https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh See the Title en-us 2017-12-06 17:57:21 UTC 2017-12-21 18:21:05 UTC hello@padlet.com caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/213832424 I found this article interesting, because it introduced me to a different perspective to viewing Huckleberry Finn. The article deals with the author's thoughts while reading The Great American Novel, as well as her analysis of it. What I found interesting was the reoccurring uncomfortable feeling that she got while reading the book. I myself have never read a book which has the volume of slurs about my race, as this book has about black people, so it was hard for me to relate. This gives me insight into how different her life is to mine. ]]> 2017-12-06 17:59:29 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/213832424 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/213855327 Although there were many viewpoints that I disagreed with on this interactive article by the Washington post, it did an excellent job in showing the multitude of different opinions about the subject. In my opinion, the continued use of the word by all persons serves to turn us against each other. Whether they are hip hop artists or Klansman, no one should be allowed to say it. We can't treat people differently based on their skin color. Black people shouldn't get to say it, and neither should white people or Asians, Hispanics, Ashkenazi Jews, Native Americans, or anyone else. It must be cultural poison for everyone. When it comes to race, equal treatment is just treatment. I found it strange that this opinion didn't come up more, but I suppose different life experiences cause differences in opinion. I feel we would move forward if we tried to leave race behind.]]> 2017-12-06 18:42:00 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/213855327 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/214597212 I found this article to be very interesting. It deals with how every ethnic group has a place where they feel that they aren't treated fairly. Whether these complaints are valid or not is irrelevant to the fact that they are universal to all groups. It gives us insight into how people in groups perceive themselves, others, and different groups. In my opinion, we have to stop seeing ourselves as members of groups, and start seeing ourselves as individuals. ]]> 2017-12-08 18:11:35 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/214597212 https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215553767 According to this article by Gallup News, the number of Americans who are worried about the relations between different racial groups has been steadily increasing since 2014. Why would this be? This is around the time that Black Lives Matter began to pick up steam. No one can argue that racism isn't still alive in america, but one must ask if focusing on it, the way that Cable news has done consistently, is making the relations between races worse. I'm sure that the people who focus on the things that divide us, have good intentions at heart, but you have to ask yourself, is it smart to divide ourselves along our respective ethnicities, or would the most forward thinking strategy be to highlight the many things that we as Americans hold in common. This worrying about race relations makes me wonder if we have been pushed backwards by a biased media, only interested in boosting ratings. ]]> 2017-12-12 18:25:29 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215553767 https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215569861 I found this article by the New Your Times to be interesting. It basically profiled hate groups like Antifa and the Alt-Right. However, where it fell short for me, was when it didn't give any background into how the groups themselves grew in popularity. I'll fill in from my perspective. Antifa is an anarco-Marxist group that believes that communities have the right to limit free speech, if it contradicts what they believe. This "limiting" of free speech, entails violence against "Nazis". Their definition of Nazi, however, is basically anyone to the right of center. In spite of the fact that they claim to be anarchists who are opposed to fascism, they exhibit many behaviors reminiscent of fascism. They also believe in a kind of hierarchy of not being privileged. The less privileged you are, the more important you are to them, and your ideas have more merit among them. The people they consider to be non-privileged, include all ethnicitys except for European, all genders except male, and all sexualitys except for heterosexual. The Alt-right right, on the other hand is an answer to extreme leftism. This group probably arose from far left classes on college campuses, where only one perspective is shown. Where Antifa values all people who aren't white men, the Alt-Right only values white men. They aren't even truly conservative, because they believe that the government should have an enormous amount of power. They wish to rid the country of everyone who isn't white, and return things to the way they were when white people were the vast majority. They are absolutely a racist group, but so is Antifa. What we must do as a society is see that these people hold no merit. They simply wish to divide good and honest people of all backgrounds, against each other. If we could move on from this obsession with race, these groups would loose much of the power that they now hold, so that we may progress as a society.]]> 2017-12-12 18:56:14 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215569861 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215764046 NBC put out an article about the highest earning ethnic group in the United States. Surprisingly it's not white men, but Asian men. This raises many questions for me, like, if our country was built by and for white men, why are Asian men outperforming them? Is the theory of white privilege flawed? How do people who wholeheartedly believe it to be true explain this disparity? Is America perhaps not as racist as many believe it to be?]]> 2017-12-13 13:09:43 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215764046 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215914951 This article by Bangor Daily News raises an interesting question. Maine, remains the second whitest state in the union, behind Vermont. This sheds conflicts with a racial slant in a new light. If children from Maine consistently use racial slurs, like the n-word, are they truly racist, or are they simply under educated? In my opinion, once someone hits their teenage years, they have the ability to be racist, because they have a higher capacity to think for themselves. In the case expressed in the article, the children's ages were below 13, so I would judge that they don't know the history behind the words that they are using. Children aren't truly capable of racism, because they don't have a developed world view. That's not to say that what these children did is ok, but that it should be a learning experience for them. ]]> 2017-12-13 18:04:07 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215914951 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215930858 An interesting look at our history, and how we have changed as a people, this article by Salem Press Encyclopedia is very thought provoking. Apparently in the late 1800's Darwin's theories about natural selection were applied to humans. They served to reinforce people's pre existing biases about race. These same ideas would inspire the Nazis to try to "purify" the German people . They only truly lost sway after the 1940s. It shows us how much we have progressed in the last century. Our concept of race, as a society has totally changed, and it is no longer socially acceptable to hold these views. ]]> 2017-12-13 18:35:39 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/215930858 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/216591730 This article by the National Review brings up a surprising statistic. A majority of members of the black community, don't care whether confederate monuments are taken down or not. I found this both surprising and interesting. Apparently the effort to whitewash our history is unpopular. This raises the question, if the majority of Americans Don't support the removal of confederate statues, and monuments, why are they getting removed? I am personally of the belief that we shouldn't try to hide our history. We must know what we as a country did, so that we won't do it in the future. Even so, I find the argument that these monuments are symbols of southern pride to be disingenuous. The confederacy was a treasonous, slave holding alliance, with no real redeeming aspects. There is so much more for the south to be proud of, besides the confederacy. This article, and the events that have inspired it have left me very torn. ]]> 2017-12-15 18:39:53 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/216591730 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/216599200 This list provides counterarguments to the often proposed idea of reparations for the decedents of slavery. Now at face value, this might seem rather malevolent, but if you stop to consider what the proposal for reparations entails, his argument makes more sense. Perhaps directly after the Civil War, when there were still ex-slaves, reparations would have made sense, but today, the war began and ended over 150 years ago. Anyone who was a slave, or who owned slaves is dead, and their children are probably dead as well. We have missed the window when this would have made scene.Besides, there were a fair few black slave owners.  Should their decedents also be expected to pay? This list has made me wonder if continued talk of reparations is simply a way to try to turn ethnic groups against each other. ]]> 2017-12-15 19:01:44 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/216599200 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/217211293 This beautiful poem gives insight into how people are misunderstood. Often, there is no malevolence in misunderstanding, simply something standing in the way of two people, like a language barrier, or drastically different life experiences. At the end of the day, most people don't want to hurt each other, they simply misunderstand one another. This poem helped me see people as individuals, instead of faceless instruments of destruction. Though I always try to see people as individuals, this has given me yet more reasoning for why this is a good idea. ]]> 2017-12-19 12:41:46 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/217211293 caleb_whiting_grant https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/217215102 This ted talk talked about the plight of modern native american tribes in america today. The stories told by Matika show problems that are unique to members of native tribes. These problems are interesting, in that they would probably not have them if they assimilated with mainstream america. Many choose not to, but to hold onto their cultural roots, in spite of the hardships that come with them. It raises questions about where individualism ends and assimilation begins. It shows that, thought things have gotten better for the native american, they still have problems in need of fixing. ]]> 2017-12-19 12:59:46 UTC https://padlet.com/caleb_whiting_grant/ienl6vmmacwh/wish/217215102