black

African-Americans or Africans in America or Afro-Americans or Africans passing through America or Caribbean-American or Caribbean or Black or ...(this extensive use of varying terminology is necessary because those who choose to defer from the term "African-American" want to be different, politically correct, disconnected, or ____ *insert your rationale*) should try to read more books about Africans BY Africans. Cutting out as many middlemen as possible will probably enhance the truth and lessen the distortion... Perhaps. I probably wouldn't understand the life of a Hill Billy if I read it from the perspective of a college-educated member of the "Black-American" elite bourgeoisie, as correctly as I would understand it had I heard it told through his lenses. I find it very jarring seeing people focused so wholeheartedly on understanding the analytical studies of people who view others through biased eyes. This bias is apparent through the agenda which they seek in order to either support or negate the stance of another "authoritative figurehead". Perhaps, I'm being a tad hard on those who try to understand their people, but how can one understand their people without "understanding their people". What does that mean? Not merely taking everything a glorified, mouth-piece says about Africa, or African-Americans as gospel. Get up and check it out. And when I say check it out, I mean get up and go live with them. Don't revel in what the texts are telling you is or was not there.

Discussion Board

Most college students have either heard of or used the Blackboard system. This system is basically a means through which professors and students interact beyond the classroom. This semester I'm taking a few classes, which require class discussions on blackboard on various topics of interest. I plan to post some of the prompts of each professor and my response to the topic. Feel free to respond or discuss any topic with me.

Prompt: Gender roles likely developed to make preservation of the species most efficient and effective, and endured through time to become cultural conventions. Without question, things have changed, especially over the past fifty years. But have things changed in ways that suggest gender roles can be altered without dimming the prospects of preserving the species?

Before analyzing this argument one must identify what specific roles are respectively associated with each gender, in addition to one's concept of preservation. I am assuming that the traditional female role is engendered by characteristics such as being nurturing and performing acts specifically of a domestic nature, whilst the traditonal male role is the main provider of the family income. The preservation of the species entails actions which encourage procreation. However, to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of this preservation the home must be that of balance and a sound environment filled with attributes such as love, encouragement, unity, fulfillment and prosperity (strictly opinion). The altering of gender roles, relevant to contemporary standards, has proven that these altered roles can enhance the preservation of a family based on the family's strengths. This can be seen in the inception of the stay-at-home dad. There are some families whose balance is maintained by having a dynamic that is different from the "traditional" gender roles. Though the physical aspects of gender, such as, who brings home the bacon and who cooks it matter in theory, from my observation I've seen that the intrinsic balance of a family such as the aforementioned traits (love...etc.) are truly what preserves a family and these characteristic are not solely strengthened through one gender over another. The effectiveness and efficiency of preserving a family is increased when individual strengths are taken into account versus the "theoretical traditional" strengths as dictated by societal standards.