The Urban Neighborhoods Of St. Louis Essay

What does it mean to you to be a black girl? If you aren’t one, what do you see when you visualize a black girl? If your imagination limits you to just an afro-centric featured, loud and slang-loving, uneducated woman, then this piece is addressed to you. The persistence of the stereotypes concerning average black girls have chained us all to the earlier listed attributes. One side effect of this dangerous connection is the wide opening for a new form of discrimination it creates. Whether it is depicted through slave owners allocating the preferable duties to lighter-skinned black woman, or in modern times where a dislike in rap music categorizes you as not really black, segregation within black communities occur. Tracing all the way back to elementary school, my education on the subject of racial segregation has been constricted to just the injustices routed by dissimilarities between racial groups. What failed to be discussed was the intragroup discrimination occurring in the black society from both outside observers and inside members. Unfortunately, our differences in the level of education, in physical appearance, and in our social factors such as our behaviour, personality or what we believe in have been pitted against each other to deny the variety of unique identities that we as black individuals carry.

The health status according to the 2017 County Health Rankings, St. Louis has a homicide death rate of 33 people per 100,000 (“Crime,” 2017). The health care clinician to patient ratios for primary care physicians are 1 to 83 people, dentists are 1 to 48 people and mental health is 1 to 272 people (“Crime,” 2017). The population that are uninsured is eleven percent and are between the ages of 18 to 65 (“Crime,” 2017). The Missouri Health Improvement Act of 2007 (Senate bill 577) seeks to make MO HealthNet a prudent purchaser of high quality care and the Missouri Health Transformation Act of 2008 (Senate bill 1230) which requires hospitals to report adverse events and the state to publicly report results annually (Health Care, 2013).

In the modern world, gender stereotypes affect men and women in different ways. A kind man can be perceived as violent for simply being a man, and in contrast, a woman can be seen as an object to chase or prey upon simply for being a woman. When these roles overlap, the innocent members of both parties feel uncomfortable and ashamed for things out of their control. Judith Ortiz Cofer’s essay entitled The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria is more effective in its explanation of perceived gender roles and stereotypes, compared to the Brent Staples essay Just Walk on By: Black Men in Public Space.

Domestic violence is also a result of gender inequality (Furze et al, 2008). Gender acts as a stratification system that creates inequalities between men and women by ranking men above women within the same race and class (Lorber, 2003, as cited by Knoblock, 2008). Because men had a higher rank, they had more power and more prestige than women. This paved way for male domination of women in society (Knoblock, 2008). Gender inequality also reinforced stereotypes about masculinity and femininity i.e. men were tough, authoritative, powerful whilst women were passive, weak and dependent (Knoblock, 2008). These ideas permeated society, and hence provided reasons for men to think that they have a right to assault a woman (Knoblock, 2008). The link between domestic violence and gender inequality is

The article “Life in Mississippi: East St Louis, Illinois” is one that is not taken lightly. The article shows one the injustice that African Americans face in the city of St. Louis. The article all together is shocking and heartbreaking. To know that in a country that is suppose to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, there still is so much injustice is not only eye opening but also upsetting. One of the 2 most heartbreaking parts for me was when Kozol describes the old men leaning on his cane listening to Jesse Jackson and crying. This is something so powerful to me because this is someone who has experience all of the hardships that east St. Louis has to offer and he has to live knowing that not much has change and maybe Jesse Jackson was the only one promising the change they deserve. The last scene was when one of the students goes up to Kozol after class and tell him that what Dr. King did was nothing because they are still living in such horrible situations. For a teenage kid to think and feel that way, they must have had to suffer through so much, which is exactly what the article is able to show us, the injustice that these kids face on a daily basis. Having read this is shocking to one because we live in a different area where we aren’t prone to see such things and because we have grown up and taught to believe that racism and poverty is almost non existing because this is American a country that doesn’t fail the people.

Throughout history, women have continuously found themselves as the subjects of oppression. Although the treatment of women has drastically changed over time, women are still exposed to much of the violence that exists today. Per the National Organization for Women, “young women, low-income women and some minorities are disproportionately victims of domestic violence and rape” (National Organization for Women, 2016). Women-centered violence is highly prevalent and reoccurring all over the world, even in our local communities. Individuals may be hesitant to consider just how much violence against women affects their communities.

The " Code of the Street" written by Eljah Anderson is an explanation for high rates violence among African-American Adolescents in Philadelphia. He wrote about poverty, lack of job, racial discrimination, rampant drug use and trafficking that leads to anti-social attitudes, violent behavior, alienation, and lack of hope for the future of the African Americas in Philadelphia.

Gentrification can be defined simply as the shift in the makeup of the people in a community. It is the transition in a community from a run down, poorer area to a more wealthy demographic. Gentrification starts with the increase of property values caused by brokers and real estate agents. These brokers and real estate agents usually benefit the most from gentrification. Businesses that are moving in are storefront coffee shops, cafes, boutiques, etc. Since these newer, nicer shops are occupying the storefront, the rent for the apartments above rise, causing many people to lose their homes. The new tenants that move into these apartments are typically young and hip. They prefer to hang out at these coffee shops below. These new landlords are more in touch with the demographic changes and are looking to change the area in order to make money. The older, current landlords do not see a need for change. Some people will argue that gentrification is inevitable. While gentrification is happing all over the world, I did my research specifically on downtown Kansas City, Missouri, Harlem, New York, and DUMBO, Brooklyn, New York. Gentrification comes with both positive and negative effects. These three areas each show a unique perspective on gentrification.

Brenda and Melvin are fictive kin to Jocelyn. They live in St. Louis, Missouri. St. Louis is a city and port in the U.S. state of Missouri. The city developed along the western bank of the Mississippi River, which forms Missouri's border with Illinois. In 2010, St. Louis had a population of 319,294; a 2014 estimate put the population at 317,419, making it the 60th-most populous U.S. city and the second-largest city in the state in terms of city proper population, after Kansas City, MO. The St. Louis metropolitan area includes the city as well as nearby areas in Missouri and Illinois; with an estimated population of 2,905,893, it is the largest in Missouri and one of the largest in the United States. St. Louis was founded in 1764 by Pierre

Chicago in the 1920s was a turning point for the development of ethnic neighborhoods. After the opening of the first rail connection from New York to Chicago in the 1840s, immigration sky rocketed from that point on. Majority of the immigrants to Chicago were Europeans. The Irish, Italians, eastern European Jews, Germans, and Mexicans were among the most common ethnicities to reside in Chicago. These groups made up the greater part of Chicago. The sudden increase in immigration to Chicago in the 1920s soon led to an even further distinguished separation of ethnicities in neighborhoods. The overall development of these neighborhoods deeply impacted how Chicago is sectioned off nowadays. Without these ethnicities immigrating to Chicago

Referring back to the concept of “double bind” of being a black girl, Simmons discusses sexuality and the discourse that is inhibited by young black girls daily lives and how propriety needs to be expressed in order to receive a sense of dignity confidence. Chapter 2: A Street Where Girls Were Meddled, the conversation of street harassment was a focal point as black girls’ had to plan consciously on what areas they were able to associate with and other places that should be avoided or ignored in order to stay safe. As they navigated segregated New Orleans they learned about the correspondence of race, gender specification, and power. Sense of self, place, and power were constantly changing based on their physical position in the city at a given time.

Carol Stack finds herself in a curious place as a young white woman venturing into a black neighborhood in hopes of alleviating negative stereotypes and bringing illumination into a semiosphere that is altogether ignored or even despised. While she defined her purpose as the attempt to “illustrate the collective adaptations to poverty of men, women, and children within the social-cultural network of the black urban family” (28), her methods are not merely those of an outside observer spouting back information, but truly that of an actively engaged participant. Staying true to the guidelines of participant observation studies, Stack did not attempt to isolate or manipulate the culture she saw, and instead of donning the lab coat, as it

Commonly referred to as a classic by millennials, Mean Girls, directed by Mark Waters in 2004, allows an interesting critique of racism when viewed through a sociological lens. The story follows Cady Herron, a normal teenager- except for the fact that she grew up in Africa, homeschooled by her scientist parents- as she is forced to integrate into the public-school system in Illinois. Never having been in an institution like a public school, Cady quickly learns what not to do and who to hang out with. Through trial and error, Cady assimilates and becomes a ‘normal’ American teenager who is part of the ‘popular’ crowd, befriending “The Plastics”; Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners, and their leader, Regina George. The story of Mean Girls is not as superficial as it seems. This film illustrates the perils of not only teenage life, but current life in America, and accurately depicts the struggles that minorities face. Looking at this movie through Functionalist theory, the racial aggressions present are part of a larger institution of the public school system; insinuating that the micro and macro-aggressions directed towards minorities are part of developing the future generation and teaching them to perpetuate racial inequality in America, allowing white people to remain the majority race and to reap the benefits that come with it. The complexity of the movie lies within an interesting discourse that examines the effects and functions behind the racist

St. Louis is a town in the middle of Missouri located on the Mississippi River. Back in the earth 1900 St. Louis used to be a huge bustling city. The city was very important for trade because of its location in the Mississippi. So many people lived in St. Louis and traveled from all around the world to gothere.St. Louis even hosted the 1904 world's fair which was held in its very own Forest park. St. Louis is kinda like Edinburgh Scotland, Edinburgh has so much history dating back to the medieval ages and even before that. The city it self has so much history from the Edinburgh castle, Arthur's seat, and many more historical site from Mary Queen of Scots bedroom to where she gave birth to her son king James; even many grave yards with successful writers and philosophers buried in them. These two cities are a lot a like because of the great history that had gone before them in the past. These two cities have seen many meaningful historical events happen in the past.

People in a community will continually do acts of violence when they perceived that the act is approved by the society. When translated into violence against women, prevalence would be high if the people perceived it to be acceptable.