Chapter 5: Identity, Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality

Article: Bill Thompson On New York City Gentrification: 'People Are Being Priced Out'

Bill Thompson wanted to win more votes from the african american demographic in the upcoming election for the Comptroller of New York so he gave a speech in Harlem about the negative effects of Gentrification in New York City neighborhoods for the generation who gets pushed out, but he wasn't the only african american candidate, then his speeches eventually won the majority of the vote in Harlem pushing him over the edge for reelection. 

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Many people would like the world to be black and white when it comes to gender and sexuality, but gender and sexuality are much more complicated than that so it is important for people to understand that gender identity (how a person identifies) sexuality (what organs a person possesses) and sexual orientation (who a person is attracted to) are all independent of each other, when people are aware and respectful of others identity then society is much more harmonious.


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I choose Australia because it has the highest amount of women empowerment next to the United States and it has been breaking gender roles and limits for years.


Essay:
Readings: 
The Big Heart by Tony Perrottet
“Chapter 5: Identity: Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Sexuality” from Human Geography

Question: In what ways is Texas actually a head of the rest of the country?

Texas is the home of the poor artist, the wealthily oil field owner, and the migrant worker. In recent years Texas has actually appeared to have been gaining a diversified populations so fast that it seems to have pushed Texas one step ahead of the rest of the country in several aspects. According to a recent census out of the ten major metropolitan areas Texas had the most equal distribution of the nations four largest ethnic groups (asians, hispanics whites and black people). Sense 1980 there has been a massive shift in the ethnicities represented in Texas. The state has gone from being 63 percent anglo to less than 33 percent. The rest of the country is undoubtably headed down a path leading toward more diversity and less anglo majority, but Texas has reached a mixture that the rest of the country is unlikely to reach until 2042. Texas is also a head of the much of the country in gender equality and homosexual acceptance.

Although Texas has yet to legalize gay marriage it is the largest U.S. city to have an openly lesbian mayor and there has been much talk of the possibility of gay marriage legalization in the near future, which is one step a head of much of the country. Texas has also done a lot to pull the city out of disrepair, giving and selling abandon homes to artists and single mothers with their project row house projects. This results in a lot of gentrification making Houston a nicer place to live simply because of its charitable people. Additionally the political voting demographic of Texas reflects what the rest of the country will be more like in a few years. There are less and less Anglo voters and more voters of other ethnicities and this is what the entire country will be like 50 years from now. Why is Texas so divers? It has to do with several circumstances that did not apply to the rest of the country. One Texas is on the boarder making it easy for migrant workers to move to Texas. Secondly Texas is a thriving economy which is one of the oil capitals of the world and had a great many job openings for manual labor, which draws migrant workers. Additionally Texas is becoming less and less racist as it becomes more diverse which is yet another pull factor for immigrants. All these factors draw immigrants to Texas and the new diversity in the state is what has made Texas one step ahead of the game.