Ethnicity and Me Essays - Kinship And Descent,

Wesley Prude Ethnicity and Me 12/7/15 Katie L. Acosta Ethnicity and Me The issue of racial identity is a heavy burden in the African American community because of the combined disdain for people who are not solely African Americans as a way to discourage or show disapproval of inbreeding, even if it had been nonconsensual. The way in which many African Americans gained a degree of diversity in their gene pool is by the forcible rape of African American women in the past that produced mixed race children. These mixed race children would have special considerations among whites because they were often thought to be superior to their purely black counterparts and they experienced distrust from the people that they were supposed to call their own. In the African American community a lighter hue was a unstable characteristic. Often times being a male of a fairer hue in the African American community would bring criticisms of being soft, while a darker hued counterpart may endure stereotypes that characterize them as both mischievous and unintelligent. The nu ances of ethic identification among minorities are both complex and blunt in their application. In this paper I will discuss my status as a person who identifies with the ethnic moniker of being mixed race and what it means to me as a cultural African American and biologically diverse individual. I identify with the race African American. The reason being that I have suffered as an African American, been steeped in the civil rights tradition by veterans who have served in the civil force that drove African Americans and women towards more equal rights and set the stage for the rest of the nation to follow suit in later years. The lack of solace that my parents were able to take in the fact that they are both of mixed race has led me away from the recent trend of idolizing the lack of homogeneity in the African American community. In this sense I have found that it is sometimes counterproductive when seeking to forward the agenda of African Americans. The use of the mixed identification has often, in my opinion, been used to divide those of us who identify as African American and increase discord. In light of this realization I have made it my business to perpetuate my role as an African American male and have left the less prominent aspects of my biological or cultural identity to fall to the wayside in an attempt to focus on the task of the general uplifting the African American race. That being said I have also experienced times of great pride for the less acknowledged aspects of my genealogy, in this way I have come to identify culturally as African American but will cede that I am composed of Irish, Jewish, and Native American elements., but in societys eyes the sole defining feature of my race is my dark skin rather than what I have come to associate myself. The moniker of mixed has certainly caused some problems in my early life. In my younger years I was both isolated and ridiculed for manifesting traits different from the normal phenotypic expression of African American genes as well as experiencing negative cultural repercussions for partially identifying with the majority race as a minority in times of discrimination. In this way I have experienced some less than favorable reactions to my appearance especially in more rural areas where any interbreeding is often frowned upon by both minority and majority citizens. In a different way I have also experienced a celebration of any diversity within the African American community that bordered on a sort of unhappiness with being just black. Considering the advantages of being perceived as a person of a mixed race is the natural reaction that many people have to the uniting of races. I believe that it is a natural reaction for humans to enjoy the diversification of the gene pool. In this way I believe we are programmed to perpetuate our existence and create new ways to identify ourselves based on characteristics that do not pertain to race. The real advantage of being perceived as a person of mixed race as well as self-identifying as one is the fraternity that many

My Girl essays

My Girl essays The 1991 movie My Girl directed by Howard Zieff is a story of two eleven year old friends? last summer together. Vada and Thomas Jay show the special relationship they have and the love that they share even through death. Vada continues to demonstrate her love for Thomas Jay and her sorrow through her own poem written shortly after his funeral. The thought of a person's first encounter with love is usually a sweet memory. Through Vada's poem about Thomas Jay's death you can clearly see that her first touch of love is both sweet and sad. After she has been to her best friend's funeral Vada is forced to deal with her true feelings about him. While standing in front of a class of adult poetry students she recites this poem: Weeping willow with your tears running down Do you long for the happiness that day will bring? You thought his laughter would never fade There is something to calm your fears You think death has ripped you forever apart But I know he?ll always be in your heart. The weeping willow tree in this poem is where Vada and Thomas Jay would spend most of their time by the lake. Her use of personification with this tree shows that she is still not sure how to accept that these are her feelings. By using the tree she can make the audience think of the times they shared at the weeping willow rather than her sadness about seeing this place without Thomas Jay. The questions asked to the weeping willow in Vada's poem are representing her inability to fathom his death. When she asks,Why do you always make me frown she is wondering why she is so lonely without Thomas Jay around. She was not aware of how much he meant to her until he passed away. After his death she comes to see that he loved her and as ...

Career Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Career - Research Paper Example Below is a succinct depiction and description of this career. I. Nature of the Work II. Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement III. Work Environment IV. Job Expectations V. Job Outlook VI. Earnings VII. Advantages VIII. Disadvantages Nature of the Work Their core obligation is to protect lives and property. These police officers pursue individuals who break the law, apprehend them and give warnings or rather citations. The largest percentage of their time is spent on activities of keeping and maintaining records of the occurrences in their area of work. They also spend large proportions of their time writing reports on the occurrences in their area of work. They usually patrol areas under their jurisdiction and maintain peace, order and calm. They further investigate and examine incidences they encounter. Special agents are the category of detectives who investigate cases, gathering important evidence and compiling their findings. The routine obligations of police officers d iffer with the kind of specialty in which they concentrate on. It is dependent on whether they are police officers, game wardens or detectives and whether they work for federal, state or local agencies (Heilbrun and Greene 97). Police officers in uniforms have universal law enforcement obligations. Their work is to maintain order and respond to calls for service. They spend numerous hours of work doing consultations with the citizens and doing masses of paperwork. They are also involved in direction of traffic at the scene of a motor accident, give first aid to casualties and control traffic at the incidence of burglary. In huge police agencies, the police officers are assigned different tasks to carry out. They are ambassadors in the issue of community policing where they mobilize citizens to deal with crime and also help in law enforcement. This establishes a profound connection between the police officers and the citizens, easing their work. Police officers are familiar with thei r areas of jurisdiction and therefore patrol in pursuit of incidences that threaten the safety of citizens (Heilbrun and Greene 97). Many police agencies are vested with geographical jurisdiction and enforcement responsibilities. This includes public schools for police officers, college level, university level schools and transportation hubs. Police officers are trained to do different tasks as, finger print identification, firearms instruction, microscopic and chemical analyses and firearms instruction and training. Different units are available including: Bicycle, horseback, canine corps, motorcycle, special weapons and tactics and emergency/ weapons systems. A number of special police officers perform their work in correctional facilities and other special areas. Sheriff Officers work on county level and enforce law from there. They are designated into their positions through election. They enforce law and order in the county level. Additionally, Deputy Sheriffs have the same ran k as the senior police officers in the urban police departments. State police officers apprehend criminals statewide and also control the traffic and ensure that rules and regulations concerning traffic are observed (Heilbrun and Greene 97). Detectives are state plainclothes police officers who conduct investigations, generate reports and keep a record of the criminal activities in the state level. They specialize in either frauds or homicide. They work on assigned cases, arrest the