Imagine how American used to look like back before the revolutionary war, possibly even before that. The United States of America was a fresh nation, possible thanks to Columbus accidentally stumbling upon the Caribbeans, meant for a fresh new start for some people, due to possible connections in England or wherever they’re from and a way to become free. America eventually became more than a place for Europeans to immigrate to, but someone realized this not long after the civil war. A man by the name of Frederick Jackson Turner had created a thesis that stated that Europeans were no longer considered as such, and as soon as they started expanding west the real definition of an American was finally discovered. He also pushed that Americans were …show more content…
The movie is about Shane helping out a fellow town and their freedom from a gang called the Rykers. When Shane first shows up, he helps defend a family, Joey, the son, Joe, the father, and Marian, the mother, from the Rykers gang after they show up and try to make the family leave their home. The Rykers gang leaves, and Marian invites Shane for dinner, offering her gratitude. The day after, little Joey tells Shane that his father is worried about the Rykers gang, as he could see, as they have been causing trouble all around town. Shane, of course, agrees to help. Shane, while in town, ends up in an altercation with someone else. The guy throws a glass of whiskey at him, but, being the better man, he decides to ignore the man who threw the whiskey. Joey, who overheard about this, is reassured by his mother that Shane did the right thing. The next day, however, the same man decided to do it again, and it got the best of him as he threw some whiskey of his own and slugs the guy. Ryker, the leader of the gang who has been terrorizing the town, offers him a job, but, obviously, Shane turns him down and ends up having to fight the entire Rykers gang. He …show more content…
You had the lack of law, due to the government not getting there in time, the old style saloons and cowboys, and of course, the ownership and protection of one’s land. Shane really fits everything to how it worked to a T. He took a problem, that he really didn’t have to do, and helped out the poor townsfolk, who really didn’t have anyone to help them. Not to mention, he never had to go and kill Ryker and Wilson, and could of just let them be. But he knew that the problem would never be taken care of unless he took care of them, and left town, thus having to show violence at the plea for
The film starts with an uprising after a white storeowner kills a black teenager. This incident Highlights Prejudices. The teenager was labeled a thief because of the color of his skin and the unjustifiable murder causes racial tensions that exist as a result of the integration of the high schools.
He attempts to shock his reader into believing America is falling apart by comparing the diverse cultures that are active in it today. At one point in the essay, Buchanan writes “Our population is down to 67 percent European, and falling; 14.5 percent Hispanic and rising rapidly, 13 percent black and holding, and 4.5 percent Asian and rising” (599). The usage of “Our” in the sense of talking about Americans is a viewpoint that excludes anyone who is not white from being a true American. In addition, Buchanan is segregating the population by the color of their skin and creating an ethnic hierarchy. By only including white people in the definition of an American, Buchanan is showing an ethnocentric trait that Fredrickson analysed in his own essay. Fredrickson describes this changing viewpoint in American society when he examines the acceptance of all white people and the differences between colored people growing “more striking and salient than ever” (567). In general, Buchanan does not recognize the differences between white people, focusing primarily on the differences between white and non-white people. The correlation between the statistics he presents and the color of people’s skin undoubtedly prove Buchanan’s take on skin color and their ability to be American. This trait within Buchanan’s writing, coupled with the non-acceptance of colored people, has a strong presence throughout his essay, ultimately weakening his
Gary Gerstle argues America followed a path both civic and racial nationalism throughout the 20th century in his book American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century, and that America is a melting pot of different cultures due to the accumulation of immigrants in the twentieth century. He uses Theodore Roosevelt as a support base for his arguments. Civic nationalism is the idealized understanding of America as an ethnic and cultural melting pot based on civil rights, and on the values of equality and liberty no matter the race and ethnicity of one another. Civic nationalism claims a nation can still grow stronger and better based solely on civil rights and citizenship.
Since its inception, there has always been a subsection of the American people that think that sharing a country with people different than them is unacceptable. Whether it was the 5 tribes of Native Americans relocated in the Trail of Tears, or the prejudice against irish immigrants during the turn of the century, white anglo-saxon protestants have always tried to ‘stick together’ and keep others unlike them out. With the end of the civil war and an end to slavery, this nativism present within the American people manifested itself once more. While the journey taken by African-American citizens was long and unnecessarily arduous, the backlash against them has waxed and waned as time passes. During the 1920s, the Ku Klux Klan was at it’s peak,
...nterviewees explained how much he loved one of the drug dealers who introduced him to the hustle. He always provided him with money and goods until he felt he was old enough to make his own money and become a drug dealer himself. The film explains how children who grow up in these areas make rational choices because in their eyes selling and using is a norm and an option to survival. "You do what you gotta do" according to Shanequa.
During the late 1800's and early 1900's hundreds of thousands of European immigrants migrated to the United States of America. They had aspirations of success, prosperity and their own conception of the American Dream. The majority of the immigrants believed that their lives would completely change for the better and the new world would bring nothing but happiness. Advertisements that appeared in Europe offered a bright future and economic stability to these naive and hopeful people. Jobs with excellent wages and working conditions, prime safety, and other benefits seemed like a chance in a lifetime to these struggling foreigners. Little did these people know that what they would confront would be the complete antithesis of what they dreamed of.
The main protagonist of the film, Scotty Smalls, is introduced as a straight-A, friendless young boy who has just moved into a new neighborhood in new state. While
The Untied States of America is commonly labeled or thought of as the melting pot of the world where diverse groups of people flock to in order to better their current lives. In our countries history this has proven to primarily be our way of living and how the people as a nation view immigration. However, in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this open door mentality was quite the opposite to what the majority of people felt towards the idea of welcoming these huddled masses. Immigrants were not seen as equals or people willing to work hard for a better life but rather a diseased parasite that would suck the prosperous and prestigious life that the old immigrants had become accustomed to. American nativist groups during this time period acted in a hypercritical manner with the impression that open immigration would, in the end cause our country to be overtaken and overrun by a far less superior race.
Following the 1890’s, the world began to undergo the first stages of globalization. Countries and peoples, who, until now, were barely connected, now found themselves neighbors in a planet vastly resembling a global village. Despite the idealized image of camaraderie and brotherhood this may seem to suggest, the reality was only discrimination and distrust. Immigration to new lands became a far more difficult affair, as emigrants from different nations came to be viewed as increasingly foreign. In the white-dominated society of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the only way to truly count oneself as American was to become “white”. For this reason, the idea of race, a socially constructed issue with no real physical basis, has become one of the most defining factors which shape immigration and assimilation in the United States.
...outcast group of that set range attempt to conform themselves. The meaning of who is an American continues to change gradually over time, embracing different cultures and races into that definition, but the task is nowhere near completion as long as the hyphenated racial classifications and double consciousness still exist.
America is a country that has an unspoken immigration policy, and that is based entirely upon race. This policy has been in effect since we began racial classifications. In J.L. Hochschild’s paper titled “Racial Reorganization and the United States Census 1850-1930 Mulattoes, Half Breeds, Mixed Parentage, Hindoos, and the Mexican Race. Studies in American Political Development.” The reorganization of races was rooted in who is and who isn’t white. What we honestly know is that being white carries a cache and that has never changed. It’s like having a backstage pass to the greatest rock concert ever performed. Everybody you tell wishes they were there too. Within that frame work a determination of whom would be included and who would be excluded would have to be made. Did Native Americans have the ability to assimilate, would Mexicans be included in the Jim Crow laws, and whether all Asians should be excluded from entering the country were questions white people would determine. (J. L. Hochschild 1) And, these questions would form the basis of each groups place on America’s racial totem pole. The focus of Professor Hochschild’s paper is that the Census Bureau is deeply implicated in the social construct of race, and precious little has changed in all that time.
The only group of people that have ever felt a sense of belonging in the modernized United States are Caucasian people. Why? It’s not that they owned the land, or rightfully claimed it. No, it’s because their ancestors have used influence and power to take what they greedily lusted for. To make their stolen country succeed, they forcibly enlisted several slaves, and used the people they invited, to keep their iron fist credible. If the people could not rely on the government to feel protected, entitled, and successful, then they would combine forces to seek other forms of management. Similar to the formation of the Americas, and the Civil War, when the South’s protection (the possession of slaves to promote their economic success) was threatened.
The movie shows the Hoover family a typical American dysfunctional family who are all at different stages of their lives. Each member of the family has their own odd quirk. The family includes Richard, the father, who gives motivational speeches on “The Steps to Being Successful” which is completely ironic because his motivational book is failing, the grandpa who is addicted to heroin, Dwayne, the son, who is slightly depressed and refuses to speak, Sheryl, the mother/wife, who is just trying to keep it all together for everyone and Frank, the uncle, had a failed suicide attempt. Abby, the daughter just landed a spot at the Little Miss Sunshine beauty contest. The whole family decides to pack up their van and take a road trip
This movie takes place in Los Angeles and is about racial conflicts within a group of people which occur in a series of events. Since there are a wide variety of characters in this movie, it can be confusing to the viewer. In the plot, Graham is an African-American detective whose younger brother is a criminal. His mother cares more about his brother than Graham and she wants Graham to bring his brother back home, which in turn hurts Graham. Graham?s partner Ria is a Hispanic woman who comes to find that her and Graham?s ethnicities conflict when she had sex with him. Rick is the Los Angeles district attorney who is also op...