Friday, December 27, 2019

The Roots of Colorism, or Skin Tone Discrimination

How does  colorism  play out in America? An old children’s rhyme captures the definition of colorism and its inner workings: â€Å"If you’re black, stay back;If you’re brown, stick around;If you’re yellow, you’re mellow;If you’re white, you’re all right.† Colorism refers to discrimination based on skin color. Colorism disadvantages dark-skinned people  while privileging those with lighter skin. Research has linked colorism to smaller incomes, lower marriage rates, longer prison terms, and fewer job prospects for darker-skinned people. Colorism has existed for centuries, in and out of black America. Its a persistent form of discrimination that should be fought with the same urgency as racism. Origins In the United States, colorism has roots in slavery, because slave owners typically gave preferential treatment to slaves with fairer complexions. While dark-skinned slaves toiled outdoors in the fields, their light-skinned counterparts usually worked indoors at far less  grueling domestic tasks.   Slave owners were partial to light-skinned slaves because they often were family members. Slave owners frequently forced slave women into sexual intercourse, and light-skinned offspring were the telltale signs of these sexual assaults. While slave owners didnt officially recognize their mixed-race children, they gave them privileges that dark-skinned slaves didnt enjoy. Accordingly, light skin came to be viewed as an asset in the slave community. Outside the United States, colorism may be more related to class than to white supremacy. Although  European colonialism has undoubtedly left its mark worldwide, colorism is said to predate contact with Europeans in Asian countries. There, the idea that white skin is superior to dark skin may derive from ruling classes typically having lighter complexions than peasant classes. While peasants became tanned as they labored outdoors, the privileged had lighter complexions because they didn’t. Thus, dark skin became associated with  lower classes and light skin with the elite. Today, the premium on light skin in Asia is likely tangled up with this history, along with cultural influences of the Western world. Enduring Legacy Colorism didn’t disappear after slavery ended in the U.S.  In black America, those with light skin received employment opportunities off-limits to darker-skinned blacks. This is why upper-class families in black society were largely light-skinned. Soon, light skin and privilege were linked in the black community. Upper-crust blacks routinely administered the brown paper bag test to determine if fellow blacks were light enough to include in social circles. â€Å"The paper bag would be held against your skin. And if you were darker than the paper bag, you weren’t admitted,† explained Marita Golden, author of Don’t Play in the Sun: One Woman’s Journey Through the Color Complex. Colorism didn’t just involve blacks discriminating against other blacks. Job advertisements from the mid-20th century reveal that African-Americans with light skin clearly believed their coloring would make them better job candidates. Writer Brent Staples discovered this while searching newspaper archives  near the Pennsylvania town where he grew up.  In the 1940s, he noticed, black job seekers often identified themselves as light-skinned: â€Å"Cooks, chauffeurs, and waitresses sometimes listed light colored as the primary qualification—ahead of experience, references, and the other important data. They did it to improve their chances and to reassure white employers who†¦found dark skin unpleasant or believed that their customers would.† Why Colorism Matters Colorism yields real-world advantages for individuals with light skin. For example, light-skinned Latinos make $5,000 more on average than dark-skinned Latinos, according to Shankar Vedantam, author of The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives.  A  Villanova University study of more than 12,000 African-American women imprisoned in North Carolina found that lighter-skinned black women received shorter sentences than their darker-skinned counterparts. Research by Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt found that darker-skinned black defendants were twice as likely as lighter-skinned black defendants to get the death penalty for crimes involving white victims. Colorism also plays out in the romantic realm. Because fair skin is associated with beauty and status, light-skinned black women are more likely to be married than darker-skinned black women. â€Å"We find that the light-skin shade as measured by survey interviewers is associated with about a 15 percent greater probability of marriage for young black women,† said researchers who conducted a study called â€Å"Shedding ‘Light’ on Marriage.† Light skin is so coveted that whitening creams continue to be best-sellers in the U.S., Asia, and other nations. Mexican-American women in Arizona, California, and Texas have reportedly suffered mercury poisoning after using whitening creams to bleach their skin. In India, popular skin-bleaching lines target both women and men with dark skin. That skin-bleaching cosmetics persist after decades signals the enduring legacy of colorism. Sources Golden, Marita. Don’t Play in the Sun: One Woman’s Journey Through the Color Complex. Anchor, 2005.Staples, Brent. As Racism Wanes, Colorism Persists. The New York Times.Vedantam, Shankar. Shades of Prejudice. The New York Times.

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Obesity Is The Type Of Disease That Is Infectious

Obesity may not be the type of disease that is infectious. However, it has reached heights of epidemic proportions and poses a public health challenge, not only in Australia but globally. This disease has attained substantial awareness as a major health hazard and can be defined as an unhealthy excess of body fat at which can lead to an increased risk of medical illnesses and also may result in mortality, (Kitzinger Karle, 2013). Since the 1980’s the prevalence of obesity has almost tripled and since 1998 the World Health Organisation has recognised the state of obesity as a situation on prevalent quantities. Predictions have been made that if the increase of obesity continues, a vast majority of the world’s population will be overweight†¦show more content†¦However, in the late 1970’s only 32 percent of adults, between the ages of 27 and 74 years were overweight and 15 percent were obese, (Office of the Surgeon General (U.S), 2001). In the United State s, of the year 2000, obesity caused the death of over 400,000 adults, a 33 percent increase since 1999. Overweight and obesity can lead to unpleasant metabolic effects with blood pressure, cholesterol, insulin resistance and triglycerides. There is also risk of coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke. An increased body mass index (BMI), (a measure of weight relative to height†, (WHO, 2015)) can escalate the risk of cancer of the breast, prostate, kidney, gall bladder, prostate or colon, (WHO, 2015). Obesity is a huge factor that is adding to the worldwide crisis of disability and chronic disease and although obesity-associated morbidities occur most frequently in adults this disease occurs also in childhood and adolescents. Children that are have severe weight issues, (i.e. overweight or obesity) is a major concern to their health, (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2009). Obesity is difficult to address within society as most habits are formed during childhood and recent studies have shown that those who suffer from obesity during their childhood show tendencies of staying obese through their adolescence and in their adulthood, (Office of the Surgeon

Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Implementation Of Corporate Social Responsibilities †Free Samples

Question: Discuss about the Implementation Of Corporate Social Responsibilities. Answer: Introduction Corporate social responsibility is a form of self-regulation that is incorporated in a business model. It entails the percentage of responsibility not only for economic consequences but also for environmental and social implications. It is generally known as the process through which an organisation achieves balance of economy, social and environmental imperatives, these three forms of the triple bottom line approach Oliver (2007, pp .247-254). This all is carried out as it addresses stakeholders and shareholders expectations. The triple bottom line proves to be a successful tool used by small businesses in developing countries that helps them in meeting set standards in regards to society and environmental state, it does all this with the aim of not compromising its competitiveness. It acts as a framework for gauging and reporting the organisation's performance Archie and Kareem (2010).By so doing it acts as an attempt to straighten up an enterprise's goals and strategies in order t o have more objectives than just profit Innes and Norris (2012). Yes, I agree that corporate social responsibility is really beneficial to a companys bottom line, this is so as it targets the society, environment and ethical issues and tries to act well with them. It brings about responsible business reputations as by doing so it leads to competitive advantage as some customers insist on companies with a high responsible rating as compared to others as it implies that the company has its logic and targets set well in place Oliver (2007, pp. 247-254). There is also the virtue of cost saving in which when a company reduces resource use and waste it can help save the environment and also money as it helps the organisation to lower its utility bills to gain low spending Archie and Kareem (2010). Environment CSR aim is to reduce effects that target the environment and that which makes the land get degraded and the activities it focuses on are like energy use, waste management, recycling and emissions. Such ways that help in such situations is like swit ching off lights and machinery when they are not in use, another aspect is reducing the amount of paper you waste as some papers are not degradable thus reducing the number of paper usage kerbs this issue. Advantages of corporate social responsibility Improves the image of the organization-the organisations that have implemented the CSR and followed it up to the letter end up gaining goodwill value. This is so as people want to get the product that an organisation sells as the company has a good reputation and its image is of authenticity, in regards to other organisations it increases the number of organisations willing to work with the corporation and be associated with it thereby increasing an organisations prestige Archie (2010, pp.85-105). This is highly true as the normal folks love association with well-mannered and proper giving organisations and become loyal due to that fact. Increases the retention of employees and also acts as a way of attraction, this is true as companies that carry out the CSR encourage and empower the clients and customers as they are seen as organisations that care about the well-being of people and also provide comfortable working conditions. In the social responsibilities, some organizations go out of their way to even know its employees birthdays and sets up something for them, also there is the financial assistance in times of need all these types of scenarios make employees want to remain with the company as the atmosphere is good and conducive for proper working and interacting Hopkins (2007). There is also the fact that regulatory authorities become friendly and less hostile when they know an organisation carries out CSR they give the company a fast-paced preference as it sees it follows all the protocols put in place as compared to an organisation with no CSR Contreras (2010). Due to being diverse and allowing itself to help out where it can, it attracts more capital inflow into the organisation as a companys image plays a huge role to investors and due to having incorporated the CSR it gets a massive boost thus people invest in it heavily. In disguise, it also acts as a good note as the government may be willing to invest in the company as it sees it gains and customer perception thereby leading to lesser regulations to the organisation. Production of pure renewable energy from the environment this is so as the company has financed an environmental CSR then it makes sure that its operations do not endanger any aspect of the environment as it also gives way to the company the chance to explore renewable energy sources Oliver and Stephan (2007). There are also disadvantages brought about by the CSR include a shift from making profits according to the organisations set objectives, it is in regards that an organisation first entity is to make profits and not invest in CSR thus by incorporating CSR it affects the outflow of cash and limits profit Innes and Norris (2012). Also, the company reputation takes a hit this occurs as companies are required to disclose the shortcomings of their goods this creates inconsistency and violates their customer organisation relation. Conclusion Properly implemented corporate social responsibility has the ability to bring advantages such as enhanced access capital and markets. It is put as the way a company carries out its business in an ethical way. CSR shows that business can fully grow and be diverse when they allow themselves to divulge in as using initiatives that affect the environment such as waste materials can be used to greatly benefit ones business Oliver and Stephan (2007). Human rights are relevant as there is a growing acceptance amongst organisations that shows them that also themselves have a role to play in our society and should play a major role in building it up. Another aspect is that organisations are expected to act in a socially responsible manner to an extent that it follows suite so as to influence investors decisions and also influence consumer want. CSR stands out as it acts in a sustainable, responsible process as it helps the organisation to be able to access finance, reduce the burden with local authorities and also be able to identify new business opportunities that sprout up. In this article, it shows that truly companies should incorporate the corporate responsibility in their agendas as it gives a good feel factor in their follow up. It gives major benefits as compared to the disadvantages as it measures effects necessary to attain the goals set aside by the organisation Oliver and Stephan (2007). References Archie B. Carroll and Kareem M. Shabana.2010. International journal of management: The business case for corporate social responsibilities: A review of concept, research and practice. Pp.85-105.12p. Oliver Falck and Stephan Heblich.2007.Business Horizons: Corporate social responsibility: Doing well by doing good .vol. 50 .Pp .247-254. Hopkins, (2007).Corporate social responsibility and international development: is a business the solution?London, Earthscan. Archie, (2010, pp 85-105). The business case for corporate social responsibility: A review of concepts, research and practice Mallin, (2009).Corporate social responsibility: a case study approach. Cheltenham, Edward Elgar. Oliver Falck, (2007, pp 247-254). Business horizons. Contreras, (2010).Corporate social responsibility in the promotion of social development: experiences from Asia and Latin America. Washington, DC, Inter-American Development Bank. Crowther Aras, (2008).Corporate social responsibility. [Frederiksberg, Denmark], BookBoon. Pedersen, (2015).Corporate social responsibility. Lee Kotler, (2013).Corporate social responsibility: doing the most good for your company and your cause. Hoboken, N.J., Wiley

Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Rabbit Proof Fence Summary free essay sample

Rabbit proof fence An Australian drama movie 2002 Book: â€Å"Follow the rabbit proof fence† by Doris Pilkington Garimara. Which is the true story of her mother, Molly. The movie takes place in Western Australia during the 1930? s the story begins in a remote town of Jigalong where three children live with their mother and grandmother. 14 yr old Molly 8 yr old Daisy 10 yr old Gracie The town lies along the rabbit proof fence, which runs for several thousand miles. The â€Å"protector† of Western Australia Aborigines A. O. Neville signs an order to relocate these girls to Moore River education camp, were they will grow up Neville refers the children as â€Å"half-castes† because they have one white and one Aboriginal parent. Therefore they must be bred out of existence. After the camp the girls will be servants to white families. Molly, Gracie and Daisy decide to escape the camp and walk home to Jigalong. We will write a custom essay sample on Rabbit Proof Fence Summary or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page An Aboriginal tracker, Moodoo is called in to help track down the girls. The girls are trained in disguising their tracks, and receive aid from strangers along the path. Eventually they find the fence. Neville spreads word that Gracie? s mother is in the town of Willuna. The information finds its way to an Aboriginal traveller who helps the girls. Gracie breaks off the group, and in the attempt to catch a train she gets captured and taken away. Molly and Daisy continues, and make it home. Along with their mother and grandmother the sisters hide in the desert. In the end Molly explains that Gracie never returned to Jigalong. And that her two own daughters including herself were taken back to Moore River. Molly managed to escape with one daughter, Annabelle. And once again walked the 2400 km. However, Annabelle was taken away after a short time and Molly never saw her daughter again. I think its a good movie with an interesting and sad story. And I think everyone should see it.