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Racism
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What is Racism?

Racism is one of the most extensively examined subjects in academic writing, appearing across disciplines such as sociology, history, political science, literature, and criminal justice. It asks students to confront how systems of racial hierarchy are constructed, maintained, and challenged within societies. The topic is academically rich because it connects individual experience to structural power, requiring writers to analyze not only prejudice at the personal level but also how race shapes institutions, culture, and opportunity. Works like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye and Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness appear frequently as literary entry points, while frameworks linking racism to sexism, classism, and heterosexism push students toward intersectional thinking about how overlapping identities shape lived experience in America and beyond.

Student papers on this topic take a wide range of approaches. Literary analysis essays examine how race and racism operate within specific texts, while historical and comparative essays trace how attitudes and policies have shifted across time, including the particular experiences of Arab Americans before and after 9/11 or the Chicano community's relationship with racial identity. Other papers take a sociological or policy focus, investigating racism within the criminal justice system, in educational settings, or in relation to the rise of multiculturalism. Some essays engage documentary sources and media to assess how race functions as a social construction rather than a biological reality.

A strong essay on racism establishes a clear, arguable thesis rather than simply asserting that racism exists or does not exist. Evidence drawn from specific historical events, legal structures, community case studies, or close textual analysis carries the most weight. Writers should avoid treating racism as a monolithic, unchanging force — acknowledging its evolving forms and contexts produces sharper, more credible analysis.

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Research Paper Doctorate

Racism, sexism, and resistance to social marginalization in Othello and The Merchant of Venice

Othello and Merchant of Venice are arguably Shakespeare's most racially inflammatory plays. In Othello, a "black" Moorish (anti)hero is shown as killing his white wife in a fit of animalistic jealousy, while in Merchant…

Paper Undergraduate

Religion as a tool of racial control in *Light in August*

Just as in most of Faulkner' novels, Light in August is hard on religion. In this essay, we will examine the role of religion from the book Light In August by William Faulkner. Specifically, we will see what purpose religion serve in his novel, how religion influences how the characters and how Joe Christmas functions at a Jesus Christ figure. Unfortunately, as we will see, religion is a functional element of control to keep B

Essay Doctorate

Affirmative action as necessary policy for constitutional equality

At its most objective definition, affirmative action entails "positive steps taken to increase the representation of women and minorities in areas of employment, education, and business from which they have been…

Research Paper Undergraduate

Examining root causes of recidivism and inmate transition services

Before enrolling in the School of Human Services, I had worked with some volunteer organizations and was vaguely aware of the problems facing my community and others like it. Crime, juvenile delinquency, spousal abuse,…

Research Paper Doctorate

Sexual repression in American history and Intimate Matters

My focus will be the ways in which societal institutions have influenced human sexuality, and the ways and reasons in which these have changed or stayed the same. I find the topic both interesting and important, since…

Research Paper Undergraduate

Peter Singer's utilitarian ethics of animal exploitation

Peter Singer's Ethics of Animal Exploitation

Research Paper Undergraduate

Malcolm X's three crucial turning points in the civil rights era

Malcolm X was one of the founding leaders of the Black Islamic Movement within the United States. He is viewed by many to be the second most influential black leader within the Civil Rights era, behind only Dr.

Paper Doctorate

Symbolism and identity in "Clothes," "Battle Royal," and "The Hand"

This is a three page literature paper written in five-paragraph essay format. It is about three short stories, two of which are actually chapters in a larger book. The three stories are Banerjee's "Clothes," which is part of "Arranged Marriage; Colette's "The Hand," and Ralph Ellison's "Battle Royal," which is a chapter in "The Invisible Man." Analysis is in-depth and uses ample quotes and examples from each story.

Paper Undergraduate

School authority to restrict a hate group's first amendment rights

This five page paper is a detailed analysis of a case simulation given the client. The overall issues discussed include first amendment freedom of speech, civil rights, and false arrest. The paper's first two pages are a fact summary. The next three pages are a detailed analysis of the facts using modern American case law.

Timothy Tyson's Blood Done Sign My Name and Civil Rights mythology

Timothy Tyson's book presents an alternative view of the Civil Rights era, one that actually is opposed to the conventional view of that epoch in quite a few ways. The author propagates the notion that its effects were far less substantial than most people figure, and that its methods were significantly more violent. An analysis of this manuscript demonstrates its truth.

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