Enforcing Racial Discrimination Essay Example for Free

Enforcing Racial Discrimination Essay The series of photographs documented by the Farm Security Administration of the Office of War Information photographers were taken between 1937 and 1943, presumably during the years the unit was in operation. These photographers were tasked to document various manifestations of change and continuity in the prevalent American life, and this resulted in a vivid collection of images that particularly focused on the practice of racial segregation. Curiously, while the photographers were not officially acknowledged to have been directed to document specific scenes, the prints produced exhibited a skew toward signs that indicate racial discrimination and segregation (LOC 2004). Among the thirty-one photos included in the series, all depict signs situated in a number of locations such as bus and train stations, restaurants, cafes, bars, movie theaters, stores, and billiard halls. These signs also collectively show the use of words such as â€Å"colored† and â€Å"white’, which clearly validate the existence of segregation between Caucasian Americans and individuals of ethnic origins such as blacks and Indians. True to the era during which they were photographed, the environment and people incidentally present in each picture appear in authentic manners of architecture and fashion. II. Racial Segregation in America The issue on race and discrimination in America can be famously traced centuries back, with the history of Africans being brought into the country as slaves. Though this deplorable condition had been corrected by the gains of the Civil War, thus granting freedom to blacks. However, the occurrence of the Great Depression in the 1920s brought back situations identical to those experienced by African-Americans previously, as the country was beset by the chaos produced by the lack of jobs and sources of income. In 1932, most blacks found themselves without work, and there was increasing pressure from whites to have blacks fired from any job that they believed should be assigned to unemployed whites. Numerous forms of racial violence again ensued, particularly in the South, during the 1930s (LOC 2002). The legal foundation of racial segregation was the Jim Crow laws, which were imposed in the 1860s mainly in railroad cars, and continued to be enforced throughout the decades until the 1960s (McElrath 2008). The effects of segregation on typical American life and society were apparently significant enough to create scenes extraordinary enough to tell their own stories through photographs, which were precisely what the Farm Security collection achieved. III. Beyond the Signs: Marking the Lines of Race The objective of the Farm Security photographs had been to depict regular American life, yet it is clear how the typicality of the images at the time does not lend itself in the same nature today. There is a point of discussion in the deliberate move to show not just groups of whites and ethnic people, but the centering on the signs that limit freedom, that erase the function of choice. The study of signs, known as semiotics, provides the connection between the audience, interpreter, and the sign itself (Littlejohn 2008). The photos, with their studied involvement of the actual sign, venue, and individuals, already form the three-part process; the blacks are the audience and the photographer is the interpreter, within the space covered by the sign. This shows how the photographers aimed to convey a reality, a system that used semiotics as a way to impose discrimination. This they had done with not just a bit of participation on their end, quite like the way Coles (1997) appropriated documentary work with the linking of lives with the subject. The same logic is utilized by Gripsrud (in Gillespie and Toynbee 2006), when he classified a photographer’s work as indexical—the identifying of a specific aspect of a subject—and therefore lends to much subjectivity. IV. Showing Signs of Racial Conflict to an Audience While the audience of the signs were the blacks—and whites, depending on the sign and situation—the photos’ audience are people who would benefit from knowledge of a different period, as was the arguable objective of the Farm Security photographers in documenting change and continuity in American life. Mainly, the photos were for research and evaluation, whether or not the audience would find them appalling or give them their approval. It may be possible that some of those who comprise the audience are people who have lived through the same era, making them mere confirmations of what they already know; but the more relevant audience would be the uninformed, who would find new insight into American society and its management of racial issues in the late 1930s and early 40s. V. Appropriation of Technique and Style in Communicating Racism The black-and-white photography is already significant on its own, referring to the subjects as well; seeing words on the signs captured in the photographs deals a double blow—‘black’, or ‘colored’, and ‘white’ signs in black-and-white photos. The photographers simply captured the signs as they were, specially for those in venues without people milling around, but there were also photos that provided degrees of humanity and emotion. One of the most striking is a photo of a bar showing whites having beer, a sign on the wall above them that says â€Å"Positively no beer sold to Indians†. Though Indians are known for their penchant for alcohol, it is disturbing one clear sign can show how this ethnic group is singled out and discriminated against—an error of generalization. The white people in the photo appear serious and quite professional, which indicates how the sign should not be misconstrued as a joke. Other photos in the collection, though showing signs and places rather than people as subjects, reveal the increasing culture of urbanization—shown by the railroads, buses, and stores where the signs are found. Urbanization, being common ground for both blacks and whites, necessitates signs; these indicate white control over society and economy, and the intent to keep ‘colored’ people away from this power. Works Cited Primary Source: Library of Congress. â€Å"Photographs of Signs Enforcing Racial Discrimination: Documentation by Farm Security Administration-Office of War Information Photographers†. Prints Photographs Reading Room. April 30, 2004. http://www. loc. gov/rr/print/list/085_disc. html Secondary Sources: Coles, Robert. â€Å"The Tradition: Fact and Fiction†. Doing Documentary Work. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. Gripsrud, Jostein. â€Å"Semiotics: signs, codes and cultures†. In Gillespie, Marie and Jason Toynbee. Analysing Media Texts. Berkshire: Open University Press, 2006. Library of Congress. â€Å"Great Depression and World War II, 1929-1945: Race Relations in the 1930s and 1940s†. 2002. http://lcweb2. loc. gov/learn/features/timeline/depwwii/race/race. html McElrath, Jessica. â€Å"Creation of Jim Crow South: Segregation in the South†. About. com. 2008. http://afroamhistory. about. com/od/jimcrowlaw1/a/creationjimcrow. htm

Operatic Modernism Essay -- Opera Modernism Music Essays

Operatic Modernism The profound modernist ruptures of the 20th Century questioned, displaced, and reconfigured the way humanity regards itself. Within the fine arts, literature, architecture, and music, artistic revolutions occurred at an unprecedented rate and, within the rubric of modernism, deliberately broke with the bases of Western art, culture and society. While working within the operatic institution, Strauss' Salome, Weill's Die Dreigroschenoper, and Berg's Wozzeck profoundly challenge the generic conventions of the operatic tradition. Through their careful combination of innovation in music, text, structure, and staging, their questioning of traditional morality, and pointed social and historical commentaries, these three operas facilitate criticism of the traditional operatic institution as well as society; they are exemplary of the tensions--painfully evident within operatic modernism--between the will to modernity, innovation, and progress and the past. Opera falls, despite e fforts to the contrary, away from the tremendous potential of innovation and rupture back to its conservative tradition. As the classical tradition all too often relies on, glorifies, and mythologises its past, the failure of modernism in opera is a result of the distance--projected, assumed, and interpolated--between the often stagnant classical and operatic institutions and innovative and modernist contemporaries. Too reified to permit the flourishing of innovation, dissent, and/or rupture, the operatic institution is weighed down by its past (as well as its patrons), remaining steadfastly resistant to the revolutionary influences of modernism. While it is clear an essay on opera and modernism (or, indeed, a cou... .... "Modernism and Postmodernism." In A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th edition. M.H. Abrams, Ed. New York: Harcourt, 1999. 167-168. Clements, Andrew. "Wozzeck." Volume IV. Stanley Sadie, Ed. London: MacMillan, 1992. 1176-80. Hinton, Stephen. "Die Dreigroschenoper." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Volume I. Stanley Sadie, Ed. London: MacMillan, 1992. 1243-46. Kennedy, Michael. "Opera." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. Third edition. Michael Kennedy, Ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1980. 463-64. Morris, Mark. "A Brief Introduction to the 20th Century History of Music in Austria." Pimlico Dictionary of Twentieth Century Composers. Pimlico, 1999. On-line. Available http://www.humanities.ualberta.ca/mmorris/402/Austria2.htm Murray, David. "Salome." The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Volume IV. Stanley Sadie, Ed. London: MacMillan, 1992. 146-49.

Assessment task †SHC 21 Introduction to communication in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings Essay

Communication is about making contact with others and being understood. When communicating, people send and receive messages continuously. As an early years practitioner working with children and young people, effective communication is essential to ensure that I can create the best provision for the children and young people I am work with. In my setting, when you look at all the interacting and communications between children, young people and adults through the activities, it shows there are so many reasons why people communicate. Making relationships When we communicate, we make new relationships with children, parents, carers or colleagues. I should use positive communication skills to make a good first impression in relationships, for example, being friendly, smiling, shaking hands when I greet the person. Developing relationships As an early years practitioner, I should develop a relationship with children, young people, their parents, carers and colleagues by maintaining a friendly and supportive approach and by being interested in what other people are doing and feeling. This enables them to feel comfortable and secure, knowing that they can trust and rely on my professional service. Obtaining and sharing information As an early years practitioner, I may need to obtain and share information about children and young people who I work for with colleagues and other agencies to ensure the team is fully informed. I also need to communicate with children and young people or their family members about the care and support they received or about the kinds of services and facilities that are available in our setting. Expressing thoughts and ideas I may need to communicate with my colleagues to share my thoughts and ideas about aspects of practice in my setting, and also I should use effective communication skills to encourage children and young people to talk about what they have learnt, say what they think or express themselves imaginatively. Giving and receiving support Children and young people often seek reassurance from adults as a way of developing their self- confidence. As a practitioner, I should use my positive communication skill to praise them, give them time and attention to reward their efforts and achievements. I also should communicate with my manager and colleagues to receive the support and reassurance about my work performance. Expressing feelings, wishes, needs and preferences As an early years practitioner, I need use my positive communication skills to encourage children and young people to express their feelings and needs and to talk about how they wish to be treated, as well as to say what they like and dislike. In the early years setting, there are so many reasons people communicate, I should use communication skill positively and effectively to ensure good quality service.

Popular Culture and Violent Behavior Essay - 11795 Words

Popular Culture and Violent Behavior Introduction In 1871 E.B. Taylor defined culture as that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and many other capabilities and habits acquired by...[members] of society.[1] Taylor was talking about high culture, an aristocratic view of the past-times such as ballet, theatre and art. Popular culture, on the other hand, is a form of low culture and is based primarily on marketing, mass production and revenue. Low culture is what is sold to the masses, ergo, low culture equals mass culture. All these terms refer to popular culture, defined in the Oxford Dictionary of Sociology as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦accessible to†¦show more content†¦The question I have posed is a very contentious one, which has been debated by scholars and graduates for some time, with many arguing that popular culture and mass media are ways of brainwashing the masses into the ways of a dominant social order. Others believe that popular culture is a type of folk culture which encompasses the idea of an alternative culture incorporating minority groups, perhaps with subversive values sometimes challenging the dominant control groups, as was scene with the advent of the Indie music scene in the mid nineteen nineties. In this dissertation I aim to uncover whether aforementioned subversive values can be uncovered in popular culture or whether popular culture is really a means by which the masses can direct dominant controlling forces. The main way I will do this is through my research into violent behaviour and the impact that popular culture can have on individuals and groups in society - mainly adolescents and young children - by looking at susceptibility, attraction, reactions and influences. 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