American Legion

In “Battle Royal”, Ralph Ellison sets his story after the Reconstruction. In his story, the white, elite leaders of the time, invite the narrator to the hotel room to deliver graduation speech. However, before he can deliver his speech, the narrator becomes involved in a brutal box-match against the other workers. Similarly, in “The Lottery”, the village initially, seems calm. Yet, at the end, it is revealed that due to the long held tradition, a person, who has picked a paper with black dot…

Throughout my life sports (especially American football) have played a huge role in molding me into the person I am today. I excel at them due to my competitive nature and desire to work with other to attain a common goal. After high school I decided to continue my athlete career by playing Division 1 football at the University of Tulsa. I was a “Preferred Walk-On” which means I did not receive any scholarship money for playing, but I was held to the same standards as everyone else. Over the…

The term “thug” has become synonymous with young black males in the United States. This stereotype owes its origins not to rap music, but to the racialized political atmosphere of the late 1950’s (Abagond, 2015). The notion of the stereotypical black thug of today took hold in the 1990’s with the advent of gangsta rap (Abagond, 2015). As rap has grown in popularity, integrating the thug stereotype into mainstream movies, television shows and even advertisement campaigns was easy and systematic.…

includes basic misdemeanors. A jail is supposed to hold persons of a dangerous behavior, such as rapists and predators, but this isn’t generally the case. A great majority of persons confined in this type of space belong to a different social category. American jails are known to operate as a means to contain the poor and lower-class person (primarily). This includes prisoners that are uneducated, and unemployed. Others are known to call them something different such as “social refuse” and…

illustrating the issues facing African-Americans, when he writes, “Full of black guy [wack,] you want black guy facts/ 80% of the population in the jails are black/ 1% of the males teaching schools are black/ So fight back, because the system is trying to break our backs” (Jasiri X 34-36). “System” is used to refer to the government or economic structure of the United States. Therefore, “system” implies that the injustices perpetrated against African-Americans are systemic and being carried out…

when she says that truth is like, “…a crystal of many sides. Truth is more likely to be found in the complex middle than in the simplified extremes” (3). At the time that Dr. West is writing this essay he has seen the injustice and inequality among American men and woman of different races and how mostly there is only…

equality was at its peak. In 1963, Dr. King’s speech expressed his concern for the future; he used it to motivate and encourage change within America. His speech provides an excellent perspective of the African American life. Dr. King briefly explains the treatment African Americans endured throughout the 1900’s. Some of these issues persist. Inequality is an important issue within America, and it clearly shows a nation without unity. Not only for black people, but other ethnicities are…

be an underlying truth to the phrase. With that said the “man” may not be referring to an actual person, but systematic racism. This idea that any group of people is being discriminated against in today’s age may sound implausible to the average American. This is often due to The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Yet evidence reveals discrimination is still…

There have been countless television shows that focus on black people and black cultural issues; for instance Family Matters and Fresh Prince of Bel Air more recently Everybody hates Chris and Black-ish. Although each show focuses on black families and certain cultural issues and stereotypes, there is always the underlying presence/influence of white culture whether it be the fact that the show was produced by a white person or a white character. This essay will analyze how rapper childish…

disadvantaged to some extent. I am an eighteen-year-old Black, heterosexual, female. I am a Christian and a citizen of the United States of America who grew up in the middle class. I possess qualities that show both privilege and disadvantages in American society. During the third week of class, a comprehensive list was made of what it means to be privileged in the United States today. This list included things such as “not recognizing you are privileged”, “being the “The Default””, “being…