African American History Essay Example for Free

African American History Essay Introduction The America that was there after the conclusion of the civil war is nothing like the America we recognize presently. Significant events have occurred since 1865 that have shaped our understanding of what America is today. Major industrialization and urbanization, equal rights for all citizens and the two major world wars that have shaped our understanding of what America is today. While, there are numerous events that have shaped America, there are few events that have served as markers of change for the entire society, particularly for the African Americans. From 1619 to 1865, a significant number of African American immigrated to the United States as slaves. Ever since the arrival of the first African Americans in Point Comfort, currently known as Fort Monroe in Hampton, the African American community has made significant strides in the community. However, the major event that occasioned this strikes transpired in 1865: the abolishment of slavery. This marked as a single major event that catapulted the African American society to where it is today. This article will examine the history of African American from 1865 to today. In 1865, the civil war between the north and south, or civil war as it is known came to an end. This was a time of great upheaval in the American society. The entire American society was attempting to integrate, and become part of the union. The south had agreed to integrate and become part f the union (Feagin, 2014). The South had consented to join the union. In the same year, President Lincoln was assassinated. The conclusion of the Civil War occasioned the beginning of the period of reconstruction. This period was characterized by upheaval, and the AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 3 country attempted to reintegrate itself, and also integrate the southern. This was a period of new beginning for the entire nation (Gates, 2012). The Constitution 13th amendment was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States of America. This phase is edged in history as one of the most imperative event in the African Americans history (Feagin, 2014). During the era of reconstruction, which lasted from 1865 to 1876, significant events occurred that shaped the lives of African Americans. The African Americans begun the process of reintegration, and they found themselves with a system that they were not used to. This period was not just a period of reintegration for the white people, but rather for the entire nation (Feagin, 2014). During this time, it was particularly challenging to the African Americans because they were attempting to integrate to a society that was heavily biased against them. During the reconstruction period, there was little political and social agreement, especially over the issues of who should be permitted to vote (Gates, 2012). There were disagreements as to whether confederates, ex-slaves or those slaves that fought during the war should be allowed to vote. The death of President Lincoln and the establishment of new administration under President Andrew Johnson made the process of reintegration more complex for African Americans (Feagin, 2014). In 1866, legislation known as the Black Codes was overwhelmingly passed by every white legislator of the former confederate States. The black codes greatly hampered the ability of African Americans to be reintegrated into the society (Gates, 2012). During that same year, the Congress passed the Civil rights act, which conferred citizenship rights to all African Americans, and giving those equal rights and liberties as to those of the white-American people (Feagin, 2014). The 14th amendment was ratified, in 1868, which defined citizenship for the African Americans, and also which overturned the Dred Scot decision (Gates, 2012). The 14th amendment strengthened the civil and legal rights of the African Americans, elucidating among other things, AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 4 that no state in the union shall deprive any African Americans their due process in law and the equal protections provided in the law (Feagin, 2014). The 14th amendment ensured, to some extent that the African Americans civil rights were protected. The 14th Amendment reversed the United States Supreme Court ruling in Dred Scott v. Sanford, which ruled that African Americans were not truly United States citizens (Feagin, 2014). The 14th amendment had several profound impacts on the lives of African Americans. First off, the amendment integrated African Americans into the society, by overruling the previous ruling that African Americans were not truly American citizens (Gates, 2012). Secondly, the 14th amendment prohibited the national and state governments from depriving any person, including African Americans, liberty, life and property without due regard and process as established in law. By guarding the civil liberties and rights of African Americans, the law inflicted a penalty, which entailed the loss of electoral votes and the loss of congressional seats, on states that dispossessed African Americans of their voting rights. Thirdly, the 14th amendment guaranteed all Americans, regardless of their racial affiliations protection under the law (Feagin, 2014). This clause serves an essential foundation for the decision to repeal the ruling in Brown v. Board of Education that overturned segregation. The 15th amendment was ratified in 1870, which gave African Americans voting rights. As the third and final amendment to be ratified in the reconstruction period, the 15th amendment forbids the national and state governments from refusing a citizen the voting rights based on that citizens color, race or servitude (Feagin, 2014). The adoption of the 15th amendments was greeted with extensive celebrations in African American communities and other abolitionist societies. The sense among African Americans is that their rights had been offered protected and secured. The adoption of the 15th Amendment completed a series of civil change, and it was one of the most significant events African American historical events. The 15th amendment meant AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 5 that the African American communities did not require the protection they were being offered by the government (Feagin, 2014). Towards the end of the reconstruction era, the south recognized that it would no longer be conceivable to hold on the perspective of recreating itself out of the North. In spite of this, there was still lingering tensions between the North and South (Feagin, 2014). Although equal rights were granted to African Americans, they did not fully enjoy them. While African Americans enjoyed expanded freedoms, it would not be till nearly a hundred years later, during the Civil rights movement that the entire fruits of reconstruction would be seen. The period of reconstruction ended in 1877, during which, a deal was struck with Democratic leaders from the south, to make Rutherford B. Hayes the U. S president, in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the south, and which stops the efforts to protect the Civil liberties of African Americans. In the period after the reconstruction era, rapid industrialization followed. During this period, African Americans on the south started escaping to the North to run away from oppression (Gates, 2012). In 1879, thousands of African Americans moved to the north. In the industrialization period, rapid industrialization and development ensued in big cities in the United States. Construction of railroads spread across the country. Railroads encouraged the growth and expansion of cities (Gates, 2012). Many Africa Americans migrated to the cities to work in the processing and production companies. In 1881, Tennessee ratified the first of the Jim Crow segregation rules, which segregated stated railroads. Over the next 15 years, similar laws were passed throughout the southern States. The segregation laws caused African Americans to migrate to the northern States (Gates, 2012). The Jim Crow segregation laws conferred a separate but equal status to all African Americans. In practice, the separation led to circumstances for African Americans that were second-rate to those offered to white Americans. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 6 systematizing several of economic, educational and socials disadvantages. The southern states had De jure while de facto applied in the northern states (Feagin, 2014). The Jim Crow segregation laws inflicted segregation in housing, which was imposed by covenants, job discrimination, and loan lending discrimination in banks, and also African Americans were also discriminated in labor unions (Gates, 2012). During the industrialization era, companies came up across various cities. African Americans were increasingly becoming urbanized, and left their farms and homesteads, and moved to big cities to get jobs. In 1887, the standing Lincoln statue was unveiled at Augustus Saint gardens in Chicago (Feagin, 2014). The Plessey v. Ferguson case was a milestone ruling in the United States. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Jim Crows separate but equal segregation policies to be legal, and begin being implemented. These laws barred African Americans from equal access in all public facilities. The 1900s marked the rise of civil rights movement across the United States. In 1954, the court in Brown v. Board of education case, ruled that segregation in education facilities to be unconstitutional and this measure strike down segregation in education facilities (Feagin, 2014). In 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested in Montgomery Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Her defiance offered the start of a momentum to the civil rights movement that spread across the United States. She was not the first black person to refuse to wake up for a white person, but by the time of her action, there was growing resentment and anger in the African American society for being treated as second-class citizens. Word went around about Montgomery mistreatment and arrest (Feagin, 2014). The Womens Political Council resolved to protest Rosa Park’s ill-treatment by arranging a bus boycott to start on the day of Parks’ trial, December 5th. Martin Luther King Jr. and the African American community established an association, the MIA (Montgomery Improvement Association) to carry on boycotting until the AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 7 Jim Crow segregation laws were altered (Feagin, 2014). The key objective was to stop segregation in the public transport system and other sections of the society, and also to employ African-American drivers in Montgomery. The public unrest ensured for 382 days, costing the Montgomery bus company he sums of money, however the city declined to give in (Feagin, 2014). The Montgomery protest leaders filed a national lawsuit in opposition to the city’s segregation rules, claiming that Montgomery desecrated the 14th Amendment. In 1956, a national court stated that the Montgomery segregation rules were unlawful, but lawyers for Montgomery County appealed. On November 3rd, 1956 the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation laws in Montgomery were illegal. During the protest, the Montgomery authorities made many arrests (Feagin, 2014). At one time, the police detained a group of African Americans waiting for carpool pick-ups. A court jury acknowledged the boycott unlawful, and 115 protest leaders were detained. In 1957, Martin Luther King, Jr. established the Southern Christian Leadership conference, which served as the forefront engine of the civil rights movement. The conference served as the main council for organizing civil rights protests across United States. The civil right movements were against discrimination of any kind and the fair treatment of all people, regardless of their color across United States. The civil right movement characterized main campaigns and protests of civil resistance (Feagin, 2014). The civil rights movements lasted between 1955 and 1968. The civil rights movements were characterized by civil disobedience and non-violent protests. In 1964, the civil rights act was ratified, and it prohibited all acts of discrimination. In 1965, The Voting Rights Act was ratified, and it outlaws the carried out in the South to disenfranchise black voters. In 1967, the first African American senator, Edward W. Brooke, was elected, and he served for two terms (Feagin, 2014). Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Tennessee, which was one of the sad moments in African American AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 8 history. The election of Barack Obama served as a significant milestone for United States, particularly the African American community. President Barack Obama was elected the first African-American president, in 2008. President’s Barack Obama’s election served as one of the most significant milestone for the African Americans community (Feagin, 2014). A racial divide that was there between the African Americans and white Americans was erased, and it was erased for all eternity. President Barack Obama was elected for a second term in office, which signaled the apparent rise of the African American community to the top (Feagin, 2014). In his second term in office, President Barack Obama has shown that there are things that seem more possible for the African Americans, than they were in his first term. He has made African Americans realize that they can achieve anything if they want to, and made their expectations realistic. Conclusion From the shackles of slavery in the 1800s, the African American community has risen to take full advantage of their civil liberties and freedoms. For over 300 years, African Americans fought for their civil rights and freedom. The African Americans struggles have been a major issue in each juncture of United States history. In 1776, when slave-holders were revolting in opposition to the menace of British abolitionism, the African Americans formed part of the American Revolution. During the civil war, the African Americans were also part of the struggles. African Americans have endured as much as any other community and have fought for the rights and liberties of all people in the community. From the attainment of freedom, and the struggle to get equal rights and civil liberties, the election of Barack Obama as the first African- American President, the African American community can gladly say that the racial divide between the Blacks and white Americans has been completely erased. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY SINCE 1865 9 References Feagin, J. R. (2014). Racist America: Roots, current realities, and future reparations. London: Routledge. Gates, H. L. (2012). The Oxford Handbook of African American Citizenship, 1865-present. London, UK: Oxford University Press.

Presidential election Essay Example for Free

Presidential election Essay During the 2004 presidential election, John Kerry offended dozens of military families, both the enlisted men and their relatives, with a gaffe he said was directed at President George Bush. The candidate for president claimed that most American soldiers joined the military because they had no better options, that the economy made them do it. While that may be the case for some soldiers, the reality is that a great many soldiers join the military for more than just the help with school or the paycheck. Especially after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the Pentagon and New York City, patriotism was a primary reason for joining the military as was the desire to see the world and serve their fellow man. Even for the soldiers that join the military for economic reasons, the service is more than just a paycheck and deserving of far better than the malicious words of an also-ran like Kerry. Jonson Mahathath is a United States Marine stationed at the Marine Recruiting Station in Louisville, KY. Mahathath, 21, will be the first to admit his primary reason for joining the Marine Corps was the opportunity. â€Å"I grew up in the middle of Missouri where the economy is bad, really bad. I knew that if I wanted to get out of there and have a life of my own, the Corps was a way out,† he said (personal interview, May 12, 2008). But that is only half the story. Mahathath said that since joining the Corps he has developed a newfound respect for servicemen and himself. When you choose to be a Marine, you know that you are committing to being part of one of the finest fighting forces in the world. You know the strength of character required to make it through boot and you know that a fellow Marine will never leave you behind. Try finding that kind of friendship and loyalty anywhere else,† he said. Indeed, after serving his first tour, Mahathath will likely reenlist, not because of the economy, but because of his dedication to the Corps. â€Å"This is a closer family than the one I was born into,† Mahathath said. Some people join the military to pay for their education and then discover other reasons for their military service. Rebekkah Henderson Thomas is one of those people. Thomas joined the Army Reserves to pay for her college education, but when the soldiers around her were deployed for war duty, Henderson felt the call to action. â€Å"I felt like I was cheating, like I wasn’t a real soldier. Here were all these people I trained with, going off to war and I was still here. I needed to be deployed, to fulfill my commitment,† Thomas said (Gunnin 2008, p. 1). Thomas could have served her entire commitment to the military without ever seeing combat, but her dedication to keeping her oath of service made her long for more. At the time she was deployed, Thomas left behind a two-year-old son and an ex-husband. Being away from her son will be difficult, but she gave her word and intends to keep it, she said (Gunnin 2008, p. 5). Airman Richard Burnell wrote in an Air Force Press Release that he joined the military for selfish reasons. â€Å"To be quite frank, my initial reason for joining the military was selfish. I enlisted Aug. 15, 1985, because I was unsure what I wanted to do with my life. I believed the military would provide me a healthy environment in which to decide. † (Burnell 2003). But the decision to join the military is not what made him a soldier, or in this case, an airman. â€Å"I became an airman because my squadron commander gave me responsibility that exceeded my confidence. He believed I was capable of things that I did not believe I could do. My desire to not let him down motivated me to accept the challenges he proposed. † (Burnell 2003). Essentially, he wrote, he joined the military to help him find a direction in life and the military not only provided it, it exceeded his wildest dreams. The reasons then why a person joins the military can be as wide and varied as the branches of the service, but to claim as Kerry did that people do it out of economic desperation is to underestimate the appeal and worth of the American military. Yes, it can be just a job to some people, but the old ad cliche is true as well, it’s more than just a job; it’s an adventure. It’s a family and a way of life.

Social Advertising: Overview and Analysis

Social Advertising: Overview and Analysis Advertising is a method of communication used by companies with the aim of making consumers keener on buying the product promoted. Advertisement according to McNamara (2011) can be defined as bringing a product (or service) to the attention of potential and current customers focused on one productà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ hence the plan for one product might be different than that for anotherà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ It is therefore essential as well to note that there are several mediums through which advertising has over the years been carried out through like commercials, signs, direct nails, personal contact, and signs or even through electronic mails. Social advertising, on the other hand, has been in use for years contrary to the beliefs of many who tend to think and suggest that it is a new and recent idea in the communication sector. The whole idea of social advertising is pegged on using the marketing and advertising philosophies to promote health and social issues with an aim of bringing forth a positive change in behavior of a targeted group or society in general (Farlex. The Free Dictionary. Computer Desktop Encyclopedia, 2009. Social Advertising). It is widely used by nonprofit and other institutions, such as the Centre for Disease Control and Drug Free Partnership for America, which has been using and engaging in social advertising for many years to impact the society and the world at large. The history of social advertising though in America started during the World War II where social advertising was used to inform people on the unfolding and also campaign for the American government. Roosevelt instructed that a War Advertising Council (now the Ad Council) be established, which carried social advertisements on behalf of the government and also the non-profit organizations like the Smokey Bear campaign. In this way, the American population was kept aware of what was going on in the society in terms of peoples reaction towards the war and also informed about the happenings in the battlefield. (Chatham University 2009, The Effects of American Advertising and Consumerism.) Technically, the term social advertising/marketing was used by Kotler and Zalman in 1971 first in reference to the application of marketing in a bid to solve societal problems (The Philippine Star, 2001). Since marketing had been used to remarkably move market products, it was argued that in the same trend it can be used to move human beings to adopt particular behaviors that are desirable and beneficial to the society. There are social marketing campaigns that are meant to expose the trouble areas to the wider society and make us attentive to their causes. Even though bringing the attention of the society to the root of the problem may not trigger change in the attitude of the society and their behavior as these are shaped by habits, interests, feelings, and beliefs (The Philippine Star, 2001) and that is the reason why the social advertising campaigns, in order to be considered effective must transverse the mere hurdle of agitation and education. Social marketing is peculiarly characterized by its emphasis on the non-tangible products and performance as opposed to the focus of commercial marketing on tangible goods and products. The primary focus is on the public and on understanding what their wants and needs are, rather than twisting them to fit into what we have like in the commercial marketing model. In a nutshell, social advertising basically tells the individual/group to embrace a new behavior, decline a probable influence/behavior, change a current behavior and discard an old behavior. On a personal level, I am very sensitive to social problems and humanitys future challenges, thats why I find sociological topics very interesting. I was very driven also to combine my business and management knowledge concerned with advertising. Nowadays, advertising has a vital role in our lives since we can find it almost everywhere! In business terms, advertising is the main point of the marketing mix. The marketing mix comprises the elements used by firms to satisfy as effectively as possible the needs of their customers, such as by product, by price, by promotion and by place. United States seems to be a very good example to examine since its advertising sector is on consistent growth with estimations exceeding $300 billion spend on advertising for 2010 (Tns-mi.com, 2007). A country that competes and provides its marketing features in an international market, (through internet for example) can then be assumed that is a trend-setter for world wide phenomena and may lead to behavioural changes not only for domestic viewers. Hence, the main aim of this extended essay is to explore the extent to which social advertising is pervasive in the United States, by exploring its magnitude of application in different facets of the American society. Characteristics of social advertising: The social advertisements strive to put forth advertisement formats that will capitalize on the social perception and perspective of the viewer (Pharma Marketing, 2010). This is in contrast to the traditional advertising that was non-social and was based on the details known about the individual whereas the social advertising is aimed at the individual users existing and potential network. It is the capitalization on the perceptions of the viewer that make social advertising to be the first of its kind to take systematic leverage over the traditionally offline potentiality, such as friends recommendations, peer influence and pressure and other manifestations of peer influence (Pharmaceutical Marketing Network, 2011 Social Advertising on Facebook). This makes it more popular and used by many more each waking day. The social advertising repeats the content over and over within very short time unlike the traditional advertising that were timed and limited to the peak times when it is felt they can generate more influence and impact. The social network will treat the viewers to timely and repeated transmissions at staggered intervals (Compass Labs, 2010). The social advertisements have also acted as referrals that are trusted by many people and this gives even more evidence that people can influence other people. The social advertising takes advantage of the fact that it is no longer a paradigm of what message is sent to the wider viewer platform but that which is shared among friends and social advertising sets out to explore these social trends to develop a new type of advertising system (Bloomerg Businessweek, 2007). The advertisers are hence constantly searching for ways to reach out to numerous social networks which compels them to look at advertising networks to push through their custom content and applications. This makes them come up with interactive advertisements or contextual advertising. (Digital Signage Today, 2011) To get a deeper understanding of the idea of social advertising, it will be worthy taking a look at a few examples of these advertisers and the advertisements as well and see what they deal in. The various social advertising that we face day to day includes those that push us to accept new behavior like Wear a life vest while in the boat or those that encourage us to reject potential harmful behavior like pregnant women should avoid alcohol to escape possibilities of defects to the unborn child. There are those social advertisements that aim to modify a current behavior like parents to wear seat belts as a role model in order to reduce injuries in case of an accident and those that target to help one abandon old behaviors, like quitting smoking to reduce chances of cancers or birth defects. These are some of the social advertising that we come across on a very regular basis. Some of the features that are common with most if not all social advertising are that they are non-commercial and solely aimed at societal benefits. They are also performed by governments, large corporate organizations or NGOs. They are as well related to the peoples attitude and enlist the use of big names that are popular among the targeted society or group. Techniques of social advertising: In the world of social advertising, there are numerous techniques that are employed by the parties involved. The mediums to be used are endless depending on the targeted audience and viewers and what is easily accessible to them. Wall murals, billboards, flyers, street furniture, cards, radio, television, mobile phone screens, human billboards, newspapers, shopping carts, bus sides, planes, web banners, rooftops, stickers, back of tickets and many more places have been used by the social advertising to pass across their message and point (thoughts.com, 2011). Lately, there have been tendencies of more and more social advertising going to the World Wide Web which is a recent discovery as compared to the others. It is a very influential medium since once an advert is uploaded onto the website, the message and pictures cam be seen throughout the world. The other recent mode is the digital signage. It is a force to reckon with in the field of advertisement. The digital signage gets into close touch with the targeted viewers and explores the interactive nature of human beings. They are also easy to control with precision as to what to display and for how long and how often. This makes the message to be relevant to the audience at all times and varying places. These are used in supermarkets, restaurants and even street corners. (Digital Signage Today, 2011). The other recent technique that the social advertising uses is the E-mail phenomenon, which is equally a recent trend as the digital signage. More often this happens in the form of unsolicited nails that contain the social motivator or message intended to be passed across. (Majon International, 2010). From the above techniques, it is apparent that the social media has struck favor among the users due to its simplicity to use and the relevance in content and timeliness. For instance, it is easier to create an advertisement page on Facebook than most social media. As a matter of fact, it takes few minutes to do it, after which you can get suggestions instantly of target groups and how you can get networked with them, as well as tutorials on how to make your advertising page look better (Fortune, 2010). Effects of social advertising on the American society: Having seen that the society at large is highly dependent on the social media and it is on these social networks that the social advertising has turned to it is necessary to look at the extent to which the society today has been affected by the medium of transmission and the content of social advertising. The underlying fact about social advertising is that it aims at making a positive impact on the society in general; it is the drive to see a better society that makes the foundation and core business of the organizations involved in social advertisements. It has been seen that the techniques used in promoting profitable goods and services can as well be used for information purpose, educate and motivational aspect to the public about issues of public interest like HIV/AIDS, energy conservation, politics and political trends, deforestation and many more social issues. Since advertising is an influential education means that is capable of not only reaching but also motivating vast audiences, its proper use is bound to produce some desirable results and this is the only level at which we can confidently say that the advertising has helped or is significant in human life. As Howard Gossage is correctly referred to by David Ogilvy in Education Line (2009), Advertising justifies its existence when used in the public interest-it is much too powerful a tool to use solely for commercial purposes we are persuaded that in as much as advertising is being used for commercial supremacy, there is room for social messages to be propagated by the same medium. Other terms that are interchangeably used to refer to using sophisticated advertisement modes to influence the society towards good morals are non-commercial advertising, cause marketing, public service advertising, public interest advertising or social marketing. Health: One of the most fundamental things that social advertising aim at is health. Most of the earlier advertisements were focused on advising the audience on what foods to eat, the correct type of diet when under different conditions. By use of mass media like the radio, internet, newspaper and TV, health tips and information can be disseminated to a vast audience at the same time. The ideas about how to quit smoking, fighting addicting to junk food that contains too much sugar or calories can be effectively passed on here (Barrie et al, 2005). Drug abuse: Social networks like Facebook have highly influenced many youth concerning drug abuse and consumption of alcohol. The advertisements have time over and over targeted the youth to inform them about the harmful nature of drugs and alcohol. The social advertising has enabled them to register online into small voluntary groups and freely share their ideas on drugs. Since it is a virtual thing and no one sees the other, the members of these teams are free to discuss anything that can help stop them or friends from drug abuse hence producing a cleaner American generation. (Media Campaign, 2009). A good example of social advertising venture is the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (NYADMC), which is almost the largest social marketing team that utilizes the service of mass media to deliver drug prevention messages and information. For instance, NYADMC embarked on what they called prescription drug initiative which was targeted at increasing parents awareness of prescription drug abuse and effectively equip them with information that would help the parents control the supply of prescription drugs (Media Campaign, 2009). Community policing: It is noteworthy that social advertising has moved out of the hitherto known domain of health issues alone into various other fields, necessitated by change of events in the contemporary society. Social marketing has enabled community policing to run smoothly in many parts of the USA. It enables the security sector to engage extensively with the citizens and obtain valuable feedback hence helping in crime prevention and behavior change through the various police schedules (Stephan, 2009). It is through such initiatives that crime in the USA can be effectively driven out. HIV/AIDS: HIV/AIDS is a scourge that has ravaged many societies in the whole world and particularly the third world. Here in the USA the effects are not very profound but still felt. It is therefore a responsibility of the social media to update the Americans about the effects of the scourge, the prevention, and care for the infected and any new information that may come up as medical research progresses. This milestone in handling HIV/AIDS has been achieved by a very wide proportion. In fact, Nilimaa (2004) agrees that the objective of advertising for a large number of nonprofit organizations is to be persuasive, and both persuasive and informative approaches may be included. He acknowledges that social advertising has a central part in the society toward elimination of HIV/AIDS. The American population has been a beneficiary of the same, since the media is central in the campaign and sensitization about HIV/AIDS thanks to the social advertisements by NGOs. Social discrimination: There have been quite a number of social advertisements that are also geared towards discouraging any acts of social discrimination, encouraging cohesion of the whole USA and prevention of inequality of any form towards all Americans. The social marketing techniques strive to prevent any recurrence of the past history of discriminatory acts whether at social amenities, public institutions, places of work, government offices and any other shared amenities. (The Online Institute, 2011). The UNDP Belarus (2004) set up projects in various parts of the world fighting discrimination of all types and one of the major ways is through social advertisements. Road safety: The safety of each and every American who walks out of his house each time and gets to the road is a priority of the government and all other stakeholders. This safety begins from the accident free drives to carjacking prevention. The issue of roadside pedophilia has also threatened the American security a number of times where the pedestrians and their children are the victims. The road carnage is on the rise during the holidays and it is at this time that more social adverts on road safety are flashed on the TV screens more often discouraging drunken driving, speeding, careless stopping in the woods, cautious driving and all the keeping trail of group members, car poling and so on (BT, 2003). These are meant to go a long way in curbing the rampant accidents that may emerge during the busy festive seasons. Environmental care: As a result of global warming, the environment has become everybodys business. It is no longer an issue that can be left on the shoulders of the governments of the countries of the world to handle. NGOs, corporate organizations and environmental groups have all lined up to help salvage the environment from the constant but certain escalation of global warming. The social advertisements will come in handy in this scenario as well. Indeed OMRON (2011), believes that one of the best ways to realize a sustainable society is to proactively undertake environmental conservation activities and share the results and plans with stakeholders through a variety of media, thereby promoting communication with them. They rely on the social media to carry out their social advertisements in ways of conserving the environment for the future generation. Americans will benefit from such techniques and implement them to sustain an environment that is inhabitable and a better America for tomorrow. Corruption: America has seen a number of corruption cases be they in inflation of bills, irregular tender awards, banking sector under deals, procurement process flouting and much more. Very few have gone unnoticed, but majority are identified and made public to the relevant authorities. For us to bring up a generation that has integrity and impeccable character there is need to keep corruption in check to the best limits available and this is where America has successfully employed the technique of using media as a way of social advertisement or campaign against the vice. (World Bank Institute, 2011). Advertisers Social Responsibility: The prerequisite to any society to cohesively exist is the cordial relationship among its members. Without the harmony that keeps the society glued together, the society will crumple in its basic structure and be no more. Hence, all the viable institutions in the society have a duty to uphold the harmony through appropriate stewardship of those under it. In the bid to uphold this harmony, integrity and honesty, adherence to generally agreed upon ethical standards, availability to offer assistance to various segments of the society and being cautious with respect to the privacy of each society member are the key issues to be considered by social advertisers. (Brand Republic, 2010). Advertising holds a central place in developed countries, contributing immensely to their economic growth. Hence, it is so influential that it can as well affect the results of a political contest. With such powers in the hands of advertising, what comes with it the responsibility which lies in the hands of the sponsors, creators, producer, buyer and even seller of the advertisement, to maintain the maximum ethical standards that support the entire society and contribute to its economic growth. In the USA, the advertisement sector falls in the wider business community that immensely contributes to the growth of the nation as one. It is therefore significant for this sector to play its part in the maintenance of order, respect to the society, and generally contribute to making the community better day by day. American advertisers have kept their bar above the rest and formed the American Advertising Federation (AAF) which represents the sector in the USA and acts as the unifying voice for advertising (AAF, 2011). The AAF will act as a unifying factor for all the involved parties in the advertising company and as well furnish them with the ethics of advertising. Social advertising is not an exception to these rules. Social advertisers have to follow the ethics guiding the advertising industry, so as to avoid any disharmony in the industry. Conclusion: In as much as the social marketing deals only with behaviour change, social advertisers will still have to stick with by the rules of advertising in putting up their advertisement be they in placard forms, flyers, newspaper, roadside billboards, TV adverts or radio since they remain to be as influential as any other commercial advertisement. If these ethics are not followed then the only replacement that they could have is greed as explained by Wallace et al (2007), which in turn will lead to a downturn in social cohesion and lead to losses be it in profits or valuable human lives. In general, the American society enjoys a relatively harmonious advertising environment, though there are a few uncertain areas as to ethics, which centre mainly on the commercial advertising. Social advertising has maintained a relatively upright and trustworthy trend through the years. Social advertising has seen the society gain from the pool of knowledge that there is and has had a relatively timely and profitable updates on the challenges of contemporary society. Hence, we can conclude that its positive impact on the American society will help it become an even more popular way of passing social messages to the wider American society with a view to instilling positive behaviours in people.

Slow Food Essay -- Nutrition

The trend of the Slow Food Movement has existed since the 1970’s but has recently been thrusted into the fore front of prominent world issues as the cause and remedy of environmental challenges, local economic circumstances, and the complexities with social norms. The Slow Food Movement can be considered a counter-trend to Fast food. It was created in response to the augmentation of fast food a culture, the diminishment of people caring where the food comes from, and the diminishment of local food traditions. After a close examination of these factors, a prediction is made of the future trends of Slow Food Movement, and how the Slow Movement concept will evolve to become a part of everyday life. The Oxford American Dictionary defines trends as â€Å"a general tendency or inclination, the general direction in which something tends to move† (1999) A trend analysis is defined as an examination of a trend to identify its nature, causes, speed of development, and potential impacts (Cornish, 2001, p.78). Trends at times arise as a response to other trends. The same deduction can be made about food trends. For example when the Atkins diet was popular, retailers responded with low carbohydrate food options. In 2006, Burger King offered bunless burgers wrapped in lettuce, to appeal to the dieters embracing a low, or no carbohydrate lifestyle. Additional fast food restaurants including Arbys, Hardees, Carl’s Junior, and Subway followed suit with bunless options. While the trend of no or low carbohydrate diets have diminished the low carbohydrate options continue to be available upon request. The trend illustrates the affects trends have on each other. The Slow Food Movement has similar roots of establishment. The Slow Food Movement can be... ...ustry's Parade toward Low-Carb Menu Items. . Knight Ridder Tribune Business News 1(1), Retrieved Jun. 10, 2011, from from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 524271311). Schneider, S. (2008). Good, Clean, Fair: The Rhetoric of the Slow Food Movement. College English, 70 (4), pp. 384-402. Slow Food International. 1989. Slow Food Manifesto Retrieved from http://www.slowfood.com/international/2/our-philosophy "Trend n. & v." The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English. Oxford University Press, 1999. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. August 2011 US Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. 2008. U.S. Fertilizer Use and Price. Data set. Available atWeb site http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FertilizerUse/ (accessed 11 June 2011).

Marriage In Japan :: essays research papers

Marriage in Japan Why people get married? There would be many reasons; to save money, to escape from loneliness, to have a better life, and so on. But in most case people marry for love. Though it is almost always true, a married life is different between in the western culture and in Japan. A marriage in modern western culture is based on mutuality and companionship. In Western there is a tendency to be independent. Most college graduates live apart from their family and find an apartment near the working place. They have learned how to  ¡Ã‚ °survive ¡Ã‚ ± in single and marriage is an optional. However, a person in Japan who graduates from a college and has a job still lives with one ¡Ã‚ ¯s family until one gets married, which means one keeps the parent-child relationship. Therefore it is hard for a Japanese man to learn to be independent. After he gets married, he now relies on his bride for having foods, doing laundry, and many other things. Takeo Doi explains it with the te rm of amae that means the seeking or causing of oneself to be loved, nurtured, and indulged. He says it is an active attempt to make oneself into a passive love object. One reason why a man continues depending on someone else is that he has been witnessed what his parents have been done and now he considers himself as a head of his own family. In case of woman, it is difficult to keep her job after the marriage, because she needs to take care of her child, which is considered to be a wife ¡Ã‚ ¯s job. She has to do everything else except making money for the family, which makes her dependent on her husband who has the economic power. However in western culture, it is natural for both partners to have their own jobs and to be responsible for every single household job after marriage. Until recently it has been true in Japan but now it is changing. More women have their jobs rather than prepare to be a bride after the graduate. They don ¡Ã‚ ¯t need to get married if they don ¡Ã‚ ¯t want to. It has also become common not to have many children and some couples don ¡Ã‚ ¯t have a child at all. A younger bride could decide to divorce her husband if she wants to because she has a chance to get an economic independence easily nowadays. Marriage In Japan :: essays research papers Marriage in Japan Why people get married? There would be many reasons; to save money, to escape from loneliness, to have a better life, and so on. But in most case people marry for love. Though it is almost always true, a married life is different between in the western culture and in Japan. A marriage in modern western culture is based on mutuality and companionship. In Western there is a tendency to be independent. Most college graduates live apart from their family and find an apartment near the working place. They have learned how to  ¡Ã‚ °survive ¡Ã‚ ± in single and marriage is an optional. However, a person in Japan who graduates from a college and has a job still lives with one ¡Ã‚ ¯s family until one gets married, which means one keeps the parent-child relationship. Therefore it is hard for a Japanese man to learn to be independent. After he gets married, he now relies on his bride for having foods, doing laundry, and many other things. Takeo Doi explains it with the te rm of amae that means the seeking or causing of oneself to be loved, nurtured, and indulged. He says it is an active attempt to make oneself into a passive love object. One reason why a man continues depending on someone else is that he has been witnessed what his parents have been done and now he considers himself as a head of his own family. In case of woman, it is difficult to keep her job after the marriage, because she needs to take care of her child, which is considered to be a wife ¡Ã‚ ¯s job. She has to do everything else except making money for the family, which makes her dependent on her husband who has the economic power. However in western culture, it is natural for both partners to have their own jobs and to be responsible for every single household job after marriage. Until recently it has been true in Japan but now it is changing. More women have their jobs rather than prepare to be a bride after the graduate. They don ¡Ã‚ ¯t need to get married if they don ¡Ã‚ ¯t want to. It has also become common not to have many children and some couples don ¡Ã‚ ¯t have a child at all. A younger bride could decide to divorce her husband if she wants to because she has a chance to get an economic independence easily nowadays.

Chinese Immigration to United States Essay -- Immigration

There were many reasons for the Chinese to come to America. Overcrowding, poverty, war, and other catastrophes in China were all reasons (push) for traveling to America, as well as effective external influences. The discovery of gold was a major pull for Chinese peasants in coming to the West Coast. America's labor needs were the most important external catalyst for immigration. However, there were very few ways of traveling to the United States. With loans from the Six Companies, Chinese were able to afford fare to America, and they traveled here to work primarily as gold miners, fishermen, or agricultural workers; later settling into laundry services and restaurant work (Tsai, China overseas 12-13). In order to cultivate and develop the vast amount of Western land and resources they had obtained, develop industry, and build a rail system for transportation and communication, and to create a network of communication with China, Americans were searching for labor, people to carry out these tasks. The hard-working nature of Chinese made them natural targets for such laborious tasks, and this helped create a pull for the Chinese willing to travel to America for work (Tsai, China overseas 12). An entrepreneur by the name of Elmer C. Sandmeyer saw transportation companies as a powerful promotional influence. The transportation of Chinese laborers between Hong Kong and San Francisco accompanied by high passenger rates allowed American ship owners to make a nice profit (Tsai, China overseas 12-13). The Six Companies played a large part in this process, as a benevolent organization that was devoted to helping immigrants, the sick and poor, and conveying the bodies of dead persons back to china. Immigrants who were too poor to pay t... ...ing the year 1852 alone, thirty thousand Chinese who embarked at Hong Kong for San Francisco paid $1,300,000 for the voyage. At the beginning of 1856, William Speer calculated that all Chinese in California had paid a total of $2,329,580 for the trip" (Tsai, China overseas 13). Frequently exploited by American capitalists, Chinese laborers were whipped to dig in gold mines, build railroads, and plant crops. Industry boomed in Western America as the Chinese toiled ceaselessly. Free immigration was suggested by the United States in the 1868 Burlingame Treaty because of the need for labor in America and the potential benefits of trading with the Chinese. Labor was cheap, and many forms of fraud and propaganda were employed to bring Chinese laborers to the United States. The discovery of gold was also very beneficial in enticing the Chinese (Tsai, China overseas 13).

IKEA’s Global Strategy Essay

Swedish company IKEA was the world’s largest furniture retailer since the early 1990s. It sold inexpensive furniture of Scandinavian design. The company operated in 55 countries with a workforce of 76,000 (the company referred to its workforce as its ‘co-workers’). IKEA offered nearly 12,000 items to the home furnishings market worldwide. It sold a wide range of products including furniture, accessories, bathrooms and kitchens at 186 retail stores in 30 countries across Europe, North America, Southeast Asia, Middle East and Australia. IKEA enjoyed high brand equity. | | In 2003, Manhattan US-based Interbrand, a marketing research and consultancy firm, valued the ‘IKEA’ brand at $6.92 billion and ranked IKEA 43rd on its list of the top 100 most valuable global brands, ahead of Nestle, Harley-Davidson, and Apple.3 | Analysts attributed IKEA’s success to its skill in combining good product design and superior quality with an affordable price. IKEA’s low-pricing strategy was aimed at young people. For several decades, IKEA had looked for international markets, which were culturally as close as possible to the Scandinavian market. The basic assumption behind IKEA’s global strategy was ‘one-design-suits-all.’ Anders Dahlvig, the CEO of IKEA, had once said, â€Å"Whether we are in China, Russia, Manhattan, or London, people buy the same things. We don’t adapt to local markets.†| IKEA had, in fact, been quite successful with its ‘one-design-suits-all’ global expansion strategy in many markets. However, industry experts were doubtful as to whether this strategy would translate well into new, culturally diverse and riskier markets. They felt that a higher degree of localization was essential for companies like IKEA to be successful in diverse markets. The Asian markets, together with the Middle East and Australia, accounted for only 4% of IKEA’s total revenues in 2004. The company was keen to increase this share in the future. Upon entry into the far eastern markets, IKEA faced a number of challenges in terms of varied cultural, demographic and market specific needs.| | IKEA opened its first store in China in 1998.  Although the company’s global strategy had worked well in the past in most of the markets it had entered, it quickly learnt that success in the Chinese market required a different strategy in the areas of Marketing and HR. | IKEA also had to alter two of the most important aspects of its time-tested and proven global strategy when it came to China; while elsewhere in the world, IKEA had always located its stores in less expensive areas and sold its furniture on the do-it-yourself (DIY) principle, these elements had to be changed in China. IKEA claimed that it had decentralized most of its functions incl uding HR and stores management in China, but despite this, there was criticism that IKEA was far too bureaucratic with many of its operations being globally controlled and systematized. Commenting on this, Ian Duffy, IKEA’s China retail manager commented, â€Å"We need time to learn and change in the (Chinese) market to become a success.†| IKEA should have many innovations to adapt to the China market. â€Å"At IKEA our vision is to create a better everyday life for the many people. Our business idea supports this vision by offering a wide range of well-designed, functional home furnishing products at prices so low that as many people as possible will be able to afford them.†(Our vision and business idea, http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/about_ikea/the_ikea_way/our_business_idea/index.html) It seems not achieved in China market yet. Firstly, IKEA should have greater cooperation with local suppliers to get more competitive advantage of cost leadership. Secondly, according to the specialty of China market, IKEA should have some more adjustment to satisfy so many China picky customers. Thirdly, IKEA should intensify propaganda work to let more customers understand and accommodate the IKEA model. As an outcomer, there is a long way to be the winner in this huge and potential market.After a long time to research the China market, IKEA already understand the China market more than before. With accelerating the speed of expand, the success of IKEA in China market is only the problem of time.