Abstract This paper discusses Cope's study on attempts at racism in colonial Mexico and the reasons why racism never truly flourished. The paper concludes by agreeing with Cope's study and the light it sheds on racism and class and self-identity.
From the Paper "The failure of Spanish elites to impose their own definitions of race on the people of the traza shows the difficulty of imposing one's cultural ideas and definitions on another society. In the case of colonial Mexico, for example, the Spanish clearly wanted to establish a social order based on race. To them, a person's social mobility hinges on how much Spanish blood they possess."
Looks at the church movement in Brazil known as Liberation Theology, which was an attempt to liberate the Brazilian people from the injustices they had suffered.
Abstract This paper discusses the origins of the Liberation Theology in Brazil and its objective of promoting social and political justice for the poor and impoverished people of Brazil. The factors that gave rise to this movement are considered, and the church's role in reintroducing basic human and civil rights are detailed. Finally, the lasting and positive effects of Liberation Theology and the advantages it continues to offer are highlighted.
From the Paper "In the early 1950s, the Brazilian church became tremendously active and original within certain spheres of Brazilian society, especially politics. Amidst opposing religious movements, progressive movements in international Catholicism, and the repression of politics by the ruling military, the church sought to create its base of followers not with the elite, but with the lower classes (Bruneau, et. al. 1992). The churches sought to liberate the Brazilian people from the injustices they had suffered. This idea is known as liberation theology, and has proved to be a needed, positive change for the Brazilian population."
This paper discusses the factors behind the United States's involvement in the Spanish-American War and the effects the American victory had on the United States and world politics.
Abstract This paper explains that, though the beginning of the hostilities of the Spanish-American War is generally attributed to the sinking of the Maine, United States involvement is actually a result of other factors as well, including public sympathy with the Cuban Revolution and the imperialist policies of leaders like William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. The author points out that reactions of Roosevelt and many politicians marked a growing trend towards increasing its influence and landholdings around the world based on America's "manifest destiny" to spread its religion and political democracy across other, "less civilized" nations. The paper states that the greater legacy of the Spanish-American War was the growth of United States imperialism that was established through increased trade with foreign countries and military control.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Factors behind United States Involvement in the War
Sympathy with Cuban Revolution
Sinking of the USS Maine
Imperialism
Criticism
After the War
From the Paper "Beneath this supposedly worthy goal, however, lay the desire for more power. Admiral Alfred T. Mahan, an influential writer and one of manifest destiny's most vocal proponents, also believed that foreign markets were the key to disposing the surplus of products that were being manufactured in factories in the United States. This necessitated a large merchant marine fleet to ferry the products to the colonies. The merchant fleet would also need protection from a strong naval force. Finally, coaling stations had to be established in various parts around the world, to fuel the merchant and navy ships."
Abstract This paper discusses how the failure of the U.S. to intervene against the Cuban Revolution of the 1950s helped Castro succeed in overthrowing the Batista government and instituting a Communist regime on the island. It argues that it was not just the failure of the U.S. to intervene when Castro came to power, but its failure to intervene during his rise to power that helped him succeed.
From the Paper "The United States was not completely happy with Castro's predecessor, Fulgencio Batista. But Batista's government, nonetheless, had arrested Castro on July 26, 1953, when Castro had already failed in an attempt to conquer a government barracks in Santiago de Cuba in Oriente province, a large and important area. Castro was then imprisoned on the Isle of Pines. Castro was released, however, two years later. The years in prison left him more eager than before to reform government in Cuba."
Abstract Discusses Escobar's status as a folk hero during the 1980s, drug-related violence in Columbia, Escobar's approach to narcotics gangsterism, the Medellin Cartel, international drug running, and Columbia and the Miami drug trade.
From the Paper "This research examines the impact and legacy of Pablo Escobar in Colombia. The research will set forth the context and background in which Escobar's high public profile emerged and then discuss how he was able to consolidate power in the country, with a ..."
Abstract Examines negative and positive aspects of his life, biographical facts, the revolutionary movement to oust the reactionary Batista government, Castro's social and educational programs, and the impact of failure of Soviet Union.
From the Paper "In 1959 Fidel Castro became Cuba's political leader and a symbol of communist revolution in Latin America when he ousted the reactionary Batista government, and turned Cuba into the first Communist country in the Western Hemisphere. This paper will ..."
Abstract Discusses the worsening of external debit as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP), Brazil's recent performance in relation to external debt management, and the impact of the country's primary development. Includes a table of key economic indicators.
From the Paper "This research explores Brazil's external debt problem. The external debt of country reflects claims on the country's wealth by entities located outside of the country. Such claims may be against the ..."
Abstract The paper looks at the character Rosa's extreme poverty and deprivation of the basics of life. It shows how the book is based on the book by Maria Ets, a social worker at the Chicago Commons Settlement House that aided Rosa.
From the Paper "The Depression of 1893 was an economic crisis that was experienced by people in different ways, depending on their income and social status. Rosa Cavalleri, an Italian immigrant woman living in Chicago during this time faced extreme poverty, deprivation a..."
Abstract This paper looks at how assumptions made about the Cold War by U.S. policy makers in the 1940s and 1950s affected U.S. relations with Latin American countries. The paper then proceeds to evaluate the validity of those Cold War assumptions.
From the Paper "During the 1940s and the 1950s, U.S. foreign policy makers were faced with an unprecedented and unexpected threat from the Soviet Union. Because of this threat, this period of U.S. History became known as ?The Cold War.? ?For a time early in 1945, it seemed possible that a lasting friendship might develop between the United States and the Soviet Union based on their wartime cooperation.? The Soviet ally whom the United States had relied upon during World War II had metamorphosed into a danger to U.S. international security, rather than a friend. The USSR's influence, by the end of the 1940s, had spread across Eastern Europe and threatened Western Europe. The United States began to see communism itself as an infection, spawned by Stalin, rather than as a complex ideology. U.S. policy makers feared that communism, which they equated with Soviet foreign influence, could spread anywhere around the globe where revolution might be fermenting."
Abstract Health services are crucial for any American, illegal alien or not. The paper argues that to refuse health care to people because they are in the country illegally is not only cruel and heartless; it simply ignores the foundation of freedom upon which America's ancestors built the country. This paper further argues that illegal aliens in the United States should be entitled to receive basic health services and gives compelling reasons why this is true.
From the Paper "However, as these immigrants enter the country illegally, work here illegally, and do not (or can not) retain citizenship, a growing number of the public and their legislators believe these people should not receive basic needs when they are in need, such as health care. California voters passed Proposition 187 in 1994, and part of the proposition banned public services to undocumented aliens working and living in the state. Eventually, the higher courts threw much of the Proposition out, but it gained national attention and several others states that have large immigrant populations, such as Florida, began writing similar legislation for their own states. However, most immigrants say they do not come to America for the social services they can receive ? they come for jobs, and legislating against them cannot change that."
Abstract This paper discusses how Latinos come from a very strongly gender-differentiated culture where machismo rules, leading to the "blackening" of homosexuality, and causing it to become taboo. It analyzes how this has led to many problems, most notably high rates of HIV infection among Latinos and, subsequently, Latinas, who are typically married to a secretly gay husband who contracts HIV with his male partner and then transmits it to the wife. It also looks at the differences between homosexual Latinos and Caucasian homosexuals and how Latino homosexuals are treated within their communities, by their families, and within Latin America as a whole.
From the Paper "These are the traditional gender divisions within latino communites, although in some countries, such as Colombia, and in immigrant communities within the US, for example, these traditional cultural values are becoming more fluid, and women are generally being allowed more liberation. This is not the case, however, for homosexuals.
The macho latino culture does not see homosexuality as a viable option, with the culture defining the homosexual act as somehow against nature, against the dictates of Catholicism, and against all the latino cultural values, of familismo, machismo, etc. Homosexuals, in both genders, are therefore frowned upon, still, by the latino community."
Tags: machoism, gay, lesbian, immigrants, aids, hiv
Abstract Subconscious racism is the more contagious form of prejudice that affects people's ways of thinking without their conscious knowledge. It is the lifeblood of all other forms of racism in American society. This paper examines how this form of racism is linked to the way new immigrants to the U.S. both experience and contribute to racism, prejudice, and general feelings of xenophobia in American society.
From the Paper "If the nation is comprised largely of immigrants, then it is logical to conclude that these immigrants would be both contributors to and victims of our national racism problem. Immigrants may embrace the racist and oppressive attitudes of their new American home because they are fearful and disoriented in their new surroundings, because they are attempting to fully assimilate into American society, and because they have brought these prejudices from their native country."
Abstract Historians have pieced together several scenarios as to the reasons why the Mayan civilization practically disappeared after the height of its glory in the jungles of Guatemala. This paper shows that it is generally accepted that, by about AD 900, a decline had set in with the Mayan people because of warring invaders and diseases. The paper examines theories and archaeological evidence to show the history of the Maya and the occurrences that brought them to general decline.
From the Paper "Archaeologists have determined that the Mayan civilization was destroyed by the ultimate breakdown of its society. Some evidence uncovered by archaeological studies show that the Mayan civilization reached a crisis point in the 9th century. ?With the increasing complexity of society, more and more people were withdrawn from farming to become administrators, craftsmen and priests, all of whom had to be fed from the produce of the land.? (Bray, 102) Some of the Mayan cities had grown so large that food production in the surrounding lands had dwindled and many skeletons of Mayans that have been studied show signs of malnutrition. ?Food production could not be indefinitely increased and the short-term expedient of reducing the fallow period could lead to long-term disaster as the impoverished soil became less and less fertile.? (Bray, 102-103)"
Abstract This paper briefly defines these two concepts and examines how they apply to the societies of Mexico, Brazil, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic. The writer defines acculturation as the process by which a culture is transformed due to massive adoption of cultural traits from another society. Transculturation is defined as a mutual sharing of cultures.
From the Paper "Perhaps one of the most clear-cut examples of transculturation is that of Mexican culture. This culture evolved from the pairing of Spanish settlers and the native inhabitants of present day Mexico, particularly the Mayas and the Aztecs. Unlike many other attempts at European colonization, the Spanish settlements in Mexico did not (at least in the long run) attempt to "filter out" native culture ("Mexico"). Instead, the culture of the original inhabitants were embraced, and likewise, so was that of their European counterparts ("Mexico"). The match resulted in a very unique identity that we know today as ?Mexican.? "
Abstract Many experts believe that minority groups are often portrayed in a negative light or not portrayed in the media at all. This paper explores the topic of racial bias in the media as it pertains to the portrayal of minorities in the news and in television programs. The paper examines the great strides that have been made to create positive images of various ethnic groups.
From the Paper "An article published in the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media asserts that the negative portrayal of minorities often means that they are viewed as being guilty until they are proven innocent. The article discusses the findings of a study that examined the extent to which pretrial media coverage biased jurors against defendants. The study found that there was a disproportionate amount of news coverage that occurred when the defendant in a crime was Black or Hispanic, than if the defendant was white."
