Recent orders
Part 1 Researching Quality
Student’s name
Tutor
Course
Date
Part 1: Researching Quality Information about Coates’ Essay
Summarizing Sources
Sources in research aid in the generation of ideas and the examination of a certain topic. According to Katrina Forester, author of “Reparations, History, and the Origins of Global Justice,” Ta-Nehisi Coates rekindled an ancient discussion over restitution due to African Americans as a result of slavery. The author’s major point is to show how the turn of the century has resulted in an increase in preparation for restitution claims (Coates, 10). According to the author, Coates’ contributions were the most widely discussed, igniting a new round of discussion. Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, was attacked by Coates because, during his campaign for the Democratic Presidential nomination, he expressed a socialist skepticism that was acquainted with reparations claims that advocated “universal” welfare systems that work on class rather than racial lines. Katrina Forrester, the author is a Harvard University associate professor of Government and Social Studies. She is also a political theorist and historian having scholarly interests in 20th century political and social thought.
The major objective of Lewis Thabiti’s “How Fresh and New is the Case Coates Makes?” is to provide his thoughts on Coates’ “Between the World and Me,” and he indicated that he appreciates the articles (Lewis 195). The purpose of this study is to provide an examination of the strategies, goals, and why a certain methodology resonates well with certain segments of the public but not with others. The author encourages researchers to always look for an appeal that goes beyond the same book that has been around for years. Lewis Thabiti, the author is an English assistant professor at Washington University of states, where he lectures contemporary American literature as well as Black American literature.
Evaluating Sources
A person can learn a variety of topics by researching Coate’s essay. One of the most important aspects is that people have diverse perspectives on assessing the work of others. Each person’s interpretation is based on their comprehension of the read content. I can answer a riddle by understanding how something works and why certain events occur. As a result, I’ve learnt to respond to people’s inquiries regarding a certain topic. This is one of the most important things I’ve learnt. I have discovered that it is critical to identify valuable resources while performing research and that preliminary research is necessary to inspire a person’s thoughts. Identifying relevant sources allows a person to perform a more systematic search that is more focused on informative primary and secondary sources. As a result, finding secondary sources is critical in a research effort.
The research has provided me with a viable approach of learning and researching a certain issue. Another important lesson I learnt from conducting the research was the importance of assessing information sources. Before I began writing the report, I needed to find reputable information sources from which to obtain the necessary information. Since the articles were properly searched, it is simple to write a worthwhile paper. I can tell the difference between sources that can be trusted and those that cannot help me make the best decision about which resources to employ. As a result, I learned to examine and analyze every source and the information included within it. Learning to focus on key concerns was also an important lesson I gained. Finding the correct sources for a research paper is one of the most difficult tasks due to the necessity for complete concentration on a primary subject. A person must conduct research on the subject matter. A person investigates the topic matter by studying several papers, articles, and publications. To ensure that they are heading in the proper path, a researcher must always have the focus in mind.
As a result of considering what several writers have to say about a topic, a person develops a questioning perspective. After considering several points of view from other writers, a person learns how to study the situation and identify the most efficient answers. The abilities will assist future study and the creation of publications that effectively explain the points of view of several writers. Due to the general quality of the source, it is worth considering the New Yorker’s story on reparations. The New Yorker frequently has the most recent information and conducts extensive research on the country’s top news. The report is also reputable because of its publishing date, which indicates that it contains the most recent updates on restitution. Furthermore, the discourse in the report has been carefully trimmed and shortened to highlight the most recent information on reparations. According to the article, democratic presidential contenders regard slavery reparations as a more important issue than other Americans. As a result, society has to be better informed about the need for reparations (Coates, 30).
Part 2: Evidence Clusters from “The Case for Reparations”
According to a New Yorker piece, the pirated properties of people of color have benefited governmental and private organizations in the US. Racism in the United States of America is being supported by institutions with a US history. Similarly, while discussing the underlying inequalities between white and black inhabitants of the United States, Coates refers to the “Injury Gap”. Coates refers to the current racial forms of poverty as the “Injury Gap.” Coates contends that ignoring the injury gap in today’s society is a form of deception used to cover up the error of national failures. Lies widely held by whites say that closing the wealth gap between affluent and poor Americans would have no effect on racial poverty. However, the accomplishment difference is obvious in the labor market. Graduates of color experience greater unemployment rates in the United States than white graduates. Furthermore, graduates of color with no criminal history have a worse likelihood of finding work than white graduates with underlying criminal backgrounds. A history gap, according to Coates, is the amount of harm done to people of color that previous constitutional amendments have failed to rectify (Coates, 22).
Additionally, the Guardians article by Bukiempis and Oliver Laughland states that reparations have been apparent in the United States since the civil war. Similarly, Coates used a quotation from John Wilkes Booth to emphasize how slavery remained after the Civil War. After the country had recovered from the civil war, Booth killed President Abraham Lincoln. Coates uses Booth as a metaphor to show the culture of the United States. Coates, Booth is a symbol of white culture connected with prolonged slavery after the country earned independence and peace once the Civil War came to a conclusion. Even though the United States is a free country with no visible continuing civil conflicts, the government is nonetheless subject to slavery, which whites are unable to confront. As a result, Coates labels the treatment of people of color in the United States as terrorism (Coates, 25).
Coates also uses the term pogrom to depict black slavery as a slaughter of African Americans in the United States. In the actual world, a pogrom is a slaughter targeting a certain ethnic group of individuals with the goal of eradicating the group. Reparations are intended to recompense people of color for destroying their neighborhoods, such as the black Wall Street, which was only populated by people of color. As a result, paying descendants of previous slaves is backed by widespread evidence of displacement and loss of black people’s property.
Part 3: Do you Believe Coates?
I believe in Coates’ thoughts based on my research on the subject of reparations. According to the data presented in the New Yorker piece, institutions with a history in the United States are related with severe racism. Property belonging to public institutions, including land, was seized from people of color. Coates uses the current Wall Street scenario as proof. Wall Street was originally owned by the Tutsi community. Racists, on the other hand, evicted the Tutsi and built various public facilities in the region. Paradoxically, public institutions built on property that once belonged to people of color are more valuable to white people than to people of color. As a result, Coates examines the concept of the injury gap. The injury gap is produced by the slaughter of people of color and the removal of their goods by white people. As a result, the descendants of black slaves must be rewarded in order to bridge the gap between the affluent and the poor. Paying people of color for the suffering and loss inflicted on their forefathers would be critical in closing the achievement gap (Coates, 45).
According to the Guardian article by Bekimpse and Laughland, reparations would close the income gap between low and middle-class Americans. Individuals of color have the highest number of impoverished people in the country because they are the most disadvantaged in the job-seeking business (Bekiempis, et. al, 48). Reparations would allow blacks to get beyond the poverty line by improving their standard of living. Slavery persisted despite the end of the Civil War. Thus, the civil war was ended to favor white people, while blacks considered an exceptional minority. As a result, reparations will help erase racial imbalances in the country since they are a way of apologizing to racial minorities for their harm.
Work Cited
Bekiempis, Victoria, and Oliver Laughland. “Ta-Nehisi Coates Revisits Case For Reparations, Five Years After Landmark Essay.” The Guardian, 2019.
Coates, T. N. “Ta-Nehisi Coates revisits the case for reparations.” The New Yorker (2019).
Coates, Ta-Nehisi. The case for reparations. Columbia University Press, 2015.
Forrester, Katrina, and Duncan Bell. “Reparations, history and the origins of global justice.” Empire, race and global justice (2019): 22-51.
Lewis, Thabiti. “How Fresh and New is the Case Coates Makes?.” African American Review 49.3 (2016): 192-196.
Student’s Name
Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Couse
Date
Michael Jackson: Facts vs. Myths
In the music industry, there have been countless individuals who have made a significant contribution to the industry. Michael Jackson ranks as one of the most highly celebrated artists in the music industry. He is also widely regarded as the king of pop due to his outstanding career in music and entertainment. However, his status as a celebrity and one of the most celebrated icons in the music industry was the subject of several myths which questioned his personality, choices, and health. Michael Jackson’s change of skin color was falsely regarded as an attempt to change races while it was due to a skin condition he was experiencing. People also regard him as a child molester, an issue which was disputed in courts and police investigations. It was also discovered during his autopsy that the long-held myth that his nose had fallen off was indeed not true.
One of the most widely shared myths about Michael Jackson is that he abused and molested children. Over the years, various parties, including children and parents, accused Michael Jackson of molesting young boys. The accusations were also featured in documentaries. His Jackson’s Neverland Ranch and condominium in Los Angeles were the subjects of an investigation by the police. The molestation trial of 2005 was one of the most high-ranking trial cases which did not find him guilty of the ten counts leveled against him (Sisario). However, the accusations turned out not to be true. The police investigation, as well as court findings, acquainted him of all charges leveled against him. Michael Jackson also faulted people who accused him of molestation by highlighting his commitment to assisting children. Although the cases of Michael Jackson molesting children keep on emerging now and then, there is no proof that he violated or molested any child.
Another myth about Michael Jackson was based on his skin change. Michael was an African American who had dark-colored skin, which is typical of African Americans. However, his appearance drastically changed, and it no longer reflected the one he had in his early adulthood. Instead, his skin became lighter. Some of the myths around his skin change suggested that it was engineered by the need to be identified as white. People suggested that Michael Jackson hated the fact that he was black. Others suggested that he had succumbed to the pressure in the entertainment industry, which often favors white people as opposed to the people from other minority ethnicities. The change became part of cultural argument among many, which stretches to date. However, the myths turned out to be false. Michael Jackson’s skin change was not motivated by cultural or racial reasons. The reason behind his change of skin color was due to a skin condition he had called vitiligo. The skin condition destroys the pigmentation of the skin (Khunger). The condition was responsible for his change of skin from white. Also, part of the reasons why the disease is not widely known by many is because it only affects 1% of the population. He also debunked the myth that he hated being black in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, where he stated that he was proud of his roots as an African American.
Another myth about Michael Jackson was associated with his health condition. Throughout his lifetime, Michael Jackson suffered from various diseases. The skin condition, vitiligo, caused several complications on his skin. As a result, he had to attach a prosthesis to his nose to shield his damaged. It was initially suggested that Michael Jackson did not have a nose because it had fallen off. The myths floated around his nose were due to the belief that he had undergone plastic surgery. At the time of his death, some myths suggested that hie had died without a nose. IA story aired by one of the media outlets indicated that his prosthesis was missing from his nose. However, that myth was debunked by an autopsy released after his death. The autopsy did not indicate any of the myths that were suggested about his nose. Ed Winter, who was the Los Angeles County Coroner, at the time of Michael Jackson’s autopsy categorically refuted, claims that his nose had fallen off as suggested by people (Knopper).
Conclusion
Myths have been a major part of society for years. There is a tendency of people to believe myths as opposed to facts. This is because myths tend to spread fast and also gain interests among people, especially in the age of the gutter press and fast spread of information via the internet. Celebrities and popular figures across the globe are some of the most affected and covered by the spread of myths. The myths tend to discredit or add certain aspects of their lives that did not exist or not happen. The case of Michael Jackson and the myths around his molestation of children, his change of skin color, and falling of his nose represent a classic example of how myths work in society. People need to analyze and assess the credibility of sources of information about people. The media, scholarly research, and personal interviews represent an opportunity to differentiate myths and facts. The ease of accessibility of information, which is aided by the use of the internet, provides an opportunity for the public to investigate information and tell the difference between myths and facts.
Work Cited
Khunger, Niti. “Changing skin color.” Journal of cutaneous and aesthetic surgery, 8.2 (2015): 77.
Knopper, Steve. “Five myths about Michael Jackson.” The Washington Post, April 2, 2020, www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/five-myths/five-myths-about-michael-jackson/2019/03/07/255266fe-4101-11e9-922c-64d6b7840b82_story.htmlSisario, Ben. “What we know about Michael Jackson’s history of sexual abuse accusations.” New York Times, April 2, 2020, www.nytimes.com/2019/01/31/arts/music/michael-jackson-timeline-sexual-abuse-accusations.html
Sociological Perspectives on Environmental
Student’s name
Professor’s name
Course
Date of submission
Sociological Perspectives on Environmental Problems
Sociological perspective can be termed as a way of viewing society and social behavior and going beyond the social pattern behaviors and explaining these behavioral patterns. Sociological perspectives are majorly based on large groups of people to understand how these behavioral patterns affect their social behavior.
There are four main theories associated with a social perspective which include; social conflict theory, structural, functional theory, feminism and symbolic interactionism theory. Social conflict theory perceives society as a system of groups which are not equal and will ultimately bring about conflict and revolution. Instances of social conflict theory would include sexism, racism and homophobia. An example of a sexism case is in 2008 in England where a mother sued a school on behalf of her daughter for not being allowed to have long pants in the school uniform choice for female students during winter and shot pants during summer which hampered their physical activities.
The structural-functional theory views the society as a composite, but an interconnected system, where each part aids in functioning as a whole, the environment being part of these components. It insists that there must be a balance between the living and non-living in the background an example being Population growth, which leads to crowding and exploitation of resources which is harmful to the environment. Instead, a low population growth rate may result in scarcity in the labor force and thus the need to strike a balance.
Feminism is termed as a strive for fairness among the genders. In the world today, fairness among sexes is strongly being advocated for with women being at the lead. Regarding the environment, women have profoundly been affected with changes in the environment, calamities such as cyclones, tsunamis and temperature changes have put women on risk of sexual predation, trafficking and domestic violence (Glazebrook &Trish, 2017). In India, Sri Lanka and Arches, women were forced to be married to tsunami widowers because their own families could not accommodate them as a result of the tsunami.
Symbolic interactionism theory is geared towards relationships among individuals in a society. It focuses on how individuals will behave when faced with a situation, for example, how a group of protestors will communicate their message during a protest. Regarding the environment, individuals such as vegetarians in Sweden who strive to conserve the environment more in order to sustain themselves in terms of food security compared to individuals consuming processed foods.
Environmental problems can be termed as results that are negative on the planet as a result of human interaction with the biosphere (Van der Sluijs &Jeroen, 2017). The three main sociological perspectives; Symbolic interactionism, Conflict theory and Functionalism have been used in explaining the various environmental problems around the globe.
Symbolic interactionism seeks to understand why individuals are motivated to take part in an activity such as recycling, their perception towards an activity, the extent unto which activity is recognized as an environmental problem and ultimately individuals from different setting having different perspectives towards environmental issues. An example would include two individuals, one raised in a crowded city while the other raised in a small village. The individual raised in a small town will view a small town as more crowded compared to the one who is raised in a crowded town when both are brought in the small city.
Conflict theory perceives that environmental problems are caused by the political and elite class who will come up with regulations that will favor their own interests and compromise on the needs of the whole population. It dictates that population growth cannot be a cause of an environmental problem since the globe already has enough resources for its individuals. This theory also points out that developing countries continue to have surging populations due to not having clear guidelines on contraceptive usage and not educating women on how to sustain themselves.
Functionalism considers population growth as an essential tool for societal growth, and that continued growth can be achieved through continuous population growth which provides for mitigation of future challenges such as lack of workforce as a result of a large old population.
It is clear that sociological perspectives have led to a dimension of how different actors view the various environmental problems facing the globe. Multiple actors have tried coming up with reasonably the best ways to solve the issues that face the world and aid in combating the globe from climate change. Some of these include climate-smart agriculture, combating pollution through recycling and governments advising on the importance of having a controllable population through legislation and educating the community on contraceptive usage(Sutton& Philip,2016). With all these efforts, there is a possibility of the globe healing from the effects caused by man if they are taken into consideration.
Work cited
Glazebrook, Trish. “Feminist Intersections with Environmentalism and Ecological Thought.” The Routledge Companion to Feminist Philosophy. Routledge, 2017. 432-445.
Sutton, Philip. Nature, environment and society. Macmillan International Higher Education, 2016.
Van der Sluijs, Jeroen. “Uncertainty, assumptions and value commitments in the knowledge base of complex environmental problems.” Interfaces between science and society. Routledge, 2017. 64-81.