Author Archives: st094555

Desegregation of Little Rock Central High

In the early 2oth century since the slavery was abolished the African Americans were still racially segregated in the United States. African Americans were faced a lot of difficulties in the process of desegregation. During segregation they were not allowed to sit at the same row  with white people on the bus, they were not allowed to drink from the same water fountain, and attend the High School with white kids. The Little Rock Central High School was the first movement towards the desegregation of schools.

In May 1954, the US Supreme Court issued historic Brown v Board of Education of Topeka. The decision stated that racial segregation of schools was not unconstitutional and the Supreme Court ruled to desegregate all schools throughout the country. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has registered nine students at the Little Rock Central High School, Arkansas to attend school with white students.

In September 1957, nine African American students were walking to school and were met by the hundreds of segregational protestors. Those nine students were threatened and disrespected by the protestors. The US President D. Eisenhower had to send troops to accompany students to their classrooms and bathrooms for the safety features. Ernest Green was the first African American to graduate from the Little Rock High School.

In conclusion, the desegregation in US was not an easy process, but is accomplished. It was a gradual movement of change in the US. Now we have an African American President. I believe that we should treat people the way we want to be treated, no matter what skin color, race, ethnicity and age they are. We are all humans.

Medicated America

In the video above, we can see that Mind Medication of America has become a huge industrial system. Doctors prescribe strong “mind stabilizing” drugs such as Prozac, Effexor etc etc. The big pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson and Johnson is in a multibillion business. Some drugs are not even FDA approved, and medications are prescribed by the doctors who have to prescribe the patients since the business is linked to big pharmaceuticals.

Nowadays, the negative media, the war, the divorce, the lack of finances cause depression in human minds. In fact, the prescribed drugs don’t solve these problems. These drugs are highly addictive and cause mind disruptions. A doctor may even play a role of a caring person, who is willing to fix the problem of the patient, but in fact, he/she may just be playing a role of “caring”.

The medications are highly advertised through the media. In fact, kids that are prescribed to the antipsychotic drugs, never become regular kids. They will never live the life they could live without these drugs. In my opinion, the body can heal itself without interruptions of these drugs. The great healing can go through the process of eating healthy food, having healthy communication with parents and friends, meditation and being closer to the nature is in fact, the healthiest way to live the life.

In conclusion, the America is becoming a nation where the use of alcohol, drugs, and explicit media is a growing problem. The society is going somewhere far then in the earlier ages. I think we need to change the way we eat, what we eat, the way we interact with each other, and increase respect to the nature.

In class we have discussed the presentation of self in everyday life. In this video we have a visionary interpretation of Erving Goffman’s theory of presentation of self. Everyday we choose how we will look like, how we will be acting to fit our inner social circle, and how we will be presenting ourself at school, work, family, friends and etc. Everyday when we socialize with people – we act. We act to be a lover, we act to fit the role of a daughter/son/wife/husband/sister/brother.

The image of self is created in our minds to fit the societal norms. The norms that are acceptable in the society. For example, if the man is not dressed in fancy clothes and didn’t get a proper haircut at the important event, most likely people will avoid to have a conversation with him, although he might be a very intelligent person. People expect others to look the same way they do. People expect others to speak the same way, and act the same way. If a person is completely different in clothing, interaction and not good looking, people will avoid at all cost.

For example, several weeks ago, me and my friend wanted to go to the Jonas Beach at Long Island. While we were driving in to the certain beach area. My friend asked the patrol, if we could drive in and go to the beach. The patrol said, it is only for surfers and didn’t let us go. Me and my friend decided to drive through the other beach entrances and realized there were crowded. We decided to drive to the same place where we wanted to go initially, but at this time, there were another patrol man. My friend just handed in the ticket, without asking if we could go or not. My friend acted cool and confident, the patrol man didn’t say anything and let us in. I believe this is a social acting. How we act plays a huge role in our everyday lives. It may cause us uplifting or down lifting effects.