Joseph-Ernest Renan, in his essay: "What is a Nation?" in 1882, explained that nationalism requires fundamental shared elements in the lives of the citizen, but also a vision of the future. Nationalism is defined as: "loyalty and devotion to a nation by a group of unified people; espe...

Jamaica Kincaid's novel, Lucy, is a first-person narrative of a young woman coming to America from Antigua and does not latch onto anything in its path. Lucy herself absorbs only small details of her new home, never trying to take in the place as a whole, not looking beyond what is in front ...

A Yellow Raft in Blue Water How would you feel if people judged you by the way you look or the way you perceive yourself? How would you feel if the reaction you got from others were racial comments? What if those racial comments or dirty looks were given by a family member? If any of these quest...

Race Relations in Schools and the Effects On Educational Value "Meanwhile, back at school, I feared my grades would suffer horribly because I couldn't concentrate. Every moment of every day was filled with awful surprises that began early each morning. I hoped and prayed I wouldn&ap...

A Bowl of Salad with too Many Spices: Memories of a College Student I remember when affirmative action and my own racial identity first became important issues in my life. No doubt, affirmative action and race became constant weights on my mind as soon as I began to sort through stacks of colleg...

In Master Harold and the Boys, written by Athol Fugard, and 5th Avenue, Uptown: A letter from Harlem, by James Baldwin, many issues concerning the effects of racism are brought to our attention. Both authors express many of the same concerns, but express their ideas quite differently. Fugard expres...