The word “difference” still divides us to this day. The way we are different are due to our race, gender and class can have an impact on our life chances and can turn our lives upward or downwards. The concept of “difference” has been a topic and a goal for many societies to stop the divide for many decades already, since the 1980’s. When in the 1980’s there were numerous social protests and movements. However, to this day we are still tackling the problem. There are two articles,“The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” and “The Ballot or the Bullet” that bring up their own views of the word “difference” and how they can indirectly or directly impact each other. In this article, “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle …show more content…
First and foremost, both authors highly suggests, as a group the need to unite and become dependent of each other is a major key to success when wanting a successful protest. However, when we unite, there will definitely be conflicts and struggles because we are all different, mentality, religiously, etc. So both authors tackle how to deal with the differences, based on how their own gender (male or female) would tackle it. In other words, how should a women deal with differences and how a man should deal with differences. From a viewpoint of women, Lorde proposes us not to ignore our differences or to view it as unfavorable, instead use it as our weapon to dismantle or change a problem. When we discover our differences, it can lead us to examine our strengths as a community (Lorde 46). On the other hand, Malcolm X recognizes “difference” as a barrier for keeping the community from coming together. So he commands us to forget our differences until we have solved our problem (Malcolm X 89). So it is interesting to see how both viewpoints have some correlation to each other and some views are way different. However, both want to achieve the same goal, that is to stop, oppression, discrimination,
Dr. King and Malcolm X strived to achieve equality for blacks under the law, more specifically, voting rights, desegregation, and more representation in government and politics. However, both men differed immensely in their tactics and strategies. For Dr. King, the negotiations could be brought about by the persistence of a nonviolent plan where, the oppressed people’s determination would overcome the will of the oppressor in the hearts and minds of the nation. He firmly believed in the principles of Mahatma Gandhi’s method of nonviolence resistance, which had been successful in driving the British out of India. For example, according to King, one of the resisters, or black mans goals is not to humiliate the opponent, (the white man) but to win his friendship and understanding. Dr. King proposed a passive resistance, based on “the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice” (“Pilgrimage to Non Violence” King, 112). He claimed the center of nonviolence is based on the principle of love, or understanding. Dr. King emphasized that the white man should not be held responsible for the minorities and blacks being oppressed. Here is where the two leaders oppose each other. Malcolm X felt social injustice and racism had endured too long, and it was
The principal aspect of our nowadays community consists of its division into groups. Social division is interconnected with the cases of inequalities and their lasting impact on the lives of those who undergo it. Nowadays the entertainment media pays significant attention to the issue of social stratification which presupposes virtue to be attached to the well-off middle and upper classes. Meanwhile, in accord with Michael Parenti's argument in "Class and Virtue," the working class is treated not only as ignorant and ill-mannered but also as less desirable and less moral than other class. In this essay, this issue will be examined on the basis of the film Crash which supports the message of Michael Parenti. The film shows the life of two different groups of people, where the black working class is always suffering from the racial segregation and is treated as a third-class people.
authors has been made, in a bid to bring out the differences in the information they present.
This supports Dr. King’s idea of equality and unity and contradicts Malcolm X’s idea of black supremacy, showing how the two men have contrasting ideals.
Equality is something we humans crave for when we are in a time of hardship. When we are being discriminated against, we feel the utmost pain and the need for freedom. Discrimination has lingered since the beginning of time, and ending it is impracticable. A French novelist, Honore de Balzac proclaims, “Equality may perhaps be a right, but no power on earth can ever turn it into a fact.” Here, Balzac is acknowledging that an individual is born a free man and is just as equal as any other man. But, an individual will never be fully equal as they desire. Some parts of society will try to act superior to a certain quality of someone’s life, like their race, religion, culture, etc. This statement proves to be valid in Khaled Hosseini’s novel,
- [ ] The focus of this speech will be to look in to the pros and cons of X and as well to have a better overview of his thought process. We will examine some of the many doctrines of Malcolm X- which where his “common enemy” theory, idea of can one go against their own race for the greater good of another race. We will as look in to the party that he played in the Black Panther Party .In the end we look at both sides of his argument in the best way possible.
Females across the nation started speaking out against gender inequality. Discrimination in areas such as the workplace, marriage, and government had become overwhelmingly obvious and women started fighting back (Banks 207). This uprising coincided with the Civil Rights Movement. During the same time, African-Americans were standing up against segregation and for racial equality. These two movements went hand-in-hand, as they both had similar motives. Both women and blacks were fighting against oppression in their own country, and they benefitted from each other’s successes. But it wasn’t strictly these two minority groups standing up for themselves during this time, as Mexicans and Native Americans joined the cause too. They also spoke out against inequality by hosting similar protests and demonstrations as the black and women’s rallies. This showed how the 1960’s were a popular time for minority groups to take a stand and make their voices heard, and women were only one of the many groups of people who rallied for change during that time.
By expressing this with the African American society of women who are continuously torched by the demanding words of men, McLune appeals strongly to all American women’s intellect of equality and respect. Women should not have to be judged by men and expect to be treated as if they owe anyone something, let alone have to be mistreated and belittled, if that were to be the case then men should be treated the same, therefore McLune’s audience, should understand that that is not how you define a black woman in any terms.
This essay question asks to discuss some of the ways in which differences and inequalities persist over time. Thus demonstrating that they are not fixed, but forever changing, being caused in diverse ways by society. The essay will first define ‘Inequality’ and ‘Differences’. It will then use two strands, ‘Making Lives’ and ‘Ordering Lives’ to discuss how they persist and will look at some differences and inequalities within, wealth, homelessness, law, and class. Concluding the whole world is effected by continuing inequalities and differences, which is only getting worse.
She describes how white women “ignore their built-in privilege of whiteness” when they ignore the black female’s point of view and focus solely on the white female’s view (117). She points out the hypocrisy of white feminists, in that they will refuse to read black females’ works because they are “too difficult to understand,” but will read the works of Shakespeare, Molière, Dostoyefsky, and Aristophanes (117) There’s an obvious contradiction between white feminists’ “incorporation” of black females into their movement and the exclusion of their literature, which Lorde later analyzes and determines is because white women would feel guilt upon recognizing and validating their experiences. Furthermore, the exclusion of black writings from the feminist movement weakens the strength of the movement, offering the opposite effect as desired. Lorde writes how “ignoring the differences of race between women and the implications of those differences presents the most serious threat to the mobilization of women’s joint power.” (117) Since the feminist movement seeks to apply social pressure to achieve social change, it would make sense to try to gain strength in numbers by including the most people possible; Lorde sees this strength in numbers and calls into question the consistency of the white side of the feminist movement with its
An analysis of Gloria Anzaldúa‘s The New Mestiza and James Baldwin’s The Fire Next Time reveals that humans oppress themselves based on their differences. This is turn prevents them from identifying themselves as part of the human race. In his writings, Baldwin offers a solution to this hurdle that targets the apparent causes of the problem. However, Andalzua’s analysis of human difference reveals a few flaws in Baldwin’s view of the problem as well as his proposed solution to putting an end to human misery and oppression. Andalzua does so by examining Baldwin’s view of power, his view of love as a solution, and his view of the behavior of those who had been oppressive.
Lorde's central theme in her piece, “The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle The Master's House” is difference. Specifically, differences of gender, class, race, and sexuality. She discusses the differences between women and requests on feminists to recognize these differences, and celebrate them, rather than try to overcome them by ignoring their existence. “Advocating the mere tolerance of difference between women is the grossest reformism. It is a total denial of the creative function of difference in our lives. For difference must be not merely tolerated, but seen as a fund of necessary polarities between which our creativity can spark like a dialectic" (Lorde 99). She argues that we must take our differences and make them strengths. She
Social Construction of Race, Class, Gender and other forms of Social Difference This paper explains how race, class and gender are referred to as aspects of social construction, and how they can impact the society. Social construction is basically a theory of knowledge that scrutinizes the advance of mutually created understandings of the world forming the basis for collective suppositions about reality. The theory asserts the fact that human beings justify their experience by forming representations of the societal world and share these representations through language (Greco, 2013). It concerns the meanings placed on objects or events by the society, which are latter embraced by the occupants of that society with special considerations on
The idea of feminist criticism began in the 1960s, right around the time Lorde wrote and published much of her work. She used feminist theory as a way to undermine traditional patriarchal systems and unite women in a struggle against discrimination, oppression, racism, sexism, and patriarchy. Her writing aims to examine and promote women’s interests, as well as help women of various backgrounds identify with one another through their commonality of systemic oppression and their desire for basic human rights. In Lorde’s words, "I am defined as other in every group I'm part of". This phrase is a product of our society’s notion that to be different means one can not associate oneself with any given group unless they fit wholly into that and nothing else. As Lorde puts it, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” Lorde was known to have criticized some feminists during the 1960s for focusing on the specific experiences of white middle-class women rather than women as a diverse group. Through her work, she has observed that black women's experiences are often vastly different from those of white women, and because being a white woman is considered normal, black women are often marginalized and cast out of the “woman identity”. This is similar to the way lesbians are considered to be against feminism for not fitting the mold of the
The society is divided in different types of classes. The wealthy ones, the lower class, the religious ones and many more. For many years people have suffered for being in some type of class. To be treated differently is why people suffer. This analysis will bring up a comparison from the religion Hinduism with its caste system and scenes from the movie “Atonement” to show how the class different can change a person’s life forever.