Incarcerated Black Males :: Sociology African American

Black Incarcerated Males For the past two decades, the criminal justice system in the United States has been undergoing a tremendous expansion. There are now more than one million black men in jail and that one out of every four black males will go on prison in there lifetime. Knowing these statistics it put a burden on the black community because many families are left with single family home, the unemployment rate for black male go up, they can not vote and now they make jail seem like it is fun to go to. Black men in Jail are having drastic effects upon the black community. The first and arguably most important effect is that it intensifies the problem of single parent households within the black community. When these men are sentenced to prison, they, many times, leave behind a wife/girlfriend and/or children. If they have already have had children, that child must spend multiple years of his/her early life without a primary father figure. In addition, that male's absence is even more prominently felt when the woman has to handle all of the financial responsibilities on her own. This poses even more problems since women are underpaid relative to men in the workforce, childcare costs must be considered, and many of these women do not have the necessary skills to obtain a job, which would pay a living wage, which could support her and the children. Black male incarceration has done much to ensure that black female-headed households are now equal with poverty. Black male imprisonment also has much to do with rising black male unemployment rates. As these men re-enter the workforce they now likely have less skills than when they first entered prison. There are few, if any, programs, which train these men to effectively re-enter society. As jobs continue to move out further and further into the suburbs, these males, who are from the inner city, are left with few living wage employment options. The rates that convicts go back to jail are so high not because these men want to return to a life of crime but since few employment options are available, they tend to utilize their limited skills to get the money they need to survive. If more efforts do not make additional training available to these males that are realistically designed to help them obtain a living wage job, the rates that convicts go back to jail and black male unemployment will continue to increase.

The Case for the Defence

I was glad to hear from you, it's been a long time. How are you? I suppose I am as well as could be expected. It's been an absolute nightmare. I still remember it all as vividly as if was yesterday. Poor Mrs Parker, such a lovely woman. I had got up because I thought I had heard the gate, you know me, the slightest noise I'm awake, so I went to the window to check. I don't know what made me look over to Mrs Parker's front door, but when I did, I saw him! He was just standing there, as if he had been visiting her. I noticed he was wearing gloves and that he was holding something that looked like a hammer, which he threw into the bushes of Mrs Parker's garden. He had started down the path towards the street when he just suddenly stopped, he must have sensed me watching him and ours eyes met. I could see he became nervous and the fear creep into those eerie bulging eyes and then he was gone. I was petrified, worried sick about poor old Mrs Parker so I called the police. The police arrived in minutes, followed shortly by an ambulance. I watched them go into the house across the street and two police officers exit a few minutes later. They were making their way over to my house. They asked me to make a statement about what I had seen, as it was a murder inquiry: Mrs Parkers head had been smashed with a hammer. There were reporters all over the street. They knocked, asked for my statement, how could they be so cruel? Poor Mrs Parkers body was not even cold. I still cannot believe it. How could anyone do that to a defenceless old woman that would not harm a fly? Of course, you know they caught him. I had to go and identify him in a police parade and as I watched through the mirrored glass, there was no mistaking the killer. It was as if time had rewound and I was watching him through the window again. His face was one I would never forget, his eyes were like pools of evil and he actually stood there smiling. I could not believe it. I felt sick to my stomach! They told me his name was Adams and that I was not the only witness, there were others that had identified him and I suppose that made me feel a little better. Then of course there was the court case where I had to give evidence, I am sure you read about it. I was so nervous walking into the courtroom, but as soon as I saw Adams, I knew that it had to be done. He could not be allowed to get away with it and he deserved to be punished for his actions. I was prepared for a cross examination, the police officer had warned me that this was the practice in cases like these, but he assured me that the witness statements were proof enough. I answered the defence's questions as honestly, and as well as I possibly could, and then he asked me if the man I saw was the defendant. What did he want me to say? Of course I said yes. Nothing could have prepared me for what happened next! He asked Mr Adams to stand, slowly the realisation hit me, the defendants exact double was standing at the back of the courtroom. I was flabbergasted! He was even wearing the same clothes! The counsel started asking me questions, but I was numb with shock, he had to repeat himself loudly until I finally acknowledged what he had said, could I still swear that the man I had seen was the prisoner. How could I! They were identical, right down to those evil bulging eyes, I could not differentiate between them whilst they were in the same room, never mind that night. All I could do was shake my head and wonder about Mrs Parker. Why had he killed her? Was he going to get away with it? Had she died for nothing? Then I noticed that they were both staring at me, those eyes chilled me to the bone. How could anybody be punished now, the other witnesses could not tell the difference either. How could they convict someone with no evidence? Both men had alibis, they were at home with their wives, so of course, the case was thrown out of court. Outside the press were like vultures, pushing and shoving, all trying to be the first to get the big story. They had been following the story for weeks and now wanted to know every gory detail. For some reason the Adams brothers decided to walk out of the front doors straight into the press. You could see the self-satisfied grins on their faces, they wanted the whole world to know that the case had been acquitted. The press were having a field day, you could not escape the reporters, the road was awash with them. The police had tried to move them along, but I discovered later, that they had only managed to clear the road. Everybody was pushing and forcing their way closer to the two men, and then it happened, the brothers were pushed into the road and from out of nowhere came a bus. I remember the noise he made, it was more of a squeal than a scream, but it seemed to make time stand still. It was an awful picture, lying in the road was a man that could have been responsible for murder, sporting the same injuries as poor Mrs Parker. As I lifted my gaze away from the body, I noticed his distraught brother looking straight at me, as if it was my fault and I felt so terrified. Was it an innocent man that had died under that bus? Was it Mrs Parkers murderer? He knew who I was and he knew where I lived. Would he want revenge for the death of his brother? I knew that I wasn't the only eyewitness in the case, but only my evidence had been heard and I was petrified. Which is why I just had to move. I couldn't sleep or eat and no matter how many security locks were fitted I wandered around nervously, even scared of the shadows outside. I just couldn't live like that anymore. I still have so many questions about Mrs Parkers death, but for the time being I want to stay away from Peckham. I just don't feel safe there.

After The Holocaust essays

After The Holocaust essays This research paper documents and explains the triumphant cultural and political revitalization of a victimized Europe, while combining additional details on the specifics of the liberation and the daily life of the displaced persons, particularly Jews, in post-World War II DP camp. Never before has an event in history been as tragic and as catastrophic as the Holocaust of Eastern Europe in the early 1940s. It is generally believed that a total of twelve million people were murdered by the Nazi regime, including political opponents, Gypsies, the mentally ill, homosexuals, and other "undesirables." An estimated six of the seven million Jews of Europe were killed just because they were Jewish. For the first time in history, an entire people were targeted for annihilation by a government. The Nazi state systematically implemented a plan to destroy all Jews simply because they existed. The destruction of European Jewry stands as the archetype of genocide in human history. Not all of the Jews in Europe were murdered in the Holocaust. After the fall of the Third Reich, Europe was war-torn shambles. Hundreds of thousands of people were homeless and seeking a new life. These were known at the time as "displaced persons." Among them were several hundred thousand Jews who had either survived the horrors of the concentration camps or escaped the Nazis altogether. The approximately 50,000 liberated Jews were part of some 8 million Displaced Persons who lived in occupied Germany and Austria shortly after the end of the war. The 50,000 Jews shared with these 8 million the fate of being driven from their home by the war. Now, the policy of the Allied occupation forces was intended to return all the DPs to their countries of origin as soon as possible, which pleased most non-Jewish Displaced Persons, who had been driven out of their homelands by force. By May 1946, 88 percent, that is almost 6 million Displaced Pe...

Free Essays on Memoirs of a Geisha

By: Sakjan Memoirs of a Geisha (Book Report) 1) Plot: This exotic fable is about a young, innocent girl named Chiyo (9 years old in 1929) who lives in a poor fishing village in Yoroido with her older sister Satsu, her father and sick mother. Since Chiyo’s mother is going to die soon and her father can’t do much to support their family, he sells his two daughters into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Chiyo has unusual blue-gray eyes, which later helps her capture peoples’ attention, especially men’s. Unfortunately, her sister is taken to a different district and from this time on, little Chiyo lives her life in agony because she has no family left and she’s a maid serving a notorious geisha named Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo can also be referred to as a witch because she does anything like spreading false rumors to make Chiyo’s life miserable. One day while running an errand for the house that she lives in, Chiyo falls down on a stone near a river and starts to cry for she can no longer endure the pain and hardships she is going through at such a young age. Luckily, the Chairman of a wealthy electric company comes across her while he’s walking with his business associates. He takes notice of her and goes up to see what is the matter with her. As he lifts her chin up and looks into her eyes, he is marveled by the beauty her eyes posses. All he can do is stare. He gives her a handkerchief and a few compliments and tells her not to worry because everything will be fine. The Chairman then leaves but he never leaves Chiyo’s thoughts or dreams. He is the only person who has been kind to her all her life and for the past years, all she dreams about is meeting this wonderful man again and getting to know him. To make a long story short, the Chairman never forgets Chiyo and how beautiful she is, so he goes to a well-known geisha by the name of Mameha and asks her to adopt Chiyo as her younger sister so she can train her to become.. . Free Essays on Memoirs of a Geisha Free Essays on Memoirs of a Geisha By: Sakjan Memoirs of a Geisha (Book Report) 1) Plot: This exotic fable is about a young, innocent girl named Chiyo (9 years old in 1929) who lives in a poor fishing village in Yoroido with her older sister Satsu, her father and sick mother. Since Chiyo’s mother is going to die soon and her father can’t do much to support their family, he sells his two daughters into slavery to a renowned geisha house. Chiyo has unusual blue-gray eyes, which later helps her capture peoples’ attention, especially men’s. Unfortunately, her sister is taken to a different district and from this time on, little Chiyo lives her life in agony because she has no family left and she’s a maid serving a notorious geisha named Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo can also be referred to as a witch because she does anything like spreading false rumors to make Chiyo’s life miserable. One day while running an errand for the house that she lives in, Chiyo falls down on a stone near a river and starts to cry for she can no longer endure the pain and hardships she is going through at such a young age. Luckily, the Chairman of a wealthy electric company comes across her while he’s walking with his business associates. He takes notice of her and goes up to see what is the matter with her. As he lifts her chin up and looks into her eyes, he is marveled by the beauty her eyes posses. All he can do is stare. He gives her a handkerchief and a few compliments and tells her not to worry because everything will be fine. The Chairman then leaves but he never leaves Chiyo’s thoughts or dreams. He is the only person who has been kind to her all her life and for the past years, all she dreams about is meeting this wonderful man again and getting to know him. To make a long story short, the Chairman never forgets Chiyo and how beautiful she is, so he goes to a well-known geisha by the name of Mameha and asks her to adopt Chiyo as her younger sister so she can train her to become.. .

Course reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Course reflection - Essay Example I learnt a lot of persuasive strategies including lexical features as well as images, logos, and color combinations. Assignment 1 inculcated a sense of being emotionally intelligent. I have learnt how to mould language and make use of different digital features to address my point rightly to the right person in the workplace. This assignment polished my critical analysis skills. Assignment 2 was a very important assignment from the professional point of view. One’s resume is one’s reflection before an employer, and so it has to be built very carefully and strategically. In Assignment 2, I not only learnt the way to make a resume but also the way to modify it according to the job I am applying for. Through this assignment, I learnt how to represent myself in writing and speak through writing. This assignment polished my technical and strategic skills. Assignment 3 was very important in the sense that it inculcated leadership and management skills in me. In organizations, leaders and managers have to regularly pass instructions to the followers and subordinates. This assignment helped me learn some effective design strategies and ways of passing instructions. I was weak in making memos and well-structured pamphlets before but now I am competent in it. Assignment 4 helped me take my writing skills to the next level. First I learnt how to write instructions, and then I learnt how to describe a process. I found some radical differences between the two. Having done this assignment, I can write operations in detail, assign responsibilities to the team members, and establish channels of communication as required. All of these are very important managerial skills. My career goals as a nurse are to be competent not only in delivering instructions to my colleagues and subordinates, but also to be emotionally intelligent, prudent, and caring toward the patients. This course has

Introduction to cultural and historical studies Essay

Introduction to cultural and historical studies - Essay Example Nowadays, however, haute couture is no longer trickling down in the same dominant flow, as subcultures and gender positions evolve (Barker 2000). The postmodern society reflects globalisation of brands, where heterogeneity exists and persists, and where bubbling up mixes with trickle downs to form social identities (Kratz and Reimer 1998). This paper will talk about fashion and appearance of the haute couture in postmodern context and will explore how fashion and appearance help people create their social identities through cloth rite. This paper argues that clothing rite portrays evolving concepts of masculinity and femininity in the new haute couture of the postmodern society through mixtures of trickle down and bubble up phenomena. This section discusses a short overview of haute couture’s evolution from trickle-down theory to bubbles up and to a mix of both. During the nineteenth century, the French led the rise of haute couture, where the elite classes define fashion tren ds and appearance statements (Veblen 1994: 52). The masses endeavoured to copy the elite, a signification of their desire for social mobility: â€Å"The result is that the members of each stratum accept as their ideal of decency the scheme of life in vogue in the next higher stratum, and bend their energies to live up to that ideal† (Veblen 1994: 52). As a result, the masses tried to replicate the clothing rite of the rich, although they were limited by their own resources. Reproduction of the lower class, however, would be undermined by the upper class’ revision of their dress codes. Social demarcation cannot be maintained if homogeneity was too perceptible â€Å"and thus the game goes merrily on† (Simmel 1973: 175). This game is largely a game owned and manipulated by the elite. They use their fashion and appearance to differentiate themselves from the masses and enforce power over the latter (Miller and Real 1998: 19). They form clothing rites that are expens ive and continuously changing. In a way, they are saying that people beneath them cannot catch up that easily, for the former need the same game of life to preserve the status quo that protects and promotes their upper-class interests (Simmel 1973: 175). The rules and language of the game changed at the postmodern era. Postmodernism has no single definition, but is often described in terms of its principles. First, Lyonard argues that postmodernism emerged when the grand narratives broke down, especially the narrative that exhorts the problem-solving purposes and ends of science (Miller and Real 1998: 19). Second, Baudrillard underscores that global communication technologies allowed for a â€Å"culture of mass production and simulacra† and from henceforth, originality has stopped (Miller and Real 1998: 19). Third, consumption transitioned from the puritan ethic of consumption to â€Å"commercial ethic of conspicuous consumption† (Miller and Real 1998: 19). Baudrillard stresses that reality have turned into hyper-reality, where authenticity and representation has exploded and sign systems have replaced objects as a whole

This is an assignment about how companies that were once successful, Essay

This is an assignment about how companies that were once successful, but were undone by disruptive technologies and emerging competition, can come back - Essay Example Nokia must implement the latest technologies to enter the emerging competition. It must change its focus from handset to software, as the industry has changed itself from â€Å"handset-focused to software-focused† system (Brown, para.3). Nokia should consider leaving the old fashioned Symbian software, and should focus on using the new Android software, which other big companies are using and are giving at low prices. For example, Samsung introduced Galaxy pocket starting as low as $100. This beat Nokia drastically. Nokia must also correct it strategic decisions, and should focus on what consumers want through leaving its traditional softwares and technologies and embracing the new ones. It should also introduce new hardware designs which are visually appealing, with more efficient cameras. Nokia should also decide whether it wants to be a smartphone platform provider company, like Apple, or a device builder company, like HTC and Motorolla. Nokia used a mix of both strategies, and this became the reason for its failure. It acted like Apple, but also incorporated its old traditional style of hardware, which was a big mistake in its strategic planning. Hence, for Nokia to regain its market dominance that it has been enjoying in the past, it should focus on correcting its strategies, and should modify itself in order to come at par with the modern