https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho A descriptive Padlet by Joshua Cronin en-us 2017-12-10 16:48:03 UTC 2026-02-11 05:03:54 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/File.png joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/214820056 While most everyone in the US will agree that the US has become more racially acceptive, many will also agree that America has gone diagonally in progress, solving some problems while neglecting to look over others.]]> 2017-12-10 16:50:57 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/214820056 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/214822307 As Toni Morrison explains in her essay on her experiences with the novel, "This Amazing, Troubling Book", Huckleberry Finn, the topic of racism tends to make crickets the seem loud in a room, especially when there are people of different races present. The feelings that Toni describes are almost the exact same for me today as they were for her back in the forties, fifties, and even the eighties, when racism was more common and much more socially acceptable. Personally, I always dread this topic coming up in any situation, because I end up feeling a thousand pairs of eyes on my back awaiting my reaction, ready to label me and anyone else like me because of my actions. Additionally, I feel a thousand more ready to compare me to other people whom I have no little to no knowledge of or connection to, whether in the past or the future. Finally, I tend to freeze up when these questions loom in the air above me and wait for them to float away, irrationally afraid of the consequences of those words. ]]> 2017-12-10 17:07:47 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/214822307 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/215434025 Since the rise of rap music in the 80s, it has become popular for rappers to use the n-word frequently in a song for the purpose of "dulling down" the weight of the word. This overuse of the word has made it popularly used as an expression word or a general pronoun. Many African Americans use the word amongst each other frequently, which brings up the question on who can use the word. African Americans tend to be split on the topic, almost exactly half for and half against the idea of anyone using the word to their liking. White Americans tend to be more universally on the edge than far right or left. This surprised me a bit, because, while I did know hat some people like using the word, I had thought that it was a major minority, not as popular of a thing as a commonplace word, and I still cannot understand why it would be alright for anyone to use the word.

Link: The n-word. Washingtonpost.com. The Washington Post, www.washingtonpost.com/ 
     wp-dre/features/the-n-word. Accessed 13 Dec. 2017]]> 2017-12-12 14:49:41 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/215434025 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/215840181 This is not a problem that I have ever had. My dad is white, and the whole of his side of my family are Irish German while my mom's whole family are black. I guess that maybe like the show mentioned, the world had decided what I was from the instant it saw me, but I have no way to know. I have never considered things in the way that the show did, but I can see the train of thought that could lead to those predicaments. Once again, I personally do not share those kinds of thoughts, so I cannot speak of them with much experience or anything like that, mostly because I tend to be either ignorant or stupid.
 
Link: http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ursus-proxy-10.ursus.maine.edu/src_ic/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=09550992-972e-4e2b-b826-6337651a1fb1%40sessionmgr4009]]> 2017-12-13 15:40:47 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/215840181 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/215841768 When I read this poem, I found that I was happy inside, chuckling, and agreeing with the author. I do want to live in a place where everyone will gladly help each other out and be naturally friendly regardless of race. When the older Palestinian woman had calmed down and was quickly becoming friends with Naomi's father and everyone else at the gate, offering them all cookies and the airline was handing out apple juice and everyone was covered in powdered sugar, it just warmed my heart, seeming so desirable. I think that we don't have that now, but we could potentially have this, just as Naomi says in her poem. I don't know if this Utopian idea could have been possible around when Twain wrote Huck Finn, or even today, but I do believe that at the least, by the time that our children are old enough to be doing this project, this could be a reality.

Link: "Gate A-4." Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/ 
     gate-4. Accessed 13 Dec. 2017 ]]> 2017-12-13 15:43:59 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/215841768 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216329426 in my opinion, this video, out of all of the things recommended to research, explains the central point best. As Coates says, people should not use the n-word because it is disrespectful to those whom may have used it before you. There is, of course, more o his argument than that, but I am not very good with words or explanations, so I'll let him explain that for anyone who wants to hear his MUCH better version. I agree with Coates fully, and I think that his comparisons of more common words was spot on. Many of the roots of the misuse of the word were also explained by Coates, such as being raised with the false idea that everything is yours, and if you found something, you can use it.

Link: https://www.salon.com/2017/11/13/ta-nehisi-coates-just-explained-why-white-people-shouldnt-use-the-n-word-in-the-perfect-way/]]> 2017-12-14 20:43:21 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216329426 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216354275 When I hear about this, my mind first goes to the police shootings of 2015. I distinctly remember seeing the video of a police officer holding his gun up to an SUV or large car of black people, probably 20 or younger, and becoming confused when the news tried to hound the idea of unequal justice into me. I have never understood what the possible motives for this behavior could be, but I also don't think that I would ever hear about it if the news was not as instant and widespread as it is today. I am more of an ignorantly uncultured and happy-go-lucky person than the news would like for me to be, so I tend to tune out the news most of the time, and when I heard of Dunn's shooting, I do not think that I reacted as I probably should have. I just let it roll off of my shoulders, acting as though it were part of a TV show, and I may have thought that because of the accusations of the news network.

http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ursus-proxy-10.ursus.maine.edu/src_ic/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=8&sid=09550992-972e-4e2b-b826-6337651a1fb1%40sessionmgr4009]]> 2017-12-14 22:53:52 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216354275 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216354315 This, I did not expect. I guess that when the Irish immigrated to America, you can't expect them to be treated as though they were everyone's best friends when they are also the constant ever looming threat to non-skilled worker's jobs, but still. I also have never heard of these Irish slave memes. I think that it's interesting to hear that it took America centuries to accept tons of races as first humans, and then as Americans. And then that the great secret of how the Irish became accepted, according to Michael Harriot, is that "They just did it." I think that is both really romantic and really realistic at the same time.

Link: Harriot, Michael. "When the Irish Weren't White." The Root, 17 Mar. 2017, 
     www.theroot.com/when-the-irish-weren-t-white-1793358754. Accessed 16 Dec. 
     2017. ]]> 2017-12-14 22:54:17 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216354315 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216720071 To be honest, I could have predicted this. In a poll in 2015 on how people think that black people are generally treated, there was a large margin between the perceptions of injustice. When asked if black Americans are treated fairly, more than 30% more nonwhite people agreed than white people. I guess that this could show that you will most easily notice something when it is directly happening to you. I don't know if these numbers would be the same everywhere else, but it would definitely make sense in almost any part of US history up to now. For example, in the 1850s around the time of Huck Finn, a majority of white people would not have noticed the injustice of their treatment of slaves like Jim, who complied without needing an amazing reason to. In this sense, the injustice is a cycle of ignorance.

Link: http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/16/politics/blacks-white-racism-united-states-polls/index.html]]> 2017-12-16 23:27:04 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216720071 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216804427 Stereotypes are ever-present and usually hurtful. Some of these come in the form of tradition, such as one of the stereotypes that Huck uses in Huckleberry Finn to keep Jim safe, that all slave are stupid. Jim may not have cared much about this, but in his case, there was a good reason for it. Many stereotypes today, like "all whites are racist" are false. In one of the Washington Post videos, one of the interviewed said, "When they say that, it's those people, not all of those people." Just like Bethany explained about prostitutes, she said it and I'm using it, "The stereotype that all prostitutes are drug addicted women with sad childhoods who have been reeled into a life of shame and disease was, and remains prevalent." Once again, this is false, and can be hurtful.

Link: James, Bethany. "Stereotyping and Prejudice Is Still Alive and Well in American
     Society." HuffPost, 6 Feb. 2012, www.huffingtonpost.com/bethany-st-james/ 
     stereotyping-and-prejudic_b_1255736.html. Accessed 17 Dec. 2017.   ]]> 2017-12-17 20:23:05 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216804427 joshua_cronin https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216823603 Much like one of my other sources mentioned, Wan and Kaplan believe that the existence of racism in America today is because people are taught something related to it. This ends up snowballing and making people think that they own everything in the back corners of their minds, so when someone tells them that they can't say or do something, they act as though their rights are being abused or taken away. I'm not going to try to tear this apart and analyze every bit and piece of this argument, especially since I already covered a similar argument, but this makes the previous argument all the more prevalent. This is a jab at the education of the future generations. As we watched in a Ted Talk, the questions we are asking ourselves should not be how do we make future generations more able to fix our problems, but how do we change ourselves to provide future generations with good examples. As we all know, young people tend to learn best by example, and no one ever made a change by doing nothing. Ghandi doesn't count, he was actively protesting by doing nothing, so he did something, leading by example, which is why we know anything about him today.

Link: Wan, William, and Sarah Kaplan. "Why are people still racist today? What science
     says about America's race problem." Washington Post, 14 Aug. 2017, 
     www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/08/14/ 
     why-are-people-still-racist-what-science-says-about-americas-race-problem/. 
     Accessed 18 Dec. 2017. ]]> 2017-12-18 00:20:15 UTC https://padlet.com/joshua_cronin/f0plr0hmltho/wish/216823603