Misconceptions Of African American Life Essays -

Misconceptions Of African American Life When you control a man's thinking you do not have to worry about his actions. You do not have to tell him not to stand here or go yonder. He will find his proper place and will stay in it. You do not need to send him to the back door. He will go without being told. In fact, if there is no back door, he will cut one for his special benefit. His education makes it necessary. This quote, spoken true by a prominent African American scholar of the 20th century, Carson Woodson, is aimed at shedding light on the inherent miseducation of African Americans. His beliefs that controlling ones thinking with such a powerful grasp that allows little or no movement will lead to that individual behaving as he is expected is a very justifiable point. If time and time again, one is told to do certain things or believe certain things as right, then with constant repetition and enforcement, widespread belief and acceptance of this idea or practice will become the norm. A people that is consistently taught or treated a certain way may at some point begin to accept it right. However, in many cases what may be deemed right by some is not necessarily the right thing to do. This theory can not be any more prominent than in the case of African Americans, who have long endured hundreds of years of discriminatory practices based solely upon their race and origins. Dating back to the days of slavery, these are a people that out of prejudice, out of expectations, out of fear, have often come to view the white mans way as the right way either by choice or by having no other choice. In the process, however, their very own culture, beauty, beliefs, traditions, etc., often get trampled upon or even forgotten as they either struggle to keep up or struggle to stay up. More then not, though, this brainwashing of sorts results in a miseducation of the African-American people that often leads to widespread misunderstandings about them. These misunderstandings can then lead to various forms of stereotypes aimed against African-Americans by whites or other non African Americans picked up along the way due to incomplete knowledge about their history which inherently also hurt those making these false assumptions. Times are changing, however, and with these evolutionary years comes a greater sense of struggle to understand. This struggle comes both from within the African -American community to find out more about themselves sans Caucasian undertones, and also from groups such as whites to attempt to designate stereotypes from truths. The vast majority of aids in this process, however, come from African American scholars, writers, poets, film-makers, etc., who have set out to expose the miseducation of the Negro into believing and acting upon forced actions or opinions and to learn the truths behind their actual heritage. Four works that susinctly bring the miseducation about African American history into the spotlight of the national public are Claude McKays The Lynching, Harriet Jacobs Incidents in the Life of A Slavegirl, Gordon Parks Washington D.C. Charwoman, and Spike Lees School Daze. All four works illustrate a common thread of the misconception of African-American life by blacks themselves, as well as Caucasians around them, that has been carried intact through many a generations in the history of the United States. The earliest example that I would like to call attention to is Claude McKays poem entitled The Lynching. In my opinion, this poem addresses the commonly held misconceptions of both blacks and whites against African Americans during the period of slavery in the U.S. In terms of the miseducation of African Americans, the author uses the line of The awful sin remained still unforgiven to insinuate that being born black was considered by him and other African Americans at that time to be a sin or something to be ashamed of. He blames this African American mans death on Fates wild whim and never once blames the racist white males who most likely lynched him for no good reason, nor does he seem to express anger towards them. This poem shows the miseducation of the Negro in that

Why We Have Factory Farming, and How to End It

Why We Have Factory Farming, and How to End It Factory farming is the intensive confinement of farmed animals raised for food. The technique was invented by scientists in the 1960s who knew that there was no way to continue feeding animal products to an increasing human population without a significant increase in efficiency. But if so many people are concerned about animal welfare and object to factory farming, why do we have factory farming? Scientists, economists, and farmers alike argue that in order to meet the demand for commercially produced meats, either too much land or too much food and fuel would be required to allow all animals used for that purpose the freedoms animal rights activists demand they have. Conversely, these animal rights activists argue the mistreatment and slaughter of animals for human consumption is not only inhumane but morally wrong. Why We Need Factory Farming Allowing cows, pigs, and chickens to roam free requires more land, water, food, labor, and other resources than factory farming. Roaming animals consume more food and water because they are exercising and therefore, in order to produce meat for human consumption, must be nourished accordingly or risk their meat being too tough or fatty. Furthermore, rounding up and transporting roaming animals requires manpower and fuel. Grass-fed animals also require more food because the animals gain weight slower on a grass diet than they do with a manufactured, concentrated feed. There are currently seven billion people on the planet, many of whom eat the animal products produced by factory farming. And while all animal agriculture is inefficient because crops are fed to animals instead of being fed to people directly, the increased inefficiency of allowing animals to roam free is the reason factory farming was invented and popularized. The Opposition to the Meat Industry From a more cynical perspective, factory farming exists because agribusiness cares nothing about the rights and welfare of the animals, and continues to lobby against any attempts to better the animals condition. However, giving the animals more room is not a feasible solution because we are already destroying our environment with animal agriculture. The solution is not to make animal agriculture more inefficient. The answer might be to move away from animal dependency as a culture entirely. From both an environmental perspective and an animal rights perspective, veganism is the only solution to factory farming. Some scientists predict that with modern consumption trends of cattle alone, the global demand will outweigh the supply, causing a shortage of beef and potentially the extinction of that source of animal protein.   Further, environmentalists argue that factory farming, especially of cattle, produces a high concentration  of methane that is released into the atmosphere, speeding global warming. Transport and processing of the meat itself also pollute the environment with dangerous waste byproducts.   Any way you look at it, factory farming is necessary for the continued consumption of animal meat and products - but is that the ethical way to move forward as a planet, and is it sustainable? Science says no, but the current legislature in the U.S. says otherwise. Perhaps it is time, as a nation, the United States move away from commercial farming altogether.