Mrs Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mrs - Research Proposal Example The media brought out the Egyptian revolution to the world and made the world unite in protest. The heroic portrayals of the Egyptian people through the media could be one of the reasons that made people stand up and fight. But there were losses, in terms of life and property. Who accounts for that? In togetherness is makes a very interesting topic to research on the impact of media in bringing about revolution. Purpose of the Research: The main purpose of this research paper should be to thoroughly investigate and find a co relation between the presence of media in everyday life and the surge in people’s revolutions against tyranny and dictatorship across the world. Objective of the Research: The main objectives of the paper can be summarized as follows: The paper should also help realize to what extent the media has been playing a role as a catalyst in instigating people’s thought and need for a revolutionary movement. ... Academics argue that most individual’s life style and thoughts are influenced by what is being portrayed by the media. Thus it become very important to analyze if revolutionary decisions are being taken rationally or is the media responsible for instigating such interest and motives by its portrayal of events. Is it not possible that the media can be selective in what it portrays as eventually it also has to look after its economic viability? (Biagi, 2002) Literature Review: April, 2007 witnessed the worst school shooting in American history when one gunman took 32 other lives beside himself inside Virginia Tech University. Psychologist and member of the society put the cause on over exposure to violent entertainment in the media. Activists and leaders called on the media to control their portrayal of violence in an attempt to protect the minds of young people. At the same time, it is also to be noted that the media portrayals may not affect the behavior of all individuals in the same way (Sparks, 2010). However the presence of media can be seen everywhere around human beings to the extent that it affects us economically socially and culturally. Sometimes the mass media even influences one’s way of talking, eating habits, working, studying and relaxing (Biagi, 2006). The media is then also seen as a source of power and empowerment for the civil society. It brings knowledge that lets people think and decide, provides empowerment to the society by revolutionizing thoughts. The empowerment of women in many societies across the globe is often credited to the efforts of mass media to bring along changes (Klaehn, 2010). It is also supported by Sparks (2010) saying that progress through personal experiences and

About and for the death penalty Essay Example for Free

About and for the death penalty Essay The idea of your life for a life; the vast majority of our population is in favor of the death penalty. For thousands of years it has been used as a punishment for crimes. Through government for crimes against the State to churches for crimes against their religions, Impositions of the death penalty is extraordinarily rare. Since 1967 there has been one execution for every 1600 murders or 0.06%. There have been approximately 560,000 murders and 358 executions from 1967-1996. (UCR) As we continue the war on crime, two factors stand out: Ending all crime is impossible but controlling it is a must. Regardless of the voices of the Anti-Death Penalty Movement, the only control is deterrence, the only deterrence is control. With all the statistics on deterrence, economic ramifications and secure limitation on allowed appeals. The death penalty should remain the United States primary weapon against capital crime. Is the death penalty a successful deterrent and does it save the lives of innocent citizens? A question raised and argued for years in the past and still in the spotlight. For justice to be deterring, the severity of the punishment must outweigh the crime. With life in prison without the possibility of parole an inmate has no care if he kills again. This is very evident considering, at the roughly 52,000 state prison inmates serving time for murder in 1984, an estimated 810 had previously been convicted of murder and had killed 821 persons and following their previous murder convictions. Executing each of these inmates would have saved 821 lives. (41, 1 Stanford Law Review, 11/88, Pd 153) We can then look at the number of convicted murderers that are either released too soon due to cases being overturned based on past conviction. New laws brought on by judicial decisions in other cases or even escape. Its not the executions that reduce murder rates but the reduction of the number of murders. See more: Unemployment problems and solutions essay Many other factors are argued about the death penalty including but not limited to the cost of life without parole LOWP vs. the death penalty. Opponents present, as facts, that the death penalty is so expensive (at least $2 million per case), that we must choose life without parole at a  cost of $1 million for 50 years. Without a doubt the up front costs of the death penalty are higher than for an equivalent LWOP cases. There is also no question that over time LWOP cases become much more expensive. JFA states that in these estimates It should be noted that we were intentionally generous in minimizing life costs within our analysisJFA. As you have seen here more controversy on why opponents feel the death penalty should be abolished but when totaled up and a limitation being established for how long an inmate can stall his execution then that cost would be lower. Here it is shown that the death penalty is also an economically balanced way to deal with those who commit capitol crimes (JFA). In our United States Constitution an individual whose trial resulted in a guilty verdict has the right to appeal his case. Our system at this time has no limits on the amount of appeals an individual is entitled to, and this is why the average death row inmate sits with hopes of an overturned appeal to change their sentence to life imprisonment instead of death. What kind of deterrence is the sentence of death when a convicted felon has so many opportunities to delay or lessen the punishment for the crime they committed? In 1996 President Clinton signed the Effective Death Penalty and Anti-terrorist Bill. It is designed to limit the appeal time frame after a death sentence verdict  (DeRienzo). The Opponents bring up Amendment rights in the Constitution and thus this is still under debate but what about the rights of the victim? Where is the justice giving a convicted murderer the rights they took away from another. In the years since the Supreme Court re-instituted the death penalt y through 1994, there have been approximately 467,000 homicides in the United States. Based on that number, 2.8 people will die every hour at the  hands of another person. (JFA) Death row inmates are often on death row for years, some upwards of twenty years. This is paid for with the taxpayers money. While in prison, inmates have many privileges, including cable television, the chance to pursue a college degree, and free health care, all at our expense. It is appalling to think these people have a life of leisure while in prison. There are even some death penalty opponents who believe that these convicts serving LWOP arent treated fair and deserve better living conditions and more rights. Lost in this passionate pursuit of human rights are the rights of the dead victim and those of that victims family. The appeal process is lengthy and time-consuming. The death penalty informs society that by committing capital crimes, your rights do change and you will suffer the same fate. Through out time many aspects of the death penalty have proven that it can be a deterrent for would-be murderers where by it does save lives. Not possible for all but some families get a sense of closure from the grief and anger brought forth by the loss of a loved one. Those who commit vicious crimes destroy the basis on which a moral community rests and forfeit their rights to citizenship and even life itself (Cauthen) Simply put locking a murderer up for life doesnt do the trick. The laws change, people forget and parole boards change too, this seams to deteriorate with a life in prison sentence. As long as a murderer lives no matter how small a chance, he will probably strike again. Expediting the execution process gives the family of the victims closure. To have the process drawn out for years only keeps the pain fresh and life for them is on  hold until justice is served. Furthermore it is an insult to them to put the rights of a  murderer over the rights of the victim. The convict demonstrated a lack of regard for human life by taking the life of another. The basic premise of human intelligence is the  ability to reason and make decisions. This person made a conscious decision to take a life. Regret and remorse will not change the outcome of those actions. This person does not deserve the life comfort found in todays prisons. As you have read here todays judicial system seems to forget about the victims in these heinous crimes to humanity by criminals and almost reward them by supporting them for the rest of their lives. Justice is in the eyes of those that are law abiding not those that break the law. This is why I feel that the death penalty is the best deterrent, it is pro-economic and with limits on appeals, Innocent people will live and capitol crime will have capital punishment.

History of Womens Rights and the Gender Pay Gap

History of Womens Rights and the Gender Pay Gap 1998 marked the 150th Anniversary of a movement by women. The fight for women’s rights began in the late 19th century. 1917, women could vote, making 2017 the 100th anniversary of the ending for women’s suffrage, or has it? Although we have marched, protested and have the 19th amendment stating our rights, we are still not quite equal. This research will explore the past and current state of women’s pay in the workplace, supported with data. We have made progress, but the problem is still there. The only way to eliminate a global problem such as this, is to fight together, both genders. Men must see women as their coworker and partner, not combatant or slave. Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote what is known as the Declaration of Sentiments, in 1848. These sentiments stated facts about women, their rights and equality, that we are still fighting today. â€Å"When women did work they were paid only a fraction of what men earned† (Ruthsdotter, 1998). This was stated in the early 19th century, yet in what will soon be the 22nd century, some women are still paid this way. Women are still fighting to be considered an equal, a partner, a co-worker and not a combatant. Women prior to the 19th amendment were basically subject to their husbands. Their entire lives were solely based on their husbands. Their income, land, child custody, all other rights, and more were chosen, mandated and or owned by their spouse.   â€Å"In 1920, the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor was established to gather information about the situation of women at work, and to advocate for changes if needed. Many women’s activist became involved with campaigning for laws to protect women workers from abuse and unsafe conditions. It took seventy-two years for women and their male supporters to be successful.† (Ruthsdotter, 1998) In 1923, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party wrote the Equal Rights Amendment for the United States Constitution and Congressional Union, followed by the National Woman’s party in 1916. (Ruthsdotter, 1998) We have had many waves of change for women and their rights, but we still aren’t quite equal yet. We are now allowed to vote, divorce, take full custody of our children, own land, be leaders in religious organizations, be business owners, CEO’s, and file with the courts over domestic abuse. These things and more have shown how far we have come since 1848. The reason for the constant waves of change, and fighting back, is possibly due to men and women alike, can see a woman as more than just a female, with limited ability. Who some only seen her job as a wife, birth children and take care of the home. Women are now seen as fellow human being who deserve respect and the same rights as their male counterpart. Women and men have fought alongside each other for the equality of women; especially in the work place, for many years. If men in the workplace could see women as their partner, and not combatant maybe we would end this wage inequality amongst women. Many have done research to find why are women paid less than men in the workplace? Two researchers have taken a different approach in their research in women’s lives, that may contribute to the wage gap. One researcher discovered personality and wages have a correlation with wages for men and women. â€Å"Women score more highly on agreeableness than men, and because this trait is associated with lower wages in the labour market, men having lower agreeableness represents an advantage. On the other hand, men have a higher average score for intellect than women, and because this trait is rewarded in the wage setting, men’s higher score for this trait also represents an advantage.† (Nyhus, 2012)    This is profound research, not many people would involve the personalities of men and women and based wages on that. Of course, many will argue that should not be a factor, in the fairness of equal pay for women. Another researcher viewed the correlation of childcare and wages for women. â€Å"Countries where society has a positive mindset towards working mothers or about the desire for external childcare for children will provide more childcare, which will result in increases of fertility and female labor force participation and will reduce the wage gap. External childcare reduces the time women put into child rearing which increases fertility and labor supply and this decreases the gender wage gap. If everyone believes that childcare usage will be zero, the use of childcare will be zero, which leads to zero usage. Fertility and female labour supply will be consequently low and the wage gap will be high.† (Borck, 2014) Borck, could see the importance of having childcare facilities, that will provide care and childrearing for children, so women could work. We often do not think about childcare and afterschool programs to help working women. Borck could prove this in his research. These programs and childcare centers should be seen as positives, this will help lower the wage gap in the future, as long as our society can see the benefit it has on working women. So how big is the problem? â€Å"In 2015, women working full time in the United States typically were paid just 80 percent of what men were paid, a gap of 20 percent (Proctor et al., 2016). The gap has narrowed since 1960, due largely to women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate. At the rate of change between 1960 and 2015, women are expected to reach pay equity with men in 2059. But even that slow progress has stalled in recent years. If change continues at the slower rate seen since 2001, women will not reach pay equity with men until 2152.† (Hill, 2017) These findings are frightening, if this continues this will have long term financial effects on working women. In 2015, 14 percent of American women ages 18–64 were living below the federal poverty level, compared with 11 per- cent of men. (Hill, 2017) So, what is causing it? So far researchers are discovering it is a combination of, occupation, higher education, and industry choices. If a woman chooses a low-paying cashier position and another chief executive that also contributes to the data of women with low wages.   Ã¢â‚¬Å"Of the overall U.S. gender pay gap of 24.1 percent in base pay, we find that 16.2 percent is â€Å"explained† by differences between male and female workers: different ages, levels of education, experience, industries, occupations, company sizes and locations. The remaining 7.9 percent of the pay gap is â€Å"unexplained,† due either to factors we aren’t able to observe or to workplace bias and discrimination.† (Chamberlain, 2016) Warren Farrell listed his top 5 positions that he believes will keep women employed, if they chose something that isn’t always in the office and neat, but sometimes messy and includes heat. â€Å"In brief, technology is not job security, but career security. Career security matters more than job security, and both can matter more than the exact amount you are paid.† (Farrell, 2005)   The Field-with-Higher-Yield Formula: One to Five Choose a field in technology or the harder sciences, not the arts or social sciences (pharmacology vs. art history)Get hazard pay without the hazards (female adminstratior in air force vs. male combat soldier in army)Jobs requiring little education, those that expose you to the heat and are possibly messy pay more than those that are indoors and neat (UPS deliverer vs. receptionist)In most jobs with higher pay, you can’t mentally check out at the end of the day (corporate attorney vs. librarian)Fields with higher pay often have lower fulfillment (tax accountant vs. child care professional)   (Farrell, 2005) Is it possible that women could be limited themselves from higher paid positions? Part of the answer is yes, while the other part is no. Yes, If women constantly take on low-paying jobs and not attempting to obtain a higher education, they will only help with the negative statistics. No, if women as a collective whole, began to earn college degrees and experience in male dominated industries, yet still paid a lower salary, the fight will continue. There are also women who have higher education, yet are still paid less due to no child care, working part time and other family related issues. Doctor Anne Montgomery watched her pay change at various times in her career as she made sacrfices for her family. She runs a family-medicine residency program in Rancho Mirage, California. She cut back to about three-fourth’s of her full time so she could care for her son.I actually pretty much worked full time my whole career,She continues. I only got paid for part time. In 2009, she was earning $170,000 a year as a full-time faculty physician in Spokane, Washington. She was thrilled to get a $30,000 raise but it only brought her more in competition with a newly hired male colleague who had aggressively negotiated. Her husband Glen Stream; who is also a doctor, had an easier time climbing up the income ladder. He negotiated his pay and eventually earned a $275,000 base salary as chief medical-information officer of a Spokane multispecialty group. In 2012, his earnings reached $400,000 when he made $190,000 as the American Academy of Family Physicians president plus three-fourths of his executive salary. Last year, Dr. Montgomery earned $303,000, while her husband, earned $364,000. (Adamy, 2016) In conclusion, Dr. Montgomery’s story shows that even in white collar professions, women are still having a great disadvantage compared to their male counterparts. Often women are still seen in the same light as they were in 1848, before the 19th amendment took place. What if men began to take on the role as the â€Å"stay at home dad† and women were the bread winners? Would it matter? Would it hurt us as a society? I do not believe it would. Our society has been fed through media for over a 100 years about a woman’s place in our society. Dictating what constitutes as a female job and male job. Who came up with what our jobs are suppose to be? I believe as women and men we need to eliminate what constitues as a specfic gender job.   If we eliminate the labels, and allow men and women to work where they will be their best, we can start to make more progress. If we could stop seeing women as unreliable due to child rearing, and believeing they can only work so ma ny hours, do only certain jobs, and base salary on their personality traits, child care, etc. We can possibly elimnate the gender wage gap sooner. References Adamy, J. &. (2016, May 18). Pay gap widest for elite jobs women in white-collar careers see biggest gender disparity, defying legislative remedies. Retrieved from Wall Street Journal: http://search.proquest.com.bakerezproxy.palnet.info/docview/1789404832?accountid=8473 Borck, R. (2014). Adieu Rabenmutter-culture, fertility, female labour supply, the gender wage gap and childcare. Journal Of Population Economics, 27(3), 739-765. doi:10.1007/s00148-013-0499-z Chamberlain, D. A. (2016, March). Demystifying the Gender Pay Gap . Retrieved from Glassdoor: https://research-content.glassdoor.com/app/uploads/sites/2/2016/03/Glassdoor-Gender-Pay-Gap-Study.pdf Farrell, W. (2005). Why Men Earn More : The Startling Truth Behind the Pay Gapand What Women Can Do About It (1st Edition ed., Vol. 1). New York, NY, USA: American Management Association International. Hill, C. (2017, September 20). The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap. Retrieved from The American Association of University Women (AAUW): http://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/ Nyhus, E. K., & Pons, E. (2012). Personality and the gender wage gap. Applied Economics, 44(1), 105-118. doi:10.1080/00036846.2010.500272   Ruthsdotter, B. E. (1998, January 01). History of the Women’s Rights Movement. Retrieved from The National Women’s History Project: http://www.nwhp.org/resources/womens-rights-movement/history-of-the-womens-rights-movement/

Poland during World War 2 Essay -- essays research papers

I. History of Poland After the Partitions of Poland (1772-1795), which had decreased the size of the country, giving most of the land to Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary. The First World War provided a practical chance for Poland to restore its independence. The powers, which had separated the country more than one hundred years earlier, were fighting on opposite sides. Germany with the Austro-Hungarian Empire (the Central Powers) fought Imperial Russia allied with France and Great Britain. Polish troops, under their own banners, also joined the fight. At first, under the command of the anti-Russian revolutionary Jà ³zef Pi ³sudski, Polish battalions were formed to fight Russia. But in 1917, after a number of successful operations against Russians, the legions were disbanded and Pi ³sudski was tossed into jail when the Polacks refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Central Powers. Meanwhile, with the fall of its monarchy, Russia's grip on Poland began to slowly decrease to nothing. This enabled the Polacks to organize a Polish army in France to fight against the Central Powers. Russia was defeated first and Germany and Austria soon followed . Finally, on November 11, 1918, Poland re-emerged as a free nation after 123 years of captivity. However, some problems remained. After the Communist Revolution Russia was determined to carry the flame, so successfully kindled at home, to Poland, Germany and beyond. In 1920, not quite two years after regaining independence, Poland was forced to fight again to maintain its sovereignty and to defend Europe. II. Pre World War II The brief, nineteen-year period of peace following the war and lasting until 1939 was marked by a consolidation of the three partitioned territories, which for over one hundred years had belonged to an alliance of different countries. It also marked a time of vigorous economic growth for Poland. In the early 1920s German intrigues in the Free City of Gdansk prevented the free flow of Polish trade through that port. Poland's response was to build a new port in the small fishing town of Gdynia. By 1938, Gdynia became the busiest port in the Baltic Sea and provided serious competition for Gdansk. In south-central Poland, construction of an industrial complex began in 1936. It had hydroelectric power plants, steel works, aircraft manufacturing, machinery, ammunition and fertilizers. In 1938 P... ...d and they were rounded up and sent to ghettos in towns and cities. The two largest ghettos were established in Warsaw and Lodz. Between 22nd July and 3rd October 1942, 310,322 Jews were deported from the Warsaw ghetto to these extermination camps. Information got back to the ghetto what was happening to those people and it was decided to resist any further attempts at deportation. In January 1943, Heinrich Himmler gave instructions for Warsaw to be free of all Jews by Hitler's birthday on 20th April. Warsaw contained several resistance groups. The largest was the Polish Home Army. There was also the Jewish Military Union and the communist Jewish Fighter Organization (ZOB) led by Mordechai Anielewicz, Yitzhak Zuckerman, Gole Mire and Adolf Liebeskind. On 19th April 1943 the Waffen SS entered the Warsaw ghetto. Although they only had two machine-guns, fifteen rifles and 500 pistols, the Jews opened fire on the soldiers. They also attacked them with grenades and petrol bombs. The Germans took heavy casualties and the Warsaw military commander, Brigadier-General Jà ¼rgen Stroop, ordered his men to retreat. He then gave instructions for all the buildings in the ghetto to be set on fire.

The Success of the Elite White South

During the 12 year period after the Civil War (1865-1877) four main groups of people, Southern Whites, Recently Freed Blacks, Northern Democrats, and Northern Republicans, were all competing to rebuild the war ravaged South to their advantage or ideals, but it was the Southern Whites whose needs were most closely met. Because the freedmen were never given social equality, education, means of economic success, or full participation in government operations the plantation owners of the south were able to bring about conditions after the civil war which were not far from those of the prewar, with the whites controlling the laws and the money and the blacks performing all of the labor needed to fuel an agrarian economy. After the Civil War many Negroes though they would soon be entitled to nearly full, if not complete, social equality because of congressional action such as the formation of the freedman's bureau and the passing of the civil rights act. However, they soon learned that the Southern whites were not about to let this happen, and that blacks would be kept in the inferior position they had known for the hundreds of years that preceded the war. Soon after the war most Southern states wrote into the books news laws pertaining to Negroes called the â€Å"Black Codes. † These laws, which were often identical to prewar laws save the word â€Å"slave† was replaced with the word â€Å"freedman†, limited almost every conceivable right of the black man. They were denied the ability to congregate in groups, stay at certain motels or inns, and eat at many restaurants. They were required to carry special passes and given a curfew. Because the white South was so opposed to black equality, any law passed to grant Negroes rights were either or ignored, or were bypassed using certain loopholes. Congress could do almost nothing to stop these maltreatments from happening. In 1875 they did pass the Civil Rights Act, but poor enforcement and a Supreme Court ruling 8 years later led the bill practically useless to the blacks. All in all white resistance and government control led to almost no integration of blacks into white society. Lack of good education for blacks was another important factor that prevented them from achieving any status higher than servant after the war. Although blacks schools were set up from primary to college, they were sparsely funded and almost completely segregated, leaving the blacks with either no education or a very poor one. Congress did make attempts at, and succeed in, creating state funded schools in the South, they allowed them to be segregated, which permitted the whites to control which race got what kind of education. Their prejudices of course pointed them in the direction of inferior education for blacks. Black schools were almost always poorly funded and inadequately staffed. The teachers at these schools, usually Northern whites, were often given such a horrible social stigma that they were forced to leave the South, and teaching there, completely. They were ostracized by the whites, and often beaten or tarred and feathered by the Ku Klux Klan. Some states attempted to integrate state colleges, or create all black colleges, but these ventures met with little success. In Arkansas, for example, the state college was declared open to all races, but only one black person registered and he was taught privately off campus. Not only did the prospect of segregation allow for poor black education, but it also caused their demoralization. Almost a hundred years later when the Supreme Court finally ruled segregation unconstitutional, one of the strongest arguments was that separating the blacks from the whites caused a great feeling of self hatred and inferiority among the blacks. Had the blacks not faced these practical and psychological barriers, they would have been far more likely to contend with white southerners in the job market. One of the most important things denied blacks during reconstruction was the means to make a living either of subsistence farming or in jobs requiring skilled labor. Early on in the civil war there were rumors of a post-war land redistribution which would gives blacks the means to start farms of their own, but these rumors predicted a much greater turn over of land than was actually seen. At first it seemed as if they might be true however. Upon capturing the sea islands south of Charleston, General Sherman gave the 485,000 acres to 40,000 black families to run. These blacks believed they had been given legal ownership of the land, and worked it profitably for over 4 years until the original white owners stepped in and demanded, and were granted, their old deeds back. Other plans were initiated to give poor blacks more land, but few of them me with success. In some states thousands of acres were acquired through either purchase, taxation (States taxed land highly if one person owned more than a certain amount. This required many large land owners to give up some, but not all of their land. ), or confiscation, but when attempts were made to sell this land off at low prices, it was picked up mostly by speculators or people with close ties to the government looking for a summer home. Fewer than 40,000 acres were ever actually given to poor blacks. Not only were blacks kept out of subsistence farming, but they were also removed from almost all forms of skilled labor. The black codes imposed strict restrictions on what jobs blacks could do, so that even if they did pick up a trade, either through schooling or from previous experience on the plantation, they could not use it. The whites did allow them to enter the skilled workforce, but only through apprenticeships under white masters which were almost no better than slavery. Apprentices were not allowed to leave their maters, and could be whipped if the masters deemed it necessary. With the end of efforts to get the black man his own land and the inability for him to enter the skilled work force the black man was destined to a life of subservience to the whites. After reconstruction the only option left to most of the blacks was a system of sharecropping which was practically identical to slavery. And just as demoralizing. All of these restrictions could easily have been lifted if the freedmen had been given the right to vote early on, as the 15th amendment seemed to promise, but this never happened. Although the 15th amendment guaranteed the right to vote to everyone regardless of race or creed, it's vague wording allowed whites to find other ways to deny the freedmen suffrage. Southern states adopted poll taxes, education requirements, land requirements, grandfather clauses, or a mixture of any of those in order to successfully keep the blacks from the polls without actually stating that blacks could not vote. This allowed the whites to stay ahead politically as well as economically. Although in some states this did not happen, and blacks were even elected to political office, they never achieved high ranks in either state or federal governments, and their numbers in the house were well below what percentage of the population they represented. Without the right to vote or any representatives in the government, the blacks found themselves powerless to change the laws that held them down. They could not get equal rights, decent education, or job opportunities because these were all the responsibility of the government, a government which they played almost no part in. Without a voice in legislation the black man was powerless to direct his destiny, and the white man was able to guide him down a path of further servitude. This fact alone proves that slavery did not die with the end of slavery. With a large portion of the population writing laws keeping a smaller portion in a lesser state, slavery still exists. All of these factors contributed to keep the whites on top of the blacks for many years after reconstruction. It wasn't until the civil rights movement of the 1960's that true change was brought about. The black man was kept out of white social circles, was not given education, was kept out of the job market, and was not allowed to participate in the government. All of these factors added up to a man who was supposedly free, but had few options to choose from. Everywhere the black man turned paths were off limits to him, and the only one that seemed to be open was one of lower class citizen whose life was still basically determined by the white man. The outcome of the reconstruction truly favored the whites in that all power was given to them. They were able to control the destiny of not only themselves, but of the blacks as well.

Book Review “Prejudice and Pride” by Krishna Kumar Essay

The piece of work which is being reviewed is authored by an eminent educationist Krishna Kumar. The title of the book is Prejudice and Pride which has been published by Penguin Books India Limited,Viking in the year 2001. The subtitle of the book ‘School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakistan’ reflects major concern as well as the prime area of investigation in this book by the author. It is a comparative study between the school history textbooks of the neighboring countries India and Pakistan. The impetus to take up this path of exploration by Krishna Kumar can also be seen somewhere as his response to the several decades of hostility between India and Pakistan. The writer takes this despair further and observes the general gloom prevailing in the education system of both the countries. However, according to him this becomes clearer by looking on the situation of children’s education in both India and Pakistan, which can be seen as a recipient o f a certain degree of despondency giving it a low priority. Moving on to history teaching more specifically we can see that this problem aggravates as the focus of teaching history only arises political concern without translating it as a concern for the children who are at the receiving end. Therefore with the study of school history textbooks of both the countries Krishna Kumar seems to be tracing different trajectories of ideological presentation of a shared past. This can be seen as also adding up to the hostile attitude of both the countries towards each other. This study is thus based on a comparative study of the school history textbooks of India and Pakistan. Out of this comparison the author brings forth a number of concepts and ideas where both countries who share a common historical background have different takes on its account and staging. However the basic question which the author enquires into is the perception of the past that Indian and Pakistani children encounter at school. Following this research question the major objectives of the author while writing this book can be stated as follows. The one is to examine the rival ideologies of nationalism into which schools attempt to socialize the young. While another is to probe the politics of history writing as a means to understand the contribution that schooling makes to the Indo-Pak conflict. However the author is focusing only the master narratives available in the textbooks for the period of freedom struggle. The relevance of taking textbooks as the centre of observation to achieve these objectives  can be seen in the very nature of textbooks. This can be further explained as interrelation between economy, state and culture can be better understood through the textbooks. They are the clearest embodiments of these relations. Textbooks are simultaneously economic goods (they are often sold to students, parents, and schools), political objects (they are subject to state control and regulation and hence a re the result of political and ideological tensions and compromises), and cultural representations (what is included and not included, and how such knowledge is organized, is a form of cultural politics). Thus the textbooks can be seen as a real epitome of a nation’s ideological, cultural and social background. The central theme of this book thus revolves around the idea that history textbooks are also a recipient of certain kind of representation which is in accordance with the national ideology. This is further elaborated by the author during the course of study where he finds that how the knowledge about the past is selected, reconstructed and represented in the textbooks. This he assumes that holds a great significance for this type of study which intends to probe how a common past acquires distinct versions under two systems of education. He further adds to this argument that why history has taken such a symbolic form. He says that this is because education in India and Pakistan is conceived in both learning and committing to memory, sets of facts that encapsulate, rather than explicate and interpret meaning. This is evident in the examination system where a student is required to learn certain things and just reflect the same in the paper. This he makes clear by using a concept of memory posters which makes a child to remember the reconstructed past without giving much space for reasoned analysis. Thus the history textbook are also conceived as a storehouse of knowledge about the past, about the ‘great men’ of those times and their vision, which children have to learn, imbibe, as it were-never mind that this vision was seldom unified or synchronic in the manner that textbooks would have us believe. Therefore through this the author portrays how the formulation of history textbooks on these premises serves the abovementioned idea that they are primarily composed of nationalistic ideology. The central idea which is propagated through this book is explained very explicitly through various explanations and concepts. The book is divided into three parts excluding the introduction. The part one primarily consists of three chapters where he  focuses on the basic ideas of how the children are made familiar to past, the popular perception about the shared past in both the countries and how a certain ideology is propagated through textbooks. The chapter one possess the title Children and the Past. This chapter examines the psycho-social characteristics of children’s response to the past. Here he talks about the tacit knowledge which is imparted in a child during the course of early socialization in his home. This type of knowledge does not provide any room for rational enquiry. This further leads a child to build up a notion of self as a member of a society and also at the same time to build up a notion of ‘other’ for whom they have a fixed image whose me mory stocks are different to theirs. Thus we can see how the seed of otherness for the one having different historical picture is sowed in the primary socialization of a child. Later the child enters the realm of education in school. Here he explains the need to understand history as a subject with a capacity to enter into a time frame and perspective without being submerged in it. But to attain this he says becomes a hard task as the teaching of history faces challenges against the knowledge of past by children in the form of beliefs and attitude. His next chapter then comes toward the general conceptions of different popular perceptions of past in both India and Pakistan. The idea of freedom and partition is explained very differently in both the countries. The use of the images of Jinnah and Gandhi in Pakistan and India respectively can be seen as a means to portray the image of a reminder of the unfinished business of the freedom movement in both the countries. The chapter after this tends to focus on the relationship between ideology and textbooks. He uses the concept of ‘prescribed’ texts to define the nature of books used in the post colonial countries where teaching of history is highly related to larger socio-political milieu. He uses the concept given by Ayesha Jalal to reflect upon the argument that in both India and Pakistan textbooks represent the grammar of ‘national ideology’. Moving towards the second part of the book which is coined as Rival Histories has six chapters in it. The part initiates with a chapter on how freedom struggle is presented as a narrative in both the countries. The effort to consolidate the nation state is very much explicit in the history teaching. He uses the idea from Anderson that how ‘deep shaping of imagination’ among children is required to have faith in national community. This is the  chapter where he introduces the very important concepts which were used to compare the master narratives of both the countries. The first refers to how history textbooks in both countries choose or do not choose to represent events. Facts are chosen to illustrate the distinctive turn of the narrative that each nation favours at crucial moments in the freedom plot. The second concept is that of pacing. Pacing or the rhythm to which the historical tale is set in the textbooks of both countries is problematic. The tale in both instances is a fast paced one and children are expected to read on and on continuously. They actually slip upon several decades of historical account and focus mainly upon the great personalities and their constructed role. The third concept which he mentions is about the way they end the history writing. The history ends on a different note for both the countries master narratives. It is precisely due to the way they perceive the time of partition. For India the moment of freedom was a time of partial happiness and a sense of loss are reflected in the narration of partition. However for Pakistan it appears as a great triumph to be finally freed from the clutches of highly dominating Hindu country. It does not end only on this note but it also expresses how entering into the new era of self rule of will be exciting and what should be the goals to be attained. This is evident in the Pakistani books as an extension of historical account is visible there in comparison to India where the post partition problems and the activities related to it are also discussed. On the basis of these measures we can see how Krishna Kumar in further chapters investigates into the history from 1857 to 1947. In these chapters he proceeds with a very keen analysis of comparisons of the accounts on all events and their different interpretation. Moreover he also points that how some episodes are omitted and how some are given over emphasis. He takes up the accounts of 1857 and brings up the differences between the presentations. The major differences can be explained in context of portraying the causes of uprising. In India though the writers desist from using the term national but they do say that revolt made the Indian people more politically conscious than before. But what politics might mean in a mid-nineteenth century context is not explained. While in Pakistan a completely different picture is projected where emphasis is mostly on the role of Muslims. Moreover it goes beyond and this is seen as the dilemmas in history writing in Pakistan. This is because  the narrative should not only describe how colonial rule ended but also explain how Pakistan came into being. Thus to justify the happening of Pakistan it must also have a long national movement seeds of which can be seen in the revolt of 1857.Thus Krishna Kumar says that with the help of highly compressed story which does not allow the listener to ask for details therefore the aim of Pakistani textbooks can be seen in the indoctrination rather than explanation. In later chapters writer presents the difference in periodization. Pakistani textbooks put an emphasis on the period from 1907 to 1927 by contrast Indian textbooks generally select the year 1919 as marker of historical times which shaped the course of freedom struggle until the mid 1930s. He further brings above the motive behind focusing on different years as it makes way for the portrayal of Gandhi and Jinnah as heroes and their actions as the ultimate deeds. One more thing he points out is the vise-versa attempt on the portraying Gandhi as a Hindu leader and Jinnah as a Muslim leader in Pakistan and India respectively. Similarly in the book we can see several events which have been a shared experience for both India and Pakistan has been selected and depicted in very different manner. Both the nations form a different take on all the instances and personality. By using the three concepts which has been mentioned earlier i.e. politics of mention, pacing and concept of ending he thus brings forth different angles of the history textbooks in India and Pakistan. He points to how each of these time segments is recorded in the textbooks and reads both omissions and inclusions as symptomatic of larger national anxieties. Importantly, the choice or omission of an event che ats the child of an opportunity to know a situation in all its complexity. In fact, this is a recurring theme in the book the manner in which history textbooks conceives of and interpellates the intended child reader. Thus children are not made aware of the complex arguments in regard to certain historical events. Krishna Kumar ends this book on a very interesting note where he asks children from both the countries to write on the topic ‘The division of India and Pakistan’. He thus brings above a varying picture of opinions. In India he sees a dominant picture of Pakistan coming over where the children perceive it as a synonym for Muslims. This is evident in the idea of a Hindu India with a stereotype of Muslims which is based on hatred and distrust as writer points out. Moving to ideas of the Pakistani students  we can see whole range of historical periods mentioned where the aim is to show how Muslims suffered at the hands of Hindus and thus partition actually gave them the space of first class citizens. In both sides we can find a common bone of contention between India and Pakistan is Kashmir. Thus in this exercise also there is a reflection of the ideas which are propagated through textbooks. In the last chapter he brings forth the relationship between history and peace. The major argument which he traces in the whole book is that both India and Pakistan differ on the grounds of depicting freedom movement. In India which is defined in terms of tensions between communal and secular forces it actually reflects India’s national identity which also makes Pakistan come under suspicion. On the other hand the freedom movement in Pakistan attains the picture of an age long movement for the freedom of Muslims from a Hindu country. This is evident in the idea that an Indian historian focuses on as to why the partition took place whereas in Pakistan the new birth is celebrated by focusing on how the partition took place. This can be precisely the answer to the question he posed to enquire in the starting of the book. However in the different parts of book he tends to achieve the objectives of his study. The comparative study of history textbooks from both the countries thus helped him to probe into the reflection of the conflict between India and Pakistan in the history textbooks through which the ideologies of young minds are framed . This thus preserves the hostility between the two countries. However he ends on a very positive note where he sees role of education as vital one which can lead to overcome the unsettling effects of their interlocked frames of perceptions. This books thus in comparison to his earlier works can be on one hand as an extension of his focus on school and curriculum and their flaws. While in his book ‘What is worth teaching’ he focuses on fractured, contradictory and divisive nature of curriculum and school knowledge in our country and its insidious disempowerment of the teacher. His very important work the Political Agenda of Education also revolves around the concept of political ideologies involved in the education system. However this book in comparison to his other works comes up with a very different objective and method of investigation. While looking on for other books from other writers which have ventured into similar type of analysis cannot be found yet. Moving from the achievements of the writer we also come across certain gaps  visible in the work. It is known that he is building up a picture of investigation around the period of freedom struggle but he confines himself to a very limited events and personalities of that period. His projection that part of history comes up as if it is only in relevance to Pakistan. He also tends to omit the other popular beliefs of the time which was visible in the form of questions raised by Dalit leaders and also the division of India on the basis of language leading to a discontent in South India Thus the book can be seen as a very different creation with experiment of a new type. The central idea that national ideologies shape the history writing of school textbooks is very cogently presented in the books. The role of history teaching and its impact on the socialisation of the young minds and leading to their formulation of the notion of ‘other’ is also very much clear in this book. But this book also suffers loops and holes in course of omitting other aspects of freedom struggle like low caste and tribal resistances. Book Review Prejudice and Pride: School Histories of the Freedom Struggle in India and Pakitan