African Americans And Whites In The United States Have Witnessed A Lar

African Americans and whites in the United States have witnessed a large amount of social and cultural desegregation of. Through years of desegregation, however, social and cultural differences still exist. They exist in the institution of marriage. Americans have been and are continually moving slowly away from segregation. "In the past forty years, laws have transformed schools, jobs, voting booths, neighborhoods, hotels, restaurants and even the wedding altar" (Ties that Bind). Since the 1960's, when housing discrimination was outlawed, many African Americans moved into predominately white neighborhoods. The steadily growing areas in the west and southwest are least segregated, because these areas never had the..."entrenched African American and white sections of town" (Afgen). There are other signs that are visibly seen in the areas of education. A study, done by the University of Michigan, shows that integration on campuses occur on a regular basis. The racial lines are crossed routinely; about 50% of African Americans and 15% of whites reportedly study together and a percentage close to that also eat together. Socially, there has been a steady focus of opinion on a variety of racial issues. Since 1972, surveys have asked whether the respondent would favor a law making inter-racial marriages illegal. "Since 1901, there has been a ban on these interracial marriages in Alabama" (Afgen). In 1980 the results showed that 30% of whites and 18.3% of African Americans favor such a law. By 1994, data showed 14.7% and 3.2% respectively. Similar trends have also been observed in busing and even integrated social clubs (Ties that Bind). A simple analysis shows that complete desegregation is moving in the right direction. Regardless of these examples of desegregation, a deeper look shows that there are still signs of racial discriminations, mostly seen in the institution of marriage between African Americans and whites. "By 1996, there were more than 340,000 marriages between blacks and whites, according to the census updates, of which fewer than 1 in 3 interracial marriages were between African Americans and whites in the 1960" (Ties that Bind). These numbers do not reflect the spread of desegregation very well. If there is such a large spread of desegregation between African Americans and whites from the past to the present, then the numbers should reflect a much larger count of interracial marriages between these races. This is, however, untrue. There are less such barriers African American and white couple's face today. One of the major barriers that face these couples does not come from themselves but rather from family disapproval. Ruth, an African American woman, and her husband Steve, a white man, were married in 1982. They have no prejudice toward each other and they share the equal love of any other married couple. Problems did not arise from friends because they shared friendship with people from different races along with those who looked at the person, not the color. However, they had problems with other people, such as Steve's mother. His mother had sat him down and asked him why he could not marry his own kind. Steve, of course, stood firm and married Ruth, which unfortunately resulted in the ties between his mother and himself breaking away. Robert, an African American man, married Michelle, a White Lutheran woman. Not one of Michelle's relatives attended the wedding, except for her mother. Her father was furious that he was expected to accept an African American into the family. "It is not the disfavor of strangers that hurts these couples the most, but rather the disfavor of family"(Newsline). "Territa, a African American women, had broken up with Todd, her White husband, several times before getting married because of the initial reaction of Todd's family "(Newsline). Nevertheless, they did not let their family's disapproval stop them from continuing on what they had. In another occurrence, Fred and Anita Prinzing, both white, were aware that interracial marriage brought problems. Both their son and daughter married African Americans. Fred and Anita believed that they were not prejudiced, but as far as their children were concerned, they couldn't justify the prejudice they felt for their children marrying African Americans. The only way they believed that they could have been persuaded from prejudice was the fact that they had been exposed

Turkey in the European Union

Turkey in the European Union The country of Turkey is typically considered to straddle both Europe and Asia. Turkey occupies all of the Anatolian Peninsula (also known as Asia Minor) and a small part of southeastern Europe. In October 2005 negotiations began between Turkey (population 70 million) and the European Union (EU) for Turkey to be considered as a possible member of the EU in the future. Location While most of Turkey lies geographically in Asia (the peninsula is Asian), far western Turkey lies in Europe. Turkeys largest city of Istanbul (known as Constantinople until 1930), with a population of over 9 million is located on both the east and west sides of the Bosporus strait so it straddles both what are traditionally considered Europe and Asia. However, Turkeys capital city of Ankara is fully outside of Europe and on the Asian continent. While the European Union is working with Turkey to help it move toward being able to become a member of the European Union, there are some who are concerned about Turkeys potential membership. Those opposed to Turkish membership in the EU point to several issues. Issues First, they state that Turkeys culture and values are different from those of the European Union as a whole. They point out that Turkeys 99.8% Muslim population is too different from Christian-based Europe. However, the EU makes the case that the EU is not a religion-based organization, Turkey is a secular (a non-religion-based government) state, and that 12 million Muslims currently live throughout the European Union. Nonetheless, the EU acknowledges that Turkey needs to Substantially improve respect for the rights of non-Muslim religious communities to meet European standards. Secondly, naysayers point out that since Turkey is mostly not in Europe (neither population-wise nor geographically), it should not become part of the European Union. The EU responds that, The EU is based more on values and political will than on rivers and mountains, and acknowledges that, Geographers and historians have never agreed on the physical or natural borders of Europe. Too true! A third reason Turkey might have problems is its non-recognition of Cyprus, a full-fledged member of the European Union. Turkey will have to acknowledge Cyprus to be considered a contender for membership. Additionally, many are concerned about the rights of Kurds in Turkey. The Kurdish people have limited human rights and there are accounts of genocidal activities that need to stop for Turkey to be considered for European Union membership. Finally, some are concerned that Turkeys large population would alter the balance of power in the European Union. After all, Germanys population (the largest country in the EU) is only at 82 million and declining. Turkey would be the second largest country (and perhaps eventually the largest with its much higher growth rate) in the EU and would have considerable influence in the European Union. This influence would be especially profound in the population-based European Parliament. The low per-capita income of the Turkish population is also of concern since the economy of Turkey as a new EU member might have a negative effect on the EU as a whole. Turkey is receiving considerable assistance from its European neighbors as well as from the EU. The EU has allocated billions and is expected to allocate billions of euros in funding for projects to help invest in a stronger Turkey that may one day become a member of the European Union. I was particularly moved by this EU statement on why Turkey should be part of the European Union of the future, Europe needs a stable, democratic and more prosperous Turkey which adopts our values, our rule of law, and our common policies. The accession perspective has already driven forward bold and significant reforms. If the rule of law and human rights are guaranteed throughout the country, Turkey can join the EU and thus become an even stronger bridge between civilizations as it is already today. That sounds like worthwhile goal to me.

Compare and contrast between liberalism and conservatism Essay

Compare and contrast between liberalism and conservatism - Essay Example High level of individual freedom is the core of classical liberalism whereas liberal conservatism advocates small governmental intervention on individual matters. In other words both are similar as far as individual freedom is concerned. Classical liberalism advocates private property and liberal conservatism also do not deny earning of private property. Liberty and prosperity were the major slogans of classical liberalism. Liberal conservatives also emphasize human's freedom, capitalism and a free economy/market. Progressive liberals are not much keen in doing what they advocate in their manifesto. Most of their principles and policies were lie on paper alone. On the other hand, traditional conservatives believe in natural laws and moral principles. Tradition, custom, hierarchy, patriotism, localism regionalism etc are different dimensions of traditional conservatism whereas progressive liberals will never advocate all those things publicly, but they engage in similar activities pri vately.