The Relationship of Self Esteem of Skin Color in African American Culture Essay Example for Free

The Relationship of Self Esteem of Skin Color in African American Culture Essay The Relationship of Self Esteem and Skin Color 2 This paper explores the relationship between skin tone preference and the effect it has on self esteem in the African American community. As early as slavery in America there has been an assumed preference to lighter or more fair skinned African Americans. Many in the culture seem to believe that lighter skin represents beauty and equates to greater earning potential and increased opportunity. Articles by McAdoo, 1998; Ross, 1997; Russell, Wilson and Hall 1992, discuss how skin tone is used to differentiate and apply social values and self worth for African Americans. This belief led to self hate for some in the community and an increase in the use of skin whitening products in an effort to become more socially accepted and increase attractiveness to the opposite sex. Whitening appeared to be a boost to self esteem on the outside, but it really only created a false sense of confidence and acceptance. Since slavery, skin color has been used as a means of separation among those in the black community. The darker skinned slaves were usually resigned to work out in the sun in the fields while the lighter skinned slaves, who were generally the offspring of the master and a female slave were usually allowed to perform work inside the house. This led to anger by the darker field worker that still lingers on to this day. Growing up as a young boy the difference of skin tone never really seemed to be an issue but when I reached adolescence and started attending junior high school I experienced this ugliness for the first time. I was growing up in the eighties when most of the most successful blacks seen on television were lighter skinned. I particularly remember the family group Debarge as the teen heartthrobs of black teens at that time. They were all light skinned, with what we The Relationship of Self Esteem and Skin Color 3 called â€Å"good hair† due to their mixed heritage. If a kid did not fit that criterion he was not considered to be one of the â€Å"it† guys and your chances of dating were exponentially decreased. I and many began to see early that it was assumed that lighter skin meant better and received more privilege. I, at times, had feelings of self hate because I felt I was not good enough. I soon began to see members of my family using skin lightening cream to brighten their skin even by the ones who were not really dark at all. This leads me to the election of the United States first African American president. This was a joyous occasion in the African American community as many thought they would never see this happen in their lifetimes. Although, this was a historic moment some people questioned if President Obama would have been elected if he â€Å"looked more black† and less Eurocentric. Was it his clean cut look and light skin that made him seem less threatening to mainstream America? This sentiment was echoed by Senator Harry Reid in the Book Game Change: Obama and the Clinton’s, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime (Heilemann and Halperin, 2010), â€Å"He (Reid) was wowed by Obama’s oratorical gifts and believed that the country was ready to embrace a black presidential candidate, especially one such as Obama- a ‘light skinned’ African American ‘with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one’ †. Senator Reid would go on to apologize for his insensitive remarks but the those words were proof positive that this type of stereotyping not only existed in the African American community but was alive and well in the conscience of main stream America as well. The thought of skin tone separation seems antiquated to most, but from time to time we get occasionally reminders that we still have a ways to go to rid ourselves of the self hatred of The Relationship of Self Esteem and Skin Color 4 past generations. The words of those like Senator Reid will soon be forgotten by the general public, but for those in the African American community who have experienced this type of bias will never forget.

Exploring Shakespeares Presentation of the Theme of Power in The Tempe

Exploring Shakespeare's Presentation of the Theme of Power in The Tempest In 'The Tempest', power manifests itself in many different forms. Three of the main types of power that Shakespeare explores are the power of love, the power of magic and illusion and the power of a master over his slave. He presents these forms of power in a number of ways. In 'The Tempest' Prospero appears to hold the majority of the power. He maintains his control over other characters in various ways, for example he uses the power of love to influence his daughter Miranda. Miranda is devoted to her father, and Prospero uses guilt to maintain this. In their first conversation, Prospero?s power over Miranda becomes apparent. She says ?Alack, what trouble/Was I then to you!? and it is clear that because of the guilt she feels, she will be willing to do anything for him. It is evident that Miranda is aware of how powerful Prospero is, as she says ?Had I been any god of power, I would/ Have sunk the sea within the earth?. This indicates that she understands the extent of Prospero?s power, and that if she had possessed the same amount of power, she would use it differently to her father. Prospero is manipulative, appearing self-pitying by saying ?When I have decked the sea with drops full salt/ Under my burthen groaned? but also egotistical, saying, ?Have I, thy schoolmaster, made thee more profit/ Than other princesses can? to which Miranda responds ?Heaven thank you for?t!? Although he tries to cause Miranda to feel sympathy towards him in order to keep control of her, he also wants her to admire him. Although he also has power over Miranda usi... ...serves in offices/ That profit us?. Prospero needs Ariel and Caliban in order to have power, and so throughout ?The Tempest?, contrary to our beliefs at the beginning of the play, we begin to see that the main protagonist of power within ?The Tempest? is not, in fact, Prospero. Shakespeare presents many kinds of power in ?The Tempest?. He demonstrates the control that Prospero has over Miranda using love, and also different kinds of power between master and slave. Sometimes the master and slave power is subverted, such as at the beginning of the play, when the boatswain takes control. Shakespeare also presents a change in the balance of Prospero?s power. The main reason Prospero has so much power is due to his magic, however at the end of the play he sacrifices his powers and sets free his slaves, Ariel and Caliban.

Executive Support System

Executive Support Systems (ESS) †¢ supply the necessary tools to senior management. The decisions at this level of the company are usually never structured and could be described as â€Å"educated guesses. † Executives rely as much, if not more so, on external data than they do on data internal to their organization. Decisions must be made in the context of the world outside the organization. The problems and situations senior executives face are very fluid, always changing, so the system must be flexible and easy to manipulate. The Role of ESS in the Organization Executives often face information overload and must be able to separate the chaff from the wheat in order to make the right decision. On the other hand, if the information they have is not detailed enough they may not be able to make the best decision. An ESS can supply the summarized information executives need and yet provide the opportunity to drill down to more detail if necessary. †¢ As technology adva nces, ESS are able to link data from various sources both internal and external to provide the amount and kind of information executives find useful. As common software programs include more options and executives gain experience using these programs, they're turning to them as an easy way to manipulate information. Many executives are also turning to the Web to provide the flexibility they need. Benefits of ESS †¢ As more executives come up through the ranks, they are more familiar with and rely more on technology to assist them with their jobs. Executive Support Systems don't provide executives with ready- made decisions. They provide the information that helps them make their decisions. Executives use that information, along with their experience, knowledge, education, and understanding of the corporation and the business environment as a whole, to make their decisions. Executives are more inclined to want summarized data rather than detailed data (even though the details must be available). ESS rely on graphic presentation of information because it's a much quicker way for busy executives to grasp summarized information †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Simple for high-level executives to use Operations do not require extensive computer experience †¢ Provides timely delivery of company summary information †¢ Provides better understanding of information †¢ Filters data for better time management †¢ Provides system for improvement in information tracking Disadvantages †¢ Computer skills required to obtain results †¢ †¢ Requires preparation and analysis time to get desired information †¢ †¢ Detail oriented Provides detailed analysis of a situation †¢ †¢ Difficult to quantify benefits of DSS How do you quantify a better decision? †¢ Difficult to maintain database integrity †¢ †¢ Provides only moderate support of external data and graphics capabilities Examples of ESS †¢ The Sutter Home Winery uses mostly external data, including information from the Internet, in its ESS. It organizes the information in order to help executives make decisions based on trends in th e marketplace. The information includes data on competitors and information from market research. Sutter uses its system output to determine sales forecasts, marketing campaigns, and investment plans. Managers at the Royal Bank of Canada are able to choose their own criteria (from among 15 choices) to drill down and navigate data through easy-to-use interfaces. They don't have to accept data in formats chosen by someone else who may not understand individual manager's needs. Data analysis is more timely because the information is quicker to obtain and more convenient than before. †¢ Characteristics of ESS †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Degree of use High, consistent, without need of technical assistance Computer skills required Very low -must be easy to learn and use Flexibility High – must fit executive decision making style Principle use Tracking, control Decisions supported Upper level management, unstructured Data supported Company internal and external Output capabilities Text, tabular, graphical, trend toward audio/video in futur e Graphic concentration High, presentation style Data access speed Must be high, fast response ESS Applications †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ Manufacturing Medical Government Financial summary †¢ Executive Support Systems meet the needs of corporate executives by providing them with vast amounts of information quickly and in graphical form to help them make effective decisions. ESS must be flexible, easy to use, and contain both internal and external sources of information

An Analytical Summary

Se Habla Espanol By Tanya Barrientos An Analytical Summary Tre A. Williams Kimberly Muirhead English 115 11/14/2012 Tanya Maria Barrientos, a journalist by profession and an upcoming author is Guatemalan by birth. However she has been living in America for almost fifty years after coming from her native country at the age of three. The essay ‘Se Habla Espanol’ is a poignant depiction of the search for her misplaced identity that she desperately tried to forget in her formative years.Her aversion towards her own ethnicity can be summarized by this quote of hers, â€Å"when I was sixteen, I told my father how much I hated being called Mexican-not only because I wasn't, but also because the word was hurled as an insult† (Page 59). The most important point of the essay is the difficulty the immigrants face while growing up in a land, which is not their by birth as how they are inherently misfit in the society, yet they desperately want to merge into it by forgetting t heir language and ignoring their last names.Barrientos starts the essay the quite aptly by depicting her child hood days as how her parents consciously forgot their own culture to assimilate their kids in the alien ‘gringo’ culture. Although they themselves talked to each other in Spanish, yet they talked to their kids in English, maintain the American culture within the house and kept their kids as far away as possible from other Latin Americans and Latin American Culture. The result was dark skinned kids who consider themselves white and hate to be called Latin American or Mexican.Barrientos’ mental state in her growing years can be ascertained by these words, â€Å"I enjoyed looking into the faces of Latino store clerks and waitresses and, yes, even our maid, and saying ‘yo no hablo espanol’. It made me feel superior. It made me feel American. It made me feel white† (Page 58). The situation completely changed when Barrientos reached her 20à ¢â‚¬â„¢s. Suddenly the societal conditions changed and the country woke up to recognize various cultures and ethnicities that made the United States of America that we know today.The culture baggage was no longer considered a baggage now and in fact it gave uniqueness to the immigrants. Now, Barrientos tries to learn Spanish and also desperately tries to search her lost identity while learning Spanish. However, now the unfortunate thing is that in spite of trying hard in learning Spanish, she is still managed to understand and haltingly speak Spanish that makes her stick out in her own community and she can never gel completely within her own community.The purpose of Barrientos’ writing clearly indicates the experience, the second generation immigrants feel, behave and communicate in the modern American society. She explains the experience of her life and analyzes the difficulties she had to endure throughout her life. Her audience primarily is young and most of them are not white Americans like her. The exceptional thing about Barrientos’ essay is that she has written it in a very exceptional, lucid and easy to understand English.Thus, Se Habla Espanol is an excellent essay, which depicts and analyzes a modern day issue, which has established as a major phenomenon in today’s world. Moreover, it is very much evident in America because it has always been a melting pot of varied cultures belonging to all over the world. References Create. (2001). ENC 1101. Corinthian. Columbus, OH: McGraw-Hill. Border-Line Personalities: A New Generation of Latinas Dish on Sex, Sass, and Cultural Shifting [Paperback] Michelle Herrera Mulligan (Author), Robyn Moreno (Author) Se Habla Espanol ByTanya Barrientos page 167.

Lord of the Rngs essays

Lord of the Rngs essays Critical Evaluation of The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring Peter Jackson, the movie picture director from Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners, has done it again. A New Zealand born native has made some of the most goriest pictures that were ever produced. He has transformed one of the most intriguing fantasy books, which was always a dream of his, into a three part movie trilogy. The outcome of this burdensome task is a superb film. He had the right mix of team, talent, financing, and location to make a story so fanciful come to life. His incredible intuitions and skills were seen thoughtout. It is a wonderful, eye-catching, film. The screenplay by Jackson was remarkable, given how much material he had to discard and condense in order to make the transition to the screen, while still remaining true to the original. As best said by himself, I wanted to take moments from the book and use modern technology to give audiences nights unlike anything they have experienced before. His talent exceeded anyones belief that such a masterpiece could be created with such brilliance. This movie rates among one of the top three of all time. New Line Cinema and Wingnut Films Production presented Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. This three hour spectacle, a condensed version of the four-hundred page book by J.R.R.Tolkien, was released on December 19th, 2001. It has grossed in three hundred and thirteen million dollars. This film placed eleventh in all time income as it grossed over three hundred and thirteen million dollars. The premier was in London, England, and then in New York City for the U.S.A. This legendary fantasy gave everyone, from avid fans of the book, to people unfamiliar with the trilogy, a truly fascinating experience. You would not have to read the book to be carried away by the magic and power that encompasses you as you experience the movie. The production company filmed all three mov...

Ferment and Foment

Ferment and Foment Ferment and Foment Ferment and Foment By Simon Kewin Is â€Å"foment† the same as â€Å"ferment†? People stirring up discord are often described as â€Å"fomenting trouble†. If you search for the phrase on the Internet you’ll find, for instance, Indian agents fomenting trouble in Canada and the Russian Kremlin fomenting trouble in Belarus, to pick just two recent examples. But quite often, the phrase used in this situation is â€Å"fermenting† rather than â€Å"fomenting† trouble. This is a less common phrase, but there are still plenty of instances to be found, all over the world, of people fermenting trouble. Are both phrases correct or do people write â€Å"ferment† when they should say â€Å"foment†? The Oxford dictionary’s definition of foment as a transitive verb is : instigate or stir up (an undesirable or violent sentiment or course of action) as in for example : they accused him of fomenting political unrest The word derives from the Latin word fomentum, meaning a poultice or a lotion. Originally, to foment was to bathe a part of the body with a warm or a medicated lotion. Ferment as a transitive verb, meanwhile, means : incite or stir up (trouble or disorder) as in for example : the politicians and warlords who are fermenting this chaos This word derives from the Latin word fermentum meaning yeast. As you can see, both foment and ferment have ended up meaning more or less the same thing in this context, despite their different derivations. Perhaps this is because they sound so similar or it might be because they share that sense of heat. Fomentum itself derived from the Latin verb fovere to heat, while fermentum derived from fervere, to boil. So, while it is more common to â€Å"foment† trouble, it is also perfectly acceptable to â€Å"ferment† it. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:60 Synonyms for â€Å"Walk†One Sheep, Two Sheep, One Fish, Two Fish . . .Dozen: Singular or Plural?

I.T and society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

I.T and society - Essay Example I hope to explore these themes in a way that transcends the terms of the well-known debates over the normative and historical ramifications of the late Weber's theorizing of charisma and Fuhrerdemokratie. (Feldman, 2005, 60) However, what must be addressed in the course of this analysis is the fact that Lukacs and Schmitt themselves -- each in their own way, to be sure -- endorsed twentienth-century political mythologies that most vigorously championed political will: left- and right-wing authoritarianism in the forms of, respectively, Soviet Communism and National Socialism. In Weber the neutrality and technological innovation does not however prevent the emergence of a prejudiced disposition over historical specificity: that is, the melancholy of the conclusion of The Protestant Ethic and the "Science" lecture which fuels the call for responsible personal stands in the "Politics" and "Parliament and Government" lectures. Lukacs's early writings betray a similar lament over, and desire to actively transcend, the alienation brought on by a rationalized modernity. In this regard he frequently' exhibits an existential pathos derived often explicitly from Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, and Dostoyevsky. (Portis, 1990, 759) In both works the phenomenon of rationalization is... As Schmitt observes its influence is nearly all-pervasive: "In almost every discussion one can recognize the extent to which the methodology of the natural-technical sciences dominates contemporary thinking". But again he now attributes the genesis of this rationality to a Marxian category and no longer a Weberian one: "The modern modes of thought already eroded by the reifying effects of the dominant commodity form" encourages purely "quantitative" analyses of society and not "qualitative" ones ((Feldman, 2005, 60)). Its common ground is a concept of nature that has found its realization in a world transformed by technology and industry. Nature appears today as the polar antithesis of the mechanistic world of big cities whose stone, iron and glass structures lie on the face of the earth like colossal Cubist creations. The antithesis of this empire of technology is nature untouched by civilization, wild and barbarian -- a reservation into which "man with his affliction does not set foot." (Feldman, 2005, 60) The old gods rise from their graves and fight their old battles once again, but now disenchanted and now, as should be added, with new means of struggle which are no longer mere weapons but terrifying means of annihilation and extermination -- dreadful products of value-free science and the industrialism and technology that it serves. What is for one the devil is for the other the god. That the old gods have become disenchanted and become merely accepted values makes the conflict specter-like and the antagonists hopelessly polemical. References Chekki, Dan A. Western Sociologists on Indian Society: Marx, Spencer, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto. Social Forces, Mar81, Vol. 59 Issue 3, p848-849 Feldman, Leonard. Max Weber's