African Americans in the U.S. Essay Example for Free

African Americans in the U.S. Essay African Americans (American Blacks or Black Americans), racial group in the United States whose dominant ancestry is from sub-Saharan West Africa. Many African Americans also claim European, Native American, or Asian ancestors. A variety of names have been used for African Americans at various points in history. African Americans have been referred to as Negroes, colored, blacks, and Afro-Americans, as well as lesser-known terms, such as the 19th-century designation Anglo-African. The terms Negro and colored are now rarely used. African American, black, and to a lesser extent Afro-American, are used interchangeably today. Recent black immigrants from Africa and the islands of the Caribbean are sometimes classified as African Americans. However, these groups, especially first- and second-generation immigrants, often have cultural practices, histories, and languages that are distinct from those of African Americans born in the United States. For example, Caribbean natives may speak French, British English, or Spanish as their first language. Emigrants from Africa may speak a European language other than English or any of a number of African languages as their first language. Caribbean and African immigrants often have little knowledge or experience of the distinctive history of race relations in the United States. Thus, Caribbean and African immigrants may or may not choose to identify with the African American community. According to 2000 U. S. census, some 34. 7 million African Americans live in the United States, making up 12. 3 percent of the total population. 2000 census shows that 54. 8 percent African Americans lived in the South. In that year, 17. 6 percent of African Americans lived in the Northeast and 18. 7 percent in the Midwest, while only 8. 9 percent lived in the Western states. Almost 88 percent of African Americans lived in metropolitan areas in 2000. With over 2 million African American residents, New York City had the largest black urban population in the United States in 2000. Washington, D. C. , had the highest proportion of black residents of any U. S. city in 2000, with African Americans making up almost 60 percent of the population. Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2009.  © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Atlantic Slave Trade, Atlantic Slave Trade, the forced transportation of at least 10 million enslaved Africans from their homelands in Africa to destinations in Europe and the Americas during the 15th through 19th centuries. European and North American slave traders transported most of these slaves to areas in tropical and subtropical America, where the vast majority worked as laborers on large agricultural plantations. See Slavery. Between 1440 and 1880 Europeans and North Americans exchanged merchandise for slaves along 5600 km (3500 miles) of Africa’s western and west central Atlantic coasts. These slaves were then transported to other locations around the Atlantic Ocean. The vast majority went to Brazil, the Caribbean, and Spanish-speaking regions of South America and Central America. Smaller numbers were taken to Atlantic islands, continental Europe, and English-speaking areas of the North American mainland. Approximately 12 million slaves left Africa via the Atlantic trade, and more than 10 million arrived. The Atlantic slave trade involved the largest intercontinental migration of people in world history prior to the 20th century. This transfer of so many people, over such a long time, had enormous consequences for every continent bordering the Atlantic. It profoundly changed the racial, social, economic, and cultural makeup in many of the American nations that imported slaves. It also left a legacy of racism that many of those nations are still struggling to overcome. Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2009.  © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Civil Rights Movement in the United States, political, legal, and social struggle by black Americans to gain full citizenship rights and to achieve racial equality. The civil rights movement was first and foremost a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites that whites used to control blacks after slavery was abolished in the 1860s. During the civil rights movement, individuals and civil rights organizations challenged segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities, including protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregation laws. Many believe that the movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, though there is debate about when it began and whether it has ended yet. The civil rights movement has also been called the Black Freedom Movement, the Negro Revolution, and the Second Reconstruction. Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2009.  © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. AAVE Distinctive patterns of language use among African Americans arose as creative responses to the hardships imposed on the African American community. Slave-owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke many different African languages to discourage communication in any language other than English on their plantations. Moreover, many whites were unwilling to allow blacks to learn proper English. One response to these conditions was the development of pidgins, simplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages could use to communicate with each other. Some of these pidgins eventually became fully developed Creole languages spoken by certain groups as a native language. Significant numbers of people still speak some of these Creole languages, notably Gullah on the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. African American Vernacular English (AAVE), also called black English or Ebonics, is a dialect of English spoken by many African Americans that shares some features with Creole languages. Microsoft  ® Encarta  ® 2009.  © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Battle Of Impunity :: essays research papers

Battle of Impunity   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Insults often serve as a catalyst for revenge. Yet, revenge never comes without consequences. These consequences can stay in a person’s subconscious for the remainder of their life. Through the clever short story â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado† by Edgar Allan Poe, Montresor suffers from being insulted, seeking revenge and living with guilt. Montresor is unsuccessful in punishing Fortunato with impunity. The obsession to confess is a killer. Montresor starts the evil revenge plot with a smile on his face. â€Å"It must be understood that neither by word nor deed had I given Fortunato cause to doubt my good will. I continued, as was my wont, to smile in his face, and he did not perceive that my smile now was at the thought of his immolation.† Montresor believes that he will feel free and better about himself, for he will be completing his mission of impunity. With one brick remaining, â€Å"My heart grew sick; it was the dampness of the catacombs that made it so.† He thinks he will feel free, but throughout his life his freedom to do otherwise stands chained in the dank vault with Fortunato. He to is dead to the world, immobile, chained to the rock of his one guilt-ridden act of aggression. The sickness he feels isn’t the dampness of the catacombs, but the first feeling of remorse. He is killing a well â€Å"respected and even feared† man. Now confessing, t here is no way to change the past and his guilty conscience still remains. Through all the trouble Montresor goes through to kill the one person he truly despises, he benefits nothing. He thinks he will be happy. He even smiles at the sight of Fortunato in the beginning. Once he completes the task, the only thing left to do is live his life leaving Fortunato behind physically and mentally. Montresor can be better off leaving Fortunato alone, but instead he takes the unchristian way out and ends Fortunato’s life. He doesn’t gain anything from doing this, except a guilty conscience and a dead body. â€Å"A wrong is unredressed when retribution overtakes its redresser. It is equally unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong.† Montresor doesn’t gain anything positive from the revenge.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  With every experience one learns a lesson. Montresor lets the insulting Fortunato go straight to his head. He over reacts and cleverly tricks Fortunato into â€Å"the catacombs of the Montresors.

Violent Video Games Are Bad for You

Today, children, teenagers, and adults are exposed to violence throughout their lives. They are exposed through television shows, movies, maybe even on the streets, but what researchers and scientists have proved to be an increasing factor of violence in children and adults is their being exposed to violent video games in which â€Å"they can produce violence, emotional outbursts, and inappropriate language†. According to Violent Video Games: The Newest Media Violence Hazard, about 85% or more video games include violent content.Violent content includes: blood and gore, killing, inappropriate language, and sexual content. Since then, many people have been saying that these games promote bad behavior and cause people to be more violent. As people play violent video games, it influences bad behavior in the player because when you play these games, you control the person who causes the crimes, shoot and kill your enemy, whether it is a criminal or policeman depending on the game you are playing. Since you are playing the game, you feel more connected with your character in the game and it may affect you in the real world.This is proved according to the article Computer Games Can Rot Your Brain. According to it, â€Å"researchers have shown that playing or watching violent video games has led to alcohol consumption, destruction of property and other bad behavior. Video games can also lead to stealing of items, mainly vehicles. † Although the article says that, Akemi, a long term gamer now 22 years old, says otherwise. He says â€Å"I have been playing games since I was at least 7, I have no criminal record. I have good grades and have often been caught playing well into the night (that is, 4 hours or more). Even though Akemi has no criminal record, Brad Bushman, a scientist that has been studying the effects of violent games on people says â€Å"aggressive behavior may appear not as criminal activity or physical violence but in more subtle ways in w ays people react to or interact with other people in everyday life. † This would mean that Akemi, a gamer for years with no criminal record, may not cause crimes, but inside of him he has some kind of violent behavior that he expresses while interacting with people without him knowing it.Not only do violent videos promote bad behavior, they also destroy students’ grades. If someone is already influenced by the bad behavior in video games, it is certain that the student will not succeed in school. If he is not influenced by bad behavior and are getting unacceptable grades in school, then it may be the game’s addictiveness. Games are fun, especially when you are defeating monsters and killing people which cause you to do it for hours on, making you addicted to it.When you are at school, you would only think about these games and ignore your education. This is supported by Bushman when he says â€Å"The link between violent media and aggression is stronger than the link between doing homework and getting good grades. † People disagree with this and say that violent video games don’t cause bad grades because it might have been that the student was already receiving unacceptable grades before his exposure of violent games concluding that the games had no affect on his poor performance at school.This may be true but, what makes it a bad argument is that the student that is doing poorly in school and is playing these games will never get out of their habit of getting bad grades. If this student was to switch up his games with educational games for instance, then he may have gained the smarts to get out of his habit and become a better student. In the end, violent video games are harmful for you, and everyone else.They cause disruptive behavior, promote violence most more often than not, and encourage students to get poor grades. Many people disagree with this but Bushman says â€Å"many scientific studies clearly show that violent v ideo games make kids more likely to yell, push, and punch. † If we do not see an effect now, we would see it take place later on if they continue to play the games. As a final word, he says â€Å"We included every single study we could find on the topic. Regardless of what kids say, violent video games are harmful. †

How Does Holden Caulfield Be A - 1111 Words

Obedience. An simple word, so full with different meanings. We can see the looks on everyone s faces, we hear the gossip, but will we ever react? No, we are taught to stay out of it. Instructions drilled into our minds to be obedient. Living a life that is seen as perfect, but forever striding for a goal that was picked for us? Where is the expression? Where is the newly found happiness? The society that we live in today has changed us, shaped us into â€Å"not my business† or â€Å"that’s their problem† kind of people. With everyday life, we are faced with challenges, the defining moment is how we adapt or react to these changes, that is what defines us. Kids drop out to escape this fate, to escape being tortured every day by their peers, but the scars will remain; they will never fade, but will only be covered up by other scars stemming from the abuse. That is how Holden Caulfield is, a scar-covered young man, just trying to escape. Holden’s story begin s at Pencey, it is Holden’s fourth school; he has already failed out of three others. At Pencey, he has failed four out of five of his classes and is expelled for not trying in any of those classes. Instead of holden going straight home, he decided to go out on the town for a total of three days. â€Å" What I was really hanging around for, I was trying to feel some kind of goodbye. I mean I’ve left schools and other places I didn’t even know I was leaving them. I hate that. I don’t care if it’s a sad goodbye or a bad goodbye, but whenShow MoreRelatedHow Does Holden Caulfield See Himself as The Catcher in the Rye?1051 Words   |  5 PagesHow does Holden Caulfield see himself as ‘The Catcher in the Rye’? Most teenagers are rebels because they do not know how to deal with the transition from childhood innocence to adult corruption. This is a recurrent behavior displayed by the protagonist in J.D. Salinger’s, ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ – Holden Caulfield. The book maps the three impactful days that played a pivotal role in his life. During this time frame, Holden got thrown out of school, ran away from his school before he was scheduledRead MoreAnalysis Of Salinger s The Catcher Rye 972 Words   |  4 Pagesthemselves drawn to Holden Caulfield. At some point in their life they could relate to a sense of alienation, caused by money and wealth. Humans are wired to be jealous and want what others have. Holden Caulfield has the opposite problem, he has money and wealth which he inherited from his hard working parents. However, he himself is not motivated to work hard, graduate prep school and earn his own wealth. Instead he despises hard working students at the many prep schools he drops out of. Holden also has aRead MoreHolden Caulfield and the Pressures of Society: The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger1286 Words   |  6 Pagesespecially regarding the protagonist, Holden Caulfield. Salinger also includes many themes in his novel relating to growing up in a corrupt society. Hence, this paper will compare, contrast, and evaluate literary criticisms regarding the themes and characterization of J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye. Many critics of The Catcher in the Rye discuss in depth the characterization of the protagonist Holden Caulfield. For example, Reiff believes that Holden is a â€Å"symbol of a spontaneous, idealisticRead MoreThe Catcher in the Rye is about a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who doesn’t exactly fit in600 Words   |  3 Pagesis about a teenage boy named Holden Caulfield who doesn’t exactly fit in with his society. We know he doesn’t fit it because in the first scene Holden decides not to attend his school’s football game, which most people attend. Holden is a very opinionated person who criticizes most things. Hold did not belong in the 1940’s idea of a perfect society. But, would Holden Caulfield fit in to today’s society? Holden Caulfield would be more critical of today’s society. Holden would have many more prejudicesRead MoreHow Holden Deals with Grief in Salingers The Catcher in the Rye657 Words   |  3 Pagesyoung boy nam ed Holden Caulfield who is going through an emotionally hard time. After leaving school due to flunking grades, Holden sets out for New York city. During his time in New York, Holden rediscovers himself and his values. Holden Caulfield values Allie’s baseball mitt before he leaves school, the museum, and the Carousel in Central Park because they remind him of his childhood, and the innocence of childhood he hates to see children lose. Holden Caulfield values his brotherRead MoreA Pessimistic Adolescent Is Not What Most Consider A Reliable Narrator1295 Words   |  6 PagesA pessimistic adolescent is not what most consider a reliable narrator, but author J.D. Salinger challenges this commonly held thought with his coming-of-age novel The Catcher in the Rye. The reader is introduced to Holden Caulfield, a secondary school junior that is outcasted and aimless upon expulsion from yet another preparatory school in a post-World War II world. Salinger weaves a myriad of comparisons of genuinity and disingenuousness into his work, each explored through a facet of Caulfield’sRead MoreAnalysis Of The Catcher In The Rye1437 Words   |  6 Pagesdeath of his brother. The story is told from the perspective of Holden Caulfield, who discusses his recent past from a psychiatric hospital. Throughout the novel, Salinger explores how Caulfield copes with the grief of his brother Allie s death, and how he projects hi s emotions to the outside world and on everyone else around him. Specially, Caulfield manages his emotions by alienating himself from the world. Salinger also explores how he responds to the painful reality of growing up, and despisesRead MoreHolden Vs. Holden Caulfield1459 Words   |  6 Pagesrealized how much better I had it than others. The schools I attended, the house I grew up in, the friends that I made, all made my life a lot easier and more appreciative than I realized at the time. But something that most people don’t realize is that not all kids who grow up with the same lifestyle end up with the same mindset as others. Different childhoods all contain different experiences each containing important fragments that piece together making us the people we are today. Holden CaulfieldRead MoreAnalysis Of Characters And Themes Of The Catcher Rye 1537 Words   |  7 Pagesin the same social conditions as Holden Caulfield does in The Catcher in the Rye. The last thing S alinger cared about was being a successful student because he was very lazy, without care for his responsibilities and tasks. Salinger flunked out of many prep schools, and his parents sent him to a military academy named Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1936 (Lundquist 7-10). Many critics believe that he modeled Pencey Prep, the school that Holden attended, after Valley Forge. TwoRead MoreCharacter Analysis Of Holden Caulfield s The Catcher Of The Rye 1733 Words   |  7 PagesCatcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, Holden Caulfield is faced with multiple â€Å"phonies† that divert him from those he really holds affection for. Throughout the novel Holden shows disgust for certain characters but his ability to build relationships of intimacy are most eminent. Through Allie Caulfield, Holden is able to make a more personal connection. Seeing as how he is now dead, Allie is a savior in the eyes’ of Holden when he is in the time of need. Phoebe Caulfield , Holden’s ten year old sister, shares