Race and Your Community

I live in Charlotte North Carolina; I just purchased a home in a community called Ballantyne. This community is on what we consider the south side of Charlotte. In February of this year, members of my community were told that there was going to be a public housing development built on a seven acre lot that has been vacant for many years. An emergency community meeting was called; several of my neighbors packed the room, all wanting information about what and where Charlotte’s next public housing development could be built. Many were concerned, especially those living close to the lot that is said to be the land used for the housing development. If Charlotte’s Housing Authority and a local developer are successful in getting their way the development will provide housing for 100 people who fall below Charlotte’s average income. This idea caused more chaos in an evening meeting that I’ve experienced in a life time. Based on the information that I gathered before my departure, the primary concern was because the development would be built within feet of the Ballantyne Country Club. Is it me or is the influence of race stronger for the population that’s greater because of numbers on this side of town? After this meeting I began to notice the difference in me and them. Even had a mother approach me in the grocery store in attempt to apologize for some of my neighbor’s behavior. I simply expressed my appreciation for her concern and carried on with what I was doing before her approach. When asked the question do the members of my community look like me, I immediately want to respond by saying why yes they do; we all have one head, two arms, two hands, two legs and two feet. However, I am beginning to look a little closer at myself and the difference between me and my neighbors. When I am looked at by many, it can be a little confusing; I have the hair of an American Indian, the eyes, which have sometimes been referred to as those of an Asian, the lips, ears and nose of a Caucasian, and the breast, hips, thighs and legs of an African American. My skin, well it’s a mixture of all the fore mentioned, my grandmother use to say my complexion was olive, now that’s one of few things that I begged to differ with her on, because I’m everything but, a shade of green. So now you’re probably wondering, â€Å"What am I? † I will tell you what I am not, and that is confused. On many occasions, I have always been one who selected other when it came to completing this section of an application; not because I was or am trying to be difficult, it’s just that there are no slots for an Asian, African, Caucasian, Indian girl to pick from, so I write it all out. Now, do my neighbors look like me? The answer is No, there are only a very few who look like me, and more than likely, those that do, we are related in some form or fashion. However, my community is one that is diverse; we have individuals from all walks of life, and from all over the world. There is a great mixture of race and cultures in my neighborhood. Some time ago the neighborhood that I live in was made up predominantly of white Americans. As time has progressed and America has made drastic changes in cultural acceptance our community has become one that is diverse. The leaders in my community treat people like me, and others with a great deal of respect. I have never experienced a problem personally or know of any other neighbors who have mentioned any problems with community leaders. The indifferences that I witnessed were those of others in the area when the mentioning of a low-income housing development was discussed amongst many, to the point where a meeting was called and the topic was discussed openly with all the residents of this area. Although many had previously been accused of making negative comments about the development, when the formal meeting was called, those with the problems were respectful of the officiators of the meeting, as they are residents in our community too. With this being said, the community leaders do not treat any of the people of my community different, they show us all the same amount of respect. They make me feel welcomed whenever I participate in any events, and on many occasions, they’ve made me feel needed when it comes to our children at the community center. When I mentioned to my neighbor, the assignment that I had to write about, she and I came inside and answered many of these questions together. Ann, is white and has been a member of this neighborhood since its creation, in fact, the neighborhood was named after her grandfather and his brothers. She has mentioned to me that she remembers when the neighborhood was all white, no others races or cultures for miles. She states that she enjoys the neighborhood now because she is able to experience more with the variety of people here. She has even mentioned that she feels safer here now than ever before, not that the area has ever had a major problem with crime, or any other problems, but she states that she knows that if anything goes on or wrong that we are less likely to feel like it was a crime against our neighborhood because of color, creed or culture. When I asked Ann how did she feel about our community leaders, she sniggled, and said; â€Å"Guess one of them does make me feel some kind of way, I’ve been married to him for 22 years! † My dear friend Ann has helped me with the answer to the question, â€Å"How do leaders of your community treat people who are like you? † In giving my answer I have to say with the upmost respect. They make me more than proud to be a part of this beautiful community. Other members of my community have never shown me any reason that I should be concerned with them or how well they treat others that may live outside of our community. However, as mentioned several times throughout this paper, the meeting about the housing development for low income families caused concern. They argued that they didn’t want this development in our area as it would decrease property value, because multi-family dwellings are in designated areas and not near the country club or golf course. They also mentioned that this would cause overcrowding in the public schools; which is certainly not an issue, as many of the children in this area attend private schools. They mentioned that there were not enough sidewalks and public transportation is limited. When I mentioned that this project would indeed cause a change in our community, but it would be good to have people of all income levels in the area, all other sides of town have these housing projects, so it’s only fair that the south side of Charlotte begin to pull a little weight. This was not liked nor accepted by a few, there were even some hecklers that mentioned that I allow them to live in my backyard. For the first time, in my history of living in this area, I experienced what some may consider racism or stereotyping. Although, it was not directed towards me, I still felt the pain that so many others in these type situations may have felt or are feeling. The question, do your text or work manuals contain information by or about people like me? Caused me to really stop and think. I have never really paid attention to who wrote the manuals for my development. Honestly, the way it is written I can not decipher the person or people’s race that put the manual, pamphlets, or leaflets together. However, there were many important factors that went into deciding where I wanted to live; for example the schools, the development is close to where I work, it is close to downtown, it is appealing to the suburban lifestyle, the recreation opportunities for me as well as my children, and our development is close to the airport. In my opinion, anyone that moved here for these reasons is just like me. Fortunately, there are no concepts of the manuals or texts that relate specifically to race. The local media in Charlotte NC represents all people. I am not an individual who watches the news frequently as I prefer not to because it seems that there is always some sort of chaos, turmoil, or other stories that don’t always have an ending that leaves one in a peaceful state of mind. On the occasions, that I have taken the time to read or watch the local news channel I am proud to say that both are operated in a manner that appears diverse. While writing this paper I specifically stopped and watched the local news channel and it seems as though the anchor men and women are individuals that portray themselves in a manner that make it impossible to tell their cultural backgrounds. I assume it is this way so that they don’t appear bias or as individuals leaning in one way or another to a specific ethnicity or race. One of the main similarities between me and the community leaders is the fact that they are also neighbors. These individuals’ names are known in all households in this area. They have taken the time to make themselves seen and to let all the residents in this community know that they are readily available to assist with any matter, be it big or small. One of the main things that made me pick this particular development is when I wanted to see the inside of a model home that was not available, the community leader that I spoke of previously, was called and came to take me on a tour of her own home, which was the exact model that I wanted to see. After the walk-thru she took the time to sit down and encourage me as to why living in this neighborhood would be an excellent choice for me and my children. Although, I’d lost my husband tragically in an automobile accident, I knew that I’d be making the right choice picking this particular area. The only difference between me and the rest of the community leaders is the fact that we are individual people, we all have our own likes as well as our own dislikes. There is only one thing that makes me different from my community’s leaders, and the majority of my neighbors is that I am a widow. Yet, I have this in common with a few of the elderly residents in my area. When speaking of minority groups in my area, the first thought that comes to mind is the number of women who live here, then other races, and ethnicities. I have to admit I am not concerned about there being a lack of representation for any minority in this area. As stated in the opening paragraph the only inequity that concerned me was when developers wanted to build public housing in this area the out lash of some of the individuals that live in this area. However, the issue has since been resolved, the conclusion: â€Å"People who are in favor of the Ballantyne Crossing complex say there's a need for affordable housing for people who work in Ballantyne, who want to live there as well. † (Warren Cooksey representative of the Balllantyne area on the Charlotte City Council-WCNC News 36). References http://www.richferretti.com/ballantyne-nc.asp

Burglary & distinguishing characteristic

Burglary, larceny, and robbery all involve theft or the possibility and/or likelihood of theft, but there are some important distinctions between the three. Burglary is essentially the act of breaking into a premesis with the intention to commit a crime – usually theft, but other offenses are also included. A charge of burglary can be made whether or not a crime takes place inside the building or premesis; the act of trespassing is what sets burglary apart from the other two crimes.Robbery involves taking property which belongs to another person, by use of force or the threat of force or violence. The distinguishing characteristic of robbery is the use or threat of force; without this element, the crime committed is simple theft. In the case of robbery, the property is taken with the intent to permanently deprive the rightful owner of that property. But where burglary can be levied as a charge whether or not the crime took place, robbery can only stand as a charge if an actual theft did occur.Larceny is itself a type of theft, but with a handful defining conditions which must be met. The threat or act of violence is not present, as in robbery; however, the larcenist must be in complete possession of the taken item and remove it from its original location. The length of time that the victim is deprived of his or her property (whether temporary or permanent) does not have bearing on the charge. Also, the theft qualifies as larceny whether the theft is carried out directly (by the larcenist) or indirectly (by a third party).The controlling factor in identifying larceny is possession – whether or not the accused larcenist takes complete possession of the property and removes it from the possession of its rightful owner. In addition, the thief must have intent to steal, and the item stolen must have value. In virtually all jurisdictions, all three offenses are subclassified in varying degrees of severity. Works Cited Mansfeld, Yoel and Pizam, Abraham. (2006) Tourism, Security and Safety : From Theory to Practice. Burlington, MA : Elsevie

The Sandplay Therapy Process. Images of the Self (Estelle L. Weinrib) Essay

The Sandplay Therapy Process. Images of the Self (Estelle L. Weinrib) 2004 Review - Essay Example The children and their metal status decide their life and their behavior. The author relates the theories proposed by scientists like Neumann and Jung are portrayed in such a way that the reader gets a complete idea about the sandplay treatment. The theory of Neumann concentrates more on the psychological aspects of a person. The psychic development and its effects are clearly depicted and the consciousness level of a person is also explained. (Weinrib, 2004).The author also provides information about the development in childhood. The major part of childhood development relies on the psychological factors and they in turn decide the character of the children. Children's ego must be developed in a healthy environment since the environment where the children grow play a vital part in their life. The psychological factors and the role they play in a child's life are referred with the help of Jung's theories. Jung's theories were based on the connection between the unconscious self. The sandplay which was first found by Dr.Margaret, was considered to be the best treatment that identified the problems in the children. Sandplay treatment did not make use of any explicit medical equipment. It treated the children in such a way that the result was effective. The author stroke the difference between the normal verbal treatment and the sandplay treatment. ... Psychology was an important concept and the doctors had to strike a balance between these factors and the emotions. The deeper thoughts and mental states were examined before the beginning of the treatment. The mentality of the children and their mental state has been clearly defined in the book. The author has emphasized on the fact that the child's feelings and emotions can be caught with the help of sandplay. (Weinrib, 2004).The treatment initially began from the idea of Dr.Margaret with an effort to treat children without disturbing their mental status. Since the psychological part of a person decides their life, the treatment concentrated more on those aspects. Sandplay Treatment Sandplay treatment helped people to express their anger, fear and other emotions. The treatment also helped them to get back to their normal status within a very short period of time. Jung's theory also stated that the other issues related to developmental problems and behavioral attributes were also resolved using this treatment. The major goal of Jung's therapy was to help the children to become normal without any psychological disorders. After its introduction, the treatment became popular within a short period and most of the doctors preferred this type of treatment. The effort of Jung became successful and thus the problem that prevailed was resolved easily. The concept of this treatment was derived from the way the children expressed their feelings while handling the miniatures. Children who played with miniature dolls showed their anger and frustration which they had with their family members or with their friends. They

Bilingual Tesol Classrooms Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Bilingual Tesol Classrooms - Essay Example It is evidently clear from the research that expert teachers have a wide-ranging base of experience with which to instruct ESL inclusive classrooms and create classroom environments that show a great degree of cross-pollination with the world outside of the classroom.   They are able to teach students concepts that will help them generally as well as having mastered the specific subject materials. Expert TESOL teachers are also better able to relate to students on a level that fosters mutual respect and understanding in creating a learning environment. In their everyday teaching duties, expert teachers show how the subject they are teaching is interrelated to the lives of their students. The existing literature generally supports the notion that there are strategies that the TESOL teacher can use to facilitate the development of ELL in classroom situations, but there are disagreements about how exactly to go about achieving this goal through effective course design in the ELL class room. For the goal, ELLs need to use English to achieve academically†. These goals are seen in the study to be complimentary, in that using English as a social medium can then lead to better acumen and a better chance for the ELL to be able to integrate this into their academic base of knowledge. This source also acknowledges how specifically, the TESOL teacher is going to face issues of diversity in several areas which reflects on course design for this aspect. The diversity that the general education TESOL teacher faces in a situation of accommodating ELL includes their ability to get materials out in other languages so that parents can understand, but it also involves focusing on English in the classroom situation.   Many also point towards bilingual education programs as a reflection of multicultural education and a positive step forward.  

Eastern Cape Education rot goes deep Case Study

Eastern Cape Education rot goes deep - Case Study Example upply chain. These problems were needed to be solved as soon as possible. This requires implementation of a turnaround strategy by the national government, which can end the wrong directional functions of the department. The first portion of the report will provide recommendation to the minister to rectify the present situation in the Eastern Cape education department. The second portion of the study will provide recommendations to the ministers so that they can successfully implement the strategies that are required for rectifying the present situation in the Eastern Cape education department. The third part of the study will reflect the different types of strategic control methods which can be used by the Eastern Cape Education Department to improve the performance of the organization. ... upply chain, improper functioning of the financial management systems, lack of proper management systems, poor work culture and organizations structure, etc were also because of the improper functioning of the educational department. If the educational department had performed its activities in an efficient way, then there would have been no scope of flaws in the functioning of the educational institutions. It is very essential that the national government implements a performance management tool to measure as well as control the overall performance of the educational department. It is advised to the national government to implement balanced scorecard which will help to measure the individual performance of the employees (i.e. teachers, principles, other staff etc) as well as the overall performance of the organization. This portion of the study will deal with the recommendation of performance management of the Eastern Cape education department. The performance of the Eastern Cape Ed ucation Department will be measured based on four main perspectives. They are financial perspectives, customer’s perspectives, internal business processes and the learning growth perspectives. The balanced score card will help in evaluating the performance of the education department associated with the financial and other non financial factors (Kaplan and Norton, 1992). It will help in aligning the operational activities along with the goals of the educational department. The balanced score card will improve the internal as well as the external communication and also monitor the whole performance. The balanced score card will provide new strategies for implementing an appropriate performance management process (Kaplan, 2001). The balanced score card was found by Dr. Robert Kaplan and Dr.

International area study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

International area study - Essay Example The significance of the slave trade made historians feel the need of coming up with literature on the practice. Numerous literature pieces have been written with different scopes on slave trade. For instance, some pieces are written by slaves, by the slave traders and by the slave masters. This particular paper will analyze two literature pieces: one by Mary Prince, a slave and the other by John Barbot who was a slave trader. Additionally, the paper will also analyze the significance of historians in distributing the moral responsibility of the slave trade. The narration by Mary Prince is done by a slave. The story is a narration of the slave’s life in the hands of her masters. Mary Prince was a slave to more than one master since her birth (230). She was born of a slave mother, what made her an automatic slave (Prince 230). At a young age, Mary Prince was not subjected to hard labor like the rest of the slaves. Her role as a child was to ensure that the duties given by her ma sters or her mother were done. As years progressed under her master, the duties given to her became more complex like taking care of the master’s children. However, in this particular narration, her first master had a polite wife who took care of her as her own. She developed a connection with her master considering her status at the farm as a slave. Indeed, this was a rare relationship (Prince 231). It is evident the master was a cruel man, and spent time away from home which gave her wife an opportunity to be nice to the slaves (Prince 282). As she grew older, she was sold to a neighboring farm which also had a polite master (Prince 282). She acted as a guardian to a master’s child after which they became close. Apart from these two farms, Mary Prince was exposed to cruelty in other farms as she was subjected to hard labor and mistreatment (Prince 289). It is at this juncture of the narration that the real perspective of the slave trade is displayed. At one point in the narration, Mary gives a description on an elderly slave who died after being thrown in a thorny bush by her master (Prince 289). She also narrates when she had to be tied with their hands and flogged till they shed flesh from their back (Prince 289). From this narration, the reader is able to get a glimpse of the slave trade on the view of a slave. Other written stories are based on scholarly literatures. The narration by Mary gives the real picture of the situation inside slave farms. Additionally, the fact that she was traded from homestead to homestead is a clear indication of how insignificant slaves were to their masters. The narration by Mary Prince also explains the tribulations of slaves in a detailed perspective in terms of raising families and slaves and losing children to their masters. The narration by Barbot is neither based on a slave nor a master. The story is a report of a slave trader. The account also focuses on the origin and destination of slaves from the Atl antic to Europe. Barbot starts the narration of his account by highlighting trading specification in the Atlantic (Barbot 181). Apart from precious stones, the author cited slaves as the most valuable commodity in the Atlantic trade (Barbot 181). Slave trade in the Atlantic was a chain or an organization by major European dynasties. The slaves mostly originated from West Africa (Barbot 180). Upon arrival, each trader would mark their slaves with a hot iron as a mark of ownership. Purchasers of slaves in the

A comparison of effects of categorized and uncategorized words on Essay

A comparison of effects of categorized and uncategorized words on memory - Essay Example This model is best illustrated by a computer system where information is received and processed variably by the brain before it is stored into memory.Atkinson and Shiffrin's "multi-store model of memory" theory posits that there are three distinct memory stores - sensory, short term, and long term. The amount of attention paid and "rehearsal" of information affects likelihood of this information passing first into short term and then into long-term memory.Sensory memory has a very limited duration of about a second for visual store and two seconds for the acoustic store. Short term memory also has a limited storage capacity and a very short duration and can be lost through decay or displacement as new information is added to the store. Organizing information in short term memory through "chunking" enables it to pass into long term memory. These chunks can be acronyms, words, phrases, or anything else that links the information together into a meaningful structure. By chunking informa tion, a much greater quantity can be stored. Memory can decay over time, or there can be problems of retrieval, where the memory is there but cannot be recalled. Information in long term memory is more likely to be in the form of semantics, organized by general meaning rather than in greater detail. In a study by Tulving and Pearlstone (1966), participants' recall of word lists of 12, 24, and 48 words in categories of 1, 2, or 4 words was tested. The answer sheets were used with and without category headings to measure the effects of categorization on recall. Participants showed a significant increase in words recalled when the category headings were present on the answer sheet. This study shows that organizing information in memory increases the amount of recall. Objective of the Study Generally, the study's aim was to approximate studies [such as that of Tulving and Pearlstone (1966)] to determine whether word categorization could increase the number of words recalled from a prepared word list. In more specific point of view, the study is aimed at: 1. Identifying the factors that could help people recall more numbers of words 2. Assess which among the given factors (as stated in the first specific objective) is better be applied to specific age range of the people 3. Evaluate if there could be a difference to the number of words recall if the subjects are of different gender, social status and level of education earned. Hypotheses The null hypothesis supposes that any variation in the number of words recalled between the categorised and uncategorised word lists will be due to chance factors. The alternative hypothesis assumes that there will be a significant difference in the number of words recalled between the categorised and uncategorised word lists such that the number of words recalled from the former will be higher. Methodology Research Design The experimental method was used to try and establish a causal relationship.A repeated measures design was utilized to limit the number of participants required and to reduce participant variables. To minimize order effects, counterbalancing was used, with half the participants hearing the uncategorized list first and the remaining half hearing the categorized list followed by the uncategorized list. Participants The study was participated in by close

Giving economic circumstances over the last five years of how Tesco, Literature review - 1

Giving economic circumstances over the last five years of how Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrisons have coped - Literature review Example I will analyze those data along with the theoretical aspects of that. This part will contain the consumer behaviour towards the retail chains for the last five years, brand loyalty of them. The companies’ strategy for maintain the loyal base of customer will also be analyzed as well as analyzing the impact of the strategies on the customers. The recession witnessed from the year 2008 to 2011 had a greater impact on the UK chain and retail market in general. Consequently, leading players in the retail market such as Tesco, Sainsbury and Morrison’s were equally affected. The general impact was occasioned by public (consumer) response to the imminent financial and economical changes. The global recession was characterized by increased prices due to inflation, higher oil prices from exporting countries in Asia and North Africa. Due to the overall changes, the consumers have become value based in terms of key commodities they value with view to the available disposable income (Gbadamosi and Nwankwo 2010). The implication of this change in behavior is that consumers are willing to pay higher prices for valuable commodities if they meet the required standards of quality. Further, the consumers seek to find alternative products which are affordable where quality is not their main concern. The chain stores have been forced to respond to this change in consumer behavior which is actively evident in their promotional strategies. Retail companies carry promotion with the view of convincing the consumer of the intended quality at low cost. Such is the need that Tesco announced an investment of  £500m to facilitate price cuts, Sainsbury has been forced to change from their long term slogan of trying something new to living well at low cost with the view of maintaining customer loyalty. There is low consumer confidence in the UK economy which is expected to fall further. This offers a great challenge to retail stores especially, Tesco,

Effects Research Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Effects Research Paper - Essay Example Arnas (2006) used children in the age 3-8 years bracket with a total of 347 respondents. The study included the parents as well since some respondents were still young to comprehend the questions. Arnas found out that about 50% of the ads viewed by children during their TV exposure are food related. Because of this 40% of the respondents requested their parents to buy the foods shown in the ads and about 9% of them are even insistent. Arnas' concern is that most of these foods are high in fats and sugar which are associated with obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. Hitchings and Moynihan (1998) in the other hand used children within the 9-11 age brackets but used limited number of respondents. A total of 44 children across varying social class were involved. Their findings show that a relationship exist (r=0.58) between the type of ads observed by children from TV to the type of foods they eat. The more alarming fact is that most of these foods contain high sugar, fats, salt , and preservatives like crisps, softdrinks, and savoury snacks. The results of the two studies mention... But the result is enough to prove that eating habit of children between 9-11 is related to TV food ads they saw and recalled.. More intensive study with greater number of respondents could have shown higher positive relationship. This effect may not only be associated with food advertisements but also with other products as well. It has shown that the television medium is a good way to educate the viewers and a good means to present new ideas and programs to the target client. These findings can be a good start for private individuals, groups, or government institutions planning to launch programs, projects, or products. Opinion about the implications of the research for parents and society. In the context of parents and the society as a whole, the results of these studies can be both viewed as promising and alarming. They have both advantages and disadvantages. The findings are alarming in the sense that food manufacturers and food marketing firms are aware that the television medium is a good tool to push their products and that they are taking advantage of this potential in order that their products be recognized by their target sector. The worst thing is that several manufacturers are less concerned about the health effects of their product. In all cases, obviously, these ads do not mention negative aspects about consuming their products. Their primary concerns are the increase in sales the ads would bring the company. Since most ads do not include warning on over-consumption, children may think it is fine to eat them as they like thereby jeopardizing their health. The results' implication can be promising if government