Racial Profiling Essays (1397 words) - Offender Profiling

Racial Profiling The great era of civil rights started in the 1960s, with Martin Luther King, Jr.'s stirring "I have a Dream" speech at the historic march on Washington in August of 1963. At the same time Birmingham Police Commissioner "Bull" Connor used powerful fire hoses and vicious police attack dogs against nonviolent black civil rights activists. Although these years proved to be the highlight and downfall of civil rights in America, even with the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act being passed, time has repeated these tumultuous events again in the present. Racial profiling has been one of many civil rights issues concerning the unnecessary stopping and arresting of people based on race, color, ethnicity and gender. Skin-color has become evidence of the propensity to commit crime, and police use this "evidence" against minority drivers on the road all the time. This practice is so common that the minority community has given it the derisive term, "Driving While Black or Brown" ? a play on the real offense of "driving while intoxicated". Although many law enforcement officers defend themselves by saying they are fighting against the "War on Drugs" by arresting these law offenders, recent trials and reports show that no basis of arrest have been found against these minorities. Official skin-color prejudice is still reflected throughout the criminal justice system. Today, skin-color makes you a suspect in America. It makes you more likely to be stopped by a law enforcement officer, more likely to be searched, and more likely to be arrested and imprisoned. Tens of thousands of innocent motorists on highways across the country are victims of racial profiling, and these discriminatory police stops have reached epidemic proportions in recent years. Fueled by the "War on Drugs", this fight has given police a pretext to target people who they think fit a "drug courier" or "gang member" profile. At many times, these minorities have been stopped and arrested for illegal offenses, however we are not sure if these stories have been filed truthfully by law enforcement officers. Many police departments face issues concerning racist law enforcement officers who cause the problems of racial profiling. One such example comes from the Hillside Police Department, where several racial bias charges have been made against them. Racial slurs have become common in the Hillside district, where even the department supervisor does background checks on minorities IN the squad, even to kick them off the squad. In this department, only two officers are Hispanic and one is of African decent. The officers, many of whom are white, are encouraged to target minorities first to fill their ticket quotas for the month. Hillside officers defend themselves saying that Hillside is 40 percent black and 20 percent Hispanic. However, the actions taken by Hillside officer, such as targeting to fill quotas and background checking, seem disconcerting. The Reverend Jesse Jackson even needed to call for federal protection for whistleblowing police officers. Because of the Law Enforcement Trust and Integrity Act, passed this year, other officials who witness this discriminating act are protected. It says, "The identity of a law enforcement officer who complains in food faith to a government agency or department about the unlawful practices of a law enforcement agency shall remain confidential and shall not be disclosed by any person except upon the knowing written consent of the law enforcement officer. This section shall not preempt any right of confrontation protected by the Constitution of by Federal, State or tribal law." In many cases, we can not determine whether the racial profiling comes from the individual law enforcer, or the department itself. Many policies have been suggested to either report these discriminatory acts, or to record the ethnicity, race, or gender of the person being stopped. However, without the correct supervision of these officers, we can not truthfully tell whether these policies will be followed. There have been bills proposed to even make the slightest positive effect on racial profiling, yet many have been overlooked. Former California Governor Pete Wilson served as best he could to fight key civil rights issues such as affirmative action and immigrant rights, however Governor Gray Davis has had a disappointing civil rights record. Although he has helped establish new civil rights gains for the lesbian and gay communities, he has also vetoed a number of bills aimed at reducing discrimination against communities of color and immigrants. SB 44, a bill sponsored by Senator Richard Polanco, encourages state and local governments to conduct outreach programs. SB 44 had bipartisan support and was previously endorsed by former

Othello Act 4 Scene 3 Essays

Othello Act 4 Scene 3 Essays Othello Act 4 Scene 3 Paper Othello Act 4 Scene 3 Paper At the beginning of this scene Othello does not engage in conversation with Desdemona, he simply tells her to go to bed. Get to bed on thinstant; I will be returned forthwith. Dismiss your attendant there. Lookt be done. Here we can notice Othellos use of imperatives; this implies that he has lost all respect for Desdemona. The audience know why he has lost respect for her however; she is completely oblivious to the accusations being made behind her back. Shakespeare is presenting her as a tragic figure as she has no idea what she has done wrong and is falsely accused. Inevitably, she will loose the man she loves and her own life due a complete lie. There is a terrible poignancy in almost every line that Desdemona utters in this scene. Shakespeare has portrayed Desdemona as a tragic figure as even though Othello has treated her terribly she still wants to please him. We must not now displease him. Desdemona is respectful and faithful towards her husband and continues to be so even after his terrible behaviour. No, unpin me here. Here Desdemona realises she is more vulnerable in her night clothes. Shakespeare is showing that Desdemona undressing is like her removing her armour. This gives the audience a sense of foreboding as it seems like Desdemona is aware of what is to come. Desdemona speaks to Emilia about the Willow song this reflects her own sadness and points to her own death. She feels abandoned as she sings and is aware of her impending death. This shows Desdemona as tragic as she knows what is going to happen inevitably however she still does not know why. The Willow song is a dramatic device as willows symbolise disappointed love, which is exactly what she is experiencing. She is anxious and her tale of her mothers maid and willow song foreshadows her own death. The willow scene relaxes the tension comparative quietness and calm before the storm of the last scene. The song reinforces the melancholy atmosphere and prepares us for the tragic outcome; in the song the woman refuses to blame her lover and approves his scorn. Desdemona is a complete contrast to the woman who stood up to her father in defence of Othello; she now seems weak and unable to defend herself. In Act 2 Scene 1 Desdemona dismisses Iagos remarks as old bar-room jokes. These are old fond paradoxes to makes fools laugh ithalehouse. That miserable praise hast thou her thats foul and foolish? Here Desdemona is engaging Iago in debate. She is standing up for herself and what she believes in; this is tragic as the audience can see a clear change in Desdemonas personality. Let nobody blame him; his scorn I approve Nay, thats not next. Hark, who ist that knocks? Here Desdemona has added a line to the song suggesting that she is nervous and on the edge. Emilia and Desdemona continue to talk and they are discussing the act of committing adultery, Desdemona says she would not do such a wrong thing. Emilia argues that mens treatment of their wives is often the cause of womens falling. She states that women have desires and weaknesses just as much as men. Men should beware or women will learn from how they are abused to abuse them. However, Desdemona perseveres in her view and shows Emilia and the audience that she would rather learn to improve from, rather than copy and abuse. Here we see the complete contrast in characters. Desdemona is completely faithful to Othello which makes their situation all the more tragic. Emilia does not seem phased by being unfaithful whereas Desdemona is shocked by this idea. That there be women do abuse their husbands in such gross kind? She is appalled by this idea and this adds to the fact that she is completely innocent. Desdemonas fate is unfair and unearned, yet she is the tragic female heroine who ends up being sacrificed to satisfy the fates. Aristotle taught that tragedy is composed of six elements: plot-structure, character, style, spectacle, and lyric poetry. The characters in a tragedy are merely a means of driving the story; and the plot, is the chief focus of tragedy. It is the imitation of action arousing pity and fear, and is meant to affect the catharsis of those same emotions. In Aristotles definition of tragedy Shakespeare has definitely portrayed Desdemona as a tragic figure. If the characters are a means of driving the story then the play wouldnt have a plot if it werent for Desdemona. Othello, Desdemona and Iago are the three main characters involved to form the plot along with others. The plot is the chief focus of tragedy therefore Desdemona is playing part in creating the tragedy for the play. S. N. Garner elucidates Desdemonas character, maintaining that Shakespeare carefully balanced the other characters accounts of her as goddess or whore to present a complex portrait. Othellos sensual view is countered by Brabantios idealized concept in Act 1 and Roderigo and Cassios romanticized vision is opposed by Iagos coarse innuendo in Act 2. Garner then points out that Desdemonas liveliness and assertiveness are confirmed by her marriage to Othello and that these positive traits become a fatal. Here we can see that Garner believes that eventually Desdemonas traits became fatal to her character. This links in with Aristotles definition of tragedy as he also says that their downfall is caused by a series of bad choices caused by tragic flaws in their character. This could suggest that it is partly Desdemonas character that has increased the tragedy between Othello and herself.

Richard Wright's view about religion (according to the book, Black Essay

Richard Wright's view about religion (according to the book, Black Boy) - Essay Example In an effort to ascertain Wright’s overarching perspective on religion, this essay considers the development of Wright’s views on religion throughout his autobiography. Wright’s first confrontation with religion comes as a direct consequence of his going to live with his grandmother after leaving the orphanage. Up until this point Wright has made no attempt to gain overt sympathy from the reader, and indicates a number of uncouth actions that he participated in as a youth, including frequent cursing. Upon moving in with his grandmother the reader witnesses the confrontation of these two cultural perspectives. It is no surprise then that Wright’s early views of religion are an oppressive and overly restrictive oppressive system. Even as Wright enjoys the rural environment that surrounds his grandmother’s home, he openly rejects the restrictive internal environment. While one of the initial restrictions that Wright objects to occurs in regards to his grandmother’s belief that the only thing that should be read is the Bible, perhaps Wright’s first-outward objection to the religious restrictions is through the symboli c utterance of a curse word while he was taking a bath. Throughout the novel there are a series of such restrictions that function to characterize religion as an oppressive belief system, further articulating Wright’s views on the subject. For instance, Richard is unable to work on Saturdays because his grandmother so strictly follows religious principles; similarly, he is forced to become baptized in chapter 6 – after which Richard tells the others that were baptized that he feels no different after the ceremony. At the age of twelve, before I had had one full year of formal schooling, I had . . . a conviction that the meaning of living came only when one was struggling to wring a meaning out of meaningless suffering. At the age of twelve I had an attitude toward life that was to

Sir Richard Rogers Lloyds Building Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Sir Richard Rogers Lloyds Building - Essay Example This building, started in 1979 but not completed until 1984, is a complex combination of both Modern and Postmodern ideals that manages to evade allowing either framework to dominate. A basic description of the building indicates a tall structure with the unusual feature of having its service features exposed to the exterior and utilized as a decorative element. This follows the Modernist movement in its focus on the mechanical elements of the structure while it also reflects the postmodern element of everything being in a constant state of flux. The building was originally designed to serve as the corporate headquarters of a large insurance firm and is erected in the center of London’s financial district. This context illustrates the importance of its design as a means of reflecting the higher monetary, capitalistic values of the community and thus much in line with the Modernist ideals of the era. However, the building was also required to be highly flexible to be able to ac commodate perhaps as yet unknown technologies and to adapt to often changing uses, thus reinforcing the concepts of Postmodernism. As the following investigation will prove, though, the building itself, in its focus on mechanics and materials, falls more within the realm of the Modernist movement while its means of addressing the concerns of the times and the context incorporates the values and ideas of Postmodernism. The concepts of the Modern approach focus upon the assumption that everything can be classified into specific categories and definitions. â€Å"Modernity is a project, and not only a period, and it is, or was, a project of control, the rational mastery over nature, the planning, designing and plotting which led to planomania and technocracy† (Beilharz, 2001: 6). Emerging as a product and reaction to an increasingly mechanized world in which standardization seemed inevitable; the basic

Transferring Capital Or Funds From Savers To Borrowers

Transferring Capital Or Funds From Savers To Borrowers The financial institution is the process to provide the financial service to the people. It can also say is the institution collecting the funds from the public into the financial assets. It also verifies by the government, so it is safe for the people to using. The main function of the financial institution transfers the capital between savers and those who need capital. The financial activities and function provide by the financial institution are bonds, debentures, stocks, loans, risk diversification, insurance, hedging, retirement planning, investment, portfolio management, and many other types of related functions. The way use by financial institution to transfer the fund can be defined by 3 ways; there are direct transfers, indirect transfer and financial intermediaries. The first way of a financial institution is Direct transfer can also call ask direct transfers of money and securities. Direct transfer means the organization sells its stocks or bond directly to savers and without any type of financial institution. For example, the party A and B is the relatives and the parties A want to transfer the money to invest the party B organization by using direct transfer; it is without any financial institution or financial market so this is call direct transfer. The advantage of direct transfer is saving the money, it because using direct transfer is without any taxable. Direct transfer is without any taxable because direct transfer is a process straight transfers the money to other account and is wont going through any financial institution so the government will not charge the tax because government is not know about it. The disadvantage of using direct transfer is complex. It is possible become complex because direct transfer is making by the two part y without any financial institution and it not have the professional person to help properly transfer the money and making the agreement, so in future maybe will happen conflict between the parties. The second way for transferring capital or fund from savers to borrowers in the financial market is indirect transfer by using banking house. Indirect transfer is a process to transfer the capital or funds through the financial institution such as investment banking house. Investment banking house is like the agency to help the organization to transfers the bond or stock into the money. It normally use by an organization that underwrites and distributes new investment securities to help the organization obtain their financial. An underwriter serves as a middleman and facilitates the issuance of securities to the investor. For example, an organization sells the stocks or bonds to the investment bank and investment bank sells these same securities to the savers. The advantage of this financial institution is more efficient and fast to transfer the bond or stock into the financial assets. It is because investment bank has required the professionals to given the organization accurate information and help organization to make the transfer process more efficient and wont getting problem. The disadvantage of investment banking house is need to spend more time to wait the process done by the investment banking house. It is because company need to waiting the investment banker sell the bond or stock into the money. The banker could not be estimate when can sell the bond and stock to the saver. Next, investment banking house give more confidence to the saver. Investment banker will provide fully information about company to saver review and give professional guideline about the investment to avoid wrong investment. Therefore, the investment risk will decrease and the percentages of faced loss also will be reduce by using the investment banking, but it will increase the cost because need to pay the intermediaries fees. The third way for transferring capital or fund from savers to borrowers in the financial market is indirect transfer buy using financial intermediaries. The indirect financial institution can be separated into three types such as Investment Intermediaries, Contractual Saving Institutions, and Depository Institutions. Financial intermediary is an institution that acts as the middleman between investors and firms raising funds. Financial intermediary will using the funds from the saver to purchase other securities from other organization and hold it for gain the profitability. The three major functions of the financial intermediaries are maturity transformation, risk transformation and convenience denomination. Maturity transformation is converting short term liabilities to long term assets. Risk transformation is converting risky investments into relatively risk-free ones. Convenience denomination is matching small deposits with large loans and large deposits with small loans. Financial intermediaries accept the saver to use the loan or securities to invest their funds. The financial intermediaries will provide the loan plan to the saver to properly using the loan to invest. Financial intermediaries can help to reduce the time. It is because financial intermediaries can transfer the financial assets into the money by the faster way. This is mean financial intermediaries will buy the assets from the customer and sells it in future, so it can reduce the time because some of the assets need longer of period to sell it or transfer into the money. Therefore, some of the people will use financial intermediaries to solve their emergence financial problem. Financial intermediaries can also help the saver to reduce the transaction cost such as consulting fee for getting information. In this situation, financial intermediaries will provide the completely information or professional advice to help the investors making the decision. Financial institution can be separa ted into three types such as Investment Intermediaries, Contractual Saving Institutions, and Depository Institutions. Depository institution is a channel to receive the funds from the public or manage their funds to invest other organization to gain the profit. When gain the profit Depository institution will return some interest to the people who are invest the funds in the depository institution. Depository institution can be defined in few types, there are commercial banks, savings and loan associated credit union and mutual saving bank. Commercial bank is the financial institutions provide the loan, saving, transactional, money market account, insurance, and stock brokerage service to the public. The examples of the commercial bank in the Malaysia are Affin Bank, Arab-Malaysian Banking Group, Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN), Citibank Malaysia, Exim Bank Malaysia, Hong Leong Bank and other. The advantage of using the commercial bank is the risk is lower. It is because commercial bank has stronger financial background, so it will not easy bankrupt or facing the financial problem such as facing loss in investment. The disadvantage of the commercial bank is the percentage of interest maybe lower than other financial institution. For example, interest rate provide by the insurance institution always higher than the commercial bank. Moreover, a savings and loan association (or SL), also known as a thrift, is a financial institution that specializes in accepting savings deposits and making mortgage and other loans. Mortgage means using the something such as house, land or assets to make the loan with the savings and loan association. If the people cannot pay back the loan, the house will be taken over by the savings and loan association. The advantage of the savings and loan association is interest of saving deposit is higher than the commercial bank. Therefore, people will choose it to saving their money to gain more interest. In the additional, mutual savings bank is also a type of thrift institution. The function just seems like saving and loan associations which obtain the funds from other and make loan such as mortgage loan. Credit union is a non-profit financial institution that is owned and operated entirely by a group of members such as employee. Credit unions provide financial services for their members, including savings and lending. The condition to join a credit union is a person must ordinarily belong to a participating organization. When a person deposits money in a credit union, the person will become the member of the credit union. Last, contractual saving institution is an institution that obtains funds at periodic intervals on a basis contractual. It is normally use for the longer period of time. It is mean if the contract dead line is not yet reach, the saver cannot taking back the money from the contractual saving institution. Contractual saving institution can be defines into two types, there are insurance institution and pension institution. Insurance institution normally provide some of insurance services such as investment insurance, life insurance, endowment insurance, accident insurance and other. Examples of the insurance institution in Malaysia are Potential, AIA, Am insurance, Greaten Eastern and some more. Pension Institution is an associated that collects the funds from the retired person to help them invest the funds and getting back the interest or profit. In conclusion, using indirect transfer way is more efficient and safe then using the direct transfer way. Indirect transfers way have more benefit to the user. It also provides more service to the user. So, based on my opinion, I encourage the people to using indirect transfer way to manage money or making the loan.

Monasticism And The Code Of Chivalry :: essays research papers

Monasticism and the Code of Chivalry In the Middle Ages, there were many factors contributing to the building of monasticism. One of the most important components of the fourth century came when the Christians believed that Jesus would return very soon. So they did not care what the world did to itself. Instead they waited for Jesus to fix things, but it did not happen. This caused the world to become a violent place to live. Christians were persecuted for their beliefs by the Roman Government. The Christians had enough and were ready to leave. Some Christians went to a place where they could have communion in peace without the fear of the Roman government, this place was Egypt. They were called hermit monks. But others, Christians, had their ideas of the way that a Christian life should be lived. They wanted to live in a community, so they could worship together as a group instead of being alone. Benedict of Nursia established a rule that was used by most of the monks as a way of life. In this there were three specific vows, they are used to make it easier for monks to be closer to God. They are poverty, chastity, and obedience. Poverty meant that the need for money and material possessions were not needed as a means of worship. The monasteries gave the monks the things that they needed, and this was only the bare essentials. The monasteries made their own money by owning land and selling surplus products. Thus, they became very wealthy. Chastity meant that the men and women would not have sex or get married. This was said to have saved the monks from the "devilish acts" that happen when sexual desires were exploited for selfish reasons. Obedience was essential, each monk had to be absolutely obedient to their abbot. The purpose of this obedience was to develop personal humility, and to become more holy by becoming humiliated or less proud of one's self. Only making them worship and become closer to God. The monasteries were a place to get away from evil and anything to deter them from God. The Code of Chivalry means, if you own a horse than you can have wealth or power in the Middle Ages. As there are more people with horses, the tension gets tighter and tempers are flared, this is how elite soldiers and knights are

African American-European American Iat Essay

The version of the IAT, that I chose to take is the African American – European American IAT. There were a few steps in order to complete the test; the first step was to fill out information about myself. The questions that I answered were related to my age my educational status, nationality, religious beliefs and my current state of employment. The next step of the test was to choose either ‘E,† or ‘I,† to indicate my choice of African American for a picture of a African American or European American for a picture of a European American. The next series of questions asked me to select either African American grouped with â€Å"bad,† or European American with â€Å"good’. Another series of questions was visually posed this time with, African American grouped with good and European American grouped with bad. The results show that data suggests a strong automatic preference for European American’s compared to African Americans. My automatic preference was toward European Americans. The results of this test aren’t very surprising to me. In class we were told how the test would go, so I already knew what to expect. There was a small bit of doubt whether or not the test would indicate a strong preference for one or the other at all though, because I am Hispanic. I would have speculate that based on the fact that I grew up primarily in white suburbia in a private school that almost exclusively consisted of all white students, that my preference is a subconscious choice. I am most familiar with European Americans therefore I chose them over African Americans. There is a distinction between implicit attitudes and explicit attitudes, that distinction is simple. Implicit attitudes are the attitudes that we don’t think about, they are automatic. Explicit attitudes are the attitudes that are consciously controlled. According to Gawronski and Bodenhausen, in the text, Social Psychology,†Our automatic implicit attitudes regarding someone or something often differ from our consciously controlled, explicit attitudes†(p.51). From the results of the IAT that I took, I would have to say that my implicit attitudes towards African Americans, do not match my explicit attitudes about African Americans. The reason that I believe that my implicit attitudes are different from my explicit attitudes is that I usually make a conscious decision to be friendly and welcoming to any person that I come in contact with regardless of gender, race, age, or sexual orientation. The results are mildly surprising, however, I believe that I am more accustomed to being in the company of European Americans, and therefore I show a distinct implicit attitude favoring them. Implicit attitudes are a dangerous thing; we should pay particular attention to how we label people explicitly, so that with time, we can manipulate our unconscious attitudes and impulse reactions to certain people. A good example of problems that people run into with their improper mind set comes to us from our text, Social Psychology. Age is the example Bugental and Hehman used in 2007, when they discovered that people treat the elderly differently than they do people whom are younger, they explain that â€Å"People’s perceptions of the elderly- as generally kind but frail, incompetent, and unproductive- predispose patronizing behavior†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (p. 308). It’s that attitude that people hold about the elderly that according to Bugental and Hehman, â€Å"predispose patronizing behavior, such as baby-talk speech that leads elderly people to feel less competent and act less capably’ (p. 308). It is important that we change our thinking, because if we continue to have the same biases, we not only do our selves a disservice in being implicitly and or explicitly inappropriate in our attitudes, but we also risk the chance of hurting others in our actions. Works Cited Myers, D. C. (2010). Social psychology (10th ed. ). New York: McGraw-Hill. Pages 51,308 Psych 312 Extra Credit 10pts 5-8-13 Eli J. Guymon Gender – Career IAT The second test that I took was the gender – career IAT. Before the test began, I was asked to report my beliefs about women versus men in the work force and women versus men in the home life. The second set of questions asked me to fill out information about myself. The questions that I answered were, what is my age, my educational status, nationality, religious beliefs and my current state of employment. Following those questions were questions about my family growing up, they wanted to know if I had a mother as a primary care giver, and if she worked outside of the home, specifying what she did for a living, and if there was a secondary caregiver, such as a father or step father, where they employed outside the home, and what their occupation was. The next step of the test was to choose either ‘E,† or ‘I,† to indicate my choice. The groupings in the first series of visual concepts to match were men’s names with the word men and women’s names with the word women. The next step was to match men with career minded words and women with household related words. Finally in the final sets of matching words the groupings were reversed so that men and household related items were a pair and women with career minded words belonged together. According to the results, data suggested little or no association between male and female with career and family. I did not have a automatic preference. My explicit and implicit attitudes match, I do not consciously nor do I subconscious place anyone in a group that favors either individual in the work place or family. I am not surprised by my results because I was raised in a home where my mother was a primary care giver but I also received care giving from my step father. Both my mother and my step father worked outside of the home. Both my mother and my step father shared responsibilities equally except where one person seemed to enjoy a task more than the other, that partner would assume say a specific domestic role that the other was happy to not have to do. For an example of a domestic role that both of my parents needed to be done but one seemed to favor it over the other, grilling outside, was my step fathers domestic role because my mother did not enjoy doing that work, and my step father rarely did his own laundry, because it was a task that my mother felt comfortable doing by herself.