separated from my immediate family and selected to begin a new society on planet Fuji. I, along with four other children, was chosen to develop our new society into something livable. Our goal is a peaceful cohesive environment. I realize the opportunity I have to continue humanity is greater than mourning any losses; however, I will never forget the life I left behind. I have already shed many emotional tears for the loss of my mother, father and siblings. The memories I have will no doubt guide me into the future.

While on her previous albums, Beyoncé was trying to empower all women, on Lemonade, Beyoncé speaks directly to black women. “As Jacqui Germain astutely noted on feministing.com, ‘Beyonce using the specific cultural marker of ‘Becky,’ [a social trope for white womanhood] in Lemonade is less a question of who’s excluding whom and why, and more so just us watching Beyonce be the ... multi-layered Black woman’” (Thompson, C., 2016). It was through this album that Beyoncé changed how the public thought of her. She was no longer afraid to not fully share what she wanted to say about current culture, and finally talked straight to black women to raise them up. It was also through this album that Beyoncé changed her image. Before her sixth album, Beyoncé definitely had feminist songs, but with Lemonade, she used rage to share her message, a message telling women that even after getting married, a man may not always be right for

An individual’s role in society can vary with the number themes the characters exhibit. When there are signs of fate, cruelties, weaknesses, and desires for justice and catharsis the role of an individual becomes more complicated. In Antigone, most of those themes are shown thus a single person’s influence or role on society is very small and complicated to attain. However in The Lottery the society has most of the control and there is not many signs of those characteristics so the role of a person is simplified because they are nothing compared to the society combined. Finally, in The Penalty of Death, there are signs of many of the themes but since it is the societies influence against that of an individuals, it is simplified because

Humanity could never forget the day when they had eagerly opened the doors that sealed away a fatal creature we refer to as Evie. Evie could basically transform into any creature she chose, and used her powers to manipulate humans, or so told in the stories. Evie became the mother of the first three Crunchers, who spread their children to their respective realm. A Cruncher is a beautiful yet terrifying mixture of multiple creatures. Whether you run into a puppy-cat or a bear-shark, you will be considered dead. Ever since the calamity, what left of humanity that survived formed three groups that created their own haven and army to fend off the Crunchers, each named after Evie’s first three children. The Hydrus search the seas, the Corvus patrol the skies, and my faction, the Lupus, defended the lands. The only thing we know about Crunchers is that they ignore all other life and seem to target humans. They do not hunt for us for food since we have been safe behind our kingdom’s walls for sixty-four years now and are still spotted in top condition. They tend to kidnap people one by one, taking some innocent person home with them. Not one of the hundreds of people that go missing have ever been found. The only animals that are harmless to us are the common birds, squirrels, and pet in the cities, though the elderly who have survived the calamity live in fear of them. I have never let these stories scare or bother me before, but today was my sixteenth birthday and I