My Thoughts On Ethnicity and race Essay Example for Free

My Thoughts On Ethnicity and race Essay Race and ethnicity is a very interesting topic to think about. The distinction between race and ethnicity is not always clear to a lot of people. To me race is your physical appearance and ethnicity is your cultural background. My race is white but my ethnicity is Irish and scottish. Although my race is white and someone who is polish might also be white our cultures are not the same. When you are asked to specify race/ethnicity on a form i think it is not fair because there are thousands of things you could potentially be that dont neccesarily fit into the small choice of boxes they give you. I think a lot of people dont know the difference because race and ethnicity are often listed together leading people to think that they are the same thing I dont think race and ethnicity should be an issue. Any one person no matter what background they are from was born and will die just the same. It is natural for people to want to group themselves with others who look, speak or behave in similar patterns. Essentially humans are animals and most animals are more comfortable with the familiar. Athough it is natural to group ourselves organically in this way, i dont think having to catogorize yourself into a group on forms and surveys is ever going to help anything. Throughout my life Ive had a lot of contact with many different ethnicities and races. I went to school where the i was not part of the majority. I was one of the few white people in my class and it was a big issue for me then because being the minority i was treated differently. I was frequently called the white girl by my classmates. At first it bothered me but I became more comfortable. I think being the minority in school helped me learn how to get along with people from different backgrounds. My ability to get along with almost anyone i can attribute to my experience in school. I have also gained a soft spot for anyone getting treated differently for their race or ethnicity. I have heard friends and family make remarks about race but it isnt often that they are positive. A nearby neighborhood is going through a gentrification. The rents in the area have incresed leading people in the area to move into my neighborhood. The people moving in are mostly black and hispanic. Many people are attributing the rise in crime in the area to the people that have been migrating in. Before this migration the neighborhood was mostly Italian, Irish and german. I dont know what to think about this development but i hear a lot of predjudiced things being said that i dont agree with. I think most negative comments come from learned steriotypes. These things can be learned from family, friends or even the media. Many people have the potential to be predjudiced to a certain degree but for the most part i think it is a learned behavior. I believe in the future as races and ethnicities become more and more mixed that prejudice will decrese drastically. Any advantages of stressing these racial and ethnic issues i believe is to try to be fair. One of these advantages is the government requires some companies and schools to hire/accept a certain quota of minorities. This is good because it gives a lot of people opportunities that they might not have gotten because of someone being prejudiced against them. I also think it could be a litte unfair because someone more qualified might not get a spot because of these quotas. I think how you turn out socially, economically, and morally is attributed to your family. If you are from a rich family you are born knowing what having money is like and how to manage it. If you are born poor it is much more difficult to move out of the cycle of poverty. It is because of this that some people see minority communities in a bad light but i just think they are stuck in the cycle of povery. Minority families not so long ago were kept down by racism. Most politicians are prodominantly white at the moment. Once politics become more diverse i think the balance of wealth will begin to shift and ethnicity/race will become less important. Ethnicity and race is a topic of great interest to many people. It affects our laws, advertizing and a plethora of other things. I personally dont feel like it should matter at all what you are on the outside or what culture you have. We are all people and i hope one day that everyone can just treat everyone the same regardless of race or ethnicity.

Legal and Ethical Responsibilities. Essay -- Business and Management S

Legal and Ethical Responsibilities. Direct Discrimination :- something like putting in the job advertisement â€Å"women need not apply†. Indirect Discrimination :- saying there’s a height limit such as a 6’4†. This will limit who can apply for the job. Sex Discrimination Act 1975 The Sex Discrimination Act 1975 makes sex discrimination unlawful in employment, vocational training, education, the provision and sale of goods, facilities and services and premises. In employment and vocational training, it is also unlawful to discriminate against someone on the grounds that a person is married or, from December 2005, a civil partner, or on the grounds of gender reassignment. The Sex Discrimination Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination and victimisation. Although not yet mentioned in the Act, case law has established that harassment/sexual harassment and discrimination because a woman is pregnant or on maternity leave are unlawful. Equal Pay Act 1970 The Equal Pay Act 1970 makes it unlawful for employers to discriminate between men and women where they are doing the same or similar work; work rated as equivalent; or work which is of equal value though different in nature. It covers both pay and other terms and conditions such as output and bonus payments, holidays and sick leave. European law has confirmed that the concept of equal pay prevents discrimination in relation to redundancy payments, travel concessions, employers’ pension contributions and occupational pension benefits. The Equal Pay Act applies to pay or benefits provided by the contract of employment. The Sex Discrimination Act covers non-contractual arrangements including benefits such as discretionary access to a workplace nursery or travel concessions. The Act does not give anyone the right to claim equal pay with a person of the same sex. In other words, any comparison must be with a person of the opposite sex. Racial Discrimination Race discrimination occurs when a person is treated less favourably on the grounds of race, colour, and nationality, ethnic or national origin. It is unlawful to discriminate against any worker on racial grounds. The Race Relations Act 1976 makes it unlawful to discriminate in:  · recruitment  · pay (including bonuses and shift premiums)  · other terms and conditions (e.g. holidays)  · ac... ...use she works part-time and he works full-time is unlikely to be a good defence to an equal pay claim. Parental Leave You have the right to take 13 weeks’ leave in respect of every child born after 15 December 1999. You must take the leave either before the child reaches his fifth birthday or five years have elapsed following his placement for adoption (or before his eighteenth birthday if earlier) or, in the case of a disabled child, before the child’s eighteenth birthday. Your employment continues during your leave. You have the right to return to your old job if your leave period lasted 4 weeks or less. If you took longer leave and it is not possible for you to return to your old job, you have the right to return to a similar job which has the same or better status, terms and conditions as your previous job. If you took parental leave immediately after an ordinary maternity leave, you are entitled to return to your old job. If the parental leave followed an additional maternity and it is not reasonably possible for you then to return to your old job, you have the right to return to a job with similar or better status, terms and conditions as your old post.

Moby Dick Essay

In this video, we immediately learn of an obsessed captain who wants revenge. Why does he want revenge and against whom or what? He wants revenge against a white whale for taking his leg. 2.Who is the narrator of Moby Dick and what is the first line of the novel? Ishmael narrates the novel. 3.There are two significant Biblical allusions[->0] mentioned in the film. To whom do these allusions reference? How are the names significant? the name Ahab describes a king who turns vile. This suggesting that the Ahab of this novel will be a similarly conflicted leader. Also Ishmael shows independence and shows that he just wants to take care of himself. 4.The narrator states that Moby Dick symbolizes three different meanings for three different characters. List the characters and the meaning which Moby Dick symbolizes for each of them. Ahab sees Moby Dick as an evil thing. Ishmael sees Moby Dick as just a fish and an evil thing. while Starbuck sees Moby Dick as just a fish 5.Why did Melville choose to write about whaling? Why was the industry significant? He choses to write about whaling because he himself was in the industry. The industry gives light to the world because of the oil from the blubber. 6.What did Melville do when he was 21? He went to sea for whaling for about a year and a half. 7.What established writer did Melville befriend while he was writing Moby Dick? Melville befriended Nathaniel Hawthorne. 8.Comment on the four harpooners of the Pequod; politically, why were they significant? Queequeg’s dad was a king, Tashtego was an Indian, Dagoo was a African American, and Fedallah was a Farsi or Parsee. They were significant because they have already been to sea and they all want to live a life of adventure, not to mention it is bringing many cultures together for a common cause. 9.What happens to the Pequod towards the end of the book? Ahab? Ishmael? The boat was destroyed by Moby Dick, Ahab was killed by Moby Dick, and Ishmael was found by a whale ship after being washed out to sea. 10.What were the final years of Melville like? He became an employee of the customs house. New York Times Why do you think Ahab wanted to kill Moby Dick so bad? Why do you think that the captain hired so many different types of people from different cultures? Why do you think that you survived when Ahab didn’t?  Why was Moby Dick gunning for Ahab?  How was it possible for the ship to be destroyed by a whale? [->0] – http://learn.flvs.net/webdav/educator_eng3_v13/module3/lesmod03/glossary_3.htm?#allusion

Skid Row and the Safer Cities Initiative - 1277 Words

The Safer Cities Initiative of Los Angeles was brought upon the city in late 2006 by Mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. The Initiative was primarily designed to remove the homeless and mentally ill citizens from the isolated, 50 by 5 block, Los Angeles streets, known Nationally as Skid Row. In the end the S.C.I. violated these citizens civil rights and failed to meet any set obligations and responsibilities. Since the city of Los Angeles put this initiative into motion, the city then became responsible for these people, as if they were the â€Å"parent† of these homeless â€Å"children†. You can’t kick a homeless person off the streets, they’re homeless. So where do they go if they aren’t allowed on the street? Where do the mentally ill go if there are†¦show more content†¦Los Angeles has the highest homeless population in the country, double more than that of New York, with the shocking estimate of 83,347 people living in Los Angeles County on the streets or in shelters on any one night, at any given point in time, and 224,203 annually in Los Angeles County ( excluding those in Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale ). Including the estimates in Long Beach, Pasadena, and Glendale the total is approximately 91,000 people. 80%- 90% of the people in Skid Row are drug addicts and in Los Angeles County 21% of the homeless cited drug addiction as the cause of their current situation ( â…” struggle with mental illness and addiction ) , and on average 10 out of 12 times they will relapse, making the success rate of staying clean 1 out of 6. The number one drug of choice is crack cocaine, the number 2 drug is heroin ( approximately 100,000 users in Los Angeles County ), the next in line is methamphetamine. In 2000 - 2004 Skid Row lost 1000 housing units. In 2005 there were 1,544 violent crimes on Skid Row, 10 times more than in Beverly Hills which is 8 miles away. This is the city away from downtown. Skid Row has 5 major missions that service 6,561 homeless families. Midnight Mission was the first shelter to be built in downtown Los Angeles. It was established in 1914 ,by Tom Liddecoat father of the poor, as a refuge for the men of Skid Row. in 1922 the midnight mission was given a non-profit status. in 1933 Henry RichmanShow MoreRelatedThe Problem Of Homeless Population1401 Words   |  6 Pageshas been highly overlooked by media and political attention. Cities in many parts of the world may be known as centers for poverty whether if it s a developed or developing country. No city, state, or country is prone to homelessness. Los Angeles in particular is an entry point for many immigrants who come to look for jobs. The intentions are not to cause there to be a vulnerability to poverty but to try to make a living some how. â€Å"Skid Row homeless population originates in South LA – where servicesRead MoreCommunity Policing : Is It Important For Us All? Essay2287 Words   |  10 Pagescommunity will help guide how this process should be handled, along with future resource allocations. These officers can serve many roles, including acting as civilian liaisons, forging new community partnerships, and helping to execute whatever new initiatives are created as a result of the community policing model. Often, these officers will be specifically assigned to whatever area they serve to allow them more direct contact with members of that community. The changes required of a law enforcementR ead MoreEssay on Fall of Asclepius95354 Words   |  382 Pagesscreen television, which played the news on the CBC, that hung on the wall. Thomas never knew why the school played the news on the television screens. No one watched the news but him. There was strange news about disease outbreaks in different cities around the world and riots that started without being provoked. This news was a commonly covered topic in the news for the last couple months. The stations reported it but they did not explain the origin of the disease, whether it was swine flu or