Civil Rights Essays (4693 words) - , Term Papers

Civil Rights Civil Rights Movement in the United States, political, legal, and social struggle by black Americans to gain full citizenship rights and to achieve racial equality. The civil rights movement was first and foremost a challenge to segregation, the system of laws and customs separating blacks and whites that whites used to control blacks after slavery was abolished in the 1860s. During the civil rights movement, individuals and civil rights organizations challenged segregation and discrimination with a variety of activities, including protest marches, boycotts, and refusal to abide by segregation laws. Many believe that the movement began with the Montgomery bus boycott in 1955 and ended with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, though there is debate about when it began and whether it has ended yet. The civil rights movement has also been called the Black Freedom Movement, the Negro Revolution, and the Second Reconstruction. Segregation Segregation was an attempt by white Southerners to separate the races in every sphere of life and to achieve supremacy over blacks. Segregation was often called the Jim Crow system, after a minstrel show character from the 1830s who was an old, crippled, black slave who embodied negative stereotypes of blacks. Segregation became common in Southern states following the end of Reconstruction in 1877. During Reconstruction, which followed the Civil War (1861-1865), Republican governments in the Southern states were run by blacks, Northerners, and some sympathetic Southerners. The Reconstruction governments had passed laws opening up economic and political opportunities for blacks. By 1877 the Democratic Party had gained control of government in the Southern states, and these Southern Democrats wanted to reverse black advances made during Reconstruction. To that end, they began to pass local and state laws that specified certain places For Whites Only and others for Colored. Blacks had separate schools, transportation, restaurants, and parks, many of which were poorly funded and inferior to those of whites. Over the next 75 years, Jim Crow signs went up to separate the races in every possible place. The system of segregation also included the denial of voting rights, known as disfranchisement. Between 1890 and 1910 all Southern states passed laws imposing requirements for voting that were used to prevent blacks from voting, in spite of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which had been designed to protect black voting rights. These requirements included: the ability to read and write, which disqualified the many blacks who had not had access to education; property ownership, something few blacks were able to acquire; and paying a poll tax, which was too great a burden on most Southern blacks, who were very poor. As a final insult, the few blacks who made it over all these hurdles could not vote in the Democratic primaries that chose the candidates because they were open only to whites in most Southern states. Because blacks could not vote, they were virtually powerless to prevent whites from segregating all aspects of Southern life. They could do little to stop discrimination in public accommodations, education, economic opportunities, or housing. The ability to struggle for equality was even undermined by the prevalent Jim Crow signs, which constantly reminded blacks of their inferior status in Southern society. Segregation was an all encompassing system. Conditions for blacks in Northern states were somewhat better, though up to 1910 only about 10 percent of blacks lived in the North, and prior to World War II (1939-1945), very few blacks lived in the West. Blacks were usually free to vote in the North, but there were so few blacks that their voices were barely heard. Segregated facilities were not as common in the North, but blacks were usually denied entrance to the best hotels and restaurants. Schools in New England were usually integrated, but those in the Midwest generally were not. Perhaps the most difficult part of Northern life was the intense economic discrimination against blacks. They had to compete with large numbers of recent European immigrants for job opportunities and almost always lost. Early Black Resistance to Segregation Blacks fought against discrimination whenever possible. In the late 1800s blacks sued in court to stop separate seating in railroad cars, states' disfranchisement of voters, and denial of access to schools and restaurants. One

One of the most difficult words to translate... - Krystian Aparta Essa

One of the most difficult words to translate... - Krystian Aparta Essa Which is the hardest word to translate in this sentence? "Know" is easy to translate. "Pep rally" doesn't have a direct analog in a lot of languages and cultures, but can be approximated. But the hardest word there is actually one of the smallest: "you." As simple as it seems, it's often impossible to accurately translate "you" without knowing a lot more about the situation where it's being said. To start with, how familiar are you with the person you're talking to? Many cultures have different levels of formality. A close friend, someone much older or much younger, a stranger, a boss. These all may be slightly different "you's." In many languages, the pronoun reflects these differences through what's known as the T-V distinction. In French, for example, you would say "tu" when talking to your friend at school, but "vous" when addressing your teacher. Even English once had something similar. Remember the old-timey "thou?" Ironically, it was actually the informal pronoun for people you're close with, while "you" was the formal and polite version. That distinction was lost when the English decided to just be polite all the time. But the difficulty in translating "you" doesn't end there. In languages like Hausa or Korana, the "you" form depends on the listener's gender. In many more, it depends on whether they are one or many, such as with German "Du" or "ihr." Even in English, some dialects use words like "y'all" or "youse" the same way. Some plural forms, like the French "vous" and Russian "" are also used for a single person to show that the addressee is that much more important, much like the royal "we." And a few languages even have a specific form for addressing exactly two people, like Slovenian "vidva." If that wasn't complicated enough, formality, number, and gender can all come into play at the same time. In Spanish, "tu" is unisex informal singular, "usted" is unisex formal singular, "vosotros" is masculine informal plural, "vosotras" is feminine informal plural, and "ustedes" is the unisex formal plural. Phew! After all that, it may come as a relief that some languages often leave out the second person pronoun. In languages like Romanian and Portuguese, the pronoun can be dropped from sentences because it's clearly implied by the way the verbs are conjugated. And in languages like Korean, Thai, and Chinese, pronouns can be dropped without any grammatical hints. Speakers often would rather have the listener guess the pronoun from context than use the wrong one and risk being seen as rude. So if you're ever working as a translator and come across this sentence without any context: "You and you, no, not you, you, your job is to translate 'you' for yourselves" ... Well, good luck. And to the volunteer community who will be translating this video into multiple languages: Sorry about that!

Why do oil prices keep falling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Why do oil prices keep falling - Essay Example The reason is to avoid a reduction in production by OPEC countries is putting pressure on the increasing US shale oil and gas industry and avoid a negative impact on the economies of these countries (Bowler, 1). Other reasons that can explain the fall in oil prices include increased efficiency in oil use and increased use of other fuels other than oil decreasing total demand for oil. Oil prices have impacts on US with the fall in oil prices resulting in the curbing of the US franchise shale oil production that has high production costs and its success was anchored on the high oil prices. The falling oil prices have direct boosts on consumption resulting in the stimulation of the economy to effect high growth. However, the effect on oil producers is delayed resulting in the negative effect on the economy after some time. The negative effects of the lower oil prices on the producers are a fall in profits, investments, tax payments, and hiring and the dividend payments will be lower. The overall influence of the fall in oil prices is increased economic growth in the short run owing to the direct benefits to the consumers but the eventual effect will reduce the growth of the economy from the effect on the producers, government, shareholders, among other