Introduction
Men We Reaped is Jesmyn Ward’s account of the economic realities of poverty-stricken rural Mississippi during her childhood. Ward reveals that young black men in DeLisle, bereft of equal economic and educational opportunities, lost their lives to substance abuse, violence, and suicide. Ward’s memoir paints a picture of an unequal and parallel American society. The central theme revolves around blackness and the historical struggles of black men and women in the American South. This paper analyzes the pattern of race relations existing in the U.S. as presented in Ward’s autobiography. It also discusses the ways of improving race relations in contemporary America.
Race Relations in the US
Ward’s experiences in her DeLisle hometown illustrate the poor historical race relations in America. DeLisle is riddled with the deaths of African-American men, including Ward’s blood brother, Joshua, a victim of a fatal accident caused by an intoxicated white driver (Ward 141). The autobiography centers on Joshua’s premature demise and the deaths of four other youthful black men aged below 31 years. In my view, the author cites the statistics to construct social realism about the economic and social realities in the South. Ritzer defines social realism as an on-going “process of individual construction of the structural realities” (p. 43).
The public is accustomed to the violent deaths of youthful black males in the hands of law enforcers. In my view, Ward’s use of statistics and incisive details of the impact of the deaths of family members serves to challenge this apathy.
Violence and racial discrimination characterize race relations in DeLisle. Ward writes, “Men’s bodies litter my family history”, referring to the premature deaths of Joshua and his friends with the courts providing no recourse. In particular, she directs her fury at the judicial system for handing down a mere two-year sentence to her brother’s killer. Here, in my view, Ward discredits the courts for handing soft sentences to white offenders. In this view, families of black victims cannot receive justice from the biased courts.
Ward highlights the challenges of living in a unitary American universe devoid of racial integration. She brings to the fore the concept of double consciousness among black Americans. Ritzer defines double consciousness as the “duality of being both black and American” (p. 67). This duality stems from the harsh economic and social realities facing the black population.
The causes of deaths of African-American men in the autobiography, including accidents, substance abuse, and violence, are common in poor neighborhoods. Ward narrates how a young man called C.J. developed the habit of trafficking drugs near an ancient oak tree (Ward 78). Ward reckons that she did not know how C.J. disliked “sitting on that tree” and desired a better life, but “did not know how to get it” (Ward 78). This statement shows that black men lacked opportunities to improve their life situation, and therefore, resorted to crime and drug abuse.
The collective conscience is evident among the black population in the South. It refers to the beliefs common to a social group (Ritzer 51). In the autobiography, many men, due to lack of income-generating opportunities, engaged in alcohol or drug abuse. Others became drug traffickers while some traveled to far places to seek for a better life. In contrast, the women, including Ward’s mother, were employed as domestic workers in white homes.
Ward characterizes the collective conscience of Black women as “working, dour, and full of worry” and that of black men as “resentful, angry, and wanting life to be everything” (89). The African-Americans also exhibited solidarity during the tragedy or death of a relative. Ward characterized them as “poor and working-class, but proud” (90). Therefore, in my view, victimization and discrimination from whites strengthened unity and identity among African-Americans.
Ward adopts a postmodernist approach in her memoir about the economic realities of the South. A postmodern text goes beyond common representations of a social phenomenon by examining its various aspects (Torres par. 11). Ward is not nostalgic about DeLisle; rather, she presents her childhood experiences in the rural South. She uses her parents, siblings, and the African-American community to illustrate how economic inequality and racial discrimination shaped life in the South. In my view, this approach serves to illuminate on Ward’s position concerning race relations. I also think that she focuses on African-American manhood to illustrate the issue of social class in America and its downsides.
Improving Race Relations
Fostering good racial relations is important to promote integration in the era of globalization. According to Howling, learning one’s family and ethnic history can enhance racial integration (par. 3). Elders can teach the younger generation about the past practices and progress made in racial integration to dispel prejudice. Ward dispassionately recounts the discrimination practiced in the South that stifled the economic prospects of ambitious black men.
I believe that through economic integration, race relations can be strengthened. Equal opportunities for all will eradicate poverty among blacks, and thus, foster positive race relations in the country. In the autobiography, race relations deteriorated because of the economic marginalization of blacks, subjecting them to poverty and crime. Therefore, to improve relations, policymakers should eliminate race-based preferences.
Another approach entails teaching black youth good morals. Cokley notes that there is a perception that youthful black men are prone to crime and violence (par. 5). In my view, the recent fatal shootings of unarmed black men underscore the unfavorable public perception of black youths. Teaching black youth good morals can help them refrain from substance abuse, crime, and violence. Churches and community organizations can take up this role. Also, the involvement of law enforcement will help eliminate the mistrust between police and the black community. Community policing can also help ease existing tensions and promote collaborative efforts to root out crime and drug abuse from black neighborhoods.
Americans must also admit that racism impedes racial integration in the country. Standing up against racial injustice meted on black victims can promote unity and integration (Cokley par. 9). Also, African-Americans should avoid interpreting any unjust action by law enforcement as being prompted by racial prejudice. The judicial system should prosecute such offenders to avoid fuelling racial animosity. In Men We Reaped, Joshua becomes a victim of a road accident caused by a white man (Ward 71).
The court system awards the offender a two-year sentence, which Ward feels is lenient and unfair. The court system should fairly prosecute offenders, whether white or black, to attract public confidence. Ensuring fair treatment of all citizens and equal access to opportunities and entrenching moral responsibility among blacks will foster good racial relations in the country.
Works Cited
Cokley, Kevin 2015, Texas Perspectives: Improving Race Relations in an Era of Police Brutality. Web.
Howling, Will 2015, How Would You Improve Race Relations In America?. Web.
Ritzer, George. Essentials of Sociology. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc., 2014. Print.
Torres, Richard 2013, In ‘Reaped,’ 5 Lives That Are Far More Than Just Statistics. Web.
Ward, Jesmyn. Men We Reaped. New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2013. Print.
Enterprise Resources Planning System Implementation
Introduction
The move by the organization to streamline its operations by embracing technology is in the right direction. In the current business world, it is a cardinal sin to stick within the traditional way of doing business. Contrary to the modern, effective techniques of optimizing operations and decision-making, traditional methods represent a cumbersome methodology of executing business tasks. Among some of the novel techniques of doing, business is the application of Enterprise Recourses Planning systems. ERP is the novel high-end business solution backed by information technology for application in the business arena.
The core objective of implementing ERP is to create a lean process by integrating operation processes and vital information flow to synergize the companies resources namely men, material, machine & money (Khosrow–Puor, 2006). This article examines the potential benefits the organization is likely to enjoy by implement the Enterprise Resources Planning systems and the risks involved in the process. Finally, it will put forward some recommendations regarding the pivotal steps Blue Dog Inc. must take for the successful implementation of the ERP system.
Potential Benefits
ERP systems increase the efficiency of doing business by taking care of people’s needs and reducing the lead time of information processing. The information that would be processed for a long time will take a short time to do so.
Another outstanding benefit of ERP implementation concerns cost reduction. There is a substantial decrease in the expenditure whereby the need to handle junk of information is replaced by one system.
Blue Dog Inc. is set to enjoy a new level of accuracy in the business process since constraints created by the ERP system demands a high level of accuracy. ERP is a structure in such a manner that it is capable of prompting the user’s attention should an error in data handling occurs (Monk & Wagner, 2006).
Potential Risks
By seeking to implement an ERP system, Blue Dog Inc. exposes itself to a risk of discontinuity through business process mismatch during the transition period. There is a possibility that the new system will not fit in the organization in an exact manner as the current one.
Secondly, there is a possibility of competitive advantage loss due to the adoption of a rigid, standardized system through ERP. The level of flexibility will be reduced since ERP has preset standards of initiating a transaction all the way to concluding the same (Turban & Volonino, 2008).
Recommendations for Successful Implementation
In order to implement the ERP system at Blue Dog Inc. successfully, the organization must pursue the following steps. Since the process of implementing the systems involves radical changes in the orientations of staff, orthodox norms, and practices, the management should anticipate some resistance from employees. However, by following the steps outlined below, the company will reap the benefits of ERP systems (King, 2005).
Process Preparation
Since the implementation requires alterations in the current business processes, it is crucial for the organization to analyze thoroughly the current processes for better implementation. The analysis aims at identifying opportunities available for modernization. This step offers an opportunity for a smooth transition from the current processes to those offered by ERP. Through an appropriate preparation, the senior management at Blue Dog Inc will avert the risks of business process mismatch.
Configuration
After analyzing the current business process, the next step is to configure the ERP system in such a manner that it will support the requirements of customers. This is in the assumption that the requirements will have been ascertained at the preparation stage. The configuration process seeks to strike a balance between the ERP design parameters and customer requirements.
Customization
Customization is a step that recognizes the reality that ERP systems are built based on theoretical tenets of best practices. This step capitalizes on the offer created by ERP vendors whereby the customer is allowed to adjust the system according to company rules while maintaining the industry’s best practices.
Extensions
The anticipated ERP system offers an opportunity for streamlining business operations. However, some features of the business process may not be incorporated. This calls for extension through the incorporation of third party software where access to data and other functionalities can be accessed.
Data migration
Data migration is the final process of transferring the current business information to the new platform created through ERP installation. This will ensure that the transition to the new platform does not interfere with the ongoing transactions.
References
Khosrow–Puor, M. (2006). Emerging Trends and Challenges in Information Technology Management. Calgary: Idea Group, Inc.
King. W. (2005). “Ensuring ERP Implementation Success,” Information Systems Management, Summer 2005.
Monk, E. & Wagner, B. (2006). Concepts in Enterprise Resource Planning 2nd ed. Boston: Thomson Course Technology.
Turban, E. & Volonino, L. (2008). Information Technology for Management, Transforming Organizations in the Digital Economy. Massachusetts: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Women’s Stress Caused By Social Networks
Social networks construct and reinforce normative conceptions of femininity and women’s appearance. According to O-Neill (2014), “young women and girls are under more pressure than ever before to look a certain way” (para. 1). Older women are not an exception to this rule. López-Guimerà, Levine, Sánchez-Carracedo, and Fauquet (2012) state that women under thirty-five are also prone to ideas on media beauty standards. This consistent pattern can be seen in the growing amount of women of the older age category who regularly visit cosmetologists and cosmetic surgeons with the purpose to look young and beautiful at any cost (López-Guimerà et al., 2012).
Of course, for the majority of women, competition with the aging factors as well their genetic predisposition to being large or having any other features of appearance not accepted by the media beauty standards becomes overcomplicated. They have to give up. As a result, they may fall into depression, lose their ability to engage in social life, and even commit suicide. This paper will focus on how women are put under stress due to social networks. Overall, consumption of social networks ideas creates the desire to be perfect in women leading to low self-esteem, depression, eating disorders, and at times, to suicide.
First of all, speaking about the way the social networks put women under stress, the struggle to be thin is to be discussed. Today, the image of a thin woman as a standard of perfect looks continues to flood social networks (Roxby, 2014). Affected by this propaganda, women get stressed, develop low self-esteem, and appear in the risk group for eating disorders or even suicide (Wrzus, Hänel, Wagner, & Neyer, 2013). According to O-Neill (2014), “girls as young as seven want to lose weight – and the vast majority feel as if they are judged on their looks” (para. 3). Evaluating this comment, it is evident that the concept of social networks beauty standards puts women under huge stress, and even females in the youngest age category face considerable psychological pressure to shape their looks according to the artificially-made image of the feminine from the social media. In the following comment, the feelings of a young girl affected by the social network’s outreach are expressed, “there has always been a pressure to be slim but I think it is much worse now because there are so many images online” (O-Neill, 2014, para. 11).
Next, the social networks put women under stress even more because along with being thin, it requires women to possess curves attractive to men with big size breasts and round hips. Since such a body image is very difficult to have, women become depressed and develop low self-esteem (Wolf, 2013). In her article towards the problems related to the media beauty image, Roxby (2014) narrates the experience of women who could see in practice that due to the nature of human body construction, females may either be thin or have attractive curves. In other words, social networks try to impose artificial standards of beauty that contradict the norms of the lipid distribution in women’s bodies. Ladies who strive to have such body image at any cost have to resort to the use of artificial techniques that often result in significant health problems (Wolf, 2013). As a result, such women may end up looking quite attractive at first but with the bad health, and the bad looks when complications after such operations develop in years.
Moreover, social media outreach bereaves women from the self-confidence and deprives their human dignity. O-Neill (2014) addresses this problem and illustrates it with the real-life example of a young woman Isla, who used to face pressure from the social networks, and learned how to cope with it. She is now a member of an influential social movement aiming to help women suffering from the emotional breakdown due to stress from social media. Isla states:
It’s really hard for young girls to aspire to be what they want to be because they are constantly being bombarded with messages telling them that they have to do certain things so that men will find them attractive, implying that that’s the only way to be successful in life (O-Neill, 2014, para. 13).
Reflecting on this comment, it can be said that the social outreach to have perfect looks is a strong influencing power in society and it should be better managed if people want a positive future for their children and families. No more and no less, pressure from social media is the global power that needs to be controlled. “But they are seeing the world through a filter, and that’s not healthy,” commented one of the ladies who used to suffer from the psychological problems due to the pressure from the social media and is now helping others to cope with the problem (Roxby, 2014, para. 27). Judging from this comment, a conclusion can be made that women lose satisfaction in life due to social network outreach. Hampton (2011) qualified this outreach as a human-made obstacle for real happiness.
Further, social media puts women under stress by imposing the need to apply a significant amount of make-up or do cosmetic surgeries to look pretty. According to Hampton (2011), agitprops from social networks state that men will not like women unless their cheeks are rosy enough, eyes, eyelashes, eyebrows, and lips are captivating, and the face tone is attractive. At that, there is no lack of understanding that such recommendations target bigger sales of cosmetic products (Wolf, 2013). To achieve the result advertised in social media, ladies tend to spend over twenty minutes a day on prepping themselves before they leave home.
Most women do not go out even to do minor shopping or drop litter unless they have enough make-up. Hampton (2011) explains that such a complex procedure of prepping is very stressful for women. As a consequence, they start feeling trapped, develop low self-esteem and depression. Remarkably, even in young girls who begin to use cosmetics, scientists have noticed significant disappointment due to the need to apply make-up any time, any day when they leave home or even stay at home and connect other people via the video (Roxby, 2014). Furthermore, according to Roxby (2014), “the MPs’ report said pressure to look good had pushed up cosmetic surgery rates by nearly 20% since 2008.” (para. 9). This development is another source of stress for women because such procedures cost fortunes, and for most women, they are inaccessible.
In conclusion, social networks propagate the idea that women have to adhere to the media standards of beauty. Such beliefs are harmful and can be seen as a reason for women’s low self-esteem, depression, suicide, and other negative developments. Thus, there are reasons to believe that such a state of affairs with social networks and women’s wellbeing needs alterations. A balanced view of women’s beauty needs to be adopted. This new media image of a beautiful woman should consider the health issues, physical peculiarities of women’s constitution, balanced view of diversity, and psychological considerations such as women’s social comfort and human dignity.
References
Hampton, K. N. (2011). Core networks, social isolation, and new media: internet and mobile phone use, network size, and diversity. Information, Communication & Society 14(1): 130-155.
López-Guimerà, G., Levine, M. P., Sánchez-Carracedo, D., & Fauquet, J. (2012). Influence of mass media on body image and eating disordered attitudes and behaviours in females: a review of effects and processes. Media Psychology, 13, 387-416.
O-Neill, C. (2014). Young women and girls under more pressure than ever to achieve so-called ‘perfection’, experts warn. Web.
Roxby, P. (2014). Does social media impact on body image? BBC News. Web.
Wolf, N. (2013). The beauty myth: How images of beauty are used against women. New York, N.Y: Random House.
Wrzus, C., Hänel, M., Wagner, J., & Neyer, F. J. (2013). Social network changes and life events across the life span: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 139(1), 53.