Importance of Race in American Identity Research Assignment - 3575 Words

Importance of Race in American Identity Research Assignment (Essay Sample) Content: Name of Student:Course:Name of Tutor:Date of submission:Importance of Race in American IdentityErik Erikson, a well-known psychologist, defined identity as the creation of a sense of sameness, a unity of personality now felt by the individual and recognized by others as having consistency in time-of being, as it were, an irreversible historical fact. (Bowles, 1993). There must be a component in society, for an individual to become part of it, with which they can relate; and this highlights the issue of race and ethnicity. This idea has turned out to be exceptionally delicate in the current past to the degree that it evokes stress in many regions. While studying the society of the United State with regards to its cosmopolitan characteristics and the lifestyle of people, it was found that America is of diverse cultures including multiple racial and ethnic groups as well different cultural traditions. This applies to most of the world, not just the United States. The iss ue of human progress is thought to be race.In conducting a survey of the problems relating to race, it is essential to ignore the biases in culture that already exists. The purpose behind this is because of some of these inclinations are generally based on ill-conceived suppositions and may, in turn, raise the profound emotions that individuals have with regards to this subject. Getting rid of these attitudinal boundaries is however justified regardless of the challenges that come with it.It is essential to comprehend the factors that lead to these social differences. Race is the categorization of individuals based on their physical outlook with regards to their geographical locations.Talking about race highlights certain important issues, the most important of which is the problem of minority groups. This alludes to a group of people that are considered below most people. Even though these individuals are country nationals, they have certain attributes, which set them apart from th e majority. Ordinarily, the people belonging to such groups have comparative philosophies and endeavor to safeguard their way of life, and they often have to endure certain inconveniences on account of majority of the populace.Labelling people has been a major problem for a long time. Even though many do not have any issues with it, labelling based on race still offends a considerable number of people out there. The acknowledgment that individuals will always feel the need to discover a place in society where they are at ease and where they can live a safe and secure life is of vital importance. It is, however, not easy to comprehend how individuals classify themselves into the social groups of which they are a part. Throughout the years, there have been repairs in the past prominent socio-cultural convictions, such as referring to an African-American as a Negro being found offensive in the United States. The emergence of racial identity relies upon the way ethnic mentalities and co nvictions are investigated and scrutinized, along with discovering a connection between the old and present encounters of a person's group and its relationship with another distinctive group. This results in the advancement of a protected and positive feeling of identity as an individual from a certain racial group.Along with this comes the encouragement that other distinctive groups will acknowledge this affiliation. An individual's future may really be formed by the conditions of his reality, which is vital to acknowledge. This incorporates his or her social propensity and, specifically, race. A childs future is, in great part, decided on the basis of social status. There are geographical locations where individuals from specific areas or individuals of a specific affiliation will have a tendency to flourish more so than others. This can serve as an explanation for how racial issues can be disputed because of the way they can influence an individual's position in the social progre ssive system.There are some variables that play a noteworthy part in the race issue, the most important issue being that of imperialism. Most nations on the planet went through this process at some point in time. This resulted in critical changes in the societal development of the nations that were colonized. A significant example of this is the effect of colonization in the African region. The idea of predominance of races produced distinctive results in this region during the colonial time. The realization of this came due to the physical appearances of the Africans. The complexion of the colonizers differed from that of the Africans, because of which South Africa was the nation to suffer the most. This lasted up until the mid-1990s when the nation finally got its freedom. The racial clash in South Africa was extremely unpleasant up to the point that in 1977, Andrew Young, who was the Chief Representative of the United States to the United Nations claimed that a racial conflict in South Africa could encourage racial clashes to enter the United States. This observation may well have come because of African-Americans, despite being a minority group in the United States at the time, was still a very significant population. Seeing their people suffer could have set off a sentiment of pity, thereby motivating them to make a move, which may have been uncalled for. This is a result of the trademark unity which minority groups usually have with each other.The presence of groups that lead to racial discrimination is outside an individuals' control. The American society, for instance, has had outsiders coming into the nation from different parts of the world. The French political scholar Alexis de Tocqueville saw the United States as a society of immigrants each of whom had begun life anew, on an equal footing. This was the secret of America: a nation of people with the fresh memory of old tradition who dared to explore new frontiers. This is valid given that the Amer ican culture contains individuals from around the world who met at a collective place and chose to exist together. The underlying individuals who made up the American society were the Red Indians and immigrants from Europe. These were individuals of different social foundations; however, despite everything, they existed under the same ecological setting. The distinctive racial groups are seen to have diverse levels of evolution. The African-American, Hispanic and Asian populace living in the United States is ceaselessly expanding as are the disparities that come to fruition.Media also plays a significant role in forming our ways of thinking when it comes to race and the way we comprehend race as a major aspect of our identity, our history, our social foundations, and our regular day to day existences. Despite the physical and, in some cases, geographical aspects associated with particular racial identities, it is essential to acknowledge that race is an ideology that allows to see a nd grasp an understanding of our general surroundings. Race, in this manner, is pervaded with importance. It gets utilized as a marker for extensive ideas and connections. Race determines your social standing as a pariah or as being different from the rest. These markers are not just limited to one's complexion or social foundation, but also work in a bigger framework and in connection to other racial and ethnic identities. In this framework, certain groups hold more power and benefits over other groups.Keeping in mind the comprehension of social implications credited to races and ethnicities, the history and the philosophies of these frameworks should also be examined. Large portions of Western or American thoughts regarding race and ethnicity originate from crossroads in history set apart by imperialism, immigration and other factors that moved populaces and socio-economics. With such changes and the intermixing of various races and ethnicities, an overwhelming number of groups em erged to take control and applied influence over others by possessing and controlling the land, dialect, culture, and traditions. In these examples, the white people garnered more control and power, while the minority groups were consigned to the social, economic and political sides. This implies that the minority groups have had almost no control, and people in these groups were regularly denied the rights and chances that the dominant white groups had access to. The overwhelming majority holds social, political and financial power, and accordingly figures out who is deserving of being given a part in that power. Obviously, there is likewise a long history of resistance among the minority groups, who, for a considerable length of time, have fought relentlessly to secure rights that they have frequently been denied. This is a battle that continues to take place even today in new and advanced ways. In the 1950s and 1960s, quite a few legislations, such as the Civil Rights Act and the Brown vs. Board of Education, were introduced to address and bring changes to the racial discrimination faced by people (particularly African-Americans) in workplaces of the United States. However, racial discrimination continues to persist regardless of these laws and legislations. The methods by which we ourselves gain our identity are quite complicated. As such, the way we allocate group identities to others is also not that straight-forward. Labelling based on race and ethnicity in the United States is not simply based on a set criteria that everybody can comprehend, concur with, and use without difficulty. Accordingly, another person may label you in such a way that you consider exceptionally offensive and off-base. This can lead to instant barriers in open correspondence regardless of the possibility that the person's intentions were different from what you assumed them to be.Multiracial and multiethnic individuals are a q...

American Blind Faith in A Good Man is Hard to Find - Free Essay Example

Flannery OConnor consistently references religion and its effects on American culture in her short stories. Her Catholic upbringing influences almost all her fiction, often paired with Postmodernism themes of dark imagery and skepticism. Although she often has a harsh portrayal of religion, Flannerys point of view on religion itself isnt critical. Rather, she criticizes any set of ignorant American morals, including Atheism. Moreover, her morally flawed characters often face a crisis that gives them clarity and truth in their beliefs: A moment of grace. OConnor wished to reveal that Americas moral susceptibility to gullibility, poor judgment, and blind faith could be redeemed, but ultimately the destruction it causes may be irreversible. Throughout her short story A Good Man is Hard to Find, OConnor ponders the moral journey of an old southern grandmother and parallels this to possible consequences of Americas undeniable culture of valuing ignorant beliefs. A family travelling by car to Florida gets into an accident, which becomes deadly when an escaped convict called The Misfit comes across the scene. Because the Grandmother recognizes him from a news report, he and his band of convicts decide to execute the entire family. The Grandmother remains nameless in the story, which is significant in that a nameless character can represent a generic group, such as superficial Christians prevalent in the South during the late 20th century. Her religious beliefs are weak and merely surface level, as she constantly lies to her family and believes in the power of her dress and Southern manners to prove her religious piety and superiority; and she disguises her racism in kindly condescension (Boudreaux 151). Certain of the superiority of her rather half-baked Southern Christian morals, the Grandmother believes that she has the right to judge the goodness of others. When stopped at Red Sammys gas station and BBQ, she declared that Red Sammy is good because he let two strangers charge their gasoline on credit, leading to him be robbed of payment. This is significant, as OConnor emphasizes how these Southern morals praise those who trust blindly, as opposed to valuing actual good qualities such as compassion or honest y. Flannery OConnor allows the Grandmas beliefs to be her downfall against the Misfit, emphasizing that feigned goodness can be more treacherous than genuine evil. Although at first glance the Misfits code of violence seems senseless, it is the grandmothers code that proves to be inconsistent and feeble in comparison. This irony emphasizes that compared with her hollow faith in Jesus†whom she invokes only to save her own life†the Misfits agnosticism is nearly admirable (Boudreaux 151). The grandmother naively calls him a good man, however; this only spotlight how her moral compass is skewed and based on customary and thoughtless morals handed down to her from the old South. Her reasoning rests almost entirely on race and class, as she claims that he doesnt have common blood and therefore wont shoot a lady (OConnor pg). Her inability to judge character leads her to be vastly wrong about the Misfit. Ultimately, when the Misfit confronts her religious beliefs and challenges her to think deeply about whether Jesus was able to raise the dead, the Grandmothers faith crumbles. She is easily led down the garden path and is quick to agree with his skepticism, revealing that she has merely accepted the Southern construct of faith that she had been fed unquestioningly and weakly. Behind it is nothing of substance. Ironically, when the Misfit challenges the merit of customary religion, his deep thought creates a consistent yet evil moral code that proves to hold more substance than the Grandmothers fake goodness. From his experiences as a convicted criminal, he has proven to himself that all religion is pointless and is faithful to his own code No pleasure but meanness (OConnor pg). Despite his moral code being crude and violent, it never waivers, and therefore triumphs as true in the end. OConnor uses this to drive home the point that imitation of goodness without genuine thought and consideration cannot prevail over evil. Flannery wished to reveal Americas susceptibility to poor judgment due to blindly following beliefs rather than cultivating deep understand ing. OConnors second over-arching theme is the cost of redemption, for both Grandma and America itself. Gaining clarity and truth in faith through violent situations are important in Christian references, as when we reflect that in religion grace and salvation often come through violence or the threat of violence†Abraham leading Isaac up the hill of sacrifice, the early martyrs, not to mention the Passion itself†we can accept the grandmothers redemption at the muzzle of a gun (Boudreaux 151). The Grandmother, moved by the Misfits genuine search for truth about Jesus, exclaims Why youre one of my babies. Youre one of my own children (OConnor pg). God finally grants her clarity before she is shot, her compassionate revelation that all humans are children of god despite race or class, despite what she had blindly believed beforehand. However, the grandmothers moral journey comes with significant destruction and may in fact be too late as readersmay be forgiven for wondering whether the grandmothers redemption is worth the lives of four people (Boudreaux 151). Fallout 3, a retro post-apocalyptic open world video game, addresses these overarching themes with a character very similar to the Grandma in A Good Man is Hard to Find. The game allows its story to be driven by the good, bad, and ugly of American values. In an alternate technologically advanced 1950s American society, nuclear war broke between China and America over Communism, and what was once two global superpowers became two big apocalyptic wastelands. One particular bomb in Washington D.C. fell but didnt explode, and The Church of the Children of Atom, a cult that worships the undetonated atomic bomb, grew and centered their life gullibly around its radioactive presence. The cult itself it ties into OConnors overarching theme, as it shows the consequences of Americas undeniable culture of valuing ignorant beliefs. In the game dark Christian imagery evokes references to actual cults that have appeared in American History and reflects OConners postmodernism cynical outlook. In Fal lout 3, you interact with Mother Maya, who is similar to the Grandma in that she falls victim to her blind beliefs and is susceptible to poor judgement. Raised in the nuclear town and married to the sinisterly charismatic leader of the cult, confessor Cromley, she never questioned or deeply contemplated her absurd beliefs. Certain of her moral superiority, she also believes that she is the right person to judge your goodness. However, upon agreeing with her air of reverence for atom when she says Atoms power penetrates us all, does it not? Soon, every soul will revel in His glory ( Fallout 3), she incorrectly senses your goodness and allows you into the cult (which you plan to destroy). This lapse in judgment mirrors the Grandmother declaring that Red Sammy is a good man merely because his blind trust and values are aligned with her own. Similarly, upon choosing the option to instead confront Mother Mayas religious beliefs and challenge her to think deeply about whether the bomb can cause harmful radiation, Mother Mayas faith crumbles. Much like the Grandma who is quick to agree with the Misfits skepticism, she too realizes that she merely accepted the construct of faith that she had been fed unquestioningly and weakly. Now unable to infiltrate the cult, you can convince her to detonate the bomb and se e the truth for herself. In what is perceived as a moment of grace and clarity, before she leaves, she admits It saddens me to think how quickly we believe in things (Fallout 3). Paralleling the Grandmas moral journey, her redemption comes too late and with mass destruction and loss of life. Today, Americas susceptibility to poor judgment due to blindly following dogma rather than deeply held beliefs is a rampant and relevant subject. As a culture, we too often value blind trust, as opposed to treasuring actual good qualities such as truthfulness. Fake news is spread like wildfires on Facebook and other better social media. Americans are prone to believing headlines and praising the news source as good for having agendas that align with their own, without a second thought on its merit or truth. Perhaps whether or not Americas moral susceptibility to gullibility, poor judgment, and blind faith can be redeemed is a ticking time atomic bomb matter. This call for change and redemption before America meets its demise is what OConnor wished for readers to consider.