Definition of Literacy Test

A literacy test measures a person’s proficiency in reading and writing. Beginning in the 19th century, literacy tests were used in the voter registration process in southern states of the U.S. with the intent to disenfranchise black voters. In 1917, with the passing of the Immigration Act, literacy tests were also included in the U.S. immigration process, and are still used today. Historically, literacy tests have served to legitimize racial and ethnic marginalization in the U.S. HISTORY OF RECONSTRUCTION AND JIM CROW ERA Literacy tests were introduced into the voting process in the South with the Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws and statutes enacted by southern and border states in the late 1870s to deny African Americans the right to vote in the South following Reconstruction (1865-1877). They were designed to keep whites and blacks segregated, to disenfranchise black voters, and to keep blacks subjugated, undermining the 14th and 15th Amendments of the United States Constitution. Despite the ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868, granting citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States which included former slaves, and the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870, which specifically gave African Americans the right to vote, Southern and Border states continued to find ways to keep racial minorities from voting. They used electoral fraud and violence to intimidate African American voters, and created Jim Crow laws to promote racial segregation. During the twenty years following Reconstruction, African Americans lost many of the legal rights that had been gained during Reconstruction. Even the Supreme Court of the United States â€Å"helped undermine the Constitutional protections of blacks with the infamous Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) case, which legitimized Jim Crow laws and the Jim Crow way of life.† In this case, the Supreme Court maintained that public facilities for blacks and whites could be â€Å"separate but equal.† Following this decision, it soon became the law throughout the South that public facilities had to be separate. Many of the changes made during Reconstruction proved to be short-lived, with the Supreme Court continuing to uphold racial discrimination and segregation in its decisions, thus giving southern states free reign to impose literacy tests and all manner of voting restrictions on prospective voters, discriminating against black voters. But racism was not just recurring in the South. Although the Jim Crow Laws were a Southern phenomenon, the sentiment behind them was a national one. There was a resurgence of racism in the North as well and â€Å" emerging national, indeed international, consensus (among whites at any rate) that Reconstruction had been a serious mistake. LITERACY TESTS AND VOTING RIGHTS Some states, such as Connecticut, used literacy tests in the mid-1800s to keep Irish immigrants from voting, but Southern states didn’t use literacy tests until after Reconstruction in 1890, sanctioned by the federal government, where they were used well into the 1960s. They were used ostensibly to test the voters ability to read and write, but in reality to discriminate against African American voters and sometimes poor whites. Since 40-60% of blacks were illiterate, compared to 8-18% of whites, these tests had a large differential racial impact. Southern states also imposed other standards, all of which were arbitrarily set by the test administrator. Those who were property owners or whose grandfathers had been able to vote  (â€Å"grandfather clause†),  those deemed to have â€Å"good character,† or those who paid poll taxes were able to vote. Because of these impossible standards, â€Å"in 1896, Louisiana had 130,334 registered black voters. Eight years later, only 1,342, 1 percent, could pass the state’s new rules.†Ã‚  Even in areas where the black population was substantially greater, these standards kept the white voting population in the majority. The administration of literacy tests was unfair and discriminatory. â€Å"If the official wanted a person to pass, he could ask the easiest question on the test—for example, Who is the president of the United States?† The same official might require a black person to answer every single question correctly, in an unrealistic amount of time, in order to pass.†Ã‚  It was up to the test administrator whether the prospective voter passed or failed, and even if a black man was well-educated, he would most likely fail, because â€Å"the test was created with failure as a goal.† Even if a potential black voter knew all the answers to the questions, the official administering the test could still fail him. Literacy tests were not declared unconstitutional in the South until ninety-five years after the15th Amendment was ratified, by the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Five years later, in 1970, Congress abolished literacy tests and discriminatory voting practices nationwide, and as a result, the number of registered African American voters increased dramatically. ACTUAL LITERACY TESTS In 2014 a group of Harvard University students was asked to take the 1964 Louisiana Literacy Test to raise awareness about voting discrimination.  The test is similar to those given in other Southern states since Reconstruction to potential voters who could not prove they had a fifth grade education. In order to be able to vote, a person had to pass all 30 questions in 10 minutes. All of the students failed under those conditions, because the test was meant to be failed. The questions have nothing at all to do with the U.S. Constitution and are completely nonsensical. You can try the test yourself here.   LITERACY TESTS AND IMMIGRATION In the late 19th century many people wanted to restrict the influx of immigrants to the U.S. due to increased problems of urbanization and industrialization such as crowding, lack of housing and jobs, and urban squalor. It was during this time that the idea of using literacy tests to control the number of immigrants able to enter the United States, particularly those from southern and eastern Europe, was formed. However, it took those who advocated for this approach many years to try to convince lawmakers and others that immigrants were the â€Å"cause† of many of America’s social and economic maladies. Finally, in 1917, Congress passed the Immigration Act, also known as the Literacy Act (and Asiatic Barred Zone Act), which included a literacy test that is still a requirement for becoming a U.S. citizen today. The Immigration Act demanded that those who were over the age of 16 and could read some language must read 30-40 words to show they were capable of reading. Those who were entering the U.S. to avoid religious persecution from their country of origin did not have to pass this test. The literacy test that is part of the Immigration Act of 1917 included only a few languages available to immigrants. This meant that if their native language was not included, they could not prove they were literate, and were denied entry. Beginning in 1950, immigrants could legally only take the literacy test in English, further limiting those who could gain entry to the United States. Besides demonstrating the ability to read, write, and speak English, immigrants also have to display knowledge of U.S. history, government, and civics. English literacy tests have effectively been used in the U.S. as a means to keep immigrants  that the government deemed unwanted out of the country, for the tests are demanding and rigorous.   Would you be able to pass them? REFERENCES 1.Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University, 2.Foner, Eric., The Supreme Court and the History of Reconstruction -- and Vice-VersaColumbia Law Review, November 2012, 1585-1606http://www.ericfoner.com/articles/SupCtRec.html 3.4. Techniques of Direct Disenfranchisement 1880-1965,  University of Michigan, http://www.umich.edu/~lawrace/disenfranchise1.htm 4. Constitutional Rights Foundation, A Brief History of Jim Crow, http://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/a-brief-history-of-jim-crow 5. The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/voting_literacy.html 6. Ibid. 7. http://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI8708749/ RESOURCES AND FURTHER READING Alabama Literacy Test, 1965, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/voting_literacy.html Constitutional Rights Foundation, A Brief History of Jim Crow, http://www.crf-usa.org/black-history-month/a-brief-history-of-jim-crow Foner, Eric, The Supreme Court and the History of Reconstruction -- and Vice-Versa Columbia Law Review, November 2012, 1585-1606http://www.ericfoner.com/articles/SupCtRec.html Head, Tom, 10 Racist US Supreme Court Rulings, ThoughtCo., March 03, 2017, https://www.thoughtco.com/racist-supreme-court-rulings-721615 Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia, Ferris State University, http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/what.htm Onion, Rebecca, Take the Impossible â€Å"Literacy† Test Louisiana Gave Black Voters in the 1960s, http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_vault/2013/06/28/voting_rights_and_the_supreme_court_the_impossible_literacy_test_louisiana.html PBS, The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, http://www.pbs.org/wnet/jimcrow/voting_literacy.html Schwartz, Jeff, CORE’s Freedom Summer, 1964 - My Experiences in Louisiana, http://www.crmvet.org/nars/schwartz.htm Weisberger, Mindy, Immigration Act of 1917 Turns 100: Americas Long History of Immigration Prejudice, LiveScience, Feb. 5, 2017, http://www.livescience.com/57756-1917-immigration-act-100th-anniversary.html

The Business Ethic Of The Movie Blood Diamond - 881 Words

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Advertising and Sex free essay sample

Sex and indecency are very mature areas and should not be used loosely. In todays society almost anything goes. This should not hold true for certain areas; like sex. I intend to use many examples of sex in advertising and various studies to show how this strategy is not only over used, but is improperly used and viewable to all consumers, including young children. The advertising industry has taken a low blow at society and needs to focus their attentions on preserving human decency and uphold a higher standard of moral concern. What are we really dealing with here?As time grows older, the acceptance of more and more ideals is growing by the second. Not only ten years ago were standards different. I remember when girls couldnt wear shorts that came higher than four finger widths above their knees to school. Today this standard is not only unheard of, but laughed at. Foul language on television is more accepted. Video games are more graphic than ever before and advertisements are using the idea of sex or sexuality to sell products to all ages (including video games: they now have nudity in video games). Do we really want our children growing and learning room these explicit images?How can companies sleep at night knowing they are using corrupt techniques to sell products to our children? We are talking about corporate social responsibility (CARS). CARS is defied that a corporation should be held accountable for any of its actions that affect people, their communities, and their environment (McGraw-Hill, 1999, peg. 3). Companies have two choices in this world today. They can either be for CARS or against it. This paper will use both sides of the coin to view the argument about sexuality in advertising. Is the burger really that good?The advertisement industry is a no-holds-barred industry where just about anything goes. Companies need to focus their attention on their CARS more than getting the edge in ads. We might ask ourselves, who exactly is watching these ads? Who are they intended for? What are they selling? Sometimes an advertisement can actually be confusing as to what is being sold. I do not agree with a sexual display for irrelevant products. The reason I take an anti- sexuality view on the subject started from a Carols Jar. Commercial. In this particular commercial, Paris Hilton was displayed eating a Caracals. Ambusher. While eating she was dressed in black bathing suit crawling over a Bentley. Some might find it attractive and enticing while others find this a little explicit for them. This commercial is basically soft-core porn. The way she moves, the way she puts her finger in her mouthits very suggestive and very titillating (http://money. CNN. Com/2005). Said Melissa Caldwell, research director for the Parents Television Council (APT). Carols Jar. Responded by saying that the group needs to get a life. This isnt Janet Concessionaires no nipple in this.Its a beautiful model in a swimsuit washing a car (http:// none. CNN. Com/2005). The APT is very concerned about this matter considering this commercial airs in the hours of popular television shows such as The O. C. And sporting programs. Milton Friedman (1970) would agree with Carols Jar. Friedman believes in the interest of the business and the business only. In his article with the title that speaks his opinion, The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Profits, Friedman states that only people have responsibilities business as a whole cannot be said to have responsibilities (Freidman, 1970, Peg. ). From Friedmans point of view if this immemorial, which more than likely improved profits, did not air because of some social value or norm then the company lost money. More specifically they would be spending someone elses money; the stockholders. The corporate executive made a decision to improve revenue for the company, which in turn makes more money for stockholders. He is not about to hold back from higher profits because of some social backlash. In the world of advertising sometimes bad press is good press. !Hold! A Mexican restaurant showed a lascar-clad woman posed with her hands on her hips over the headline 0 Tickle my Taco (Rotifer, 2003). In this case the owner probably thought this would be a good slogan to have. What he doesnt realize that the use of irrelevant sexual innuendos is actually more distracting attracting. He actually thought this was the best campaign he had ever had because of the numerous complaints he got. Another backfire experience involves a trucker business that had passed out calendars for his business with half naked women on each month.This was thought to be a perfect ad scheme until most of the people with the calendars actually forgot the name of his company. Advertising creators are so myopic as to believe hat publicity from offending people is always beneficial. They do not see it as being a distraction from saying positive things about the restaurant or store (Rotifer). Joe cool? Advertising is not created and used just to provide a smug example of public morality; advertising is honest because it has to be. What I mean by honesty is the product information is not all ways how it is displayed.Lets address the issues of what we care about, the way we raise our children, our ideas of right and wrong conduct, these in my view are all together. Lets take a look at liquor and tobacco advertising. The image of the Marlboro Man is one example. This type of advertisement depicts a buff, handsome, cool man smoking a cigarette. What message is this conveying to our young people? That it is cool to smoke. We all know it has been proven that smoking cigarettes can cause cancer. This type of advertisement causes the consumer to subliminally change their opinion of various items.This is why most advertising is geared towards the younger more susceptible crowd. Firebombed and who? The Caracals. Case is not alone in sexual content. Sex is everywhere we look in todays society. In The Prevalence of Sexual Imagery in Ads Targeted to Young Adults, Firebombed Fitch made an advertising attempt at combining a magazine with a catalog. They call it the analog. In this analog they TA regret young adults by using sexual imagery throughout their products. They increased their revenues from $50 million to over SSL . 5 billion in 2001.From these numbers one could say that sex does sell. In a survey taken in 2001 results found that 44% of young adults (age-24) said they are more likely to buy the clothes if the ad contains sexual imagery (Richter, 2003). Others may not agree that sex sells. Most people (61 %) report that sexual imagery in ads makes them less likely to buy the products (Richter). This quote was taken from the same article, but was used as a generalization about all people young and old. Other than being aimed at a much too young audience, there are more issues that are raised with sexuality in ads.Who wants to look like a celebrity? Lets talk about images. For example, most advertisements for clothing (I. E. Bathing suits etc), show shapely thin women and men. This has led our country to think that fat is demeaning and not socially accepted. This type of advertising has caused everyone to want to look like the people in the ads. Diets of all sorts have been developed to try to meet these expectations. But when their goals are not reached it causes depression, low self-esteem that in turn causes a poor image is developed.In my opinion these advertisements have a negative outreach. Who is to say only thin people look great? Advertisements do. These ads also have created anorexic teenagers, which has lead to serious health problems and even death. Advertisements often do not explicitly urge the consumer to buy a given product; rather they promise hat the products will enhance a persons life. If a stunningly attractive person claims to use a beauty product, that product may be assumed to be an element of the beauty formula.Ads arguing that consumers will be more attractive, accepted or appealing to other offer relevant to teens and young adults, for whom dating and group memberships are important (Richter). I Whats it goanna be? From one of my readings I have gathered two hypotheses about advertising that find relevant to our study. Hypothesis 1: A higher proportion of ads with sexual imagery appear in ads targeted to young adults compared to those targeted to mature adults. Hypothesis 2: Overall, ads contain a higher proportion of sexually dressed women than men (Richter).These two combined show that most advertising is targeted towards young males and that females are the primary source of sexual content in media and advertising. This could possibly lead to a bad outcome. Studies have shown that males viewing these sexual ads of women are far more accepting of sexual aggression towards females, including rape. These studies agree with the theories of Moses Papa (1997). Papa believes hat there are four criteria to our thought of social responsibility and that there is a trade-off between three of these four.These areas are; local knowledge, level of responsibility, shared consensus and relationship to financial performance. We find that most of the time local knowledge and relationship to financial performance are the one being traded off. Local knowledge would mean that the company designing the ad would know the background of the product being displayed and the target audience. Most of the time they do not take the product and audience into consideration, as we have seen. These companies are more focused on the relationship to financial performance: making a profit.Reaching perfect social responsibility seems very unattainable. These four criterion were setup as a guideline to reach such a goal. No program will meet all of these standards. They are purposely couched as ideals to be pursued, rather than as minimalist goals to be obtained easily (Papa). Whos doing it right? The idea of Corporate Social Responsibility is an optimistic outlook for todays society. A perfect example would be the Cummins Engine Company. Year after year this company insisted on donating to charitable foundations. And year after year they were threatened by bankruptcy.Any business or economics professor will tell you that their choices were not the smartest in the world. Their short term benefits suffered greatly because of these choices. Their long term, however have not suffered. They now produce over $5 billion in revenues each year. The iron law of responsibility states that in the long run, those who do not use power in ways that society considers responsible will tend to lose it (McGraw-Hill, peg. 4). Cummins Engines saw their long run capabilities and stuck with them. They prove the stewardship Renville that profits and social responsibility can coexist.