final polished revised formal paper 2..

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Robert Myles

English 1a

Formal paper 2: Persuasive Judgment

May 29,2013           

Dear, Santa Cruz Community,

     When was the last time you ever walked into a place were you felt like you didn’t belong or you were a total outsider?  Or a time where you felt like your presence around a certain group of people didn’t feel right? Unfortunately for some of my teammates and I go through this more often than some since we live in a more Caucasian dominate area. There times were we go into stores and restaurants in the community and people instantly stop and look at us like they never seen African Americans before. We sometimes guess to see if they instantly began to judge us based off our looks and appearance, which brings me to my topic about judgment and stereotypes.  In my paper I will attempt to persuade Caucasian American people in my community not to judge other races base off their appearance & stereotypical beliefs.

            Judging someone by their appearance can lower their self-esteem according to Melanie J.V. Fennell “low self-esteem is a core beliefs, anxious predictions and self criticism that appears to be an reflection of central negative beliefs.”  Being judge in a negative way can result into lowering ones self-esteem. For example possibly saying or giving the vibe that a person doesn’t belong can make that person feel unwanted or less important. When doing so they start to feel lesser of themselves and cause their behavior to change negatively in way that they will go out and do things out of character. I know for me when I feel that I’m not welcome or don’t belong in a certain place I tend to leave and be alone. When I was younger I was the type to walk around my household with an attitude towards my siblings or starts fights with them when I felt down about myself. It was an unusual emotion and behavior for me because I was always a happy and full of enjoyment kid, so when I would act this way my parents always know something was wrong.

            In Santa Cruz County population is estimated at 266,776 people in 2012. The percentage of African American is 1.4 percent. The Caucasian American percentage in Santa Cruz is 88.0. According to the US Census Bureau. Theses statistics clearly show that there are hardly y any African American people who live in Santa Cruz; therefore, people who live here all year long aren’t used to African Americans. When Caucasians see African Americans they tend to judge based on what they see or hear on television. Television tends to show that some African Americans are thugs, rappers, and criminals.

        However, not all television shows portrays stereotypes of African Americans. For example the show “Love and Hip-Hop” shows that African American rappers have a thug/Gangster image and tend to commit crimes behind the scenes. But some truth to it is that some who does but not all. Cast star Rapper Joe Budden, who’s very intelligent and has a very broad vocabulary isn’t a criminal. He raps about his personal life situations that he learned from early on in his life and shares it with his fans so that they won’t make the mistakes he did. Another co-star, who is a writer/producer by the name Consequence, is also very smart and family oriented man. He put his wife and son first before his career. His wife of three years happens to be a Caucasian female in Queens, NY. This is an example of two people from different race who don’t discriminate based on color or race and are still able to find love for each other to have a kid and be married. They changed their view because they started to see that love is much more than skin deep. Television shows like this are important because the white audience need to see that not all blacks are exactly what they see on other shows or movies. There are black people who do a lot of good and are very successful.

          As an African American student Basketball player in a primarily dominant Caucasian community, I instant look at myself as an outcast. I watch my every move because I’m not sure who’s watching me or what the people around me are thinking.  I’m from Las Vegas a city where there’s an even balance of people from all different races so, its normal to be around those who don’t look the same way as you. By that it benefits the society because people feel more welcome to be who they are and not be something they’re not. If people in a different city with a lot more people and various races can walk the same streets and shop at the same store can do it without judging the next person to walk by then people in Santa Cruz can do it too. It matters to me because it shows not every place is the same. Some or better and others are worst, but other place can change it and improve like the Santa Cruz community can.

           People in Santa Cruz should be more open to others that way its easier to get people to want to come and stay rather than come and get the vibe that Santa Cruz isn’t the place for them. Also if people were to be more open with accepting others people around town wouldn’t seem so depressed. Likewise many people who hangout downtown Santa Cruz like the homeless tend to walk around like the world is over from others staring and pointing as if they came from a different planet. I’ve talked to several people down there and they are nice and fun to talk to. They have interesting stories and views of life, but they think others look at them as psychos.

         In the article “My Heart Is As Black As Yours” it talks about how Mario Procaccio a state senate candidate unintentionally insulted the black community by saying that “My Heart Is As Black As Yours.” The Black community took his words as disrespect. Reporters called his campaign group “Anti Blacks and Racist” groups. This a example when misjudgment of the Black community goes wrong. Procaccio thought he understood what the black community was going through and put it in words, which stated  “Elect me and I will put Blacks in their right place.” that Black community didn’t agree with his choice words. In this situation Procaccio speech was intended to help crime prevention. This goes to show why you shouldn’t judge a Ethnic community before speaking on a situation because you never know how one may react to it. For example George Wallace an opined southern segregationist said,  “it’s something you would hear in Alabama but with a New York accent.” In other words Procaccio’s campaign is nothing more than indirect form of bigotry.

          My teammates and I travel around the Santa Cruz area and get the feeling of being judged every time. When we walk into the Safeway grocery store we get the stare as if we are going to steal. Personally when I walk up and down isles and I see workers following I instantly get irritated. I get to the point where I don’t want to shop anymore and I’d rather send other people into do my shopping for me. After I leave I feel like I’m never welcome into the store. People stop and stare for long periods of time and it bothers my African American teammates and I a lot. If people were nicer and didn’t look at me like the stereotypical African American guy they see on television then I’d be more than happy and feel comfortable grocery shopping there all the times. It’s times when we walk into the store and the vibe from the people in the store is negative. That makes me resort to having to go grocery shopping at midnight, when there’s hardly any workers and no other customers. Being friendly and not quick to assume/judge can easily eliminate this feeling for most African Americans and not just us.

         I personally feel if people were to take the time out to get to know someone before assuming/ judging who they would have a more positive affect on the people they meet. For example if one of the workers were to ask me how I was doing or where I from, just small talk whenever I come into the store then I’d feel a lot better when I come and go into the store. This also can make me or anyone else whose going through this feel better when going into a grocery store during the day when its possibly busy and not at night when its empty.

My argument here is people shouldn’t judge because it drives people away from a good opportunity. It makes them feel bad about themselves in a way it can cause them to react from it in a negative way. To judge without any information about someone should be irrelevant to any situation.  You never know a good person can walk up and be the best person they can be but thinking of them differently may cause them to go away. Some things as simple as a smile can go a long way to make someone feel welcome.

    In conclusion I’ve gave my insight and suggestions on how being judgmental can be affective and make someone feel who comes from a completely different area have low self-esteem and feel unwanted.  I gave my information about how the media stereotypes can portray African Americans to being something that they’re not but in reality being just like everyone else that is smart well educated and family oriented. After reading this I hope the people in the Santa Cruz can become more open to meeting people who aren’t from this area, to make them feel more comfortable and welcome of being in a nice area to better themselves and be around things they aren’t usually use to being around. Also I hope the readers understand my views and suggestion of shopping at Safeway make it a better store for all people to shop at and feel welcome. 

Work Cited

"Santa Cruz County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau." Santa Cruz County QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. Quick Facts, 11 Mar. 2013. Web. 25 May 2013.

V. Fennell, Melanie J. "Low Self-Esteem - Springer." Low Self-Esteem - Springer. Encyclopedia of Cognitive Behavior Therapy, 2005. Web. 25 May 2013.

Lizzi, Maria C. "My Heart Is a S Black as Yours"" Web.ebscohost.com. Journal of American

Ethnic History, Spring 2008. Web. May 11

final draft 3

When was the last time you ever walked into a place were you felt like you didn’t belong or you were a total outsider?  Or a time where you felt like your presence around a certain group of people didn’t feel right? Unfortunately for some of my teammates and I go through this more often than some since we live in a more Caucasian dominate area. There’re times were we go into stores and restaurants in the community and people instantly stop and look at us like they never seen African Americans before. We sometimes guess to see if they instantly began to judge us base off our looks and appearance, which brings me to my topic about judgment and stereotypes.  In my paper I will attempt to persuade Caucasian American people in my community not to judge other races base off their appearance & stereotypical beliefs.

            Judging someone by their appearance can lowers their self-esteem according to Melanie J.V. Fennell “low self-esteem is a core beliefs, anxious predictions and self criticism that appears to be an reflection of central negative beliefs.”  Being judge in a negative way can result into lowering ones self-esteem. For example possibly saying or giving the vibe that they doesn’t belong can make them feel unwanted or less important. When doing so they start to feel lesser of themselves and cause their behavior to change negatively in way that they will go out and do things out of character. I know for me when I feel that I’m not welcome or don’t belong in a certain place I tend to leave and be alone. When I was younger I was the type to walk around my household with an attitude towards my siblings or starts fights with them when I felt down about myself. It was an unusual emotion and behavior for me because I was always a happy & full of enjoyment kid, so when I would act this way my parents always know something was wrong.

            In Santa Cruz County population is estimated at 266,776 people in 2012. The percentage of African American is 1.4 percent. The Caucasian American percentage in Santa Cruz is 88.0. This is shown by chart of the US Census Bureau. Based off these statistics shows that theirs rarely any African American people who lives in Santa Cruz, therefore people who live here all year long aren’t used to African Americans. When Caucasians see African Americans they tend to judge base off what they see or hear on television. Television tends to show that some African Americans are Thugs, Rappers, and criminals.

For example in the show “Love & Hip-Hop” shows that African American rappers have a thug/Gangster image who’s tend to commit crimes behind the scenes. But some truth to it is that theirs some who does but not all. Cast start Rapper Joe Budden who’s very intelligent and has a very broad vocabulary isn’t a criminal. He raps about his personal life situations that he learned from early on in his life and shares it with his fans so that they wont make the mistakes he did. As for another co-star who is a writer/producer by the name Consequence who is also very smart and family oriented man. He put his wife and son first before his career. His wife of 3 years happens to be a Caucasian female in Queens, NY. This is an example of two people from different race who don’t discriminate based of color or race and are still able to find love for each other to have a kid and be married.

Me being an African American student Athlete in a primarily dominant Caucasian community I instant look at myself as an outcast. I watch my every move because I’m not sure who’s watching me or what the people around me are thinking.  I’m from a city where’s its an even balance of people from all different backgrounds and race so its normal to be around those who don’t look the same way as you or be from a different race. By that it benefits the society were people feel more welcome to be who they are and not be something their not. People in Santa Cruz should be more open to others that way its easier to get people to want to come & stay rather than come and get the vibe that Santa Cruz isn’t the place for them. Also if people were to be more open with accepting others people around town wouldn’t seem so depressed. Likewise the people in downtown Santa Cruz tend to walk around like the world is over from others staring and pointing as if they came from a different planet. I’ve talked to several people down there and they are nice and fun to talk to. They have interesting stories and views of life but they think others look at them as psychos.

In the article “My Heart Is As Black As Yours” it talks about how Mario Procaccio an state senate candidate unintentionally insulted the black community by saying that “My heart Is As Black as yours.” The Black community took his words as disrespect. Reporters called his campaign group “Anti Blacks and Racist” groups. This an example of misjudgment on the Black community goes wrong. Procaccio took it as he felt and understood what the black community were going through and put it in words that blacks didn’t agree with. In this situation he should have gotten an viewpoint of how someone in the black community felt before making his comment. This goes to show why you shouldn’t judge before speaking on a situation because you never know how one may react to it.

My teammates and I travel around the Santa Cruz area and get the feeling of being judge every time. When we walk into the Safeway Grocery store we get the stare as if we are going to steal. This is a stereotype African American gets a lot from movies and other media sources. Personally when I walk up and down isles and I see workers following I instantly get irritated. I get to the point where I don’t want to shop anymore I rather send other people to do my shopping for me. After I leave I feel like I’m never welcome into the store. People stop and stare for long periods of time and it bothers my African American teammates and I a lot. If people were nicer and didn’t look at me like the stereotypical African American guy they see on television then ill be more than happy and feel comfortable grocery shopping there all the time. Its times when we walk into the store and the vibe from the people in the store is negative. It even makes me result into having to go grocery shopping at midnight when it’s hardly any workers and no other customers. Being friendly and not quick to assume/judge can easily eliminate this feeling for most African Americans and not just us.

I personally feel if people were to take the time out to get to know someone before assuming/ judging who they would have a more positive affect on the people they meet. For example if one of the workers were to ask me how I was doing or where I from, just small talk whenever I come into the store then ill feel a lot better when I come and go into the store. This also can make me or anyone else whose going through this feel better when going into a grocery store during the day when its possibly busy and not at night when its empty.

My argument here is people shouldn’t judge because it runs off other people from a good opportunity. It makes them feel bad about themselves in a way it can cause them to react from it in a negative way. To judge without any information about someone should be irrelevant to any situation.  You never know a good person can walk up and be the best person they can be but thinking of them differently may cause them to go away.

In conclusion I’ve gave my insight and suggestions on how being judgmental can be affective and make someone feel who comes from a completely different area have low self-esteem and feel unwanted. After reading this I hope the people in the Santa Cruz can become more open to meeting people who aren’t from this area, to make them feel more comfortable and welcome of being in a nice area to better themselves and be around things they aren’t usually use to being around. Also I hope the readers understand my views and suggestion of shopping at Safeway so that the workers can make it a better store for all people to shop at and feel welcome.

revised draft formal paper 2

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            When was the last time you ever walked into a place were you felt like you didn’t belong or you were a total outsider?  Or a time where you felt like your presence around a certain group of people didn’t feel right? Unfortunately for some of my teammates and I go through this more often than some since we live in a more Caucasian dominate area. There’re times were we go into stores and restaurants in the community and people instantly stop and look at us like they never seen African Americans before. We sometimes guess to see if they instantly began to judge us base off our looks and appearance, which brings me to my topic about judgment and stereotypes.  In my paper I will attempt to persuade Caucasian American people in my community not to judge other races base off their appearance & stereotypical beliefs.

            Judging someone by their appearance can lowers their self-esteem according to Melanie J.V. Fennell “low self-esteem is a core beliefs, anxious predictions and self criticism that appears to be an reflection of central negative beliefs.”  Being judge in a negative way can result into lowering ones self-esteem. For example possibly saying or giving the vibe that they doesn’t belong can make them feel unwanted or less important. When doing so they start to feel lesser of themselves and cause their behavior to change negatively in way that they will go out and do things out of character. I know for me when I feel that I’m not welcome or don’t belong in a certain place I tend to leave and be alone. When I was younger I was the type to walk around my household with an attitude towards my siblings or starts fights with them when I felt down about myself. It was an unusual emotion and behavior for me because I was always a happy & full of enjoyment kid, so when I would act this way my parents always know something was wrong.

            In Santa Cruz County population is estimated at 266,776 people in 2012. The percentage of African American is 1.4 percent. The Caucasian American percentage in Santa Cruz is 88.0. This is shown by chart of the US Census Bureau. Based off these statistics shows that theirs rarely any African American people who lives in Santa Cruz, therefore people who live here all year long aren’t used to African Americans. When Caucasians see African Americans they tend to judge base off what they see or hear on television. Television tends to show that some African Americans are Thugs, Rappers, and criminals.

     For example in the show “Love & Hip-Hop” shows that African American rappers have a thug/Gangster image who’s tend to commit crimes behind the scenes. But some truth to it is that theirs some who does but not all. Cast start Rapper Joe Budden who’s very intelligent and has a very broad vocabulary isn’t a criminal. He raps about his personal life situations that he learned from early on in his life and shares it with his fans so that they wont make the mistakes he did. As for another co-star who is a writer/producer by the name Consequence who is also very smart and family oriented man. He put his wife and son first before his career. His wife of 3 years happens to be a Caucasian female in Queens, NY. This is an example of two people from different race who don’t discriminate based of color or race and are still able to find love for each other to have a kid and be married.

Me being an African American student Athlete in a primarily dominant Caucasian community I instant look at myself as an outcast. I watch my every move because I’m not sure who’s watching me or what the people around me are thinking.  I’m from a city where’s its an even balance of people from all different backgrounds and race so its normal to be around those who don’t look the same way as you or be from a different race. By that it benefits the society were people feel more welcome to be who they are and not be something their not. People in Santa Cruz should be more open to others that way its easier to get people to want to come & stay rather than come and get the vibe that Santa Cruz isn’t the place for them. Also if people were to be more open with accepting others people around town wouldn’t seem so depressed. Likewise the people in downtown Santa Cruz tend to walk around like the world is over from others staring and pointing as if they came from a different planet. I’ve talked to several people down there and they are nice and fun to talk to. They have interesting stories and views of life but they think others look at them as psychos.

         In the article “My Heart Is As Black As Yours” it talks about how Mario Procaccio an state senate candidate unintentionally insulted the black community by saying that “My heart Is As Black as yours.” The Black community took his words as disrespect. Reporters called his campaign group “Anti Blacks and Racist” groups. This an example of misjudgment on the Black community goes wrong. Procaccio took it as he felt and understood what the black community were going through and put it in words that blacks didn’t agree with. In this situation he should have gotten an viewpoint of how someone in the black community felt before making his comment. This goes to show why you shouldn’t judge before speaking on a situation because you never know how one may react to it.

My teammates and I travel around the Santa Cruz area and get the feeling of being judge every time. When we walk into the Safeway Grocery store we get the stare as if we are going to steal. This is a stereotype African American gets a lot from movies and other media sources. Personally when I walk up and down isles and I see workers following I instantly get irritated. I get to the point where I don’t want to shop anymore I rather send other people to do my shopping for me. After I leave I feel like I’m never welcome into the store. People stop and stare for long periods of time and it bothers my African American teammates and I a lot. If people were nicer and didn’t look at me like the stereotypical African American guy they see on television then ill be more than happy and feel comfortable grocery shopping there all the time. Its times when we walk into the store and the vibe from the people in the store is negative. It even makes me result into having to go grocery shopping at midnight when it’s hardly any workers and no other customers. Being friendly and not quick to assume/judge can easily eliminate this feeling for most African Americans and not just us.

       I personally feel if people were to take the time out to get to know someone before assuming/ judging who they would have a more positive affect on the people they meet. For example if one of the workers were to ask me how I was doing or where I from, just small talk whenever I come into the store then ill feel a lot better when I come and go into the store. This also can make me or anyone else whose going through this feel better when going into a grocery store during the day when its possibly busy and not at night when its empty.

formal paper 2 draft 1

            When was the last time you ever walked into a place were you felt like you didn’t belong or you were a total outsider?  Or a time where you felt like your presence around a certain group of people didn’t feel right? Unfortunately for some of my teammates and I go through this more often than some since we live in a more caucasian dominant area. There’re times were we go into stores and resturants in the community and people instantly stop and look at us like they never seen African Americans before. We sometimes guess to see if they instantly began to judge us base off our looks and appearance, which brings me to my topic about judgment and stereotypes.  In my paper I will attempt to persuade Caucasian American people in my community not to judge other races base off their appearance & stereotypical beliefs.

            Judging someone by their appearance can lowers there self-esteem according to Melanie J.V. Fennell “low self-esteem is a core beliefs, anxious predictions and self criticism that appears to be an reflection of central negative beliefs.”  Being judge in  a negative way can result into lowering ones self-esteem. For example possibly saying or giving the vibe that they doesn’t belong can make them feel unwanted or less important. When doing so they start to feel lesser of themselves and cause their behavior to change negatively in way that they will go out and do things out of character. I know for me when I feel that I’m not welcome or don’t belong in a certain place I tend to leave and be alone. When I was younger I was the type to walk around my household with an attitude towards my siblings or starts fights with them when I felt down about myself. It was an unusual emotion and behavior for me because I was always a happy & full of enjoyment kid, so when I would act this way my parents always know something was wrong.

            In Santa Cruz County population is estimated at 266,776 people in 2012. The percentage of African American is 1.4 percent. The Caucasian American percentage in Santa Cruz is 88.0. This is shown by chart of the US Census Bureau. Based off these statistics shows that theirs rarely any African American people who lives in Santa Cruz, therefore people who live here all year long aren’t used to African Americans. When Caucasians see African Americans they tend to judge base off what they see or hear on television. Television tends to show that some African Americans are Thugs, Rappers, and criminals. For example in the show “Love & HipHop” shows that African American rappers have a thug/Gangster image whose tend to commit crimes behind the scenes. But some truth to it is that theirs some who does but not all. Cast start Rapper Joe Budden whose very intelligent and have a very broad vocabulary isn’t a criminal. He raps about truelife situations that he learned from early on in his life and shares it with his fans so that they wont make the mistakes he did. As for another co-star who is a writer/producer by the name Consquence who is also very smart and family oriented man. He put his wife and son first before his career. His wife of 3 years happens to be a Caucasian female in Queens, NY. This is an example of two people from different race who don’t discriminate based of color or race and are still able to find love for each other to have a kid and be married.

annnotated bibliographgy

                The article “My Heart Is As black as yours” is about a phrase that was not taking in a good way by the African American crowd in Harlem by Mario Procaccino . The African American crowd took it as them being insulted. Procaccino intention was not to insult the African American community but to help them in a better proper place. Procaccino was running as a third party candidate as senate. Procaccino actions consequesntly hurt him with the media. Reporters called his campaign supporters and him the “anti-blacks and racist” group. This caused white ethnic groups to be directed more in a hostile way in urban America. This article gain a lot of attention due to the race being a key factor in a lot of segregation and discrimination that were going on in 1969.

Lizzi, Maria C. "My Heart Is a S Black as Yours"" Web.ebscohost.com. Journal of American

Ethnic History, Spring 2008. Web. May 11

            The article “White Mutants of Straight Edge” talks about nonviolent and anti-racist Straight Edge youth movement. In which supports abstinence from recreational drug use and sex, into a number of sections promoting racist violence and homophobia. The author Gabriel Smith puts in his documents the historical relationship between the movement and the hardcore music scenes. He believes that sex, drugs. And alcohol triggers the youth movement under “clean living”.  He is very interested in the similarities and differences between Straight Edge and other avant-garde social and political movements. The incorporation of veganism into the movement's ideology is explained, as is the general trend towards a militant enforcement. The punk subculture resulted into students to be more of the post-war-working-class as the youth culture. I found this article to relate to Gitlen and Kupliean articles we discussed in class all three articles ties into the subculture of kids getting into drugs, sec, alcohol, music etc.

            Smith, Gabriel. "White Mutants of Straight Edge." Web.ebscohst.com. Journal of Popular

Culture, 1 June 2011. Web. 12 May 11.

annotated bibliography

RR killer culture

    The article "Killer Culture" by David Kupelian is about a father who believes that modern society and the way it influence kids is killing our culture. He thinks the way MTV, commercial advertisements, and sexual advertisements is corrupting the children in today's generation. Kupelian thinks the best way to keep children safe is to home school them until the parents feel that they're ready to go out in the world.

        I personally believe that if every parents were to home school their children for majority of their life that the kids wouldn't have the experience of seeing how the real world actually is. For example children that's goes through home schooling at the high school stage wouldn't see the bad of what drugs can do to someone. Therefore once when they are out In the real world and get their first view or insight on it they won't have any answers for as far as what to do or how to stay away from it. Most importantly they wouldn't know what drugs to do or not do and the side effects of each one. Home school is a good idea to a certain extent but for it to be suggested as to home school until the children is of age eighteen is a little bit over the top. Also every parents aren't  authorized to home school or can afford it for multiple children in their household. 

  

     An possible solution to try to keep today's culture from killing the society and youth other than home schooling is to focus more on the way parents raise their kids. Instead of locking them up and being over protective about the things they watch, music the listen too, and amount of explicit video/advertisements they see, be more willing to teach and let them understand the rights and wrong of each popular society interest. Theirs good and bad in the world no matter where too see it or hear it. It's always gonna be their and as parents they just have to be good teachers to their children so they know when to turn away form the bad.