African American Leadership: Two Voices, One Vision

Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, two distinct figures, whom both found the latter part of the 1800’s, in need of leadership from within a segmented group of American Society were placed in odds over a single issue†¦successful racial â€Å"up lift† for the African American population. As in any case when the attention of the masses is at stake, the titanic collision of honed minds was inevitable.The two men, sought to position their respective plans as the predominate solution to solve racial inequality and achieve racial uplift for population of former slaves and born free citizens in the United States.Booker T. Washington, born into slavery, 1856, for the first nine years of his life, held that the black community must exercise patience. Any abrupt aggressive action by African Americans would be interpreted as threatening by the Caucasian majority therefore inviting justifiable increased discrimination against blacks. Washington’s philosophy put f orth the notion that blacks should be willing to sacrifice social and political equality, in exchange for economic liberty.The path to â€Å"up lifting† would be achieved through fidelity, being trusty worthy and industrial. Born free in 1868, W. E. B. Du Bois was the product of a respectable family that held position in the community of Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Du Bois believed the top ten percent or as he dubbed it â€Å"the talented tenth† of the African American population should focus all their energy on higher education. The African American intellectuals would then lead the masses to a higher social rung.Protest, challenge, provocation were the watch words for Du Bois’ method. He clearly felt immediate political, social and racial equality was warranted. As stated by Jacqueline M. Moore, author and educator, Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and the Struggle for Racial Uplift, â€Å"the debate recognized that there were more than two method s of racial uplift† (Moore, p. 89) Washington’s views, was somewhat misconstrued to believe he was â€Å"selling out† to the majority of American Society.While he felt that African Americans should not push themselves into unwelcome arenas, he knew that political accomplishments were short lived and whimsical. His confidence was in the economical and financial gains that were long term and wielded tangible influence. Washington was clever enough to quietly lobby majority law makers and civic organizations in behind scene efforts to garner support for African American enfranchisement. Even more astute by Washington was his ability to fund his educational agenda from wealthy financial supporters.Du Bois took the position that Caucasian America should be held at an arms distance, neither rejecting nor embracing. He felt the way to eliminate tension between the races was to create a synergy between being African Americans and the rest of America by utilizing the tale nts of the so called â€Å"Talented Tenth† to spearhead the struggle for national racial equality. Thru Du bois’ multiple initiatives to further promote his cause, â€Å"encouraging action and open protest to challenge racism and discrimination† (Moore, p. 78) were standard in his approach.Washington was convinced through hard work and the financial success of entrepreneurial enterprises, respect and equality would be gained for African Americans and â€Å"up lifting† of the race would be a natural evolutionary process. Clearly because of his experiences as a former slave, Washington’s philosophy was shaped by determination and work ethic. Educated at Hampton Institute, a vocational institution, described as â€Å"progressive, training people for skilled work. † (Moore, 21), was the capstone of Washington’s desire to continue educating African Americans in skilled trades.In direct opposition to Washington’s vision of an industr ial educated populace that would improve thru commerce, Du Bois’ selected â€Å"Talented Tenth† would â€Å"help others to fight for the rights for the race†(Moore, 62) with their knowledge of modern society. This type of comparison epitomizes the differences of the two visionaries, however Washington’s approach is accurate as well as brilliant, â€Å"Under the guise of maintaining the social hierarchy, [he] was able to create a strong, independent, black-run institution† (Moore, 28).While outwardly going along with the status quo, Washington tacitly used his economic prowess to build a tangible independent entity capable of choosing its own destiny and purpose. All the while Du Bois relied solely on rhetoric and the intellectual elite to build his constituency to improve the status of African Americans. Judging from racial attitudes in seemly integrated Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois was denied community sponsored scholarship to Harvard University. Further acknowledgement of the less than ideal racial setting, Du Bois attended integrated schools, â€Å"adult blacks and whites did not mingle socially,†(Moore, 39).Historically African American college Fisk University did offer him a scholarship. Author Jacqueline M. Moore was injudicious in her conclusion, â€Å"he (Washington) was the only one capable of negotiating with both the white North and the white South and that outspoken protest would simply make matters worse† (Moore, 68). Mistaking his silence for weakness overlooks effective lobbying in politics and underlying influence in advancing the African American race. Du Bois’ stance towards racial equality is the central criticism of Washington.Du Bois felt that Washington was allowing Caucasian America â€Å"off the hook† of responsibility. While they both agreed institutional segregation had to end, Du bois felt strongly that African Americans were owed assistance from the general s ociety. â€Å"Solving the race problem required everyone’s involvement (Moore, 72). † Washington chose self â€Å"up lift† from the collective boot straps. Clearly Washington’s experience as an ex-slave impacted his work ethic and decision making process and shaped his views of how African Americans should advance the struggle for equality.Comparatively Du Bois argued that Washington was subservient toward the majority rule and racial discrimination. Racial discrimination and violence was at an all time high, however Du Bois’ model for protest, higher education, and a demand for immediate social and political equality was hollow without effective means. The establishment of several civic and social organizations by Du Bois could only voice outrage and indignation. There was no real force behind the effort to motivate people to change on both sides of the racial divide.Washington was widely accused of pandering and compromising by contemporaries as well as scholars of today. What is clearly overlooked is Washington uncanny foresight of recognizing the importance of financial and economic gains over social gains, â€Å"Blacks would agree not to push for social and political equality if whites would agree not to exclude them from economic progress† (Moore, 33). This statement alone underscores his ability to correctly comprehend what drives a capitalistic society, even in the early 1900’s, and to predict the necessary tool for the future is clearly defined as economic progress.Another popular misconception was that Washington focused on presenting African Americans as well dressed, polite educated puppets that could â€Å"discuss† the plight of their people with out offending the listening audience. The message would be a softer, more acceptable presentation for the gentile surrounding. While that may have been an actual tactic used by Washington, it was only a well thought maneuver to fund his educational i nstitution, Tuskegee Institute, by well heeled benefactors. He now favored influence as well as philanthropic support that would educate the next generation of resourceful, independent entrepreneurs.If his vision had been realized, financially successful enterprises started in 1900’s possibly could have survived today or subsidiaries that would be in existence to hire the today’s African American professionals at all levels. Once could only imagine the business knowledge gained and economic success of competitive entities started during the industrial age. Washington may have sacrificed some short lived dignity, but he realized that un-restrain economic growth is tangible and sustains while intellectual accomplishments does not protect or shelter.In the final analysis, the examination of how Du Bois and Washington sought out a collective political, social and economical agenda in the midst of national racial turmoil during the turn of the century is an interesting anal ogy of today’s civil rights leadership agenda. Washington’s method was clearly the most beneficial for the improvement of African Americans for then as well as today. Promoting economic success was the most fundamental element in the struggle for racial uplift.Understanding and able to recognize the changing economic conditions would allow the national objective of racial equality to be the sole issue versus both combined as they are today. As an active participant in the industrial revolution, Washington recognized success as access to business opportunities with a foundation in industrial education. Compared to modern day choices, ground floor Internet opportunity or NAACP internship? Washington’s was option was clearly the proper path, noted by the number of successful African American business that flourished during segregation, i.e. Johnson Publishing, A. G. Gaston Insurance, Motown, etc compared full to racial integration era business successes they remain in African American control. Even though African Americans had limited political power and remained segregated socially, pure economic growth would have accelerated true racial uplift and the issue of economical inequality would have been an issue of the past. Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, and the Struggle for Racial Uplift, Jacqueline M. Moore â€Å"Wilmington , Delaware : Scholarly Resources, 2003.

Orientalism Essay Example

Orientalism Essay Example Orientalism Paper Orientalism Paper Essay Topic: Literature Orientalism is a field of study which is at style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between the Orient and the Occident. It invokes a flexible positioning superiority in which Europe is put into a number of positions of superiority. It is part of an overall campaign of self-affirmation, belligerency, and outright war, (Said xix) however, and in this we see the religious implications. For much of its history Orientalism carries within it the stamp of a problematic European attitude toward Islam. (Said 73) Islam was a threat to a Christian Europe the Ottoman Empire lay geographically close to Christian lands, so there was not only the threat of different religious ideas but also the treat of a mighty military and political power. It resulted in a historical fear of Islam. Orientalism was essentially an attempt to domesticate that threat, but the Orient needed first to be known, then invaded and possessed, then re-created by scholars, soldiers, and judges who disinterred forgotten languages, histories, races, and cultures in order to posit them as the true classical Orient that could be used to judge and rule the modern Orient. (91-92) The Occident responded with the creation of an imaginative geography within which Islam could be confined. Orientalism legitimates a vocabulary, a universe of representative discourse peculiar to the discussion and understanding of the Orient (Said 71) and it consisted of a set of representative figures, or tropes. (Said 71) This does not go to say that Orientalism formed the cornerstone of truth of the Orient, but rather that it was Western ignorance which becomes more refined and complex, not some body of positive Western knowledge which increases in size and accuracy. (Said 62) As a field of knowledge it is a closed body of knowledge in which objects are what they are because they are what they are, for once, for all time, for ontological reasons that no empirical material can either dislodge or alter. (Said 70) The fact that Orientalism derived its authentic from its unchanging nature would cause problems with the emergence of the 19th century. Orientalism would have to change to survive with the times. There was disillusionment when it was realized that the classical Orient did not properly represent the actual Orient. It became what was known as the betrayed dream. What was realized was that one could only really use generalities to describe the Orient in order not to conflict with the specific actualities; it was almost as if a bin called Oriental existed into which all the authoritative, anonymous, and traditional Western attitudes to the East were dumped unthinkingly. (Said 102) These generalities created an aura of eccentricity surrounding the Orient, by which the Orient becomes a living tableau of queerness. (Said 103) This tableau was designated as a disciplined way from which the Orientalist could approach it; essentially, its foreignness [could] be translated, its meanings decoded, its hostility tamed. (Said 103) From this arose the tactics of modern Orientalism. Orientalism was reconstituted, redeployed, redistributed and in the secular framework. (Said 121) There were four components to this process, the end product being naturalized supernaturalism. The first component was due to the Orient expanding past the Islamic lands. This simply goes to say that there were more lands under scrutiny and a binary opposition between Islam and Christianity was no longer possible; there were too many cultures and religions that could come into interaction. All such widening horizons had Europe firmly in the privileged center, as main observer. (Said 117) Secondly, there was the component of historical confrontation that no longer was viable; the Orient was simply not viewed in a confrontational light. Rather, it was viewed as an (inferior) object of study. It involved a greater involvement with source material and confronting the Orients peculiarities with objective detachment. The third component deals with the notion of historicism. This idea promoted the belief that the Occident could penetrate the Orient on the precedent that all cultures are presumably organically and internally coherent historicism encourages such an intellectual penetration. This was done by sympathetic identification by which the Orientalist saw the elements of kinship between himself and the Orient, and this supposedly gave him access to the Orient. Lastly, the core of modern Orientalism rested in the practice of classification. This process involved reducing vast numbers of objects to a smaller number of orderable and describable types [that] belonged to a system, a network of related generalizations. (Said 119) Thus, when an Oriental was referred to, it was in terms of such generic universals as his primitive state, his primary characteristics, his particular spiritual background. (Said 120) Also, this process was carried out in the name of objectivity and claimed its authority from such scientific procedures, rather than on religious superiority as the classical Orientalism did. This was the essence of naturalized supernaturalism, by which religious structures were recast in the secular. From this it is very evident that Orientalism is a man-made field and not a universal or pure truth. Orientalist disciplines were changing (even as Orientalism claimed the values of an unchanging, classical Orient) into their modern form, in which power welt in the new, scientifically advanced techniques of philology and anthropological generalization. (Said 121) Silvestre de Sacy was the forerunner of modern Orientalism: his work virtually put before the profession an entire systematic body of texts, a pedagogic practice, a scholarly tradition, and an important link between Oriental scholarship and public policy. (Said 124) He was responsible for his revisionist projects: all of his work was presented as a revised extract of the best that had already been done, said, or written. (Said 125) He was reproducing the Orient for the Occident, but only those parts that he deemed useful or important; these were carefully selected and arranged topics from the greater body of Oriental knowledge. He believed that the vastly rich (in space, time, and cultures) Orient cannot be totally exposed, only its most reprehensive parts need be. (Said 125) Sacy was thus in a position of authority that modern Orientalism so proudly touts he was the one that chose what was important from the Orient and his choices gave semiotic power to the topics that would now represent the entire Orient.

How to Pick a Blade Length for Your Chainsaw

How to Pick a Blade Length for Your Chainsaw When selecting a blade length for your chainsaw, it is important to take into consideration the nature of your work and the size of your work area. For most simple jobs, such as backyard pruning, a chainsaw with a saw bar or blade that can cut through an average tree limb will be adequate. For other work, consider several factors before selecting a chainsaw: blade length and the power of the saws engine displacement, which is measured in cubic centimeters (cc). It takes substantial power to drive a chain on a longer, heavier bar through dense wood. The length of your blade should ultimately be determined by the horsepower of your saw. You should also take into account the type of work you will be doing with your chainsaw. A saw that would be perfect for a sawyer on a logging deck might be very awkward in the hands of someone working in a tree. Possibly the most important safety issues to keep in mind are your experience, physical condition, and health. The blade size and power of your chainsaw should match your experience and ability. Small saws can still be dangerous but are more forgiving to new chainsaw users. Electric Chainsaws Electric chainsaws attach to a power outlet using a length of cord or are powered by a strong battery. If you are using a chainsaw for the first time, you should start with an electric chainsaw to gain some practical experience. The standard blade sizes are relatively small, at 8 to 12 inches. Electric chainsaws are perfect for yard work such as limb thinning, trimming and pruning. They are also adequate for larger limb removal and cutting down smaller trees. This type of chainsaw should not be used for storm damage cleanup, felling larger trees, or cutting firewood. Light-Duty Chainsaws Light-duty chainsaws are also good tools for beginning chainsaw users looking to gain some practical experience. For many users, they are all you will ever need. The standard blade sizes are 10 to 14 inches, with engine displacements of 30 to 45 ccs. Like electric chainsaws, these tools are great for yard work, and they come with greater power than their plug-in counterparts. They are also adequate for the removal of larger limbs and smaller trees.  As with electrics, these tools should not be used for storm damage cleanup, felling larger trees, or cutting firewood. Medium- to Heavy-Duty Chainsaws Here is where things start to get more complicated. Larger saws should only be operated by people who have experience using chainsaws. In the wrong hands, these tools can be very dangerous, so newcomers should train with smaller saws before handling them. The standard blade sizes for medium- to heavy-duty chainsaws are 14 to 18 inches, with engine displacements of 40 to 50 cc. Heavy-duty saws with long blades are adequate for heavy yard work, though in many cases they tend to be overkill and can actually hinder you on a small job. Large saws are best for cutting larger limbs, bucking medium tree trunks for removal, and working on storm damage. Chainsaws with longer blades (18 to 20 inches) are workhorses best reserved for  felling larger trees  or cutting firewood. Professional Chainsaws Professional chainsaws are mainly for people who use a chainsaw every day, usually in the process of a regular work routine. If you depend upon a chainsaw for your livelihood, this is the tool for you. Most professional saws will range from 60 cc-sized engines on up to more than 120 ccs. Sometimes property owners choose a professional chainsaw to meet the demands of constant heavy work or if the cutting jobs on the property require a larger powered saw. These tools are also used as the power and saw for portable chainsaw mills.

Cyberspace Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Cyberspace Communication - Essay Example These metaphors acquire meaning because we are able to connect and associate even disparate things. For example we can say: 'he was turned off by the behaviour of his boss.' The title of George Orwell's famous book Down and Out in Paris is another good example of an orientational metaphor. We do not have words to describe everything. The first ray of the sun does not have a word and the first kiss of the lover is still just a kiss. These lapses of language create dents in the perception of reality. Personifying metaphors are used to lend spectacle as well as intensity to an act of communication. Abstract entities can be conceived metaphorically in terms of human life and expressed as capable of living and growing. 'Life' of a government, lifeblood, 'economic' growth are good examples. When one says that qualities reside in someone or something lives in memory, the human tendency to equate the inequitable is brought to the fore. When someone gives me the ghost of a smile, I am compelled to marvel at how the brain googles and establishes links. The word 'etheral' could be a good substitute since it combines 'ether' and 'all'. It is relevant because it makes one remember the aspect of the Universe - that vast domain which we all inhabit and our email address is a strong reminder of where we actually belong. After all, where is this gmail.com John Seely Brown

Marketing plan Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Marketing plan - Essay Example Mass-marketing approach thus considers the market to be one homogenous market segment. When it comes to Pizza Restaurant, its goods, that are pizza-and other food items, may be with different quality, and services are almost similar in nature and therefore a mass-marketing strategy of segmentation will be more appropriate. The other two major strategies, namely differentiated (target marketing) and concentrated (niche or product differentiated marketing) (Sandhusen, 2008, 298) are not chosen for Pizza restaurant due to that they are more less likely to be appropriate for a service business like restaurant or hotel. Though consumers are segmented based on their preferences, they all visit the restaurant and they are served or food or other products are delivered to them when they are in restaurant, which is very different from all other industries. Answer to Question 2 The food products and dining services that Pizza Restaurant aims to provide to its customers, who are rich hippies fr om Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, will be able to provide excellent quality of taste and a mere satisfaction for their needs and will be branded as a very unique in the market.

Responses from DQ1 andDQ@ CC and AAw2d2 1 and 2 Assignment

Responses from DQ1 andDQ@ CC and AAw2d2 1 and 2 - Assignment Example It does also not protect junior employees from manipulation by their seniors. The act is therefore more concerned with accurate financial reporting of corporations to the Securities and Exchange Commission. A spot check on the act shows that it only affects external auditors, boards of directors, corporate roles, and the PCAOB in a move to heighten investor confidence in the organizations (Halbert, 2010). It is exceptionally true that corporate employees fear losing their jobs if they decided to talk about illegal activities in their organizations. However, employees have of late been enlightened of their rights incase of unjustified work termination. According to Cox (2009), the Sarbanes-Oxley act (2002) is exceptionally clear on the responsibilities of senior executives regarding their roles in their respective organizations. Of importance to the executive is giving truthful financial information to the Securities and Exchange Commission and this is his or her duty to loyalty towards the organization, and to some extent, duty to care (Harris, 2003). The Sarbanes-Oxley act also protects the corporations from executive malpractices; therefore, external auditors and PCAOB are mandated to check any irregularities that may arise from senior corporate executives. It is therefore very much agreeable that the Sarbanes-Oxley act has helped streamline corporations that are prone to

Summer of the Gods Essay Example for Free

Summer of the Gods Essay The Butler Act refers to the law prohibiting teachers in Tennessee to teach their students, theories that purport to go against the creation theory as found in the bible. It prohibits teaching of any theory that would allude to the notion that man has gradually evolved from a lower primate. This law passed in January 1925. The passing of this law sparked a lot of controversy pitting more than half of the Christians living in the state of Tennessee against political and civil rights activists. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had been vehemently opposed to this act and vowed to offer its services in defense of any teachers accused of violating the Butler Act. It is in the bid to accomplish this that ACLU and other civil rights activists placed an advert seeking for a volunteer teacher. John Scopes responded and volunteered to test the act. A case was built out of this on the belief that Scopes had indeed taught against the creation theory to his student in Clark County High School. Scopes with the help of the civil right movements deliberately incriminated himself in the greater mission of bringing to the public limelight the unfairness of this act and how it was a grave violation of a teacher’s freedom. The trial that would follow would see the meeting of great legal minds. One of this was Clarence Darrow,a self proclaimed atheist and William Jennings Bryan, assisting the prosecution at the request of the World Christian Fundamental Association. A look at this trial indicates that Scopes was just being used as pawn in what had become an ideological turf of war as demonstrated by the sort of the high profile personalities it attracted. William Jennings Bryan had been alleged to have been instrumental on drafting the Butler Act in the belief that citizens should have a say in what was taught in schools. Clarence volunteered to join the defense to further use it as a forum to propagate his beliefs and attack the basis of Butler Act especially the foundation of Christian beliefs. The American Civil Liberties Union on the hand was seeking to mount its opposition and challenge the constitutionality of the Butler Act. (Carson 91) Clarence Darrow was highly agonistic and used this trial to attack the fundamental Christians. It is to be noted that the main aim of the trial as projected by ACLU was to defend Scopes by invalidating the Butler Act. However, Clarence Darrow would go ahead and take it to a level where he sought to invalidate Christian teachings, a radical shift and diversion from ACLU key intention. Darrow’s argument in courts and his cross examination of William Jennings Bryan was supposed to be a clear illustration of his stand. In this cross examination and the argument regarding whether the Jonah was swallowed by a big fish or by a whale was supposed to invalidate the bible and hence attack the very foundation of Christianity, diminishing its importance and hence the Creation theory. This trial, as Carson says, was important not only to Darrow and ACLU but even to the rest of the Americans. It sought to embody the characteristically American struggle between liberty and majoritarian democracy (265). Darrow had an intention of throwing a spanner in the already turbulent debate that had dominated the public domain for long; science and religion. The stand of ACLU was that the Butler act was inappropriate and unconstitutional, it impeded on teachers independence and freedom of imparting knowledge to the students. They agreed that teaching of evolution theory did not in any way contradict the teachings in the bible but rather was merely giving a science perspective of the origin of man to students (Carson 89). Darrow’s cross examination of Bryan was meant to cast a doubt to Bryan’s convictions in the biblical teachings. Bryan was fronting an argument that Butler Act was but a well meaning effort by the legislature to have a say in the curriculum that students were exposed to. Clarence Darrow was maintaining that the arguments given by the prosecution were invalid. He saw the Butler Act as an unconstitutional strategy by the legislature to promote the views of one religious group over others. Butler Act had outlawed any teaching that was contrary to the biblical teachings. The Scopes trial brought a lot of attention to the issues of evolution and biblical teachings. It is this trial that would ignite and spark a far reaching debate wishing to delink religious views from science. The defense was trying to argue that Scopes was trying to teach the various perspectives of the origin of man and not seeking to contradict biblical teachings. It was been by Christian fundamentalists as a wider war on culture. Teaching of evolution theory was seen as way of putting into disrepute the biblical teachings. Most religious groups have come to note that this debate is inevitable and have demanded that evolution theory be taught as one of the many theories of the origin of mankind but not be taught as a scientific fact. Works cited Edward J. Larson. Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate over Science and Religion. Basic Books New York, NY, 1997, 99-269