The Stress on Americas Equality Essay

The song "Man in the Mirror" by Michael Jackson reflects his views on social issues and encourages social change. Born in 1958 in Gary, Indiana, at a young age, Michael Jackson became the lead singer of the popular group, the Jackson 5. He went on to a solo career with extraordinary success. The “King of Pop” with ought a question reached the pinnacle of success when he delivered the best-selling album in history. Michael had two awfully short marriages which lead him to have 3 children who were usually hid from the public eye. Unfortunately, in the 1990’s the downfall of being a famous legend had caught up with Michael. His physical appearance began to change significantly, and his behavior grew extremely bizarre, making him a perfect target for the media. Sadly, on 25 June 2009, Jackson suffered cardiac arrest in his Los Angeles home and passed away.

He was about to enter the long duration of his “Wacko Jacko” phase in which he would spend most of his time in the company of children at his multi-million dollar Neverland mansion. Michael would lose himself in his own created fantasy world. When he did reappear in the public eye it was to promote one of his records or to film a television commercial for Pepsi Cola. His image would slowly change from the young heartthrob Jackson we came to know and love to the mysterious secluded world- renowned superstar that we often questioned. Not only did his public perception and image change but with all of that his appearance took a drastic change again. His nose was thinner than before, his eyelids were tattooed and the most dramatic change was his skin color (Johnson, 45). Michael has always insisted that the changes in his skin color are the result of a rare dermatological disease and not that of a cosmetic surgery. That could be true, but what cannot be denied is that long ago, his face became his own canvas on which to create an idealized self-image. He was creating an image of self-perfection (Saunders, 4). In time he began to look like no one else in the world. African American’s argued that as his fame grew he became more detached from his African American roots and adopted the image and appearance of the white male. This could be blamed on the media and the perception that an African American male could not achieve the level of

Racial Inequalities is a part of society that has been overlooked in the past when reflecting on an individual’s success. As a musician, all aspects of life influence an integral part to one’s career success. The daunting power of racial inequality is illustrated remarkably in comparison of how society remembers these Berry and Presley today. In regards to this inequality we will reflect upon unequal power, resources prestige and presumed worth. These two musicians, vary in privilege in comparison to one another greatly throughout the entire course of their life. Berry started out in a descent finial situation while Presley started in an in poverty.

“A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas; but the pairing of a certain number of acoustical signs with as many cuts made from the mass thought engenders a system of values.” [1] We can start to delve into the logocentrism of western culture by looking at differentiation and intersectionality. But the more interesting idea is that the United States is very phallogocentric. Let’s not view these four authors as individuals but rather pit them into a group identity. The problem is that people fit into multiple groups, race, ethnicity, wealth, there are infinite groups. Eventually we realize that “the smallest minority on the Earth is the individual.” [2]

In the world, both rich and poor countries have got different forms of social injustices that their respective societies are going through. Briefly this paper will address social injustices in the United States and under the social injustices, the paper will focus more on Economy, health and society injustices. This will be approached with three questions; Firstly, why is it important for American people to know about social injustices in the States? Secondly, how has America’s social justice been violated and why? Lastly, what are some of the measures that the US government has taken to address the issue of social injustices, which include Unemployment, endless crimes and terrorism, social classes in American societies with different

Questions began to surface about Jackson’s case, such as if Michael Jackson were capable of such an act, was it based upon on his too soon childhood career? Or was it due to the abuse that his father had given him? With more than one accusation popping up, Jackson watched his career fall apart, but was he innocent, or did the King of Pop, have a dark

John Sullivan's essay ‘Michael’ begins describing how Michael Jackson’s family developed over time, his grandfather was a slave that escaped north. Jackson was also one of ten children. At a young age he became famous as a part of the Jackson Five a band of him and his siblings. Over time the band split up, Michael Jackson went solo and used the help of his younger sister Janet and younger brother Randy in his early songs. As his fame grew so did his publicity everything he did became a story from nose jobs and the tone of his voice to accusations of child molestation. Even though these are not good things to write about a person, Jackson's fame grew with the more stories and articles published about him. The stories and articles by the press whether they are good or bad help bring

Singer and song-writer Macklemore, produced the song Same Love which has historic, aesthetic, and moral value. His song highlights issues like homophobia, discrimination against the gay community, and inequality. In his song, he uses an anecdote of a little boy believing he was gay because of the comparison the little boy was making of himself to the stereotypes. Macklemore projects a moral value of believing in love equality, and realizing love is love no matter the gender.

“I'm a Black American. I'm proud of my race. I'm proud of who I am. I have a lot of pride and dignity” – King of Pop (YouTube 2014).On August 19th 1958, a legend was born. Michael Joseph Jackson was a singer and songwriter who changed the face of pop music and popular culture throughout his lifetime. Michael Jackson was a singer, songwriter, and dancer born in August of 1958 to a family of nine children. Michael began his music career at the age of ten in a group called the “Jackson 5”. Jackson 5, who was seeing as “young, fresh and full of energy”, quickly caught the attention of Motown Records (The Jackson 5).He was introduced to music by his parents at a very young age and since then his potential in singing and dancing began to emerge. His contribution to music, dance, and fashion, along with his publicized personal life made him a worldwide figure in popular culture for over four decades (Biography). He was saluted as the “King of Pop”, because his solo album “Thriller” still remains “the best-selling album of all time”, with global sales of “over 51 million copies to date since 1982”( Guinness World Records). Due to the individualism and uniqueness of Michael Jackson’s song, he earned over 700 awards, including 13 Grammy Awards. With the inclusion of all this, I can say that Michael Jackson’s songs have changed and affected plethora of lives through his nonstop fight towards racial fairness. I argue that MJ utilized his music career as a ways to break barriers towards race in the music industry. Through his music, he expressed his disappointment toward the way people of colors are being treated and to also show his support for racial equality.

Same Love by Macklemore was written about same sex marriage and the discrimination that the LGBT community faces. I chose this song because it personally means a lot to me and is something that I know plenty of things about. My mother married her wife last year when gay marriage was finally passed in Rhode Island. This is a song that means a lot to my mother and meant a lot more back when it came out and the struggle for equal rights was happening. It still is in certain places, but we have moved forward drastically since then, Macklemore talks about how the discrimination of LGBT people is the same type of thing that started religious wars and wars over skin color. History repeats itself in this way, it may not be directly racism however its the same concept. It is an inequality in the system that is being abused to deny the rights of a group of people.

Michael Jackson or formally known as the "King of pop" characterized a musical time changing and touching the lives of millions for time he was on earth. Michael, being one of eight children from the multi-talented Jackson family, was dispatched into a musical universe not at all like others. But, his dedication and fame blossomed to the illustrious Jackson 5 and ultimately made him the solo pop start we all knew and loved. Michael was genuinely an amazing man that utilized his music to breakdown numerous boundaries that confronted the normal individual in the public arena, for instance, racism one of the greatest issues of Michaels’ time and was dealt with via songs constructing a fan base of millions who could relate to what Michael had to say. Michael was almost always in the spot light for disputable matters, for example, the subject of his skin however nothing of genuine damming nature. Notwithstanding Michaels numerous achievements all through his profession, numerous people felt as though the “King of Pop” was no more powerful as he succumbed to a progression of misfortunate events in 2005.

Because of Michael’s low self-esteem, depression ended up altering Jackson’s performances and choices. Part of Michael Jackson’s depression was do to a skin disease named vitiligo, a pigmentation disorder in which melanocytes(cells that make pigmentation) in the skin are destroyed. White patches started to appear on Michael’s skin. These patches of vitiligo can affect one’s emotional and psychological well-being and self-esteem. But it can mainly lead to emotional stress, leaving one feeling embarrassed, ashamed, depressed, or worried. But Jackson’s changing of skin color grew as more of a public debate. Some sources confirmed that Michael had bleached his skin with a variety of chemicals, resulting in the skin being

And lastly Michael Jackson understands his dooms is caused by his own actions. After he was accused of the molestation of the 13 year old boy and going to trials and going to all kinds of courts he did admit he had problems.Also whenever he kept bleaching his skin he did confess to being so insecure which was also a problem because many said he was trying to look like a girl and they accused him of being gay or Asexual.He did not do anything so help his situations of being to insecure and the bashing he got over the molesting. Instead, Michael continued to take many pills he continued to bleach his skin and have skin damage.

Another theme introduced through the song is equality, as Macklemore makes an attempt to remind listeners that everybody is equal, despite your sexual orientation, race, religion, or beliefs. Same Love addresses many flaws in our society, one of the main ones being that gay people are considered less worthy than straight people and that they are looked down on, as “gay is synonymous with the lesser,” which is the perfect example of equality. While Macklemore is addressing this flaw in our society, he is making sure listeners know that gay people aren’t less worthy than straight people. Sadly enough, It is understandable that gay people consider themselves to have less self worth than others, since in many countries their love isn’t even legal. Although in New Zealand gay marriage is legal, is it still a fight for equality in many other places across the globe, including Australia, a country we would consider very similar to ours. Although seemingly similar, gay marriage is still illegal in Australia, and there has been a recent yes/no poll for the public surrounding the legality of it, which highlights that overall we may not be as forward and as progressed in this issue as we think. It saddens me that gay marriage and equality is still an issue in our society, and that gay people still have a reason to be afraid. In America, where the song Same Love originated, Donald Trump has recently been voted into power. This is a scary time for homosexuals in America as well as others who do not fit his frame of thought, as Donald Trump isn’t accepting of people's differences and his idea of equality is different to what Macklemore is trying to enforce in Same Love. Although America is struggling and Australia is still fighting, things have been looking up for the gay community and for equality in New Zealand, as Jacinda Ardern was elected as prime minister. The previous prime minister of New Zealand, Bill English, was open about not supporting gay marriage among other things, however Jacinda is all for equality. The second verse in Same Love ends with a powerful line, “I might not be the same, but that's not important. No freedom 'til we're equal, damn right I support it.”

Homosexuality is the “same” kind of love as heterosexuality. Same-sex couples should have access to the same benefits enjoyed as any other couples since it’s recognize as a human right. Macklemore and Ryan Lewis made a song for supporters in reference to the February 2012 bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in the state(s). Same Love by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis portray a rap song that explicitly defends same-sex love by calling out hip-hop’s history of homophobia and eliminate the injustice involving same-sex couples.