Going to the Territory
Ralph Ellison’s essay “Going to the Territory” is truly a definition of American culture. Ellison’s essay is a description of his journey from Oklahoma to Brown University and along the way he uncovers truths about the way Americans selectively acknowledge their history and ignore important aspects of their culture and let them fester into an uncontrollable problem.
Ellison had a connection to Brown University before he even made it out of grammar school. His principal was the first colored man to graduate from Brown and Ellison received an award in memorial to Dr. Inman Page, Ellison’s grammar school principal. It is through his time spent at Brown and his journey there that he realizes that
…show more content…
Race is one of these problems.
According to Ellison, race is a result of people’s personal interests. People are so self interested that they look past the pressing issues of today. “Our unknown history doesn’t stop having consequences each though we ignore them” (133). Because we as Americans ignored such issues as racial inequality- in that the debt Americans owe the black community is not repayable. We think that by instituting laws to make all persons equal is enough, but this equality is never achieved, but looked past as though it is fine.
Ellison speaks of Black culture as being imitated and mimicked by many non-white citizens. He mentions Europeans dancing like the Negroes, and how they other members of society find it absurd for them to behave in such a way. These people are subject to the prejudices of those who have overlooked the instances of inequality in the past. Today, people who pose as Blacks are subject to much scrutiny and discrimination. They are termed “wiggers” and and are often seen as offensive. Ellison thought that this mimicking behavior was okay and acceptable. Like Ellison, Black Rap Stars today, find that its okay for these white teen-agers to imitate black culture. They feel as though black culture is there for them to
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
In a lively account filled that is with personal accounts and the voices of people that were in the past left out of the historical armament, Ronald Takaki proffers us a new perspective of America’s envisioned past. Mr. Takaki confronts and disputes the Anglo-centric historical point of view. This dispute and confrontation is started in the within the seventeenth-century arrival of the colonists from England as witnessed by the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the Wamapanoag Indians from the Massachusetts area. From there, Mr. Takaki turns our attention to several different cultures and how they had been affected by North America. The English colonists had brought the African people with force to the Atlantic coasts of America. The Irish women that sought to facilitate their need to work in factory settings and maids for our towns. The Chinese who migrated with ideas of a golden mountain and the Japanese who came and labored in the cane fields of Hawaii and on the farms of California. The Jewish people that fled from shtetls of Russia and created new urban communities here. The Latinos who crossed the border had come in search of the mythic and fabulous life El Norte.
Carmichael views America as a system that refuses to acknowledge the issue of race in an honest fashion. Because the holders of the country’s power, Whites, have no sense of urgency in the matter, it is comfortable taking its time in addressing such “inconvenient” problems. When the current power structure leaves those at the top of it in a particularly comfortable state, the desire to make changes that would only allow for others to have equal chance to take such a seat is unlikely.
Ellison creates many stereotypes of African Americans of his time. He uses this to bring less informed readers to understand certain characters motives, thoughts, and reasoning. By using each personality of an African American in extremes, Ellison adds passion to the novel, a passion that would not be there if he would let individualism into his characters. Individualism, or lack there of is also significant to the novel. It supports his view of an anti-racial America, because by using stereotypes he makes his characters racial these are the characters that the Americans misunderstand and abominate.
When Ellisons’ father died in the year 1917, Ida had supported Ralph and his younger brother working as a domestic aide at the Avery Chapel Afro-Methodist Episcopal Church. The family moved into the rectory and Ellison was exposed to the minister’s library. When he grew up, Ellison grew engrossed with the topic of literature which became a medium for him to grow and love his studies. Moreover, the enthusiasm he showed for reading was encouraged by his mother who had brought home plenty of books including magazines from houses which she had cleaned. There came a time when a black Episcopal priest in Oklahoma city challenged the white custom of barring blacks from the public library. As a result, this custom was overturned. As such, it became another outlet for Ellison to further his passion for reading. Although his family was sometimes short of money, Ellison and his brother were able to study well and had a healthy childhood lives.
Rasheed, S. P. (2015). Self-awareness as a therapeutic tool for nurse/client relationship. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 8(1), 211-216
Everyday, racism is perceived as one of the most negative aspects of society. When people think of racism, they obviously see hatred, evil , and ignorance. It has been a part of world culture since recorded history and , no doubt , before that. When one thinks of racism in the United States, invariably , though not only , the struggle of the African-American is singled out. That is the main issue Ellison so powerfully addresses in his short story "Battle Royal". In it the author allows us to see the world through the eyes of a young black boy who is struggling to succeed in a predominantly white society. The thing that is absolutely essential to our understanding of the story
...ck males may have been their own worst enemy in trying to succeed and create opportunities for themselves. Allowing themselves to be pit against each other, there was no hope of propelling their status while they did not support one another as a whole race. Turning their anger toward each other rather than the white men who had put them in these situations, the struggle of black men transitioned from the fight for justice as a people to a war with other black men, so as to boost themselves in the eyes of the white man. They furthermore allowed themselves to be manipulated, mocked, scorned, and beaten, yet still stood up afterward to do what they were told. As inner-conflict combined with complete oblivion to the racial situation grew, Ellison criticizes African Americans of the time for not banding together and recognizing the problem that was social inequality.
Taylor wrote about the “Racial Privacy Initiative” that some Californians were trying to get on the ballots in November 2002. This political proposal stated “By re-emphasizing America’s checkered racial history, race classifications focus our attention on what divides us, rather than what unites us. If we are to solve the educational, social and economic problems of tomorrow, we must unite our hearts and minds pursuing common goals. As long as we keep counting by skin color, we can never become “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Paul Taylor Race Taylor ascertains in his book that racism can be birthed out of any kind of race-thinking, it also clarified the false thinking of racial biology and that race is nothing but differences of class divisions. Race continues to have a place in our conversation; some may see it as just mere words to speak at the right time and in the right place, but race-thinking seems to live in its own little world, non-related to any ill will to anyone. It is as if it is only connected to the failure to restrict the quest for profit and to emphasize justice and civility with regards to political authority. Taylor also speaks to how racist ideology and practices can certainly bring about results that can focus on one race and bring about economic hardship to that specific group. Taylor said
The act of self-awareness is built through emotional intelligence which is an important factor in building therapeutic relationship. Nurses should built an understanding of clients health situation considering social, cultural, emotional, physical spiritual and psychological conditi...
Critical thinking and knowledge are the foundation of nursing practice, and the most essential elements in providing quality nursing care. Nu...
The term “America” does not have one but many definitions that various people have come up with through out the centuries. Some believe America is everything they could hope for and some have believed that it is not what it seems. Frederick Douglas’ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July and Michael Rogin’s text Political Repression in the United States are two pieces of historic evidence that show what each individual imagined America as. Although both pieces have similarities, they have differences as well not only in their ideas but their writing style and content as well.
In nursing practice, communication is essential, and good communication skills are paramount in the development of a therapeutic nurse/patient relationship. This aim of this essay is to discuss the importance of communication in nursing, demonstrating how effective communication facilitates a therapeutic nurse/patient relationship. This will be achieved by providing a definition of communication, making reference to models of communication and explaining how different types of communication skills can be used in practise.
Firstly, perceiving emotions or identifying certain emotions is the first step in becoming emotionally intelligent. Nurses can identify people’s emotions by their behavior, facial expression, mood and the way that they speak. .Secondly, to reason with emotions, nurses will need to think critically on how they are going to help their clients come to terms with their emotions. Reasoning with emotions helps the client to prioritize and pay attention to what is important and what is not. Thirdly, understanding emotions can be explained and shown in a lot of different ways. It is important for nurses to be able to understand their client’s feelings as this will help create a therapeutic environment thus enabling the nurse to help their clients and lastly,managing emotions is the main key to being emotionally intelligent. The ability to feel and respond to your emotions accordingly and the emotions of others are the all important elements to being emotionally intelligent.
Interpersonal skills are the life skills we use every day to communicate and interact with people. “To effectively communicate we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding to guide to our communication with others.” (Anthony Robbin). It is important for the nurse to be aware of the effects of their personal values and beliefs can have on their patients. For example working in a surgical ward a nurse was discussing with other colleagues about a certain patient who was in the holding bay, talking negatively about her lifestyle choices, when approaching the patient for the first time when arriving into the suite, she refused treatment from any of the nurse staff on the shift as she was upset at the things the nurse had said. First impressions influence people’s judgments of others...