The Coon

The ground was like a stone mattress, but Luke somehow managed to fall asleep with the sounds of coyotes yipping across the prairie—the sounds of home, a little familiarity and comfort. He even dreamed all night—weird dreams. Now he was dreaming he was hunting dinosaurs—dreams are funny that way. In the dream a herd of duckbills were charging toward him like the scene in Jurassic Park. He had his homemade bow ready, but he doubted his arrows would penetrate their hard skin. As they grew closer,…

After the Civil War, the United States encountered a period of recreating America after all of the destruction from the war and incredible loss in the population, and focusing on the rights and liberties of all Americans as equal under the Constitution--particularly in rebuilding the South. Such equalities, however, were difficult for many to comprehend. The post-Reconstruction era is the period which lasted from the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth. Post-Reconstruction consisted of…

rhythmic momentum of the music (Starr & Waterman: 2003, pg.37), Ragtime is said to attribute its feature of syncopation from the banjo, an instrument created by African American slave musicians in the early 1600’s. The first popular Ragtime piece ‘All Coons Look Alike to Me’ was released in 1896 by Ernest Hogan, and as can be identified in the title, was another form of bigotry against the African American society. This title was followed by the success of other Ragtime composers such as Stephen…

The writer Richie Norton once said, "To escape fear, you have to go through it, not around." In my case that is exactly what I did. The fear of my father drove me down the road, down a path I never thought I would be. However, little did I know, I was running straight into my fears, not around. The day I left home, I was hurting emotionally. My father had verbally abused me, and I was not having it any longer. So, I ran away. But within my fear I found relief, I found my salvation. The feeling…

The history of receiving a folded American flag though a small token of gratitude from the United States of America and Congress, helps a grieving family that is going through so much with the loss of a loved one. Traditionally, at every military funeral, the closest loved one of the fallen hero receives a folded American flag that was draped over the casket of the service member on behalf of the United States of America. In 2015, we have seen many deaths in first responders and though there…

rolls off the tongue the way sweat rolls off a nigga 's forehead, but we cannot let that be a crutch. Especially when there are so many fine substitutes: spade, porch monkey, jiggaboo. I say the next time you gonna call a darkie a nigga, you call that coon a jungle bunny instead" (yyomommacallinme, 2008). This scene was aired on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim broadcasting station without any censorship of the discriminating words towards African American people. Many people claim that these events…

“Visibility” in Childhood Gives Rise to Better Outcomes in Later Life, Displayed Through Literature Impoverished youth are more likely than their wealthier counter partners to suffer from neglect and abuse, not just from family members, but also from society organizations like the education and health systems (“Poverty and Child Neglect”). Being overlooked by the community they live in is detrimental to a child’s social, educational, and sexual development. Ralph Ellison’s novel, Invisible Man,…

Will Sheerin Professor Lorenz Music and Migration April 4 2016 Skinhead’s influence in Jamaican Ska During the 1950’s, Britain’s economy was in a recession and they reached out to many of their Western colonies to increase immigration to England. After World War II the economy was in bad shape and the United Kingdom government looked for immigrants to fill the employment vacancies. Many Jamaicans took the opportunity to start a new life and migrated to London in large quantities. With them…

The Insanity Defense. What constitutes its use? How can personality psychology server to the client’s advantage? How is this field of psychology used to better determine a criminal’s behavior? How often is this form of defense used, and how successful is it in serving as a “get out of jail free card”? Before one can even begin to fathom any of these questions, one must first understand what this defense signifies. As one of our moral checks on the Criminal Justice System (CJS), the insanity…

For a number of reasons, culture is significant to a variety of ethnicities all around the world. When people think about culture they tend to think of traditions, values, and beliefs. We often gain a sense of knowledge about culture from our family, friends, the education system, and media. Thanks to the many forms of communication surrounding us, it is almost impossible for people in a certain culture to be unaware of cultures outside of their own. When learning about other cultures an…