Why the American Civil Rights Movement was more successful than Essay

Why the American Civil Rights Movement was more successful than movements for foreigners rights in Japan have been (at least so far) - Essay Example In the U.S, the major social movement was the African-American Civil Rights movement whose main goal was to bring an end to discrimination and racial segregation to the Africans living in the country. The movement heavily campaigned on civil resistance by arranging civil disobedience and non-violence protests, which would lead to crisis all over the country. Industrial boycott was the mostly used as it negatively affected the country’s economic activities as almost all Africans worked as factory workers all over the entire country. Their efforts were rewarded when the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed (DAngelo, 2001). The Act banned any form of discrimination based on a person’s religion, color, sex, race and national origin in employment and public interaction. Another enactment that was pushed by the movement was the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which stated the voting rights of migrants to the U.S and protecting these rights. The foreigner rights movement in Japan fought f or the few migrants to the country who were subjects to discrimination, harsh treatment by the authorities and racial discrimination. The movement arranged protests and boycott but only a few people came out to fight for their rights. The movement did not have the numbers to push for an end of the oppression foreigners were going through. Another reason why the foreigner rights movements in Japan failed to be successful was the lack of major legislative processes that would lead to the enactment of Acts that would help fight for their rights. The political opportunity and framing theory of social movement clearly explains why the movement in the U.S became successful and contributed to the passage of major bills, which resulted to the end of migrant oppression in the country as compared to the foreigner movement in Japan (Tsuda, 2006). One of the key bases that led to the success of

Neil Simons influence on Jewish culture Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Neil Simons influence on Jewish culture - Essay Example So many of our traditions inherently contain aspects of culture. Look at the Passover Seder-it's essentially great theater. Jewish education and religiosity bereft of culture is not as interesting. It is also clear that Jews have, in one form of another, dominated much of the American theatre, musical theatre and film worlds for much of their existence. Neil Simon is hardly unique in dominating one aspect of the performing arts: he is part of an oligarchy that has been recognized for decades. Simon has brought an eclectic view of what it means to be Jewish to a wide audience for nearly six decades. Thus in The Eugene Trilogy of plays he gives a semi-autobiographical account of his own early life, career and struggles. Brighton Beach Memoirs, the first play of the trilogy, deals with a Jewish teenager who experiences sexual awakening and a search for identity against the backdrop of a complex Jewish family. While not necessarily "about" being Jewish, Simon brings a shrewd sensibility to the idea of the difficulties of growing up and being Jewish (Simon, 1995). Within all of Simon's drama, even the more "serious" tupe as can be seen within the Eugene Trilogy, there is an element of humor. He has brought an ability to view even the most serious matters humorously to a mass audience. In some ways it is easy to see the influence of Neil Simon on icons of Jewish culture such as Woody Allen. The ability to write about a uniquely Jewish experience and yet at the same time to make that experience accessible and even enjoyable to a much wider, often non-Jewish audience has been an inspiration to many different other artists. At times Neil Simon has taken iconic Jewish figures, such as the character of Job from the Bible, and made them accessible to modern audiences. Thus in God's Favorite he transfers the Book of Job to a Long Island Mansion, and manages to make the play both funny and thought-provoking. This play may be seen as part of a recurrent theme that runs throughout many of what at least superficially appear to be light-hearted and comic plays (Konas, 1997). Konas also argues that Neil Simon's comedy is rooted in "people's neuroses" (1997), and one of them that many of Simon's character possess is the fact that they are Jewish. There is a deceptive seriousness to these analyses of Jewish life in America, a deception that allows Simon to introduce the audience to some of their own prejudices and doubts. Thus in Jake's Women the leading character is haunted by the fact that some of his previous relationships have been defined, more or less, with the fact that he was Jewish and the supposed sensibility that goes along with that. Neil Simon's contribution to Jewish culture has been profound. He has brought a decidedly Jewish outlook to stage and film for nearly sixty years, with more than forty plays and thirty screenplays to his credit. He paved the way for other popular artists such as Woody Allen and Mel Brooks to consider Jewishness in perhaps more challenging ways (or at least more controversial ways) than Simon has himself. Such is the role of a catalyst and role-model for others. The