African Americans

2011-05-13T21:47:03Z

Enigma: /* Terms */

[[Image:Paterson.jpg|thumb|[[David A. Paterson]] = the first black governor of New York)]]

'''African American''' is a [[politically correct]] term some use to describe the ethnic background of Americans with [[Africa]]n ancestry. The great majority of African Americans are descended from Africans brought to North America as [[slavery|slaves]] beginning four centuries ago. Others (like [[Colin Powell]]) were twentieth century immigrants from the [[West Indies]] or Africa. Many American [[conservative]]s believe that the use of terms such as "African-American" or "Mexican-American," collectively referred to as "[[hyphenated American|hyphenated Americanism]]," make the mistake of "putting America second" and emphasize racial differences over common national identity <ref>http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/05/on_becoming_an_unhyphenated_am.html</ref>

==Terms==
The preferred terminology changes."Black" and "African American" are preferred, while "Negro" and "colored" are rarely used in modern times, having quickly become antiquated after the 1960s.

==History==
see [[Black history]]

Blacks were originally brought to America to serve as slaves in southeastern states on large-scale plantations. During the [[Civil War]], all slaves were freed by [[Abraham Lincoln]] though the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], the [[Thirteenth Amendment]], and some state actions. During [[Reconstruction]] the Freedmen (freed slaves) gained citizenship and civil and political rights, including the right to marry, move about, and keep their wages.

The system of [[Sharecropper|sharecropping]] instituted after the end of the war left most Freedmen poor, while the [[Jim Crow]] policies of racial [[segregation]] that were implemented after the end of [[Reconstruction]] limited their civic and political rights.

Blacks left the rural south in two waves, the first around 1915-20, the second coming after [[World War II]] when machinery ended the need for large numbers of people to pick cotton by hand. The migrants headed to the large cities of the North and West, and also in the South, moving from very poorly paid farm work to wage labor.

==Politics==
Blacks tended to support the [[Republican Party]] from the 1860s to the 1960s, but few who lived in the South voted. The [[New Deal]] provided large-scale relief for blacks during the [[Great Depression]]. Some black Republican organizations, as in Chicago, switched overnight to the [[Democrat]]s. The [[Voting Rights Act]] of 1965 allowed blacks to vote in the South, and has been vigorously enforced. Since 1964 blacks have voted 85% to 95% for Democratic presidential candidates, with an occasional black Republican elected to state office.

==Religion==
[[Image:President Barack Obama.jpg|thumb|150px|Barack Obama, the first President with black ancestry]]

Among African-Americans, religiosity is very high, and the standard practice since [[Reconstruction]] is for black ministers to be community spokespersons, and political power brokers; they often run for office. The great majority of African Americans are [[Protestant]]s, with their own [[Baptist]], [[Pentecostal]], and [[Methodist]] churches. A few are [[Muslim]]s.<ref>The Pluralism Project at Harvard University[http://www.pluralism.org/resources/statistics/tradition.php#Islam] Twenty-four percent of American Muslims are black, according to American Muslim Council's Zogby poll of August 2000.</ref>

==References==
<references/>
* [http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html National Survey of Religious Identification (NSRI)]

==See also==
* [[Black History]]
* [[Civil Rights]]
* [[Jim Crow]]
* [[Race]]
* [[Black Republican]]

[[category:Ethnicities]]
[[category:The South]]
[[category:Civil Rights]]
[[category:Black History]]

Human embryos in medical research

2011-05-13T21:44:59Z

Enigma:

'''Embryonic stem cell''' research is the utilization of [[stem cells|stem cells]] from [[embryo]]s which can then be grown in a laboratory culture and produce specialized cells to treat [[disease]]s or used for research purposes. The most common source of such cells is discarded embryos at [[fertility clinic]]s - the process of [[IVF]] typically produces two or three 'leftover' embryos for each treatment, which are usually discarded. The use of embryonic stem cells in medicine has met with some controversy, particularly from the [[pro-life]] movement that is concerned about the destruction of embryos that they believe constitute human life.<ref>http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/29/AR2005072900158.html</ref>

'''Adult stem cell''' research is similar except it does not use destroyed embryos, and instead is based on stem cells that can be taken from adults. These cells are less versatile than those harvested from discarded embryos, but they do not raise the associated [[ethics|ethical]] dilemmas. Unfortunately, adult embryonic stem cells are of little value to science as a whole.

The primary reason for wanting to use embryonic stem cells is that they are capable of producing any type of tissue in the body. Thus, theoretically, embryonic stem cell treatments offer far greater potential than adult cells - while both are capable of repairing some damage, embryonic cells could go so far as to replace entire organs. Conversely though, the greater flexibility of embryonic cells also makes them more difficult to control. A major obstacle to their use in humans is a tendency to form tumors.{{fact}} Much research is being carried out to better understand the cellular processes which cause this.

*President Bush's refusal of [[federal funding]] for new embryonic stem cell lines didn't halt major stem-cell advances, any more than the prohibition against life-threatening research on human subjects, such as the infamous Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, stopped the advance of medical treatments. [http://www.opinionjournal.com/federation/feature/?id=110010915 Trading Places] - Will the secular left soon attack the religious right for being pro-science? - Joseph Bottum

*On March 9, 2007 Barack Obama repealed President Bush's ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. <ref>http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=441206</ref>This was a campaign promise and leads to the expectation that he will be one of the most pro-choice Presidents in U.S. history.<ref>http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/choice-action-center/us-gov/congressional-record-on-choice/illinois.html</ref>

==Expectation and Potential ==

Jeremy Pearce of the ''New York Times'' wrote:
*Dr. [[Ira B. Black]], chairman of the neurosciences and cell biology department of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, described the potential of all stem-cell research as threefold. He said the expectation in the laboratory was for such cells to revive damaged and dead cells; to act as vehicle cells in introducing [[gene therapy]]; and, finally, to rally and harness the [[human body]]'s own existing stem cells.

*The end goal would be to replace [[brain cells]] lost to [[Alzheimer's]], repair injured nerve cells causing [[paralysis]] and treat [[cancers]], malfunctioning [[organs]] and other now-irreparable conditions.

*To Dr. Black, the use of embryonic cells ''fundamentally constitutes the gold standard'' in medical research because of their purity and versatility. But he cautioned: ''This is a very young field. Our areas of ignorance are far greater than our areas of knowledge.'' [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9500E3DD1739F93BA25752C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=print]

==Inducible Pluripotent Stem Cells==

Research in 2006 has facilitated the conversion of human adult somatic cells into pluripotent stem cells, namely possessing an ability to differentiate into many types of tissue. (Unlike embryonic stem cells from blastocysts, however, IPSCs are not totipotent.) By forcing the expression of certain genes, via the activation of many transcription factors (such as tetramer and hexamer TFs), using a particular medium (e.g. HIF and LIF), pluripotent stem cells can be generated. This research has great potential on account of its ability to resolve the dilemma surrounding the use of embryonic stem cells.

== References ==
<references/>

[[category:Biology]]
[[category:political Terms]]

Conservapedia - User contributions [en]

African Americans

Human embryos in medical research