A Different Mirror and the Prologue in the New Americans - 1375 Words

A Different Mirror and the Prologue in the New Americans (Essay Sample) Content: A Different Mirror and the Prologue in the New AmericansName:Institution:Date: A Different Mirror and the Prologue in the New AmericansThe book, "A Different Mirror" by Ronald Takaki focuses on outlining the American history by discussing different ethnic groups. These ethnic groups include Native Americans, Jews, Irish Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans and others. Ronald Takaki discusses the meaning of being an American, by outlining historical perspective. This book creates understanding of the U.S through presentation of multicultural perspective (Stefoff Takaki, 2012). The writer concentrated on identifying the disagreement between and among individuals to evaluate how the state of mind develops that sets one group against another. In this section, this paper concentrate on presenting ways in which labor exploitation and legalized racial discrimination affected building of the United States, by focusing on Native Americans, Irish Americans, Mexican Am ericans, Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, African Americans, and Jewish Americans. Labor exploitation played an important role in the building of the United States. Due to the presence of many people seeking for employment in various fields owned by Americans, people from different ethnic background give unfair treatments by their employers (Stefoff Takaki, 2012). Although people from different ethnic groups could be employed to work in the same field, by the same employers, they were treated differently depending on their ethnic background. Depending on the ethnic background of individuals, different laborers offered different wage rates. In most cases, Native Americans were favored (Wurl, 2004). They were given better salaries compared to another laborer from ethnic groups. As a result of wage discrimination, laborers from different ethnic background felt aggrieved and, as a result, they focused on repelling against their employers. In order for all individuals from differe nt ethnic background to be heard, they organized strikes that would force their employers stop wage discrimination (Stefoff Takaki, 2012). Since many ethnic groups were affected by wage discrimination, they all came together in order to achieve a common goal. Labor exploitation led people from different background to collaborate. This collaboration helped most people, from different ethnic background, realize the importance of maintaining unity in the fight against oppression (Wurl, 2004). This helped people realize that, in America, people need to work together despite their ethnic background.In order for their employers to hear their grievances, laborers from different ethnic background formed a union through which they would be able to air their complaints (Wurl, 2004). The act of different people coming together due to unfair treatment by their employers means that the labor exploitation played a significant contribution in building the United States (Stefoff Takaki, 2012). It is through labor exploitation that people from different backgrounds united and worked toward realizing a common objective. This is important in promoting ethnic solidarity in the country. In any country that has different ethnic groups, must ethnic solidarity. The reason is that, for any country to grow and develop; people need to work together, despite their cultural background, view, creed and color of their skin (Wurl, 2004). Thus, labor exploitation led to ethnic solidarity that is essential in building the United States.Just like labor exploitation, legalized racial discrimination made a significant contribution in the building of the United States. According to Ronald Takaki, there was racial discrimination in America since there were many people in the country who came from different races (Wurl, 2004). There existed racial prejudice in the Armed Forces, employment opportunity and the labor market. According to Takaki, racial tension increased when after Japanese planes we re attached. Increase in racial tension helped in brings people from different racial background together, in a way; most people would never have imagined (Stefoff Takaki, 2012). Mexican, Japanese, African, Chinese, and Native Americans created national identities, endeavored to get rid of racial prejudice and made a contribution in economic and political atmosphere of the 20th century. Before Pearl Harbor attack, people from different races were discriminated against. In most cases, the white were considered superior while people from other races were viewed the alien (Wurl, 2004). Japanese Americans were considered dangerous forcing the government officials to sent the to captivity camps, leaving most of their possessions behind.After Pearl Harbor attack, people from different races, including Native American realized that the country is at great danger if the whole population remains divided (Wurl, 2004). Although it was not easy for Native American to allow people from other ra ces to enjoy the available opportunities, especially in the military, other races decided to end racial discrimination and in the end, the Native American had no choice but to start treating people from other races with respect. With time people from different races began to see the importance of promoting unity in order to ensure that the country continue to grow and develop (Stefoff Takaki, 2012). Regardless of their background, people from different races started to make their full contribution in order to ensure that the country is progressing economically and politically (Wurl, 2004). This means that legalized racial discrimination played an important role in the building of the United States. Without having legalized racial discrimination at some point, it could have been impossible for people in America see the danger (Pearl Harbor attack) of racial discrimination. Thus, legalized racial discrimination helped in eliminating racial discrimination. An example of labor exploita tion effecting different ethnic groups is that Mexican Americans fought labor exploitation; Their employers always favored native Americans; African Americans were considered slaves by Americans; Irish Americans joined Mexican in resisting changes; Chinese Americans were very innovative while fighting for justice on matters related to labor exploitation; while Japanese Americans were considered hard to deal with, and Jewish Americans collaborated with other workers from different ethnic group (Stefoff Takaki, 2012).Native Americans treated people from other ethnic groups as alien; African Americans were viewed as people who cannot occupy a leadership position; Irish Americans and Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans were seen as troublemakers, Mexican Americans were not allowed to join the military, and Jewish Americans were not allowed to join armed forces (Stefoff Takaki, 2012).There are numerous lessons that can be leant from contemporary experiences of Ruben Martinez from the book "The New Americans." Ruben Martinez was not a Native American, but he made much contribution through his work (as an author, journalist, and musician) in inspiring people in building of the U.S. today. Martinez concentrated on globalization and immigrant life as well as political and cultural history of Los Angeles, A city in United States.In his book, book The New Americans, Martinez focuses on the changing pattern of migration in the country. He gave a narrative of seven families who were migrating to ...

Effective Cross Cultural Methods in Managing an...

This article will follow up cultural differences in business context and approach personal experiences of managing an international team. Main aim is to highlight the likely obstacles when cooperating with employees from different countries of the world and to find possible solutions for problems which are mention in the next paragraphs. Of course, this is not a guaranteed recipe for how to deal with all the crises that may occur in an international team, but it is a personal experience and inspiration for future managers who work in foreign companies. In the first part of this article is described working position and tasks and duties as a interim manager in the strategic consultancy agency F amp; D Inc. Also there is briefly†¦show more content†¦A small percentage of individualism (30%) indicates that Mexico is more of a country based on collectivism and many managers agree with this result. Collectivistic culture in Mexico relates with fostering the relationships in compa nies where everyone takes responsibility for the group as a whole. In Mexican companies and in business team as well loyalty is very important. The index of masculinity is 69% and It shows that for Mexican employees is important have a boss who is assertive, decisive and encourages competition. But in the last 10 years, the Mexicans began to focus on the quality of life and maintaining interpersonal relationships as matter of course for them. Mexico scores 82% of UAI (uncertainty avoidance) that means there is an emotional need for rules and putting a lot of effort into the job. People in Mexico work hard and also precisely, sometimes It seems that It is too much pressure for employees (National Culture - Geert Hofstede, 2012). After realizing this and adopted a number of rules in the Mexican business culture, manager is much more successful in the business negotiations. In followings paragraphs It is devoted concrete team of four people and there is try to explain the working atmosphere inside the group, communication, problems,

History of Catering Industry Acient to Mordern free essay sample

Four Sandvik jumbos excavate India’s first underground crude oil storage cavern Indian contractor Hindustan Construction Company Ltd is using four Sandvik DT 820 underground drill rigs to construct the country’s first underground crude oil storage cavern, at Vizag in southern India. Four Sandvik DT 820 underground jumbo drill rigs are being used for the construction of Indias first underground crude oil storage cavern, located at Visakhapatnam in southern India, with two Sandvik DX 700 surface drill rigs also being used benching work in the same site. The cavern is being constructed under a Rs 375 crore (US$75. million) contract by Mumbai-based Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) for Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Limited, a subsidiary of the Oil Industry Development Board under the Petroleum Ministry. Located at a hill named Dolphin’s Nose, the cavern is being constructed on land belonging to the Eastern Naval Command in Visakhapatnam (usually abbrevi ated to Vizag), and will have a storage capacity of 1. 33 million tonnes of crude. Vizag, located on the east coast and considered the eastern gateway to India, was selected as the site because it has a large seaport for the import of oil. Adjacent to the cavern site is Southeast Asia’s first underground LPG storage cavern, commissioned early last year and which also used Sandvik jumbos during construction. HCC began work on the cavern in January of last year and is working to a 36-month schedule. The contract covers detailed engineering and design, underground excavation, access tunnels, water curtain galleries, main storage caverns, shafts and associated underground civil works. The contractor’s project manager Ramana Rao says that there are two caverns for the storage of the crude, both 30 m in height and 20 m wide, together ith associated tunnelling. High-sulphur crude will be stored in one cavern. Complete length of the underground works is more than 3 km, and the amount of rock being excavated is about 5 million tonnes. The floors of the caverns are 60 m below mean sea level, which means that the workings are accessible via an inclined access shaft at ground level, but with the hill above the site r eaching an elevation of 130 m, two large shafts have been sunk to house the operating equipment for the cavern. Mr Rao says that the rock strata is khondalite, a form of sandstone that follows an arc through India’s southern and eastern states and which has been used throughout the subcontinent’s history for architectural construction and ornamentation. HCC is using the four Sandvik jumbos simultaneously for much of the time, as the drilling and blasting is being undertaken on several fronts. â€Å"Our logistics are designed to supply power and water to four headings simultaneously, and to remove the rock and do the shotcreting,† he says. The four Sandvik machines are therefore working within this cycle. † The jumbos are drilling at least 150 holes per blast cycle, at depths of between 2 m and 4 m, depending on the section of the cavern on which they are working. It takes on average two minutes to drill one hole, with the holes closely following the tunnel profile. With a tunnel profile of 11 x 8 m holes are packed with a total of 480 kg of explosives. A 10 x 8 m pro file requires 473 kg, and an 8 x 8 m profile needs 365 kg. The drilling per blast cycle takes around six hours, and rock bolting is simultaneously being undertaken from a basket fixed to the jumbo. Once the drilling is complete, the jumbos are moved out of the tunnel where they are washed down after each drilling shift. With the blasting and rock removal complete, the jumbos are moved back into position for the next cycle. Mr Rao says that with work proceeding 24 hours a day, the production cycle allows three blastings to be carried out during a two-day period, and that each blast advances the work by 3. 5 to 3. 8 m. HCC’s project mechanical engineer Kaushal Kumar Sharma says that the machines are hosed down at the washing area next to the access shaft, and that routine maintenance is undertaken once a week. â€Å"We inspect the hoses and linkages and the drill bits, and oil and lubricate the machines. Our own staff do this, but Sandvik has an onsite presence and works very closely with our maintenance and operating teams. † The jumbos were supplied to HCC by Sandvik India, whose senior engineer on site, Harish Pokharkar, says that spare parts are supplied via the company’s Pune headquarters. The two Sandvik DX 700 surface drill rigs are being used around the two cavern shafts, where they are undertaking vertical drilling for the benches that are being cut into the hillside. Mr Pokharkar says that both machines are fitted with 45 mm R32 drill bits, with an R 38 shank adapter and R 38 and R 32 drifter rods. â€Å"The DX 700s are drilling down to depths of 21 m,† he says. â€Å"We have a grinding facility for the drill bits installed at the site, and we have recorded that by grinding we are achieving 30 percent extra life with the bits. We have also ascertained that machine availability has been slightly over 96 percent per month. † The crude oil cavern at Vizag is one of three such caverns planned by the Indian government, with a storage capacity of five million . Two other caverns will be at Mangalore and Padur, with the crude designed to act as a buffer in the event of emergencies or disruptions in supply. All three projects will be operational by 2012. Bo x The Sandvik DT 820 is a two-boom electro hydraulic jumbo for fast and accurate drilling in tunnelling and cavern excavation of 12 to 110 m2 cross sections. It is equipped with an HLX5 rock drill and a TB 90 universal boom, which gives a large optimum shaped coverage and full automatic parallelism. The booms can also be used for cross-cutting and bolt hole drilling. An optional basket boom for bolting and utility works is available. The four-wheel-drive centre articulated carrier ensures rapid and safe tramming with good balance. Ends SAND109A. doc FOOTNOTE TO EDITORS This press release is available on the Joem Promotions website:www. joempr. om Issued on behalf of Sandvik Mining and Construction by Joem Promotions. For further details please contact: John Hooperor Nina Lehtonen Joem Promotions Sandvik Mining and Const The Court Yard, Sondes Road Pihtisulunkatu 9, Deal Kent CT14 7BW UK P O Box 100 SF-33311 Tampere Finland Tel:+44 (0)1304 368688 Tel: +358205444059 Fax:+44 (0)1304 375181 Fax: +358205444533 email: john. hooper @joempr. demon. co. uk email:nina. [emailprot ected] com