More handpicked essays just for you.
Essay on cultural diversity on being black
Characteristics of african american culture and diversity
Characteristics of african american culture and diversity
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Love comes in many forms, and it doesn’t discriminate when it comes to race. Love connections can mirror or metaphorically reflect ideas about family/community connections, traditions and support (Sanchez). This is especially prevalent in the movie Bulworth. In this essay i will explain how three scenes in this movie suggest a larger connection, appreciation and respect, how the characters in this movie mirror love by and for black people among themselves and black culture and lastly how this movie brings up the lack of appreciation by individuals outside the black community. Bulworth is film about a politician that is tired of living behind his slogan "America is standing on the doorstep of a new millennium." He is not only fed up with the all the lying he has been doing to the American people but also America’s political system as a whole. He hates his job and his life so he decides that at his appearance at a black church, that he would set himself free by telling the black constituents the truth about the political system. While doing this, he catches the attention of a woman named Nina (Halle Berry), she is When he gets to the club, it was as if he seen Christmas, this place was everything Bulworth was yearning for. He immediately jumps into the ambience; smoking, drinking and dancing. In this scene “Hip hop (music) appears as a mise-en-scène element often connected cultural identity and assimilation or to the resolution of a character crisis” (Sanchez 36). In this moment nothing else matters to him he is fully engaged and connected with the black community and is having the time of his life. His happiness shows his appreciation and respect for the for not only the women that brought him to the club but for the black community as a whole. He appreciates the
The film observes and analyzes the origins and consequences of more than one-hundred years of bigotry upon the ex-slaved society in the U.S. Even though so many years have passed since the end of slavery, emancipation, reconstruction and the civil rights movement, some of the choice terms prejudiced still engraved in the U.S society. When I see such images on the movie screen, it is still hard, even f...
Turner, Darwin T. “Visions of Love and Manliness in a Blackening World: Dramas of Black Life since 1953.” Paradigm Publishers 25.2 (1995): 2-12. JSTOR. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. .
The Black Youth’s Rebellion is criminalized, mocked and appropriated, all at once. Though the rebellion of White-American teenagers may spark reminiscence and nostalgia in White-American Adults, the rebellion of Black teens is viewed as inappropriate and destructive. In the 80’s and 90’s, films like “Juice”,”Boyz n the Hood”, and “Menace II Society” vividly depicted the coming of age of Black youths in urban neighborhoods. These movies told stories that were familiar to youth like myself, and were shocking to people that weren’t. Despite that most of the lifestyles that were portrayed, were not to be glamorized, they were still pictures that undeniably captured the essence of life in urban communities. These images told the unspoken truth of what it is like for African American youth in the city. Tupac Shakur became the “Fonzie” of the “Hood”. The depictions of Blac...
In the article “ From Fly to Bitches and Hoes” by Joan Morgan, she often speaks about the positive and negative ideas associated with hip-hop music. Black men display their manhood with full on violence, crime, hidden guilt, and secret escapes through drugs and alcohol. Joan Morgan’s article views the root causes of the advantage of misogyny in rap music lyrics. In the beginning of the incitement her desires shift to focus on from rap culture condemnation to a deeper analysis of the root causes. She shows the hidden causes of unpleasant sexism in rap music and argues that we need to look deeper into understanding misogyny. I agree with Joan Morgan with the stance that black men show their emotions in a different way that is seen a different perspective.
The Birth of a Nation (1915) is one of the most controversial movies ever made in Hollywood, some people even consider it the most controversial movie in the long history of Hollywood. Birth of a Nation focuses on the Stoneman family and their friendship with the Cameron’s which is put into question due to the Civil War, and both families being on different sides. The whole dysfunction between the families is carried out through important political events such as: Lincoln’s assassination, and the birth of the Ku Klux Kan. D.W. Griffith is the director of the movie, and him being born into a confederate family in the South, the movie portrays the South as noble and righteous men, who are fighting against the evil Yankees from the North, who have black union soldiers among them, whom overtake the town of Piedmont, which leads the KKK to take action and according to the movie become the savior of white supremacy. During this essay, I would focus on the themes of racial inequality, racism, and the archetypical portrayal of black people in the movie, which are significant especially during the era when the film was released.
The twentieth century was a time of tremendous change that commenced with WWI and the Great Depression. While WWI brought countless deaths, the Great Depression affected both urban and rural Americans. Yet, underlying these devastating events was the abuse of black Americans. Both whites and blacks had to cope with the major occurrences of the time, but blacks also faced strife from whites themselves. During the early part of the twentieth century, white Americans Russell Baker and Mildred Armstrong Kalish gained kindred attributes from their families, especially in comparison to that of Richard Wright, a black American. The key differences between the experience of whites and blacks can be found within the mentality of the family, the extent to which they were influenced by their families in their respective lives, and the shielding from the outside world, or lack thereof, by their families. Through the compelling narrations of these three authors, readers can glimpse into this racially divided world from the perspective of individuals who actually lived through it.
The first-hand account of life in post-civil war United States for slaves is described through the use of imagery and symbols in Beloved. Sethe, a runaway slave, reaches freedom at her mother-in-law’s house but is pursued by her former owner. Acting rashly and not wanting a life of slavery for her children, Set...
In the movie “Boyz in the Hood” director John Singleton, paints a clear image of the problems that happen very often in the African American communities. The movie deals with issues such as: the importance of a father in a young man’s life, the ongoing violence of black on black crime, and how black people are put in situations where they are put to fail and not succeed in life.
In this narrative essay, Brent Staples provides a personal account of his experiences as a black man in modern society. “Black Men and Public Space” acts as a journey for the readers to follow as Staples discovers the many societal biases against him, simply because of his skin color. The essay begins when Staples was twenty-two years old, walking the streets of Chicago late in the evening, and a woman responds to his presence with fear. Being a larger black man, he learned that he would be stereotyped by others around him as a “mugger, rapist, or worse” (135).
The first social issue portrayed through the film is racial inequality. The audience witnesses the inequality in the film when justice is not properly served to the police officer who executed Oscar Grant. As shown through the film, the ind...
Hip hop has permeated popular culture in an unprecedented fashion. Because of its crossover appeal, it is a great unifier of diverse populations. Although created by black youth on the streets, hip hop's influence has become well received by a number of different races in this country. A large number of the rap and hip hop audience is non-black. It has gone from the fringes, to the suburbs, and into the corporate boardrooms. Because it has become the fastest growing music genre in the U.S., companies and corporate giants have used its appeal to capitalize on it. Although critics of rap music and hip hop seem to be fixated on the messages of sex, violence, and harsh language, this genre offers a new paradigm of what can be (Lewis, 1998.) The potential of this art form to mend ethnic relations is substantial. Hip hop has challenged the system in ways that have unified individuals across a rich ethnic spectrum. This art form was once considered a fad has kept going strong for more than three decades. Generations consisting of Blacks, Whites, Latinos, and Asians have grown up immersed in hip-hop. Hip hop represents a realignment of America?s cultural aesthetics. Rap songs deliver a message, again and again, to keep it real. It has influenced young people of all races to search for excitement, artistic fulfillment, and a sense of identity by exploring the black underclass (Foreman, 2002). Though it is music, many people do not realize that it is much more than that. Hip hop is a form of art and culture, style, and language, and extension of commerce, and for many, a natural means of living. The purpose of this paper is to examine hip hop and its effect on American culture. Different aspects of hip hop will also be examined to shed some light that helps readers to what hip hop actually is. In order to see hip hop as a cultural influence we need to take a look at its history.
The Notebook (Cassavetes, 2004) is a love story about a young couple named Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun, who fall deeply in love with each other. The Hamilton’s are financially stable, and expect for their daughter Allie to marry someone with the same wealth. Noah on the other hand works as a laborer, and comes from an underprivileged family. Throughout the film there were several negative behaviors, and interpersonal communications within the context of their relationship, which relates to chapter nine. This chapter explores relationships, emphasizing on affection and understanding, attraction, and the power of a relationship. The focus of this paper is the interpersonal conflict with Noah, Allie and her mother, Anne Hamilton.
For this assignment, I decided to watch “Crash”, a movie set in the streets of Los Angeles California and that shows the lives of various individuals with different cultural backgrounds. The movie starts with the scene of a car crash between an Asian woman and a couple of detectives near the sight of a murder, as the African American detective Graham Waters walks around the scene he stops because he saw something that shocked him, and from there a flashback begins. The first relevant scene shows, Anthony and Peter, two African Americans individuals walking down the street talking about racial discrimination. As they talk a couple passes by them and the two decide to steal their car. This causes a chain of events affecting the lives of many
Tension between the African Americans and Caucasians have been present in America since slavery. In the movie Crash (2004), race and culture are major themes that can be seen in the lives of the characters in the film. One character in particular, Cameron, a prestigious color vision director, displays the friction between two cultures. He belongs to the educated, upper class of the Los Angeles area. He is also an African American, yet he seems to have no ties with that class. He has a light-skinned wife, attends award shows, and it appears that his acquaintances are predominately white. When he and his wife, Christine, get pulled over by a racist cop, he experiences emotions of powerlessness and helplessness that he never knew he would experience due to his upbringing and place in society. Cameron goes through a radical transformation where he comes to grips with his background and how he fits into these two clashing cultures.
In the blockbuster movie The Blind Side, director John Lee Hancock brings to light an emotionally charged and compelling story that describes how a young African American teenager perseveres through the trials, tribulations and hardships that surround his childhood. The themes of class, poverty, and also the love and nurturing of family encapsulate the film mainly through the relationship that Mrs. Tuohy and Michael Oher build during the entirety of the movie. This analysis will bring together these themes with sociological ideas seen throughout the course.