https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t en-us 2017-12-05 17:00:14 UTC 2017-12-20 16:29:59 UTC hello@padlet.com courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213394693 Required Text

Toni Morrison analyzes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through her initial reaction she had to the book when reading it as a child. Her focus is on silences in the book that portray a message without the use of words. The history of African Americans and slaves is filled with silences by society. For a period of time after the Civil War, people didn't talk about slavery. They didn't talk about how even though slavery was abolished, they still treated African Americans as their slaves. Originally, nothing was said about the mistreatment of and discrimination against black people. Many people didn't see an issue with it, and those that did said nothing about it. During this time in history, the lack of voices and noise portrayed the content of white people with racism. Later in history when the silence began to fade, white people began to realize the wrong they had done and steps were taken to equalize blacks and whites. However, that equalization could only reach a certain point and the racism and discrimination still exists today. What's even more concerning is the silence about the racism against other minorities. A lot of the time, when you hear racism, you think of black people. But black people are not the only people that experience discrimination and I think that the silence about those people is staggering. That racism experienced by other people can be seen in another source called "What Kind of Asian Are You". As Americans, we don't think about how truly racist we are in terms of the entire world and not just the black population. Even in this project about racism within America, the majority of the suggested and required texts are about black racism. There still exists a quietness or a hush, hush attitude about racism within America; It's just not about the racism we think it is.]]> 2017-12-05 17:02:51 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213394693 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213398731 Required Text

Through this source, it can be concluded that the n-word doesn't have as much meaning as it once did. A lot of the older generations still hold this word on a derogatory level and see how hateful and malicious it is while the younger generations have so much more ease in saying it, and almost see it as part of their slang. This shows how people have maybe taken some steps backwards in terms of race because as a society, the n-word used to not be used. People understood the spite it held and hatred it represented. But now, teenagers and even adults feel like it's okay to use the n-word since they don't understand what it really means to African Americans and their history. This source relates to the interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates because both sources show that white people, especially younger generations, don't have a true understanding of the impact of the n-word and why it's really not okay to say if you aren't black.]]> 2017-12-05 17:09:52 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213398731 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213792889 Slam Poetry

Throughout the slam poetry, Dang presents us with many stereotypes of Asians. There are so many ridiculous and unrealistic stereotypes about different races and ethnicities that are just completely wrong. By grouping for example, all Asians together under these stereotypes, we're taking away their sense of self-identity. If so many Americans are telling Asian people about Asian culture and what it means to be Asian, despite being completely wrong, the Asians will be confused about who they really are. This is because a giant group of people are telling them one thing about their culture when they know something else. Most of the stereotypes are also very offensive so Asians start to associate shame with their culture or race. Through this stereotyping, the true Asian culture is muddled and Asians are not seen for who they truly are, aside from being Asian. This stereotyping relates to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn through morality and Jim. Over the course of the novel, Huck develops his sense of morality and realizes that Jim isn't how he expected him to be. Huck is able to overcome the typical black slave stereotype and see Jim as who he really is and not just a slave, but a friend. If people like Huck can look past the color of other people's skin and realize that stereotypes do not define others, people like Alex wouldn't feel so ashamed of their culture. Huck could teach people a lesson in not categorizing others into generic boxes so that stereotypes don't arise anymore.]]> 2017-12-06 16:45:19 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213792889 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213798732 Video

Ta-Nehisi says that white people can gain a lot of insight from refraining from using the n-word because they get to feel just a tiny, tiny piece of what it means to be black. Because to be black today means you will always experience discrimination at moments in your life. There will always be things that you want to join in on or do that you can't because you're black. White people feel they should be able to say the n-word and they want to use it. But by not using it, they slightly get to see how African Americans live their whole life. However, not all white people refrain from using it. Many white people actually do still use it, and that shows how America has taken a step backwards in terms of race. Because the fact that white people use the excuse, "Well that's racist against me if I can't use the n-word", shows how little understanding white culture has of the impact of the history of that word and what it means to the black community. Although some generations have an understanding that it's not okay to say, most don't. It's the younger generations that are the ones that don't understand, so that means there are only more generations of misunderstanding to come. If the future generations of our society are the ones with the misunderstandings, society will only go backwards in dealing with racism.]]> 2017-12-06 16:55:18 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/213798732 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215180252 Article

This article shows a series of poll results conducted to show discrimination within the United States. Through these polls, it's shown that successful black people (yearly income of $75,000 or more) experience the most discrimination out of all income levels. To me, this seems backwards as to what I thought it would be. Successful black people overcame the stereotype of black people always being poor and not having a future. So I figured people would actually treat them with more respect. However, I think that because of the typical stereotype of a black person, and because they don't fit that stereotype, people are more likely to discriminate against them. White people think that they are entitled to everything, and that the world revolves around them. They're taught that they are always right too. This is just how society raises them. So when these stereotypes about black people form and someone comes along to disprove them, they get defensive. They think that something must be wrong with this person because they aren't like what white people said they'd be like. Because of this, those successful black people get discriminated against to prove to the white people that they do fit the stereotype. ]]> 2017-12-11 19:12:06 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215180252 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215402191 Scholarly Article

Through this article, the author is trying to comment on recent racist comments made by Paul LePage and shows a slight bias to the right. However, the author still makes a good point about the history of racism in Maine. Maine is a predominantly white state and has very little exposure to any other cultures besides its own. Because of this, racism has made itself comfortable in the mindset of many Mainers. This is because as a state, there is such little exposure to black culture or other cultures from around the world. For example, growing up in a public school, we don't learn much about racism. We don't learn about the KKK, we barely touch on the black rights' movement, and we've never been taught the role Maine has played in some unspeakably racist events. There are major silences about racism in the Maine public education system. Unlike the silences I talked about in This Amazing, Troubling Book, the silences in our culture also relate to black culture and not just other minorities. This failure to educate the upcoming generations of Maine have caused the state to become a breeding ground for bigoted people. The resulting racism however, is not necessarily of the malicious nature. This racism is based on ignorance and not understanding. As the whitest state, Mainers are not racists because of supremacist or bigoted philosophies, but they're racist because of misunderstandings and lack of exposure. But these can be accounted for the absence of attempts to truly understand. ]]> 2017-12-12 13:50:00 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215402191 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215619921 Scholarly Article

The topic of this article is how to talk to kids in grade school about racism. One of the main points made is on the childrens' natural instinct to categorize people by their differences. As a young person, you tend to hang out with and become friends with other people that share similarities with you. It's easy to think negatively about people that don't share similarities with you. For example, someone that listens to smooth jazz might think their neighbor that listens to hard rock is annoying. In making these negative conclusions, the people isolate themselves from really understanding what the dissimilar people are really like. Because of the isolation, people who are different jump to conclusions and stereotypes for identification purposes. So that guy that listens to smooth jazz might say his neighbor that listens to hard rock does drugs and lives a risky lifestyle. Obviously, just because someone listens to hard rock doesn't mean that their lifestyle is dangerous. But when this idea of categorization and differentiation us applied to skin color, stereotypes become the truth while discrimination and prejudice take place. Because children normally have been placed into situations where this categorization has already taken place, (the communities they live in) they are raised in an environment where the production and acceptance of stereotypes and racism are inevitable. ]]> 2017-12-12 21:08:38 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215619921 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215884128 Slam Poetry

"Niggers and spicks, the only trash on the street that talks. So don't call it police brutality, call it sanitation." This is one of the quotes made by the man pretending to be the white policeman. The man pretending to be Sean Bell tells the audience how he became voiceless when the bullets shot through his heart. Voiceless to protest the 50 shots aimed towards his chest. And when the white policeman says so many black people are filling our prisons that we can't tell the difference between escaped prisoners and black men, it's clear that the aim of this slam poetry is to comment on police brutality and racial profiling. Despite protests by many policemen, racial profiling is a real factor in investigations. However only if the suspect is black or of any other race besides white. Because the assumption made is that all black people look the same so everyone is a suspect, and therefore police brutality becomes self defense. The racist policemen thought they were shooting at an armed suspect just because he was black and looked slightly similar to the real suspect. There are so many cases of police brutality within our country that it is illogical to believe there isn't something else going on. As black people see it, "they're trying to put us on the endangered species list." Black people hide from policemen because they're afraid for their lives. No matter what your truth about police brutality is, the fact is that fear exists. If an entire race fears the people that are supposed to protect them, hides and cowers away when certain people drive by, racism exists. Whether or not real injustice against the black race is still present in our society, black people feel endangered. That fear cannot be taken away from them, and because we, as white people, don't experience that same fear, we have no right to say racism doesn't still exist. However, we still feel the need to comment on the subject and how black people have overreactions to everything. Until the white race has developed the history and experiences black people go through everyday, we cannot deny that reactions to discrimination and racism are unwarranted. Because as a race we do this, our society has taken steps backwards in dealing with racism.]]> 2017-12-13 17:04:38 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/215884128 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/216465026 TED Talk

Clint Smith summarizes that as a child growing up, his parents had to teach him how to understand the realities of the world while never accepting the status quo as inevitable. This was a purposeful form of education that his parents, and parents of black children, have to teach their children at a very young age. In doing so, parents have to take away certain aspects of their childrens' childhood, just to keep them safe. As a child, all you want to do is run around with your friends and have fun. In the moment, you don't worry about how what you are doing might look. But for black boys in America, their parents have to teach them they do have to worry. They can't do the same things that their white friends can do. A lot of times, because they're black, the same exact action can look "dangerous". For example, a water gun fight in a parking lot at night can quickly turn into the death of a young black boy playing with his white friends. As parents, you live with the fear that your child will be in danger. For black parents however, that fear is constant and amplified. The fear causes them to strip away basic childhood activities. Black children can no longer act like real children anymore. They can't be the naive, giddy, carefree kid that white children get to be. Too quickly, black children have to grow up and learn how to be smart so that they can be safe. This connects to The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn because Huck also has to grow up quickly and shed his innocent, childish skin. To escape Pap's abusive wrath, Huck has to learn how to be smart and live on his own. He has to see the reality of the situation and deal with it. The difference is that Huck is only protecting himself from his father. Black children in America have to protect themselves from a society that is too eager to assume the worst of them.]]> 2017-12-15 13:18:14 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/216465026 courtney_thim https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/216561633 Short Film

Gabourey Sidibe's short film combines themes of police brutality and family to tackle the major topic of racism. The narrator of the film is the mother of successful black young adult who was murdered due to police brutality. This film combines the aspects I discussed within "How to Raise a Black Son in America" and [Brave New Voices]Philly: "Sean Bell". The narrator creates a video talking about the injustices of the American police system. She outlines it as not just a black vs. white problem, but an everybody problem. Because an unjust justice system should be of concern to everybody. I think she's absolutely right. An unjust justice system is just for white people today, but what about tomorrow? It's not a major concern for white people because it doesn't discriminate against them right now, only black people. But if tables were turned and white people were the ones experiencing the racism, it would be their problem. So really, its injustice should be everyone's problem. But when she says it's not a black vs. white problem, it's everybody's problem, I think that can apply to racism in all aspects of our society. The issue is that we see it as black vs. white. The races constantly in conflict and disagreement over whether or not racism exists where. But what we should be doing is working together to fix the problems. Most of the racism and conflict exists because it is black vs. white. If these barriers are broken down and we just accept all people as equal and the same, despite their skin color, there wouldn't be so much violence. In the case of police brutality, the white police officer is pinned against the black "criminal". And that's how it's viewed and televised. Why can't it just be the police officer and a criminal. Why is the color of their skin even relevant. It's only relevant because we make it that way. At the beginning of the film, the mother says it's time for a revolution. It's time for black people to stand up for themselves and force equal rights. This shows a step backwards in our society because black people shouldn't feel like the only way they can end racism is through violence. Black people already had to fight for their rights. The fact that they feel they have to again shows that America has not gone forwards in combating racism, but in fact very far back.]]> 2017-12-15 17:19:39 UTC https://padlet.com/courtney_thim/7fut6nuzhv3t/wish/216561633