Discrimination

You will have 45 minutes to plan and write an essay on the topic assigned below. Before you begin writing, read the passage carefully and plan what you will say. Explain Cohen’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

Your essay should be as well-organized and carefully written as you can make it. “Retailers defend the approach to hiring based on image as necessary and smart, and industry experts see the point. ‘In today’s competitive retail environment, the methods have changed for capturing the consumer’s awareness of your brand,’ said Marshal Cohen, a senior industry analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm. ‘Being able to find a brand enhancer, or what I call a walking billboard, is critical. |It’s really important to create an environment that’s enticing to the community, particularly with the younger, fashionable market. A guy wants to go hang out in a store where he can see good-looking gals. ’” Explain Cohen’s argument and discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with his analysis. Support your position, providing reasons and examples from your own experience, observations, or reading. The sample student essays that follow reflect the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria.

Sample student essay with a score of 6: Portable Posters In today’s society, marketing is being taken to new heights. Not only do companies spend a majority of their money on advertising, they also use their employees as portable posters. If employees are supposed to be “walking billboards,” then most people would agree that not everyone will be eligible for that particular position. Discrimination is defined as showing favor unjustly. What some corporations are doing today is clearly unjust. People cannot control their appearance completely.

Therefore, I must agree with Steven Greenhouse, the author of “Going for the Look, but Risking Discrimination. ” Mr. Greenhouse has clearly shown in his article that only hiring certain people that “look great,” is definitely discrimination and should not occur. That is why I disagree with Mr. Cohen’s analysis. It is a known fact that one cannot sell everything by appearance alone. Mr. Cohen is a senior industry analyst with the NPD Group, a market research firm. He said, “Retailers defend the approach to hiring based on image as necessary and smart, and the industry experts see the point. I thought that people were supposed to be hired based on their ability. In fact, Stephen J. Roppolo, a New Orleans lawyer who represents many hotels and restaurants, said “I tell employers that their main focus needs to be hiring somebody who can get the job done. ” Hiring for looks must be fairly risky from a legal standpoint because even lawyers that represent the businesses are saying that they should hire based on merit so that they do not get into trouble with the law. I have seen some first hand examples of questionable hiring practices.

Many of the restaurants near my home are excellent examples of hiring based on appearance. At the restaurants, I have noticed that the servers are usually Caucasian and that the bus-boys and chefs tend to be Mexican-Americans. I have also noticed that the Chinese restaurants in my area only have Asian-Americans as waiters and waitresses. I thought that America was on the way to becoming a place full of equal opportunity. Apparently, we are taking a step back, instead of moving forward. Is hiring based on how attractive people are illegal?

No, there is not a specific law saying that businesses cannot. Just because it is not illegal does not mean that it should be done. I feel that Mr. Cohen’s analysis is not correct. If a company had an extremely innovative and sought after product due to its wide range of uses and quality, the company would not need to stoop to such discriminatory hiring practices. The product would simply sell itself. After all, every company would love to get by without spending one dime on advertising. Imagine a world where everyone was hired based on merit.

Productivity would increase everywhere because people would be doing what they are best at instead of just standing around and “looking great. ” This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 6. The superior response indicates that the writer is very well-prepared to handle college-level reading and writing. The writer understands and focuses clearly on the topic raised by the quotation in the thesis, “… only hiring certain people that ‘look great,’ is definitely discrimination and should not occur. ” The summary of Cohen’s argument is clear and accurate, and the paraphrasing is effective. The writer analyzes the issue of hiring for looks thoughtfully and has developed an insightful response focused on the legal implications of the practice. The essay is coherently organized and developed with a body paragraph of analysis and a paragraph citing the example of hiring on the basis of appearance in ethnic restaurants, which extends the response beyond that which is provided in the reading passage. The conclusion makes a strong case for hiring on the basis of merit. The writer demonstrates a strong command of language and syntactic variety, alternating fluent, longer sentences with short sentences to make a point. The essay is virtually error-free and reflects the writer’s command of the conventions of incorporating the words and ideas of others into the writer’s response to an argument. Sample student essay with a score of 5: Discrimination Vs Wealth One of the biggest problems causing separation in today’s society is discrimination based on looks. Our morality is constantly decreasing due to greed and selfishness. At one point in time we focused on the well being of every human being no matter their race, color or gender; looks meant nothing while love and friendships meant everything.

On the contrary to Marshal Cohen’s statement that a “brand enhancer” or a “walking bill board” is critical, hiring people based on looks is not morally correct, and morality should be held above money and reputation. Hiring by looks can cause numerous amounts of issues, both at the governmental level and the emotional level. As Olophius Perry stated in the article, Going for the Look but Risking Discrimination, “If you’re hiring by looks, then you can run into problems of race discrimination, national origin discrimination, gender discrimination, age discrimination, and even disability discrimination. (Greenhouse 1). Our country specifically was founded on equality and equal opportunity for all. When businesses start hiring based on looks and/or gender, our country’s morals begin to slip slowly through Uncle Sam’s fingers. Discrimination of any sort may also cause a person great emotional damage. Perhaps a hard working, well-kept, person was turned away from a job because of his or her un-attractive face, that person could be so hurt that they commit suicide; while one person gets richer because of this life changing decision they made, another person’s sanity is lost.

This type of discrimination is not worth the pain and suffering of one human being in return for fame and money. Young men and women are used as sex symbols in today’s twisted society. Many companies will hire young attractive women based on their beauty with the intention of giving men something to look at as well as giving them an incentive to come into their store. As Marshal Cohen replied, “A guy wants to go hang out in a store where he can see good looking gals” (Greenhouse 3) shows that companies hire these girls only to bring in more profits by using them as an object, rather than a person, that men can drool over.

What kind of messages are we sending to our future generations? Is it that girls must learn that they will not receive respect and that they need to weigh 110 pounds with big lips in order to be successful in life? Pressures are enormously overwhelming on today’s young adults to look “perfect” in society’s eyes. The pressures build up and eventually lead to up to unhealthy alternatives to being skinny, becoming “built”, or having the exact look being sought. While our society may look better if we allow companies to hire by looks, it is also increasingly becoming unhealthy.

In conclusion, hiring based on looks solely to raise profits is ethically and morally wrong. This idea will eventually bring our morality to an end. Health rates will drop and human sanity will continue to be taken away. In order to save our society and its morals, we should ban discrimination, or as some would call it hiring based on looks. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 5. The clear competence of the essay indicates that this writer is quite ready to handle college-level reading and writing. The writer understands the topic and accurately summarizes Cohen’s position, using his phrases “brand enhancer” and “walking bill board. ” The essay’s thesis is clear, but the writer could have sharpened it by refraining from presenting it as a three-part divided thesis.

The essay reflects the writer’s understanding of some of the complexity of the issue. The analysis of the impact of the practice of “hiring for the look” on young adults’ self-image is thoughtful and adds depth, but the assertion that it causes insanity and suicides is unsubstantiated. The essay is well-organized and coherent, with the writer focusing on the legal implications of hiring on the basis of looks in the first body paragraph and the individual implications in the second. Each paragraph is thoroughly developed, and the conclusion presents a strong recommendation. The essay displays some syntactic variety and facility, with occasional lapses in word choice and sentence construction.  The essay has scattered errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics (e. g. , “numerous amounts of issues,” “using them as an object, rather than a person, that men can drool over”). Sample student essay with a score of 4: Beauty = Money Marshall Cohen’s argument is basically that beautiful women sell, and I strongly agree. It’s true that guys want to hang out in places where there are beautiful women. It’s also true that these women represent an image and that if that image is pleasing to the eye then other women will want to emulate it. Being a guy, I know the power women have over us as a gender; especially the good looking ones. The fact is that businesses know this and exploit it. Last year alone I must have spent a good 300 dollars because a cute girl would ask me to donate to the charity, or that I looked good in a pair of pants she wanted me to buy.

Also, it’s how most guys decide on things. Take for instance if there were two restaurants that served similar food. We would almost always end up going to the one with the good looking waitresses. Guys are suckers for cute girls and will spend great amounts of time and money just to the around them. However, men aren’t nearly as bad as women. When the average girl sees a super model or Britney Spears wearing Abercrombie and Fitch they think the key to being beautiful and popular is to match their wardrobes. They feel that if they dress like their idols they’ll be more important in the public eye.

I have a friend that buys every outfit she sees Mandy Moore wear on television. It’s already cost her over a thousand dollars, but she doesn’t mind just as long as people make her feel important. In the end using beautiful people to advertise your product translates to one thing: money. The equation is simple, the better the girl looks the more money you make, and as long as the public sees beauty as only skin deep this will always be true. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 4.

This adequate response to the topic suggests that the writer should be able to handle college-level reading and writing. • The writer demonstrates a generally accurate but somewhat simplistic understanding of the passage, summarizing it as “beautiful women sell. ” The writer accepts this argument on the basis of his own experience and develops his response accordingly. The essay maintains a clear focus on the point. It is organized around the assertion that both men and women are attracted to businesses that “hire for the look. ” However, it never acknowledges the legal or moral counter-arguments to this position. The personal examples support the writer’s position and are developed in some detail, but the essay would have been strengthened by more analysis of the issues.The language is fluent and often colloquial (“Guys are suckers for cute girls”), in keeping with the writer’s personal approach to the topic. However, some sentences are not formed correctly (e. g. , “ . . . because a cute girl would ask me to donate to the charity, or that I looked good…. ”; “Take for instance if there were two restaurants that served similar food. ”) The essay generally demonstrates control of grammar, usage, and mechanics.

Sample student essay with a score of 3: Going For the Look There are three types of people in the world when it comes to style. There are the fashionable, who care what they look like and what other people think. There are the unfashionable, who think they are fashionable but do not run with the trend. Then there are the people in between. They could care less what others think. To try to get people to buy their products, a producer will look at all three types of people and chose the one that best fits the product. So the Gap would choose someone who looks good in their product.

There are certain clothes that fit certain bodies certain ways. People do not want to see a fat, ugly person in tight pants and a short shirt. A place like Hot Topic wants to draw in a punk rocker crowed so they will hire people that look as if they are punk rockers. These people will have many piercings and tattoos that are visible to the public. Only certain people do not think that that stuff is not attractive and Hot Topic wants to bring them into the store. Thrift stores and hand me down stores would hire the last type of person. People who shop at those stores do not care what they look like or cannot afford to shop anywhere else.

These people cannot choose what the person selling their clothes looks like. In conclusion, there are three types of people in the fashion industry. Some are shoe-ins for certain jobs just from what they look like. Others cannot get those jobs if they tried. Cohen’s statement is correct. Now a day people hire for looks not skill. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 3. Although the essay suggests a developing competence, it is flawed in significant ways that suggest the writer’s need for additional practice before being ready to succeed in college-level reading and writing. The writer does not explain Cohen’s argument, instead writing an essay about style. The thesis, “There are three types of people in the world when it comes to style,” does not focus on the issue of “hiring for the look. ” The writer addresses the issue in the body of the essay by saying that Gap and Hot Topic hire people who look good in the company’s clothes, while thrift stores have no choice in who they hire; however, the writer directly addresses Cohen’s argument only in the final sentences. The body paragraphs are series of assertions that lack effective transitions. Most of the sentences lack variety (e. g. , the series of “There are . . . ” sentences in the introduction), and word choice is imprecise (“that stuff”). The essay has an accumulation of errors, especially in spelling and punctuation. Sample student essay with a score of 2: Going for the Look Cohen’s argument expresses his oppions and his only the may not matter in the sites of other people. I don’t agree or disagree with his argument. I hold this position because of three reasons, for starters is the retailers choice who he or she wants to hire not his.

And for there businesses to expand and to grow then they must hire whoever appeals to the consumer. Last his argument may or may not be true and tell complete truth, so I’m not going to base my facts or opions on him because sometimes you should keep them to your self. As I Said before it is the retailers choice who they want to hire and if you must ensist on talking bad about these people then you must have problems with yourself maybe your jellous, just because your not in the positon to hire whoever you want doesn’t mean the people that do make those choices wheather they are right or wrong.

The retailers must hire the right personel to appeal to the consumer if that means only hireing whites, just blacks or purple, green, yellow it does not matter because that is what they have to do to sell there product. My third and final reason is that I don’t really want to agree or disagree baed on the facts that he is giving me are more better things to worry about then I some stores have racial issues that is there business not yours. To conclude Cohen argument expresses his own oppions that might be better kept to himself. Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 2.

The serious flaws here indicate that this writer will need considerable additional practice before being ready to succeed in college-level reading and writing. The writer demonstrates a basic understanding of the passage but is unable to respond meaningfully to the topic, instead resorting to a personal attack on Cohen. The writer fails to respond to Cohen’s argument with a focused thesis. The sentence “I don’t agree or disagree with this argument” suggests a failure to understand the need to take a position and provide evidence to support it. Although the writer attempts three body paragraphs, they are severely underdeveloped. The writer lacks basic control of syntax and vocabulary. The writer has serious and persistent errors in grammar, usage, and mechanics that severely interfere with meaning. In particular, the sentence boundary errors and serious spelling errors obscure the meaning. Sample student essay with a score of 1: Their many methods of hiring people. Many markets know hire just because of the image of a person. In my opinion I agree and disagree to a certain point. Their could be certain stores that have people who have expirence, no experience, and just for the look.

When you have a pearson who has experience you could expeted from them to accomplished their job. They would always be on time or even earlier. You would not hear bad comments about that person Their very reasponsible and would not complain about geting their job done Commentary This essay illustrates the EPT Scoring Guide’s criteria for a score of 1. The fundamental deficiencies of this essay clearly indicate that the writer needs much additional practice to be ready to succeed at college-level reading and writing. The writer indicates only a slight understanding of the passage and fails to refer to Cohen’s argument. The essay seems to be about qualifications for jobs, with one qualification being “the look. ” However, the relationship of the thesis to the topic is not clear. The sentence, “In my opinion I agree and disagree to a certain point” suggests a serious lack of focus. The essay appears to be incomplete, with the second and third body paragraphs and the conclusion implied by the thesis but unwritten. The writer lacks basic control of syntax and vocabulary. The writer has serious and persistent errors in mechanics that severely interfere with meaning. Spelling and verb form errors are pervasive.

Abstract

On June 10th, 1963, John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, which prohibits wage discrimination based solely on gender. Despite the passing of this bill, women today are still not earning equal pay for equal work. Currently, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 states that an employer in any business cannot discriminate between employees based on gender by paying wages less than an employee of the opposite sex. There are many causes of the gender pay disparity, many can be explained away by level of education, experience, and job tenure. It is the job of a human resource department to protect the employees of the business. Human resource departments may actually hire more women because of the effect of the Equal Pay Act. Men tend to ask for higher wages than women, and it may be more beneficial to the company to hire a woman asking less money. Another way human resource departments can protect female employees is to break the stereotype of “women’s jobs” in their companies and businesses.

On June 10th, 1963, John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act, which prohibits wage discrimination based solely on gender. Despite the passing of this bill, women today are still not earning equal pay for equal work. Some say, at the current rate, women will not achieve equal pay until the year 2050. Even after 50 years, human resource departments are still deeply affected by the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and have yet to overcome many obstacles preventing equal pay. Staring in the early 1940’s, due to World War II, there were a large amount of American women taking jobs in war businesses.

In 1942, the National War Board asked the employers to pay women comparable salaries to men when the positions were similar of quality and quantity. This request went virtually unnoticed by the employers as the American men began to return from war and claim their previous positions, leaving women without jobs. After the war was well in the rearview mirror, until the 1960’s, jobs were listed in newspapers for men and women separately. The ads that were run were usually for the same positions, but on different pay scales based on gender. According to Brunner (2007), women were paid anywhere from fifty-nine to sixty-four cents for every dollar earned by men in equal positions between 1950 and 1960.

What many people don’t know, is that Senators Pepper and Morse introduced a bill called “Women’s Equal Pay Act of 1945”. This bill was to prohibit unequal pay of men and women in the same positions, but the bill did not pass. Year after year, bills were made but still were not passed. After a substantial amount of time, The Equal Pay Act was passed as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act in order to prevent employers from sexually discriminating in regards to compensation. Currently, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 states that an employer in any business cannot discriminate between employees based on gender by paying wages less than an employee of the opposite sex. Penalties for committing discrimination based on the grounds of this amendment could subject the guilty parties to fines, imprisonment, and/or repayment of wages due to the discriminated employee.

If any employee wishes to dispute unequal pay due to sexual discrimination, they must prove that someone of the opposite sex was paid different wages, the fellow employee that is paid a different wage performs significantly equal work with comparable skill, responsibility, and effort required, and that both jobs are performed under the same situation. There are many causes of the gender pay disparity, many can be explained away by level of education, experience, and job tenure. A reason for the gender pay gap is the fact that women tend to put their jobs on the back burner in order to raise a family. Women tend to choose to fall from the workforce or only work part time after having one or more children. Women are therefore sacrificing their prime years of earning potential to carry out domestic  responsibilities. This causes their pay to suffer in comparison to a man’s wages. Because their work has been intermittent, there are sizable wage penalties resulting from a diminished level of education, experience, and job tenure. Another potential cause of wage disparity is the type of position chosen by men and women.

Men are usually considered the “bread-winners” of the family (although this is changing over time) and tend to choose higher paying positions, whereas women tend to choose a care-giving profession and positions that have lower financial risk, which end up being less financially rewarding. Does the Equal Pay Act of 1963 effect men as well as women? Yes. The reason that men may be affected by wage disparity is one that they may not realize. Men tend to expect more money in being hired by a company than women. This may lead to a business hiring a woman over hiring a man because the woman actually asked for a lower salary. This could lead to a higher unemployment rate of men due to the higher pay rate that they may demand versus a woman’s needs for pay. This table compares men and women’s earnings over the years and the disparity of pay in percentage. Although we have achieved 24.5% gap in wages between men and women, the table illustrates that we have only diminished the wage gap by 16.6% in 50 years of attempting to make the disparity non-existent.

The Women’s Bureau is an agency of the United States government within the Department of Labor. The Women’s Bureau works to promote women’s rights in the workplace and leads opportunities for their employment. Some specific goals that the Women’s Bureau has are to achieve equal pay, expand workplace flexibility, attain higher paying jobs for women, and address and assist women veterans experiencing homelessness. The agency was founded in 1920 by Congress and has been working towards these goals ever since. According to Manzano-Diaz, Women now makeup almost 50 percent of the workforce and hold the majority of post-secondary degrees. In spite of these facts, there is still a disparity in the wages between men and women. “Women’s Bureau” states that the median weekly earnings of women was 81 percent of men’s weekly earnings in 2010. When comparing the median weekly earnings of persons aged 16 to 24 in 2010, young women earned 95 percent of what young men earned. This statistic was interesting to me because although many people ages 16 to 24 have a similar level of education and experience, there is still a 5% disparity due to gender bias.

These are generally menial positions that either men or women could hold, yet women are still being discriminated against, even in these types of positions. The Equal Pay Act was set in place to prohibit discrimination of wages against women, but arguments have ensued to say that it offers little to no protection to female workers. This may be because the act applies only to job positions that men and women both do. This does not protect women in a specific position that only women hold. This is because the most serious form of wage discrimination happens to be when women bring education, training, and ability equal to that of men and are given lower paying positions that are stereotypically held primarily by women. So how does The Equal Pay Act of 1963 relate to human resource departments? There are many different ways. Firstly, it is the job of a human resource department to protect the employees of the business. This includes protecting women from wage discrimination based on gender. It is the responsibility of the human resource department to fairly hire employees based on their education, training, and ability, and to be able to ignore the gender of said potential employee. Also, it is the job of the human resource department to listen to the opinions and complaints of the employees. If an employee approaches the human resource department about their own position or a position held by another employee and they are suspicious of wage discrimination based on gender, it is the human resources job to investigate the claim fully and determine whether or not the wage discrimination is occurring or not.

 Human resource departments may actually hire more women because of the effect of the Equal Pay Act. As stated earlier, men tend to ask for higher wages than women, and it may be more beneficial to the company to hire a woman asking less money. Human resource departments can save the company money by hiring an employee asking for a lesser salary than another employee who is equally qualified for the position and asking for more money.

Another way human resource departments can protect female employees is to break the stereotype of “women’s jobs” in their companies and businesses. Women are often placed in positions based on the fact that a woman held the position before them. By placing women in positions based on education, experience, and ability, human resource departments may be able to place women in positions that they deserve rather than positions that have previously been held by women. This could help women tremendously by breaking the mold that is so often run by men in corporate situations and protect females in the workplace.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is effecting the workplace, women in the workforce, and human resource departments of all companies and businesses. Businesses can avoid discrimination towards women by hiring employees based on levels of experience, education, and aptitude, rather than basing their employee choices on a gender bias. Women are slowly overcoming this struggle to have equal pay to men, but it is a slow process that takes time for women to gain equal pay. It is a worthwhile struggle that we continue to fight for the right to have the same pay as men. It is the job of the human resource departments to protect women from this discrimination and to do everything in their power to help women with this ongoing struggle, and eventually women will prevail.

References
Brunner, B. (n.d.). The Wage Gap: A History of Pay Inequity and the Equal Pay Act | Infoplease.com. Infoplease: Encyclopedia, Almanac, Atlas, Biographies, Dictionary, Thesaurus.

Free online reference, research & homework help. | Infoplease.com. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/equalpayact1.html

Byars, Lloyd L., and Leslie W. Rue. Human resource management. 10th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.

Giapponi, C. C., & McEvoy, S. A. (2005). The Legal, Ethical, and Strategic Implications of Gender Discrimination in Compensation: Can the Fair Pay Act Succeed Where the Equal Pay Act has Failed?. Journal Of Individual Employment Rights, 12(2), 137-150.

Manzano-Diaz, S. (2010). The Women’s Bureau. Human Rights, 37(3), 12. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA). (n.d.). EEOC Home Page. Retrieved July 29, 2013, from http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm “Women’s Bureau – Quick Stats on Women Workers, 2010.” United States Department of Labor. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Aug. 2013. .

The Cheesecake Factory, I think the the most important parts of the code of business ethics and conduct are the ones that ultimately protect the staff. The staff In a restaurant Is the most Important asset that restaurant has, and it’s the asset that’s the most vulnerable. More specifically, I believe the following excerpt from The Cheesecake Factory Code of Ethics and Code of Business Conduct (Rev.

March 2006) is the most important in regards to protecting the company and our greatest asset, our employees: We take very seriously and will not tolerate any arm of harassment, including sexual harassment or other discriminatory behaviors. We also have no tolerance for drug or alcohol abuse among our staff members In the workplace. Compliance with these policies Is essential to our corporate philosophy.

Accordingly, all staff members must understand and abide by our policies relating to sexual harassment, drug and alcohol abuse, diversity and non-discrimination. The most important thing you can provide for an employee is a safe work environment and I believe protecting employees from harassment of any form and providing a rug and alcohol free work environment is a very Important way to do that. Couple that directive with our anta-retaliation code of conduct and you will find that we are successful In creating a safe environment for our employees.

Not only does our code of conduct ensure that they come into a non-hostile work environment we also go above and beyond ensuring that any report of harassment or drug or alcohol use on the Job will be free of any negative connotations or retaliation by anyone within the company. Put simply, if you don’t feel safe at work we have created a safe way to port those Issues and protect our staff from feeling unsafe from doing so.

If we have somehow failed to keep a safe work environment, we will ensure we have maintained a safe way to report that and work with you to bring your environment back to a place of safety. In an effort to keep all employees compliant, The Cheesecake Factory will have to maintain current and proper harassment training for all of their employees. We will also have to maintain proper random drug and alcohol testing for the staff to ensure compliance with the code.

To keep the environment safe from retaliation, we will also provide an anonymous hotlist to report any Incidents of harassment or drug or alcohol use. That will allow us to begin investigations in a non-threatening manner and will prevent retaliation within the staff when no one knows who the whistle-blower is. Going hand in hand with ethics is social responsibility. I believe that The Cheesecake Factory would be well served to implement several socially responsible activities. All of these include levels of giving back to the community we’re a part of.

First of all, I would suggest donating nightly leftover food to area homeless shelters. This would make use of what Is normally Just waste and throw away food, and It would build a reputation wealth the community. My next suggestion would be to partner with different charities in the area and set up monthly fundraisers where portions of the proceeds on any given day would go to that charity.

The following Affirmative Action Plan is a response by Company XYZ to a growing concern for providing equal opportunity to all prospective and current employees. XYZ is a industry leader and therefore has the express responsibility to set an example for affirmative action. In addition to a commitment to complying with all state and federal laws, XYZ is also firmly committed to a diverse workplace environment, and a workplace free of any manifestation of discrimination.

XYZ is therefore dedicated to making appropriate changes to our policies and procedures wherever necessary, in order to comply with the law and to comply with our company mission. This Affirmative Action Plan is an expression of such willingness to make changes. The proposals contained herein pertain specifically to the following changes. First, we propose equal opportunities for men and women concerning maternity and paternity leaves of absence. We also want to reassure all employees that their jobs remain secure during their leaves of absence.

Second, we have been increasingly aware of a lack of diversity at the upper management levels of our corporation. XYZ proposes to increase workplace diversity at this crucial level of the company by ensuring equal opportunities for promotions by women, minorities, and people with disabilities. Third, XYZ remains firmly committed to equalizing salaries, compensation rates, and benefits for all employees and XYZ will not tolerate discrepancies between the salaries of workers in the same position.

This Affirmative Action Plan will not only defend our commitment to equal opportunity but will also outline the steps we propose to remedy the current situation and to increase diversity at XYZ. With regards to maternity and paternity leave, we assure all female employees that maternity leave will consist of a paid leave of absence for the duration of between twenty and thirty weeks. The leave of absence does not have to be taken in consecutive days and may be broken up into segments. Due to widespread concern, XYZ is expanding company policy to include male workers for eligibility for paternity leave.

It is our belief that fathers should participate fully in every stage of their child’s development and therefore XYZ wishes to facilitate this process. Any male employee who seeks paternity leave will be granted a leave of absence equal in length and equal in compensation with their female counterparts. The lack of diversity evident at upper management levels of XYZ is a growing concern among all employees. XYZ has managed to retain a diverse workforce at every other level of our operation except for upper-level management and therefore we realize the necessity for change as well as the possibility to implement change.

This Affirmative Action Plan in part proposes that promotions be made with conscientious attention paid to recruiting management staff who are as of now underrepresented. Under-representation will be defined according to the workforce population as a whole, and secondarily, according to the demographics of our community. We believe that equal representation at upper management levels is of the utmost importance because of the significance of the decisions made at that level. Finally, XYZ ensures all employees that equal pay for equal work remains a top priority.

While XYZ does comply with state and federal regulations regarding equal pay for equal work, we feel that far more can be done to balance out the discrepancies between compensation and benefit rates for male and female employees. Gender in particular remains a major factor determining pay rates. Again, upper-level management is the sector most affected by unequal compensation rates. This Affirmative Action Plan sets forth a guideline for easing XYZ into a salary-equity program that will result in a steady increase of pay for underpaid employees without discrimination against employees who are already earning the target salaries.

Have you ever been picked on or made fun of because your nationality is different from someone else’s or the color of your skin?

If so, then the person who did it was probably a racist person. Racism still exists within all cultures. Some people won’t admit they’re a racist, but their actions and words prove otherwise. Most people won’t directly discriminate other races, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen everyday.

Many will argue that their race is superior over another, or that the actions of a few individuals of a certain race determines how that race of people are, therefore making them unequal. I think all people should be treated equally, no matter who they are or what they look like. However, there is no rights to govern how one person might perceive another person so every one can think or act on how they treat members of another race.

Who’s to say that if one group of people believes that they are superior over another group, that they won’t display those actions if they confronted by members of that group or race?

Prejudice people think that their way is right and they have the freedom of speech to express how they feel. If you were to ask if they were racist, they would defend their actions by saying it is how it should be and it isn’t wrong. Racism is broad topic to talk about but once everyone realizes it exists in the U.S. they can take steps to trying to talk to their children about it and maybe even change some of their ways in knowing that racism is wrong.

It may not exist where you live, but any place that there will be adults, teens, or children of different races interact together there is a possibility of prejudice.Many other cultures are a target for racism, it isn’t just black and white. Japanese, Indian, and Germans aren’t safe from racism. I witnessed all kinds of prejudice against a wide variety of races. I’ve seen other races mistreat whites, blacks, and even Asians. Basically, racism affects us all. I don’t think it will go away ever because here in America there is such a wide variety of races, and when they are all mixed together, in the neither

The mass media has become a big part of our society and its counterparts. In a time p of 50 years this medium has influenced society to an extent where it has created wonders. This immaculate tool can control almost every action we perform, from speaking to the actions that every human being performs in society. The mass media has brought upon a new era of idea’s and changes in the world we live in. As we analysis media in depth we will find many aspects of media which overlap and some of the smallest factors and aspects of media, which create the biggest impact on society.

Our main objective is to explore the mass media’s effects on society and see how the media has affected out way of life. Not to mention, compare the life styles of the previous and current generation. These are aims all sociologists focus on. The mass media is seen as a medium of communication, as well as a way of delivering messages and valuable data to the masses within a matter of seconds. As we move into a more technological era we see vast differences in culture, values and the basic change in the way of life.

The traditional way of life is dying; in-depth valuable heritage is no longer being followed. Many state that the media has blemished society which has created disparity within our traditional way of life. We are human beings with the power to take in unlimited amounts of information. The human brain contains functions that may never even be discovered by scientist due to its complexity. However, today the media has created a massacre of learning abilities and incoherent the emotional intelligence of human beings.

As individuals say that the mass media is a valuable tool to society and can create great changes, it is seen to debauch within society and the minds of the new generation. Over all we see that the media has a colossal negative impact in comparison to a positive affect on society. Socialization and society is one of the main aspects in co-relation to the mass media. As seen in the recent generation, norms, values and way of life has changed to a great extent in comparison to the past generations. Media has distinctly created its mark in the socialization process.

The mass media has social, developmental and various other forms of mental effects on children. A very important aspect of media society has embraced is the fact that it brings upon great awareness and understanding of the world around us. The media has exposed individuals of all ages to different aspects of the world that the previous generation was not aware of. This vast revelation has educated the youth thus making them more aware and ingenious about the world they live. Media has delivered messages to the world in a matter of seconds, providing us with intelligence about recent events around the world.

Although media may provide society with many advantages, the negative impact can have immaculate affects on society. Promoting bad habits such as smoking is a conspicuous negative impact on society. Adolescents’ smoking has become a big issue in today’s time. ” Almost 20 per cent of Canadian teens (aged 12-19) currently smoke (daily or occasionally”. Statistics state that the numbers of smokers have been increasing since 1990. The media has portrayed cigarettes to be a social and “cool” factor in society. Many youth state that they have smoked under peer pressure.

Adolescents try to fit in by smoking so that they are not out casted. As social creatures it is our instinct to be apart of society and belong to a “social group”. Another growing concern amongst the current generation is the amount of television watched and how it is affecting developmental and psychological thinking. Television has become a big part of society. As many parents work it is found that children, who are home alone when their parents are at work, watch TV as soon as they come home from school. This influences their thinking more then the outside world does.

Not to mention that violence can be encouraged in the media. It is crucial to understand that when children are at that peek in their life, they tend to imitate what they see. A ponderous medium of media is video games in co-relation to violence. Video games encourage violent behavior in children as they are at a crucial stage of adaptation. Society as a whole has been immensely effected by the social realm. In the fashion world, it is media that creates the trends and genres of different types of clothes. This is seen as an identity. The fashion world markets their clothes to society thru the media.

Using various sources such as, television, internet, newspaper and magazines. However there is a dark side to this industry. Today’s society faces controversy about women’s body figured. Size zero has become a behemoth fad in the modeling world. The size zero topic has caused a revolution, women around the world trying to enter the modeling industry are now harming their bodies in countless ways in order to achieve the “ideal” body. Women today face a lot of criticism about their appearances due to the superficial ideology created by the media. This has rought a lot of criticism from feminist around the world who state that women have died from starvation only to model. Today’s world has stereotypes formed from various forms of media. Stereotypes have been created ethnicities and cultures. As growing individuals we see distinct relations between the two. When we see a certain ethnicity portrayed in a particular way we judgments tend to be formed enforce them on that particular ethnicity. Eventually many individuals tend to conform to those stereotypes, thus them following the self fulfilling prophecy.

This can be dangerous as people’s self esteems may be affected, not to mention this activity can be harmful to society. For example, many African American people are portrayed as criminals and therefore displayed as “harmful” people in the media and its various forms; many fear them as they are known for causing harm and disruption. As this stereotype changes perspective of this particular ethnicity they tend to act the way they are seen in the media as society already believes that they are that certain stereotype. Since the 20th century we have seen a sudden rise empowerment in women, especially in North America.

Women all over the nation fought for their freedom of right and are till this day at war for equality. Feminist state that we are currently living in a patriarchal society, where men predominantly control society and its activities. Further more feminist quote “all knowledge learned by society is created by men, thus creating biases in favor of men and predominantly male oriented situations. The media enforces this knowledge, for one gender roles are enforced through the media to children and adolescents. Although these are promoted to adults to, there is no personality harm to adults.

For example, little girls and boys are shown playing sports and with toys that are meant for them, thus enforcing a stereotype and certain gender role of the behavior that is expected from these children. Disney as we know it promotes these gender roles to a great extends, with classical story lines. This shows young children how women are powerless and the male figure rescues her. This perception is seen distinctly in different forms as the child grows up. During the Second World War women refused to go back to their original jobs after then men returned from the war.

As an extreme of re-socializing women, the government sent out propaganda about how women we’re suppose to work in the homes and men to work in the factories. This is an extreme case of the media being used to change the perception of society. Feminist argue that media corrupted the minds of young women. Before the revolution women we’re allowed a double standard of being sex objects however suppressed in society and seen as the “second” sex. Women nowadays are objectified by society and seen as sexual objects in the eyes of men Culture and the commercial world play a significant role in the media world.

Culture is denoted as a way of life for society. It consists of beliefs, behaviors, objects, and other characteristics common to the members of a social group. A valuable aspect of culture is communication as it is its central activity. Without communication there would be no society or groups as such. Communication is the core of every society and culture in the world. It can take on many forms from verbal to sign language to symbols. All these arranged in a proper manner deliver a message and contain meaning. This approach is often described as a structuralism approach, where the focus is on the analysis of the production of meaning.

The term structuralism is a used to emphasize influence of society as a whole. As stated above culture and communication go hand in hand. When we compare the language used in the 19th and 20th century we see vast difference in the language and dialect. According to researchers the internet has changed our dialect, not to mention our way of typing. The internet has introduced short forms for various words and symbols to represent certain characteristics, as time passes by these characteristics are known to change the way we think. This type of change has affected our cognition.

Literature has been restricted and we are made to expresses our selves in a matter of words, twitter for example restricts the amount of words being used to expresses one’s emotions and feelings. This type of change has taught society how to expresses them selves in a matter of a few powerful words. Another aspect of language is how the media has allowed people to express them selves and grow as individuals. However there is a big drawback to this, as society has started to connect to the world over the World Wide Web, there tends to be less face-to-face communication.

Individuals connect over the internet thus, disrupting the socialization process. People tend to become more anti-social and keep to them selves. Youth cultures and sub-cultures are a reflection of the media; today we see many youth cultures forming sub cultures within them selves. Many of them differ in various aspects; these subcultures are formed in order to rebel against the adult culture and their way of life. When adolescents form these sub cultures they find comfort and a sense of belonging. As the media is the predominate cause of youth sub-cultures, they portray what they want to see in the current generation.

The hypodermic syringe theory states that the media feeds society what they want and society accepts it without any questioning, it is a medium of message which can causes changes within a time p of a few minutes. The results can be drastic and cause massive changes in society. Not to mention, as adolescents may apply these norms and values in their adult lives. Mass media is fast growing field, the commercial world has experiences massive amounts of development in this sector due to the rapid increasing demand. As we can see, there are many highly regarded media jobs in the commercial world today.

These jobs are important to the media sector as the skills and requirements are very different in comparison to traditional jobs. Many of the core media jobs are personal relations, journalism, publishing, broadcasting, film and many more. When we look at these topics we see a significant co-relation. As the World Wide Web has rapidly increased in the recent years and has gained significance, many individuals have taken up jobs which require constant internet co-relation. Blogging is an example of an internet related job. It requires regular entries of comments, descriptions of events, or interactive media such as images or video.

Blogging has brought much recognition as written experiences and articles are posted in order to guide and share information with the world around us. As we move into the commercial world there is a strong relationship between the government and mass media. Their main aim is to educate society and make sure that information about the world’s events reaches the masses. We see very little government contribution in regard to the media, as it is a privately owned source. For example when we look at the American media and how it is controlled by the government, there is very little interaction between the government and the media associates.

Due to the fact that the media is controlled by a predominate part of the private industry. This means that the government cannot put their views across to manipulate society in anyway to their advantage. The media is also known to create illusions/perceptions about particular situations or events. However when an individual experiences it for them selves they will see how different it is compared to how the media portrays it. For example, when someone see’s how television broadcasting takes place in reality, they realize that the media may exaggerate the event, in order to create emphasis on the situation.

This is only one example of the many events or situations that are exaggerated. Furthermore the media dispelling the illusions may be one of the most important responsibilities of modern education. As media may not portray the data in the way it was, disparities about validity are created. When we look at democratic situations in society, we see a vast gap in the voting percentage and the actual population. Political campaigns spend large amounts of money on promoting their campaigns for a very small population of voters.

This creates big advantages to the political campaigns, as they spent large amounts of money on promoting them selves in the media, they will eventually receive a majority of the votes. This shows us that political success increasingly depend on fundraising, usually from well-financed special interest groups, to pay for media advertising. In the age of mass media, Americans have been made to think that democracy means having lots of consumers choices in the marketplace of products, rather than alternative choices in ideology, issues or political leadership in the marketplace of ideas.

The pattern of ownership has changed in the media, thus affecting the amount of information portrayed on the television. We see that today generally businesses are no longer family businesses. However nowadays they would acquire special people to handle such delicate affairs. Not to mention specialized magazines and book publishing operations have been launched across the country and these usually have been feasible economic ventures due to the fact that they do not require huge investments in equipment required to produce a daily newspaper. When talking about the media and the commercial world there are various different aspects to it.

As the media has suddenly become big in the past few decades we can say that the media and its dynamics have drastically changed. This is due to the sudden enhancement in technology; this has helped us advance out world. For example, the film industry has advanced to an immaculate level, where production has changed along with the mode of production. The theorist has various views on the mass media and their effects on society. Each sociological theorist has a view which they embrace. Functionalist believes that each part of society has a certain function they are to perform in rder for society to function to its fullest potential. They believe that there are particular functions society has to their maximum capacity. Functionalists believe that the mass media helps co-ordinate and correlate between various parts of society by gathering and dismissing valuable information. Our society conforms to a lot that they see in the media. This means that they enforce laws and regulations which keep order and control in society. We believe that there is a certain extent of social control which is enforced. When talking about the mass media, functionalist strongly enforce social control over society.

Conformity is reinforces the norms and values of society. This taught the new generation how to fit into a society. The media enforced and teaches society the rules and regulations, not to mention they provide social situations of individuals disobeying the laws and regulations. This acts as a reinforcement to conform to society’s rules. For example, cop shows provide an example of social situations where individuals of our society act out and the punishments they receive. This enforces rules and conformity in society. Another aspect is how they are an agent of socialization.

As mentioned before children of todays are exposed to vast amounts of the mass media at very young ages, they learn their norms and values form theses sources thus acting as sources of socialization. The media plays a big role in cognitive child development and re-socialization as they provide individuals with the knowledge that they learn and use in the future to come. Finally the last and most predominate role the media provides according to functionalist is entertainment. Besides all the social control and socialization factors, in the end the media is our predominate form of entertainment.

This is a source of relaxation and a momentary escape from the hectic world that we live in. Conflict theorist was founded by Karl Marx. He believes that there are two dominate classes in society. One being the Bourgeoisie, they we’re the ruling class that controlled all the assets and controlled the modes of production, they owned most of the properly and land. The second class was The Proletariats, they we’re considered the lower working class. This class had no power at all and worked hard labor jobs which consisted of a lot of manual labor.

Conflict theorist states that functionalist have not paid attention to the social inequality that the mass media portrays, that the mass media benefits some more then others. According to conflict theorists the mass media is controlled by only a number of highly influential people. This leads to a very important factor which is media bias. Media bias can incur to massive levels, which can affect society. As the media is controlled by very few highly qualified people, they can deliver their views to the media and create false assumptions about particular opinions.

Ownership of the media is in the hands of very few, creating profitability to them as producers and various different industries are interested in putting across messages to the world approach these particular media industry individuals. As seen in Canada the recent trends of the media are starting to change. Fewer people are starting to control larger amounts of the media and what is broadcasted. This is a big disadvantage to society as only their views will be focused on creating large amounts of bias media. When the media is controlled by a small population controlled by few there tends to be less diversity.

Deprivation of independent sources of information with non-biased opinions stated. Society is forced to accept what is provided to them. Propaganda will flood the media due to smaller amounts of individuals controlling it For example in Canada, Rogers Communication Inc owns the Toronto Blue Jays, creates sports and entertainment, broadcasts on television, carries the signal to viewers homes via cable stations and finally they sell at Rogers Video stores. The government controls what is presented in the media to a great extent.

There are various cases where the government has punished certain journalist for publishing articles criticizing the government and their policies. What happened to freedom of speech is a question many are asking in today’s modern world. The main biased mechanisms are flak, advertising and sourcing. Flak occurs when big corporations frequently attack journalist who write and state controversial articles in the media. This is due to government control and how they do not want negative views about them being distributed in the public. The other biased mechanism is advertising.

Most of the revenue earned by the mass media is thru advertising over the internet, television, magazines, newspapers, radio and various other different predominant forms of media. Large corporations pay great sum’s of money to advertise their messages over popular modes of media. This brings in a large sum of the media’s income. Last but not least is sourcing. This method of gathering news is heavily used by news agencies for press releases, news conferences, and interviews organized by large corporations or the government. These sources usually have traces of preferences towards certain policies and regulations.

Unofficial statistics are usually not are preferred as official documents due to the fact that they only provide reactions and minority viewpoints that are secondary to that official story. As seen in the data provided about the biased media and how influential it can be, we see that the conflict theorist in summary believe that economic inequality is reinforced due. Further to that, the core value of society is stratified as the media is controlled by a small amount of people creating diversity and portraying socially acceptable and government approved opinions.

Interpretive approaches are micro sociology that believes the socialization of individuals’ shapes how society will form and function. According to them each individual’s personality carries an imprint to his unique experience along with the socially transmitted world view. These types of sociologist look into each individual and the reason for each individual’s results along with the factors affecting them. Society is not judged as a whole. They believe that the mass media influences a passive public in common.

Symbolic functionalist state that although conflict theorist and functionalist reinforce the fact that the mass media is mainly beneficial to the rich and powerful, not to mention that the mass media is a great reinforcement of core values follow by society. They do not enforce much on the extent to which audience members interpret media’s messages in different ways. Interactionalist state that, the entailments of mass media does not simply change individuals behavior, there are various steps that are used to change societies mind.

Consider this question: How much influence does the mass media actually exert over audiences? Great controversy surrounds this question The subject of what influences the mass media involves the link between persuasive media messages and indirect actual behavior. The process of ‘ two-step flow of communication’ must take place. This process involves the communication between the mass media and the audience members. The first process involves respected individuals of society to evaluate media messages. These individuals tend to be highly educated or politically powerful in that community.

As their status contains power and authority they usually conduct independent judgment. The second step involves the leaders influence on attitudes and behavior of others around them. This way media’s opinions are filtered by the leaders. This two step process limits the amount of influence on society. If individuals in a society are influenced to perform a certain action is it less predominant within their minds as it has been influenced by the leader. The media influences society to perform a certain action; however the leaders influence will determine whether society will perform that action or not.

Symbolic interactionalist represents media through cultural studies. In-depth interviewing and participant observation is used to study how people in a society truly interpret media messages. Cultural studies does not only concentrate on the cultural meaning producers try to transmit, but on the way audiences filter and interpret mass media messages in the context of their own interest, experiences, and values. Sociologist, Stuart Halls states that, audience members take an active part in consuming the products of the mass media.

However they filter and interpret the messages in the context of their own interest. In conclusion, the audience will only take in and interpret what they want to. Every individual has a different way of thinking. This implicates that the media does not fully influence individuals. Hall asserts, society takes in the mass media’s information in the context of their own experiences, interests and values. Thus, any in-depth analysis of the mass media must take into the production and consumption of the data. In the initial stages the meaning intended by producers must be studied.

Further to that, we also need to study how the audience consumes or evaluates media products. Audience members may interpret media messages in ways other than those intended by the producer. The critical attitude of the individuals exposed to the media reduces the ability to identify strongly with many characters, personalities, and storylines. Age also affects how we relate to the television or various different forms of media. For instance, the senior viewers tend to be selective and focused on their television viewing. In comparison to individuals who grew up with TV cable and a remote control.

Individuals in that vein often sift through channels, engage in conversation and do a multitude of things that detract attention to the supposed object of focus. The media does not impact these modes of viewing. This is an example of the media’s effect on society and the extent to which it affects certain individuals. Conflict theorists’ and functionalists’ exaggerate the extent to which the media affects the society. All in all, internationalist filters, interpret, resist and sometimes reject messages that are often presented by the mass media.

Feminists are another group of sociologists who believe that women are treated unfairly in society and are discriminated against in various types of male dominated theories. In co-relation to the media, feminists have strong views about how they created gender roles and stereotypes. Women are mostly seen as sexual objects and prizes rather then humans. In addition, women in the media are said to create a stereotype which is affective to many of the adolescents as they create artificial looks and body structures. The media’s power as a predominant socializing agent adversely influences women into these modes of thinking.

The media creates stereotypes which portray women as, “dumb and silly”. This pushes women down the stratification scale in the world as a whole; this is one of the reasons why the glass ceiling was created. The glass ceiling is an expression which states that women can see the top position; however due to gender discrimination, they cannot reach it. It is worth noting that, the media also creates a gender role for women from a very young age. For example, girls are shown on television shows playing with kitchen sets and boys are shown playing football.

This demonstrates to children that they have certain roles to play and with this, these roles are embraced at a young age. Not only is there gender discrimination, many women experience racial gender discrimination. This occurs when women in the ethnic minorities are discriminated against due to their gender and ethnic background. Although there have been countless efforts to combat this type of discrimination, women in today’s society are facing large amounts of discrimination, not to mention are being denied the top positions and discriminated in terms of wages.

As we have analyzed the various aspects from society to the commercial world, we can say that media has created a distinct change in society. We can conclude by saying that, the mass media is a tool which can cause great change and impact on society largely. When the mass media is related to society as a whole, the media has affected adolescents and children more then any other group. We see that society’s children and adolescents have changed their ways of life in an immaculate level. Researchers say that there has never been such a large amount of change in such a short p of time.

Media is to blame for such a large change in society. Although the mass media has afforded society negative instances, there are various high points we can take away from the mere existence of the media. If it weren’t for the media society wouldn’t bee informed about world events and the situations taking place in it. Many individuals criticize the media for it’s over exaggeration and creation of false delusions. However, many forget to give the media credit for the intense and immediate broadcasting around the world.

On a whole the media has created many advantages for society and has created a whole new generation and way of life, however on the other hand the media has corrupted the minds of children and adolescents. Not to mention its role in the massive loss of culture and tradition that dates back thousands of years ago. In the end has the media benefited society or corrupted it?

During the 1960s it was the start of the civil rights movement. It’s quite a significant period in American history for equality since the Civil war. African American has had enough of the unjust way they’ve been treated. This was about the fight to attain something more than just changing the law but also come together as a nation to continue the fight for freedom and solve these social issues that were oppressing people of color.

In order for this to happen, African Americans must of have taken actions that would greatly affect the system that they were forced to live. This was a time where uniting in their community was essential to the cause of the civil rights movement. Overcoming all these challenges was difficult as they were met with many oppositionists that were peaceful and non-peaceful.

Many different leaders had a different philosophy on how to resolve their issues. Ultimately, they all had the same goal which was to find freedom and equality for their people. The civil rights movement was about battling against the racial injustices in America and getting equality to all people, while at the same time offering solutions to resolve all these issues in America.

In the civil rights movement, African American were faced with dangers and obstacles in this fight. With all the rallies, marches that were organized, or just simply living their life, came a lot of unwelcome physical violence. One prime example of this is the peaceful marches people came and were then beaten by the police.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. directly explains, “when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, and even kill your black brothers and sisters” (p.28-29).Most of the time it was no fault of the protester, but it was because of the racism and hate police had people of color. Another, yet similar, example of violence, experienced by Anne Moody. This was a protest in the death of Medgar. Anne, as well as other protesters, were arrested and put into a paddy wagon or garbage trucks and left in the fields.

“The driver rolled up the windows,” describes civil rights activist Anne Moody, “turned the heater on, got out, closed the door and left us” (p.49). The protesters were not treated with any respect but instead treated like animals. Police brutality was a reality that was expected to be confronted with at rallies. However, they had to show no signs no signs of counter-attack and peaceful throughout the protest. It was part of King’s non-violent approach during the civil rights movement.

The oppression and discrimination of sorts was a battle that people of color faced during the 1960s. All of this was part of an everyday life for African Americans. However, there was some type discrimination within them. This was the role that women were allowed to be part of in the marches. Civil rights activist Rosa Parks states, “women were not allowed to play much of a role.

The marching committee didn’t want Coretta Scott King and the other wives of the male leaders to march with their husbands” (p.44). This was the separation of women and men for no reason. It shows the inequality that was present during the 1960s but also a bit ironic since the whole point of the march was the fight for equal rights. It’s also a representation of how much more work is needed to make this world equal for everyone.

Moreover, the discrimination against color people was quite vibrant in all aspects of the ways African Americans lived. African Americans were hit with a lot of discriminatory signs in public accommodations that were extremely racially offensive. When there seemed to have been some type of change with that, it only lasted for a while and went back to the same old thing.

“We realize that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained,” expresses activist Martin Luther King, Jr. (p.26). Just because of their skin color they were met with racist signs. As I said before it’s not just a legal change that was occurring but also a social one that needed a change. It was important to have a change in opinion by this country’s society.

It was also about combating the racism black people faced on a daily basis throughout their day. Anne Moody was a victim of what black people faced and hoped to change. Anne Moody was physically abused because of the color of her skin, “then the mob started to smear her and others with ketchup, mustard, sugar, pies, and everything in the counter” (p.45).

This was just for sitting at the counter in a restaurant. In the midst of all this chaos, African Americans took action to combat all the racism they were facing and unjust laws that in order to get to a solution. There were many strategies that civil rights activist proposed and practiced that were put on the table in order to find solutions.

One of these influencers proposed to have a unification of all black people. “Keep our religion between ourselves and our God, but when coming out here, we have a fight that is common to all of us against an enemy who is common to all of us,” expresses Muslim and civil rights leader Malcolm X (p.72-73).

This a time where everyone must put their beliefs and differences aside in order to progress. At the end of the day, they all have the same goal and the same foe to fight against. This is a call to action where they must gain control of their own fate but in order for that to happen, they must invest in their own self. One of Malcolm’s main objectives to combat the oppressive system black people were living in was different to King’s method.

King’s method was a non-violent one and have all people, no matter the color, come together to erase the racism between people. Malcolm was more having only black people come together as a community to help one another in order to progress. Muslim speaker states, “The community in which you spend your money becomes richer and richer.

The community out of which you take your money becomes poorer and poorer” (p.74). Malcolm wants black people to stop spending their money in communities they are not part of. He insists that it by spending money in your own community, it becomes richer and in then being able to prosper. This was just one of the few things that he proposes to during this time period.

The 1960s was another major time period for African Americans to fight for equal rights in this country. This time period is a big turning point for all people of color. It signifies that by uniting everyone for a cause, situations can be changed for the better no matter how difficult the obstacle. It was the fight to change the social, political, cultural, and laws that cast a shadow on the people of color by discriminating them.

The civil rights movement gave birth to different many leaders on how to solve this issues that were happening at that time. With many people taking action and finding solutions, also came a lot of misfortunes that brought many difficulties in the fight for equality. Many discrimination acts were against African American that they had the courage to unite for a better tomorrow.

It was all about getting equality for every single person. Although today our world is not completely equal as we want it to be, there is no doubt that we have made some remarkable advancements in our society. Looking back at the history of the civil rights movement there’s for sure something that we learn from and use today to solve our current issues.