Bill Clinton and Racial Reconciliation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Bill Clinton and Racial Reconciliation - Essay Example For the first time in history, America put in office the first African American as their 44th president. This was a great milestone and a step in the right direction towards the issues that Bill Clinton had mentioned. It now seemed that Americans were ready to give opportunities to other races that had been dominantly occupied by one race; the world was in surprised and the celebrations unceasing as President Barack Obama was sworn into office. It was finally a new dawn in the land of America and the struggle for equality had been achieved? Had it really? Many argue that it is not possible for one man to change the perspectives of a population, and I agree with them. Racial reconciliation has not really taken place in America yet, it is still a work in progress, but headed in the positive direction. President Obama’s win was a revelation, that people do want change. He garnered majority of the votes to defeat his opponent Mitt Romney. Despite his landslide win, the Americans d id not vote for him in the same overwhelming numbers across the different races that are represented. From the African American population, 93 percent voted for President Obama as compared to 41 percent from the whites. The other 59 percent favored Mitt Romney, this goes to show that, people were voting mainly, for their own and that is why the votes of the black population was able to swing the vote towards their chosen one. It is clear from this that difference in racial backgrounds is still an issue that the Americans have to deal with. While it was thought that the election of President Barack Obama meant that, the black community had been fully accepted in America, statistics prove otherwise. A research carried out recently by a Stanford University professor, Jon Krosnick, showed that fifty one percent of the Americans still exhibited anti-black attitude explicitly. This is in comparison to forty-eight percent in 2008, the same research revealed that fifty six percent of the Am erican population harbor anti-black attitude implicitly as compared to forty-nine percent in 2008. This brings to light that the different races in America have not fully accepted each other and to make matters worse, it seems like the divide is getting worse. The Declaration of Independence states that all American citizens are equal but the reality on the ground shows that a good number of the population does not agree with that just yet (Lawson and Franklin, 295). However, a population of the Americans especially, the blacks seems to think that President Obama is not addressing the issue of race as people thought he would. He has been openly criticized by some African Americans due to what seems as his effort to stay away from the talk of racial divide and the issues that need to be addressed. It is crucial for the issues that are brought about by different races to be addressed to avoid a repeat of history. The worst crimes against humanity were because of indifference towards o thers. With the deep feelings of negativity still rooted in most Americans it might only be a matter of time before another injustice against a race occur (Wiesel). On the contrary, others might say that, racial reconciliation has already taken place. This is because a couple of years ago, the election of a black president would have been unheard of. It seems that the different

Communication and Culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Communication and Culture - Essay Example To begin with, the prosecutors in both cases have tried to present the videos as pieces of evidence, while the defense has tried to present the videos as an assault on privacy. In this case, an important question to be asked is whether or not looking is an acceptable social practice. The portrayal of truth in this case is the basic premise upon which both cases have been built. For the wrongdoer, it might be a much needed act but for the onlooker, it might be an unnecessary one. Therefore, in case of looking, truth has two dimensions. These dimensions had been played upon by the prosecution and defense respectively, where the defense tried to make the police look like the victims. (Goodwin, 1992) If Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright's book titled Practices of Looking, is to be believed, then the concept of looking has great ideological implications. These ideological implications are a part and parcel of the basic mental makeup of any society and finally, the law that governs it. Th is concept as described by Cartwright et al, works at a dichotomous level as far as the parties go - i.e., the spectators and the participants. Therefore, this is an important concept to follow as far as the definition of looking is concerned in the world of emerging visual culture. This visual culture is a by product of the theories revolving around the emerging field of communication techniques. These theories come in the form of how one chooses to express himself or herself apart from those theories that demonstrate what a person wants to learn and how he or she wants to enjoy. (Cartwright et al, 2001) The Rodney King beating video and the Simi Valley LAPD video have also shown the power of expression which is a close by product of the practice of looking. In this regard, the book titled Look, A Negro, by Robert Gooding - Williams, the author relies mostly on the demonstration of how race and ethnicity continue to be a source of amazement to some people. (Williams - Gooding, 2005 ) According to his theory, it is important to be able to draw a line so as to make people comfortable. This has a wider context in today's global village where boundaries are shrinking and people of various ethnicities settle in lands far from their homes. If Williams Gooding is to be believed, then the concept of looking has both positive as well as negative dimensions in context of who is being looked at. According to Judith Butler in her book titled Endangered/Endangering: Schematic Racism and White Paranoia, the act of looking at a person for the color of his skin, or the clothes she is donning shows that there is a certain amount of ignorance which is demonstrated by their expressions and how they discuss or regard such situations. According to her, this calls for more progression in society and a form of 'controlled looking' wherein, looking is practiced for the sake of catching and punishing wrongdoers or for a strict social causeThese means of expression define the society a t large and steer the way for social practices. According to Butler, looking is a practice that requires a state of complete focus and concentration, especially when in public. (Butler, 2004) References: 1. Cartwright, Lisa; Sturken, Marita. "Practices of Looking - An Introduction to Visual Culture." (Jan, 2001) Oxford University Press. 2. Butler, Judith.