This weeks blog is a little bit different from what we are used to doing. Instead of reading just one article we had to watch a few videos, look at a website, and then read an article. Then basically take the main points out of them and or connect them. The main thing that I took from these artifacts was that we still do not consider all people equal and we are scared to talk about and admit that this is true.
In the videos that we watched one of the main things that i took out of it was that we do not see all people as equals. The videos used two different examples that stuck with me. The first one was with President Obama and former President Bush. The video was saying that we give way to much credit to white people even if they are a "bafoon" (talking about bush). The first video also said that just because Bush was white and mediocre we were fine with him as president. Along the same lines with this it also says that McCain was also a candidate only because he is white. If he was a black man and we knew his background about how he crashed five planes we would never be talking about his as a presidential nominee.
Another great point that the video brought up was that we don't let people of color be mediocre and still get jobs. While the white man can go to a community college and have no experience in the field and still get the job over a person of color who is pretty good at the job and has experience with it. This shows that we don't consider all people to be equal and we give precedent to people in the culture of power even thought they aren't the best candidate for the job.
In the NY Times Article that we had to read it talked about how schools still are segregated even though they legally aren't anymore. The article says that school still are segregated because of where people live. If the child is living in a bad neighborhood like a lot of hispanic and black people do then they are forced to go to a bad school because that is what is in those bad areas. The article also said that when these kids were put into better schools they started to get better grades and became better students. It is sad to think that schools are still segregated and most people don't believe that they are but the truth is that schools are segregated simply by the fact of where people live. Another article that i found says that schools are more segregated today than they were in the 1950's. This article said almost the same things as the one we had to read for class with the main reason still being where families live depend on what school they go to and therefore still contribute to segregation.
Talking points for class: Did anyone think that schools were still segregated before you read the article? And whose fault is it that the schools are segregated?Personally i don't believe that the government is responsible for the segregation. I believe that the people are responsible because they are the ones living in the areas and not moving to different neighborhoods for better school systems. I also know that it may not be financially possible for these people to move but i do think it is possible for quite a few of them because i drive through providence everyday to school and see really nice cars in old houses driveways and think that they have enough money for $80,000 worth of cars but they are still living here.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Sunday, March 20, 2011
In The Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning
Extended Comments:
Like Sarah, i am also using Amanda's Blog for my extended comments blog because i know a few people that have been apart of their churches youth group and have done similar things as Amanda's church. My best friend before his confirmation had to participate in the same thing as Amanda's church group and fast for twenty four hours and sleep on the floor at the church. They did this because the church wants the kids to know what it feels like to be homeless. Even though it is only for a short amount of time it still really makes you think about what these people go through every night. Another thing that my friends church did was go to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina occurred. They went down there for a week and helped rebuild the churches and worked in soup kitchens to feed the people that were impacted by this tragedy. I have a ton of respect for my friend and his family for going there and helping all those people because they really did make a difference.
Another thing in Amanda's Blog that i really liked was when she said, "Service learning, no matter what type, is beneficial for everyone". I really like that she said this and completely agree with her. No matter what you are doing to help out your community, it matters. You may feel like you are doing something so small and not even think it matters but it does. Some one out there is grateful for what you are doing no matter how big or small of a task it is.
Something that i do that i don't really consider service learning is coaching a basketball team. I don't really consider this community service because i have just as much if not more fun than the kids do. It is something that i really enjoy doing and i know that the kids and parents really appreciate it because they tell me and my parents how nice it is for me to help out coaching the team.
What kind of service learning does everyone think they are doing in their VIPS classrooms? And are there other service learning projects that you take apart in, and do you enjoy doing them or do you just do it because you were told to or had to. Also with the VIPS tutoring do you think that if you only had to go to the classroom three times would you still be going now? Do you enjoy going or do you just go because you have to?
Like Sarah, i am also using Amanda's Blog for my extended comments blog because i know a few people that have been apart of their churches youth group and have done similar things as Amanda's church. My best friend before his confirmation had to participate in the same thing as Amanda's church group and fast for twenty four hours and sleep on the floor at the church. They did this because the church wants the kids to know what it feels like to be homeless. Even though it is only for a short amount of time it still really makes you think about what these people go through every night. Another thing that my friends church did was go to New Orleans after hurricane Katrina occurred. They went down there for a week and helped rebuild the churches and worked in soup kitchens to feed the people that were impacted by this tragedy. I have a ton of respect for my friend and his family for going there and helping all those people because they really did make a difference.
Another thing in Amanda's Blog that i really liked was when she said, "Service learning, no matter what type, is beneficial for everyone". I really like that she said this and completely agree with her. No matter what you are doing to help out your community, it matters. You may feel like you are doing something so small and not even think it matters but it does. Some one out there is grateful for what you are doing no matter how big or small of a task it is.
Something that i do that i don't really consider service learning is coaching a basketball team. I don't really consider this community service because i have just as much if not more fun than the kids do. It is something that i really enjoy doing and i know that the kids and parents really appreciate it because they tell me and my parents how nice it is for me to help out coaching the team.
What kind of service learning does everyone think they are doing in their VIPS classrooms? And are there other service learning projects that you take apart in, and do you enjoy doing them or do you just do it because you were told to or had to. Also with the VIPS tutoring do you think that if you only had to go to the classroom three times would you still be going now? Do you enjoy going or do you just go because you have to?
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us By: Linda Christensen
Connection:
This piece was very interesting to me in how it talked about things that i have never thought about before but have seen frequently. just like most kids in America today i grew up on watching Disney Movies and the Disney channel. I always saw that the rich man was in charge and the out of shape person of color was the servant but never really had a second thought about it. In this article it talks about how the white person was always the person in power and that really relates well to Lisa Delpit's culture of power that says the white man and white culture is dominant. This piece just shows how true that really was because in movies and shows the main characters are mostly white and always were in the past. This example is more subtle than many other examples but it is just another piece of the puzzle in why the culture of power exists. Another article that relates to this one was Peggy McIntosh's white privilege. In Christensen's piece the actors were all privileged because they were white and that must have played a role in getting the job. All three of the articles went really well together because in some way they all had to do with white people having an advantage over other ethnicities
This piece was very interesting to me in how it talked about things that i have never thought about before but have seen frequently. just like most kids in America today i grew up on watching Disney Movies and the Disney channel. I always saw that the rich man was in charge and the out of shape person of color was the servant but never really had a second thought about it. In this article it talks about how the white person was always the person in power and that really relates well to Lisa Delpit's culture of power that says the white man and white culture is dominant. This piece just shows how true that really was because in movies and shows the main characters are mostly white and always were in the past. This example is more subtle than many other examples but it is just another piece of the puzzle in why the culture of power exists. Another article that relates to this one was Peggy McIntosh's white privilege. In Christensen's piece the actors were all privileged because they were white and that must have played a role in getting the job. All three of the articles went really well together because in some way they all had to do with white people having an advantage over other ethnicities
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