SocialJusticeExploratoryPaperENG1710
The three issues I’ve decided to speak on were:
- The Causes of Violence in Urban Communities
- The Social Construct of Race/Racism
- The Rate of Poverty in America and Its Effect on Children
I have to admit that writing this paper was very challenging and tedious for many reasons. One of the main reasons was I felt as though I wouldn’t be able to provide an adequate amount of information without writing an excessively long paper. There was also an overwhelming amount of information coupled with the fact that I also wanted to provide a lot of information from my personal stance. Despite wanting to provide more of my own insight, I tried my best to stay on track and tackle the issue at hand.  I’ve also encountered writer’s block at the very beginning of this paper. When writing, one of my main problems is knowing where to start. I usually gain momentum after I’ve gathered my thoughts. Before I discussed the information my sources provided, I made sure to introduce each topic and the general idea (be it true or false) about that specific issue. For each issue, I read the supporting sources and picked out pertinent information to provide the reader and myself some insight. I also separated each source into paragraphs, as each source provided different perspectives on a particular issue. If I could do this paper differently, I would definitely compress my information into the most salient points and leave room for me to add more of my personal interpretation of each source of information.
As for my sources, I’ve used the packet we’ve been reading from in class and the JSTOR online search engine for the majority of my sources. The sources I’ve pulled information from are:
Richardson, Joseph and Christopher St. Vil. “Putting in Work: Black Male Youth Joblessness, Violence, Crime, and the Code of the Street.” Spectrum: A Journal on Black Men 3.2 (2015): 71-98. JSTOR. Web.
Phillips, Julie A. “White, Black, and Latino Homicide Rates: Why the Difference?” Social Problems 49.3 (2002): 349-373. JSTOR. Web.
Jeffers, Chike. “The Cultural Theory of Race: Yet Another Look at Du Bois’s “The Conservation of Races”*.” Ethics 123.3 (2013): 403-426. JSTOR. Web.
Powers, Nick. “White Anxiety: Rachel Dolezal, Dylann Roof, and the Future of Race in America.” Indypendent 207 (2015). 06 June 2015. Web.
Hoynes, Hilary, Marianne Page, and Ann Stevens. “Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations.” Journal of Economic Perspectives 20.1 (2006): 47-68. Web.
Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne, and Greg J. Duncan. “The Effects of Poverty on Children.” The Future of Children 7.2 (1997): 55-68. Web.
Your paper was well written and the overall structure was great. Your paper could be used as guide for future students taking this class instead of George Gordon. I completely agree with you when you said other races look down on people who are in the low in the socioeconomic status of society. Without knowing all the factors that are involve, they make rash assumptions. They don’t realize how living with such strife can effect all aspect of their lives.
I really enjoyed your paper. I enjoyed that you tied the issue of poverty into the violence in urban communities. These are issues that have great impact on our lives, the children affected by poverty are exposed to less opportunity which basically opens the door for participation in violent acts. This essay also shows that you did a lot of research and put time into writing this essay. I look forward to reading your issue paper.