Between Barack and a Hard Place

Between Barack and a Hard Place: Challenging Racism, Privilege and Denial in the Age of Obama (quotes/idea)

By Tim Wise

            There were three main ideas that I thought were really important and interesting in this video. One was the idea that 142 million white people believe that they have 4 or more black friends which is 3/4 of the white people of America. However there is only 35 million African Americans in the US and half of them said they have a white friend. He said that it was absolutely impossible that all of them were telling the truth! They weren't necessarily lying but they might not be as close as they think. I thought that this was very interesting. In my high school there weren't many African Americans, and the ones that were there were mostly in lower level classes so I never really interacted with them. There were two though that were very bright throughout high school and ended up being some of my close friends that I did see and have over my house. Going back to the video though, he talks about how most schools do put African American kids in lower leveled classes because they believed they were low leveled learners due to their race. This idea connects with An Indian Fathers Plea by Lake. In this reading the same thing occurs. The child is Indian and is seen as a slow learner basically due to his race. It is still a problem in our society today but most people don't see it. 

         Another idea that I thought was very important that was said by Wise, "Job applicants with white sounding names, they just think you are white. They don't know you yet, if they think you might be based on your name you have a 50 percent chance for getting called back for an interview than with black sounding names even when all the qualifications are the same. Same years of experience, same education, same everything except the difference in the name. In other words merely being suspected of blackness gives you a leg down and being suspected of whiteness gives you a leg up." Basically what he is saying if that if your are black you are going to have less opportunities then people who are white. This is called white privilege. The article called White Privilege by McIntosh describes all of this and she talks about how white people have more opportunities in getting jobs, in education and many more. 

            Finally the last idea I thought was important was the study done on 625 college students over 6 weeks. The students wrote down every time they saw a racist act happening. All together they came up with 7500 racist acts in just 6 weeks! I thought that this was so crazy! I didn't realize that it happens this often and it really opened my eyes to how much of a problem it still is today. 

Here is a video about what people on the street think about White Privilege:

          

In the Service of What?

In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning(reflection)

By Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

 

                                               Joseph Kahne                              Joel Westheimer

           I think that service learning is a great way for students to understand problems going on in society and the world. Understanding that some people have it harder than others. Some people are homeless and understand why they are homeless is very important, because there are so many different ways in which people can become homeless. The most common assumption made is drug addiction but understanding that people could have lost their job or something tragic happened causing them to loose everything is important. The service learning helps student realize that some people need help with simple tasks that they wouldn't think anyone would need help with, such as going to the bathroom on their own. Many elders need help with this in nursing homes. I believe that all students should have to go through service learning in some form of their school careers.

 

           I did service learning for my church while I was in catholic school. I used to pass out meals to people who couldn't afford their own meals. It really showed me how many people struggle through life. We would walk into peoples homes and see how much of a mess their houses were and how little they had was so upsetting but it was something that I really needed to learn. It really showed me that not everyone has everything they needed and it helped me to become more aware of everything. 

         Service learning is something everyone should have to do. It helps teach lessons with hands on activities. The service learning gives a more memorable experience instead of just sitting in classrooms and talking about the issues. 

 

Please watch this video!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OWDpPSQRfE

           

Unlearning Myths That Blind Us

Unlearning Myths That Blind Us (reflection)

By: Linda Christensen

         This article "Unlearning Myths That Blinds Us" talks about how Disney movies secretly educate children "programming" them to believe that certain standards are expected of them. Making them believe that life only happens the way fairy tales perceive them. Girls now believe they have to look like all fairy tale Princesses. Causing eating disorders, depression and bullying. If you don't look a certain way now in our society you are considered ugly, fat and looked down upon. Even if you turn off the Disney fairy tales, we are still exposed to all of the expectations of women in commercials, in magazines, on tv and through all media. Women are expected to have a specific body type, skinny, broad hips and tall. However not everyone is born with that body type! Everyone is beautiful and unique and we all need to accept it as it is. No one is the same and we  shouldn't be expected to be the same.

         Women as also perceived in most Disney films as weak, unintelligent and in need of a mans help. Snow White and Sleeping Beauty for instance need a kiss by a prince in order for them to be saved! Why is it that all Disney princesses have to be portrayed in this manner? Why can't women be the hero in the movie? Why can't she save herself or even save a man? Women are capable of taking care of themselves and it's sad that we are portrayed otherwise. It brainwashes the children into believing that women in fact can't be anything but helpless.
Gender Roles in Disney Movies

         I think this also goes along with "The Silenced Dialogue", by Lisa Delpit and how we already have this stereotype of different cultures and how they learn in school. Many TV shows and movies also show our stereotypes of different cultures and how they act in school and at home. This cause wrong perceptions of people of those cultures and affecting their opportunities in jobs and in school due to those false perceptions. 

Speaking the unspeakable in forbidden places:

Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places:(extended comments)

By: Alexandra Allan

In Frankie O'Hara's blog post about "Speaking the Unspeakable in Forbidden Places: Addressing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender equality in the Primary School" written by Alexandra Allan and many other authors, he talks about how its good for teachers to discuss with their class about gay and lesbian individuals. I completely agree with all the points he raised about how it is definitely necessary for a child to learn at an early age that there are gay and lesbian people in the world. It gives them a positive light about the idea and allows them to feel comfortable and not confused about what it means. Reading books are a great way to start incorporating them in a positive manner during class. Frankie also talks about how it'll help prevent students bulling other students from the LGBT community. I believe that this is also very true because if the children learn at a young age that people apart of that group are no different from everyone else and they will feel comfortable to understand that they are normal. Something that Frankie hadn't mentioned that I also believe is important is the fact that children who eventually figure out they are gay will feel comfortable about their sexuality, knowing that its normal and that they should express it among other without fear.

I love how Frankie compared this article to some other articles we read. This was the main reason why I chose to extend further comments from his blog. I really liked how he compared the LGBT community to racial groups and how they feel like outcasts because they are perceived as different from the norm in society. The racial groups feel like outcasts because of their different skin color or different social beliefs from the Caucasian race. In this case its a persons sexual preference that makes them feel like an outsider which, I agree with Frankie, is equally ridiculous. African Americans aren't represented in commercials and tv shows enough, same thing with the LGBT society, thye need to be represented more in our society. I love the idea that there are more authors writing about same sex marriage and parenting for children s books. It's definitely a good step in the right direction. Teachers should use these books more in class to help kids learn about the LGBT community. I think that Disney should release a same sex fairy tale movie as well, giving more exposure to the kids and show them that not all couples are opposite sex. That is all they are exposed to in those films and a film with same sex couples would help them feel comfortable to the idea. Teachers can help fix many problems in our society by educating the younger generations to accept all and make the society a better place.

Kids are more accepting why can't we all be like them? Kids talking about Gay Marriage