When I first began this semester I was a young, inexperienced, and scared blogger. I had never shared my thoughts or feelings on the World Wide Web before, let alone when writing about Politics or academic argument, two forums in which I had little expertise. However, I dove in and I'm pretty happy with the results.
I learned alot from blogging. I learned how to streamline my thoughts on an issue in an effort to make them flow logically. I learned about the importance of substantiating a warrant with a claim and evidence while throwing in bits and pieces of ethos, pathos, and logos along the way.
I didn't realize how basic the rubric for creating a strong argument was when I first started dozens and dozens of months ago (ok more like 3). You simply need to always define your terms, back up your arguments, make sure they make organizational sense, and are crystal clear. Ok, maybe that is a little bit easier said than done, but having that rubric out there certainly helped.
I also learned that there can be more than one answer to an argument. Just because there may appear to be two clear sides to an argument does not mean that there is only one correct answer. Often, the answer people seek is the one that is best argued. However, a strong argument is often the result of a strong writer and is not necessarily the correct option.
You could argue that George W. Bush was a great President for America. Even if that seems incredibly illogical and blatantly false, if you could piece together enough strong logos, put in a strong emotional appeal, and appear to have credibility, then even with such a seemingly false claim you could create a very strong argument.
While I may decide to pick up blogging again in the future, this is certainly my good-bye for a little while. I have enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you, my faceless audience, and hope your lives are not too devastated with my departure. With that, I'd like to say adios, it has been fun.
-Matt
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The Future of American Race Relations
Earlier today I had my final in Sociology 102 and thought it would be interesting to discuss here something I analyzed in that class. Sociology is defined as the study of society and/or understanding how humans interact and work together throughout the social world. As a result, sociology is very interested in such topics as race, gender, and class.
One topic that was heavily discussed this semester was the impact of Barack Obama's election on race relations. I won't delve TOO deeply into the issue as I could write about it for hours, but I will go over some of the main things I learned that I think present an interesting argument about the future of race relations in America.
First, some say that the election of Obama will equal the end of racism in America. W.E.B. Dubois famously wrote about the double-consciousness that black Americans experience in their daily lives. Their two souls, one black and one American cannot fuse together to create one as black Americans are continually forced to view their lives through the eyes of their oppressors: whites. However, with the election of Obama, one could argue that Blacks are not longer at the mercy of Whites and that because of Obama everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
However, others argue that the election of Obama is very important in principle but will do nothing to change the amount of racism in the daily lives of millions of black Americans. According to political scientist Andrew Hacker and sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, daily-life racism such as discrimination in residential patterns, legal systems, and health-care will not be impacted by Obama's election. Also, there are controlling images of black Americans, meaning there are certain expectations and stereotypes about black Americans that control the way they are viewed in society that have built up over hundreds of years and will not change over night or even in four years.
In my opinion, both of these opinions are right. Yes, Obama's election is a step in the right direction for black Americans, but at the same time there are years of work left to be done for America to eliminate racism from its system, if that is even possible. For now, I think looking forward to a better future is the best thing we can do.
One topic that was heavily discussed this semester was the impact of Barack Obama's election on race relations. I won't delve TOO deeply into the issue as I could write about it for hours, but I will go over some of the main things I learned that I think present an interesting argument about the future of race relations in America.
First, some say that the election of Obama will equal the end of racism in America. W.E.B. Dubois famously wrote about the double-consciousness that black Americans experience in their daily lives. Their two souls, one black and one American cannot fuse together to create one as black Americans are continually forced to view their lives through the eyes of their oppressors: whites. However, with the election of Obama, one could argue that Blacks are not longer at the mercy of Whites and that because of Obama everyone has an equal chance to succeed.
However, others argue that the election of Obama is very important in principle but will do nothing to change the amount of racism in the daily lives of millions of black Americans. According to political scientist Andrew Hacker and sociologist Patricia Hill Collins, daily-life racism such as discrimination in residential patterns, legal systems, and health-care will not be impacted by Obama's election. Also, there are controlling images of black Americans, meaning there are certain expectations and stereotypes about black Americans that control the way they are viewed in society that have built up over hundreds of years and will not change over night or even in four years.
In my opinion, both of these opinions are right. Yes, Obama's election is a step in the right direction for black Americans, but at the same time there are years of work left to be done for America to eliminate racism from its system, if that is even possible. For now, I think looking forward to a better future is the best thing we can do.
Lincoln Would Roll Over in His Grave
Today, the exciting news of the official demise of increasingly UNpopular governor Rod Blagojevich came out bright and early. We are talking about a governor here that had unprecedentedly low approval ratings: even lower than those of universally loved President George W. Bush.
According to the Chicago Tribune, in October of 2008, " [He] suffered the lowest ratings ever recorded for an elected politician in nearly three decades of Chicago Tribune polls...The survey also showed only 13% approved of Blagojevich's performance, while 71% disapproved." (Wikipedia)
So even before his final misstep, Blagojevich was not a rock star in Illinois. However, his recent actions after the election of Barack Obama have made me really question the future of our government leadership.
According to Cnn.com, Blagojevich was arrested today along with his Chief of Staff around 7:30 A.M eastern time on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery. Apparently, these charges stemmed from Blagojevich "conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat in exchange for financial benefits for himself and his wife, Patti." (CNN)
Now, I find it sadly ironic that Blagojevich ran on a campaign of eliminating corruption. This case gives me even less faith in our political system and our political icons as it sends the message that nobody can be trusted. Who do you vote for when so many people appear to only be out to better their own cause? Unfortunately, there is no answer, we Americans simply must do our best to sort out the bad from the good, if possible, and then hope our favorite politician isn't a crook as well. If you live in Illinois, odds are you're out of luck with our recent string of corrupt governors (George Ryan before Blagojevich).
Let's just hope that Barack Obama can avoid any association with these corrupt men.
According to the Chicago Tribune, in October of 2008, " [He] suffered the lowest ratings ever recorded for an elected politician in nearly three decades of Chicago Tribune polls...The survey also showed only 13% approved of Blagojevich's performance, while 71% disapproved." (Wikipedia)
So even before his final misstep, Blagojevich was not a rock star in Illinois. However, his recent actions after the election of Barack Obama have made me really question the future of our government leadership.
According to Cnn.com, Blagojevich was arrested today along with his Chief of Staff around 7:30 A.M eastern time on one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery. Apparently, these charges stemmed from Blagojevich "conspiring to sell or trade the vacant Senate seat in exchange for financial benefits for himself and his wife, Patti." (CNN)
Now, I find it sadly ironic that Blagojevich ran on a campaign of eliminating corruption. This case gives me even less faith in our political system and our political icons as it sends the message that nobody can be trusted. Who do you vote for when so many people appear to only be out to better their own cause? Unfortunately, there is no answer, we Americans simply must do our best to sort out the bad from the good, if possible, and then hope our favorite politician isn't a crook as well. If you live in Illinois, odds are you're out of luck with our recent string of corrupt governors (George Ryan before Blagojevich).
Let's just hope that Barack Obama can avoid any association with these corrupt men.
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