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The author, Toni Morrison, of this article forced me to view the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn a different light. I found it extremely interesting to hear the different ways she sees the novel throughout her life as different ages. Age is an important factor when discussing race and discrimination and you can clearly see her stance of the book developing as she grew older. I also find it interesting trying to understand how an African American my age felt while reading this book. She describes feeling "uncomfortable" and "muffled rage" which I believe white Americans can never fully understand. I agree that Huck and Jim have a paternal bond but never thought of their relationship in the way that Morrison did. She states "Only a male black slave can deliver all Huck desires," (157-8 Morrison). She explains that Jim, being black, can be easily controlled by Huck which is what he was looking for and missing in a father. I understand that they are codependent but never saw to the extent that Huck silenced Jim and in some ways took advantage of him.

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The N-Word by the Washington Post: Required

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The N-Word by the Washington Post: Required

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The videos I watched covered many different aspects of the n-word. One specific video that stood out to me was "Dineytra and Jeff on the word becoming everyday language". Dineytra is African American and Jeff is a Filipino American. They discussed their personal experience of growing up and hearing the n-word as a child and teen. They grew up in different parts of America, in different cities, and neighborhoods which greatly impacted their use and connotation of the word. Jeff states that due to not being around many African Americans or adults to tell them that the use of this word is bad, he would hear it in hip hop music and in everyday life. Contrasting to that, Dineytra grew up around African Americans and stated that in her experience, "it was never okay [to use the n-word]". These two people, both in minority groups, mostly due to environment they grew up in, had completely different views of the same world. I feel this is very important to apply to the rest of America and even in our school today. What percent of Marshwood High School is black? Very little, which greatly impacts the students of Marshwood use of the word. Many people in this school not only hear the word in songs but see and even use it on social media. This could be largely due to the fact they have never been taught the correct terminology of the word and when and where is should be used. This stressed the important factor African Americans play in shaping communities and how much the environment one grows up in changes an individual.

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Explore perspectives.
Select three to see a custom video.

Start your own conversation

Add a question or use one of the submitted questions to start a conversation with your social network. (Note: The n-word has not been filtered from submissions.)

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n-word; donte stallworth; neal brennan; dave chappelle show; nfl; national football leagues bans nword; nfl bans the nword; nigger; nigga; nigger vs nigga; kkk; ku klux klan; jay z; oprah;

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The n-word: An interactive project exploring a singular word

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After the National Football League made the controversial decision to ban the n-word on the field this year, a team of Washington Post journalists explored the history of the word, its evolution and its place in American vernacular today.

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Poll: Most Americans Thinks Their Own Group Faces Discrimination: Articles

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Poll: Most Americans Thinks Their Own Group Faces Discrimination: Articles

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After reading this article, it statistically proves the inequality and unfairness within our country. I understand that African Americans are discriminated against in the US but had never seen specific statistics. One statistic stated that of the African Americans polled, one third of them personally experienced racial discrimination when going to the doctor or health clinic. I never would have thought that blacks would be discriminated against in simply in a doctors office for seeking medical care.  This showed how much society has to grow and change. I found it very interesting that among the people polled, 55% white Americans feel discriminated against. I personally feel that I have never been discriminated against because of the color of my skin unlike majorities in America that often face discrimination every day.

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Majorities in many ethnic, identity and racial groups in America believe that discrimination exists against their own group, across many areas of people's daily lives, according to a poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The poll asked a wide range of questions about where Americans experience discrimination - from the workplace to the doctor's office - and people's perception of it. The groups polled include whites, blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and LGBTQ adults.

White Americans are among those who feel their group is discriminated against, with 55 percent saying discrimination exists against whites in the U.S. today.

These results are part of a large national statistically representative survey of 3,453 adults from Jan. 26 to Apr. 9.

We will be releasing the full results of the poll over the next several weeks, starting Tuesday with results from the survey of African-Americans. We will highlight and analyze the particular acts of discrimination that each group experiences.

The African-American results, in 802 adults, provide insight into the historically high levels of discrimination blacks have faced since arriving in America. These experiences happen across a broad range of situations: interacting with police; applying for jobs or seeking promotions; trying to rent an apartment or buy a home; or going to a doctor or health clinic.

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The findings on African-Americans have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

The perceptions of discrimination are not primarily based in actions by institutions, as some might expect. "Most African-Americans believe that discrimination is due to the attitudes of individuals that they interact with," says Robert Blendon, the poll's director and professor of policy and political analysis at the Harvard Chan School. "A smaller share believes it's actually government or institutional policies."

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Fear of discrimination, possibly triggered by past encounters, plays out in different ways. We found that this fear significantly influences people's decisions whether to seek medical care, to call the police when in need, and even whether to drive or attend social events. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of African-Americans polled said they have personally experienced racial discrimination when going to the doctor or a health clinic, with 22 percent avoiding care out of fear of discrimination.

"If someone is avoiding seeking medical care out of fear of discrimination, they're at risk of going undiagnosed for serious conditions," says Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "We know that repeated stress from discrimination and racism can actually make some of those conditions more likely in the first place and shorten lives."

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And repeated stress comes from many kinds of discrimination and the fear it engenders. Numerous studies have shown that African-Americans are more likely to be stopped by police compared with other racial groups. In the poll, 60 percent of people told us that they or a family member have been unfairly stopped or mistreated by police because they are black.

That has consequences for them personally and across society - 31 percent of poll respondents say fear of discrimination has led them to avoid calling the police when in need. And 61 percent say police are more likely to use force on a person who is African-American than on a white person in the same situation.

Where people live can make a big difference, too. Our survey found that 64 percent of blacks live in non-majority-black areas. For these people, perceptions of local discrimination, opportunity, police and government and community environment were generally better when compared with majority-black areas, sometimes by wide margins.

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Our poll found substantial numbers of African-Americans who say they have been slurred or have been the target of insensitive or offensive comments or negative assumptions. A story later in our series will explore the split by income and gender in the chart below.

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Persistently higher premature death rates in blacks compared with whites was one of the issues that inspired this poll and series. The most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that gap at 16 percent, even though it has narrowed since 1999, when death rates for blacks from all causes were 33 percent higher than whites.

Many factors play into the gap, including a considerable drop in crime rates involving African-Americans over that period and improved access to medical care for many people. What we're trying to explore with our "You, Me and Them" series and poll is how the stress-inducing experiences of discrimination in everyday life affect health.

"Over 200 black people die prematurely every single day in America, in part because of racism in society," says David Williams, a professor of public health at the Harvard Chan School who has pioneered work in the field of racial disparities in health care. "This poll helps us see where we need to take action to address the problem."

The poll was conducted in the first quarter of 2017. A final report discussing major highlights from the series will be released in December.

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Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination

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Majorities in many ethnic, identity and racial groups in America believe that discrimination exists against their own group, across many areas of people's daily lives, according to a poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

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Surviving Disappearance, Re-Imagining & Humanizing Native Peoples: TEDTalk

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Surviving Disappearance, Re-Imagining & Humanizing Native Peoples: TEDTalk

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This TED Talk was about a native women named Matika Wilbur who went up and down the east coast finding different native tribes and people. The Native Americans in this country face discrimination in many different ways. One specific story that she told about a man named Rex that live in the Grand Canyon. He told her that in 2000, surveyors took their blood and stated that they were going to help them with diabetes. Instead, they used their blood to try to prove that they were not from the Grand Canyon. This year in history we learned about the history of Native Americans in this country and I have found it extremely eyeopening and useful. To learn about a specific example that goes so far beyond discrimination is unbelievable. Native Americans should not be facing any discrimination almost 400 years after Europeans took their lands and caused them to resettle. In many ways, the story that Rex told is alike the laws that were enforced in the national government in the 1700 and 1800s. People were trying to force the Natives to leave their land by invading their privacy and lying to them. This story also reminded me of the Dakota Access Pipeline which made many news headlines in 2016 and even still today. I am angry that our national government is not doing more to protect the Natives of this land and the fact that they still face discrimination today. Rex told Matika he wants others to know "we all come from the same mother earth," (TEDTalk).

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Surviving Disappearance, Re-Imagining & Humanizing Native Peoples: Matika Wilbur at TEDxSeattle

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Matika Wilbur, one of the Pacific Northwest's leading photographers, has exhibited extensively in regional, national, and international venues such as the Seattle Art Museum, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, The Tacoma Art Museum, the Royal British Columbia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Nantes Museum of Fine Arts in France.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates just explained why white people shouldn’t use the n-word in the perfect way: Video

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Ta-Nehisi Coates just explained why white people shouldn’t use the n-word in the perfect way: Video

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This video was extremely eye opening. I believe he answers the question perfectly with his first statement, "words don't having meaning without context." After watching the video completely and even reading some of, both understanding and ignorant, tweets back to the video, I googled "why the n-word is bad". I found an article that helped me to better understand what Coates had just explained. I think that society needs to grasp the idea and realize that there is a double standard when using the n-word. We need to learn that blacks are allowed to say it while whites cannot. And like he said in the video, it is very hard to get society to see and teach this.

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Ta-Nehisi Coates just explained why white people shouldn't use the n-word in the perfect way

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Award-winning news and culture, features breaking news, in-depth reporting and criticism on politics, business, entertainment and technology.

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Straight Talk about the N-Word: Independent Text

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Straight Talk about the N-Word: Independent Text

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The man being interviewed for this article has taught two college courses on the n-word. He explains that the n-word, no matter how it is used, even between friends, is still derogatory. "The poison is still there," he states. I think that this is extremely important when teaching the history and use of the word. Regardless if the word is used in a rap song written by an African American, the n-word is disrespectful and abusive in its nature. He states that the class he teaches is about "self-education and self-critique, not trying to control others by telling them what to say or how to think, but rather trying to figure out how we think and how the words we use mirror our thinking." This is a different approach of teaching when, where, and who can use the n-word. The key aspect of what he stated was not telling others what to say or how to think. Like Coates explained in the video, many white people believe the word belongs to them and does not understand why they would not be able to use it. Rather than flat out saying they are not allowed to, he stresses to teach evaluating yourself and understand the power of words. He even references the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and explains that "any conversation about the n-word has to be about language and thinking more broadly."

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Teaching Tolerance provides free resources to educators-teachers, administrators, counselors and other practitioners-who work with children from kindergarten through high school. Educators use our materials to supplement the curriculum, to inform their practices, and to create civil and inclusive school communities where children are respected, valued and welcome participants.

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Blacks and Whites Define Word 'Racism' Differently: Independent Text - Database

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Blacks and Whites Define Word 'Racism' Differently: Independent Text - Database

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The last thing stated in this article was, "This is the most dangerous idea in American history, that power comes from race." This is an extremely meaningful and true statement that correctly sums up how I view race in our society. As a white person, I have personally experienced this, mostly without even understanding it. In our society, whites hold the power. Like the stereotype today, I can easily walk down the street and not be fearful. There are a multitude of places I can get my haircut. I easily have bandaids that are the same color as my skin. The Black Lives Matter movement I believe can easily be connected to power. White cops fatally shooting African American males and often being acquitted is what the movement is surrounding. This strengthens the dangerous idea that power comes from the color of your skin, an idea that needs to be shut down through the power of society. The article explains how both whites and blacks have developed different definitions of the same word- racism which has resulted in conflicts throughout our country. As stated in the article, we need to acknowledge that throughout history and today, blacks have been receiving the racism that whites put out. Going forward, instead of placing blame on whites, "get them to see racism's impact in shaping both the individual's and the society's behavior". I find it interesting that statistically many white Americans feel they are discriminated against due to their race. Clearly, racism is a very sensitive and controversial subject for society but talking about the role it plays in society could be the key to helping the problems it causes.

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Maine Governor Paul LePage criticised for 'racist' remarks: Independent Text

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Maine Governor Paul LePage criticised for 'racist' remarks: Independent Text

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This article was published the summer of 2016 and I am beyond surprised I have never heard some of the very racist details of what our governor has stated. The seacoast, including Maine, has been dealing with an opioid problem for the past few years. While discussing this drug problem, Paul LePage said that "the enemy right now... are people of colour or people of Hispanic origin". He then went on to say that he is not racist. Among the many more comments that he made suggesting that people of color are the criminals in the state, he stated that "90-plus per cent of those pictures in my book, and it's a three-ringed binder, are black and Hispanic people". He has created a binder, keeping track of people arrested for drug crime in Maine and claims that, in a state that is 95% white, 90% of drug crimes are people of color is beyond racist. To think that our governor of the state of Maine has stated such a racist comment and then insisted that he was not racist is sickening. It is up to our political leaders to battle this inequality and discrimination minorities face, not to do the opposite.

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The governor of Maine has said that people of colour were enemies of his state, and appeared to suggest they should be shot.

Speaking about Maine's effort to combat drug crime, Paul LePage said that "the enemy right now... are people of colour or people of Hispanic origin".

"When you go to war... and the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue, then you shoot at red," he said.

Leading Democrats have urged him to resign.

Mr LePage made the comments while seeking to clarify remarks he made earlier in the week which were criticised as racist.

The press conference capped a controversial 72 hours for the Republican governor.

WEDNESDAY

Mr LePage was asked about a statement he made in January, in which he blamed the state's heroin problem on "guys by the name D-Money, Smoothie, Shifty" who "come from Connecticut and New York".

"They come up here, they sell their heroin, then they go back home. Incidentally, half the time they impregnate a young, white girl before they leave," he said.

Speaking on Wednesday, he denied it was racist, but said that since January he had been putting together a binder cataloguing drug arrests in the state, and that "90-plus per cent of those pictures in my book, and it's a three-ringed binder, are black and Hispanic people".

Asked by reporters to provide the binder, Mr LePage replied: "Let me tell you something: Black people come up the highway and they kill Mainers. You ought to look into that."

He then stormed off, telling the reporters: "You make me so sick."

Maine daily newspaper the Portland Press Herald has reportedly filed a Freedom of Information request for the governor's binder.

THURSDAY

A reporter appeared to suggest to Mr LePage that Democratic state representative Drew Gattine had called him a racist.

Mr LePage called Mr Gattine and, when he was unable to reach him, left him an abusive, expletive-laden voice message.

The recording was released by the Portland Press Herald.

He later invited reporters from the Press Herald and WMTW TV channel to an interview to explain the voice message, and told them he wished he could shoot Mr Gattine in a duel.

"I'd like him to come up here because, tell you right now, I wish it were 1825," Mr LePage said.

"And we would have a duel, that's how angry I am, and I would not put my gun in the air, I guarantee you... I would point it right between his eyes, because he is a snot-nosed little runt and he has not done a damn thing since he's been in this legislature to help move the state forward."

Rights group the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said it had filed a freedom of information request for records related to the arrests of black and Hispanic people in the state.

Its executive director, Alison Beyea, said Maine police were nine times more likely to arrest people of colour for selling drugs than white people, even though white people were just as likely to commit drug offences.

FRIDAY

The Portland Press Herald published FBI statistics which show that 1,211 people were arrested on charges of drug sales or manufacturing in Maine in 2014. Of those, 170 - 14.1% - were black, and almost all the rest were white.

At a State House press conference, Mr LePage said he was "enormously angry" at being called a racist, and restated his earlier remarks which cast Maine's drug problem in racial terms.

He said: "When you go to war, if you know the enemy and the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue, then you shoot at red."

He added: "You shoot at the enemy. You try to identify the enemy and the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority of people coming in, are people of colour or people of Hispanic origin."

Leading Democrat figures are now calling for the governor to step down.

Representative Sara Gideon of Freeport, the assistant House Democratic leader, said: "We strongly and regretfully feel that he is unfit to serve as governor of the state of Maine right now.

"We have real concerns and reservations about how we move forward together as lawmakers as well as Maine people."

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The governor of Maine has said that people of colour were enemies of his state, and appeared to suggest they should be shot. Speaking about Maine's effort to combat drug crime, Paul LePage said that "the enemy right now... are people of colour or people of Hispanic origin".

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Racism Is Not a Teaching Tool: Independent Text - Database

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Racism Is Not a Teaching Tool: Independent Text - Database

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This article was very informative for me. A couple months ago, I saw on twitter a Confederate statue in a city in America that was torn down by protesters. I began reading different view points about this story and had difficulty making a decision about the incident. After reading this article, I now have a better understanding about the impact memorializing racist historical figures really has. The author writes about several Ivy League schools that have dorms or arenas named after racist American figures and students that have asked them to change it. Most teachers responded that changing the name would be "downplaying the lasting effects of slavery" and keeping it forces students to learn. The author makes a parallel to this by comparing this to the fact that America does not have any prominent buildings dedicated to their enemies. He questions, "Can you imagine New York University having a building named after Osama bin Laden?" I found this question very interesting and intriguing. I believe it answers and almost attacks the question perfect. Americans would never name buildings after their enemy, regardless of how much we have to "learn" about them. By glossing over students wishes of changing the names it is playing into racism, not using it as a teaching tool.

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I watched a series of these videos featuring multiracial Americans. It states that about 17 million adults in the US identify as multiracial. I really enjoyed watching these videos and learning about different experiences each person had. The majority explains what they have learned from being different races and how talking about race among others when they do not look like the "traditional" Native American or Asian. I believe a lot can be learned from mixed race Americans. One man explains how it can be very difficult, especially growing up, trying to fit into a certain racial identity. He is black, but has lighter skin than most black people due to being biracial. When asked "What are you?" and he responds "Black" most black people ask "Yeah, but what else?" This occurrence happens to many multiracial people showing how it can be very difficult to identify with either racial backgrounds they have.

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A majority of multiracial adults - 60% - say they are proud of their racial background.

Among them, there's a wide range of racial identity. About six-in-ten adults who have a mixed racial background say they do not see themselves as "mixed race or multiracial." When asked why they don't identify as multiracial, some say they were raised only as a single race, and others say they physically look like a certain race.

Composition of Multiracial Americans
% of all American adults who are multiracial
Note: Multiracial adults are two or more races (based on backgrounds of self, parents or grandparents). Multiracial subgroups and "some other combination" are non-Hispanic and mutually exclusive. The multiracial Hispanic subgroup includes Hispanics who are also any two or more races. *Multiracial subgroups may not add to 100% because of rounding.

Source: Pew Research Center survey, Feb. 6-April 6, 2015 (n=21,224 sampled adults including 1,555 multiracial adults)

Composition of Multiracial Americans

White and black biracial Americans are three times more likely to say they have a lot in common with people who are black than people who are white. But white and Asian Americans say they have more in common with people who are white than people who are Asian.

Likewise, among multiracial adults, there's a spectrum of experiences with discrimination. For example, Americans who are white and black or black and American Indian are far more likely to say they have been unfairly stopped by police or have received poor service at a restaurant or other businesses than Americans who are white and Asian or white and American Indian.

But multiracial Americans share some common views. About six-in-ten multiracial Americans say their racial heritage has made them more open to other cultures, and 55% say it has made them more understanding of people of different racial backgrounds. They are also more likely than other Americans to have friends or be married to other multiracial people.

Only a few feel ashamed of their racial background or see it as a liability. In fact, about four times as many say being multiracial has been an advantage rather than a disadvantage in their life; but most say it hasn't made a difference.

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A majority of multiracial adults - 60% - say they are proud of their racial background. Among them, there's a wide range of racial identity. About six-in-ten adults who have a mixed racial background say they do not see themselves as "mixed race or multiracial."