Race in Modern America Research Project by https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia by Ginny Sullivan en-us 2017-12-07 17:12:37 UTC 2026-03-17 02:31:23 UTC hello@padlet.com The N-Word virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214223178 In the short videos that The Washington Post put together, I was able to see a lot of different perspectives on the n-word. Some African Americans believe that it's okay for them to use, but nobody else. Other African Americans don't think the word should be used at all. What is hard about banning a word is that it's quite literally impossible to do, and people will always break rules. There's no way to just take a word away and remove it from everybody’s lexicon. It's such a normal part of some peoples lives, and they use it in their everyday vocabulary. In today's music, this word is constantly used many rap artists. People listen to this and go along with the words and it may make these listeners think that it's okay to use this word. They get used to it due to the fact that they hear it so often. Some think that people use it to lessen the power of it, and that it should just not be a big deal. Older generations thought that it was used entirely too much and that it's hurtful word. One stated that anybody who uses it doesn't respect themselves or their family. I personally don't think it should be used. It's so easy to just avoid single word! It makes a lot of people uncomfortable, and even some African Americans don't like it when others of their race use it. Despite what I desire, this word will never go away, but hopefully people have respect for others when it comes to this issue.]]> 2017-12-07 17:13:31 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214223178 What Kind of Asian are You? virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214223324 Alex Dang explains what it is like to be constantly stereotyped and feel lesser than others. He said that it's not his choice to tell people “what kind of Asian he is”, or his actual race. It's the people who judge and put them into a category based on little knowledge. We are so quick to assume things and group people with similar, but not the same, characteristics into one. Alex explains that people are so stereotypical and it makes him feel shame to be seen this way. He also briefly mentions media and how doesn’t portray the various races enough. It made him, as a little kid, confused and different than every other person. I believe that it is important to display the different races on TV, and show pride in our diverse country. Wanting to know someone's heritage is perfectly okay, but how you go about it is what is important.]]> 2017-12-07 17:13:47 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214223324 This Amazing, Troubling Book virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214224364 Toni Morrison's reaction to "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was very conflicting. She read it over and over, and was able to analyze different themes and motifs in the book. Morrison talked about the use of the n-word, and explained that it would’ve been so much better of it was talked about intellectually before going into it. It was one of the pieces of the book that caused discomfort for her. It relates to "The N-Word" video and how some black people even felt uncomfortable when other black people use it. She also talked about how Huck sees a lot of death throughout the novel, and goes through a lot of hard things without a fatherly figure, someone to care and look after him. When Huck met Jim, all of these things were met. Jim was a big part in Huck being able to live without all of this fear, he finally had someone, but it was also sad. Huck couldn't just be Jim's friend in their race-inflected society. This shows how bad the racism was back them, and how we have made great improvements that deal with slavery and major laws restricting African Americans. In U.S. History, we learned about after the Civil War, and after the abolishment of slavery. There were still major issues. African Americans couldn't just find jobs, and many went back to being a slave, without the label of being a slave. Sharecropping was big in farms, and was an unfair was of making the African Americans dependent on the farms and plantations where they worked. She talks about how Jim was an exact contradiction to the awful stereotypes that blacks had in literature of the nineteenth-century. He was painted as someone who was just a good, caring man.]]> 2017-12-07 17:15:46 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214224364 Too Many Americans Think Patriotism Means Racism and Xenophobia virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214382856 This article talks about after 9/11 and the violence that happened within certain races. Patriotism was huge and increased greatly right after the horrible incident, but racism also increased against South Asian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, and Arab Americans. We are so quick to associate others with people of the same race who have done awful things. I personally have great respect for Muslims and the Islamic religion. It is a very strict, but I admire this. The only people that I would feel resentment towards are the radical Muslims, whose main goal is to take out as many Americans as possible. These people do exist, but there is always another side to things. There are white supremacists who want to kill these different groups of people because they consider them to be inferior and want them to "go back to their country". This article also shows how people recently have thought that having pride for your county, patriotism, is the same as racism. This has come up especially recently with President Trump, but they’re not the same thing! It's hard to want the president to improve the U.S. or express love for you country, especially today, without people making accusations.]]> 2017-12-08 04:21:23 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/214382856 America is divided on whom to blame for black Americans' challenges in getting ahead virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/215472532 Eugene Scott, an African American reporter for the Washington Post, stated that one's view on the state of racism in the United States doesn’t just depend on your race, but also deals with the two major political parties. This affects how the politicians appeal to the public, and try to persuade different groups to support them. Over 50 years after the civil rights movement, racism is still very existent in America. Americans are increasingly wanting to address racial inequality because of the fact that it is still a problem even after all this time. About 61% of americans say that the country needs to keep making changes to give black Americans the same rights as white Americans, and 35% said that these changes have already been made. Personally, I believe that a lot of the racism and discrimination comes from the people. Don't get me wrong, laws are extremely important and there we need to have all laws necessary for equal rights within races, but people break laws. People don’t follow rules. This is what really needs to be looked at. Equal treatment, no matter the race, is important in going forward, but there have been cases showing unequal sentences with similar crimes between races. Unequal or unfair treatment is why racism is still here, and I think that we're just going sideways as a country. Many think that we’re moving forward because of our “ability to change” but on the other hand, there are a lot that agree that we're not due to the “reliance on long-standing principles”. Be a Huck Finn! He knew the wrongness and cruelty of it all and was able to see though these lasting rules. Adapt to the change and don't get stuck where everyone else is.]]> 2017-12-12 15:53:24 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/215472532 Disparities virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216030793 At a high school in Jena, Louisiana, a black student wanted to sit under a tree, labeled the “white tree” because only white students were known to hang around there. The student and some other African American friends went there to sit and talk to other white students, but the next day, two nooses were put on the tree. This directly relates to the time between reconstruction and the end of WWII when 250+ people were hung in Louisiana— most of them being African Americans. Yes, it was good that were were able to move forward through that time, and see the awfulness in it all, but even still people are referencing it in cruel ways. This doesn’t help the progress that is hoped to happen.
At that same school, a few months after the incident, a white student was beat to the point where he was unconscious by a group of black students who were arrested. It was said that they could potentially have gone to jail for 75 years due to their charges. The changes were lessened, but still, a 16 year old was convicted by a jury that was all white. He could've seen 22 years in a state prison for adults, but the case blew up and he was released on bail after 10 months. After this, is had been agreed to try him as a juvenile. This example of the unfair treatment in the American justice system builds on the article by Eugene Scott. Different people can be hurt by others in different ways, but some receive worse consequences than others. Outcomes shouldn't depend on race, especially in the judicial system.
]]> 2017-12-14 02:51:17 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216030793 Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216034459 Joe Neel has went through an experiment and found that most ethnic identity and racial groups believe that discriminations exists against their group. Over half of whites, 55%, believe that they’re discriminated against today. I recently came across a post online about someone who was being extremely discriminatory and making fun of the poor white people of rural southern states. I never really thought about white people being discriminated against, but seeing that and the statistic in the article opened my eyes to see that it does exist. It's still racism. Half of black people feel racial discrimination while interacting with police, and just less than half feel this when trying to rent or buy a house. These numbers show that a lot of people, from different races feel that they're discriminated against. You might think, why, if so many feel this way and have felt this way for so long, aren't we moving forward? Most of the black people in this experiment believed that the bigger problem is the discrimination coming from individual people. The problem with racism and most issues like this is the fact that people won't change. People will always judge and do awful things, it's just how we are. Seeing that so many of these people feel this way in such simple situations is sad. Nobody should have to worry about this constant cruelty! Race shouldn’t matter in these everyday things. We as a country need to stop stereotyping and just understand that yes, where you come from is important, but the color of your skin doesn’t mean anything compared to what’s inside. Seeing the statistics from this article just again proves that we're still going sideways, and I don't think that this issue will ever fully come to an end. ]]> 2017-12-14 03:34:17 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216034459 Feeling Like A Tourist: Being Black In New England virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216514813 Being a black woman living in northern New Hampshire isn't easy for Debra Nunnally Beaupre. She is a true New Englander, born in Massachusetts, and even has an accent! The hard thing for living where she does is the fact that it's so small, and she is quite literally one of the only black people there. Beaupre mentioned that a lot people living there haven't ever known someone of color, which is sad. I understand that northeastern states like New Hampshire can't really help who lives there. It's one of the least diverse states. You'll see who you'll see, know who you'll know, and a majority of those people will be caucasian. Despite this lack of diversity, people don't have the right to discriminate against the extremely small minorities. They have the same right to be there as anyone else. Yet, Beaupre still deals with racism to the point where she just avoids situations with the potential of any type of racism involved. A big part in moving forward with lessening the racism that occurs is just making everyone feel accepted for who they are. Everyone has their differences, but these things are what make us unique! This relates to the idea of the U.S. being a melting pot of a myriad of cultures and ethnicities all combined into one. Although New England isn't the most diverse place when it come to race and culture, we can still be accepting of those who are different in that sense so people like Beaupre don't have to, at times, live in fear.]]> 2017-12-15 15:28:00 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216514813 The key reason why racism remains alive and well in America virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216830699 In this article written by Colbert I. King, a lot of things that show why racism is forward and has gone down are addressed. It mentioned amendments 13-15, the Civil Rights Act of 1954, and many other regulations put into place in attempt to lessen the racism that occurred back then. These things were huge in the progression to stop slavery, but it unfortunately still is quite a large issue today. King stated that racism won't end unless we hit the root of the cause. This root of racism is what caused the South to leave the Union, the Klu Klux Klan to rise up, the awful segregation of races, and discrimination in many areas. Many people just didn't understand that what was happening then, was wrong. It was socially acceptable to, for example, own a slave. Abolishing these things was very essential in making positive advancements in this subject, but the root just hasn't been hit yet. I talked with one of my teachers about the subject of racism, and they said that the only real way to end it is for every single person to have conversation, build relationships, and just understand all the people of different ethnicities. This is obviously impossible, and the root of current racism can never really be put out. Not everybody is like Huck Finn, who opened up to a black person, which was 100% not accepted at the time. Even though today it is fine to acquaint yourself with whomever you please, racism still occurs. I do wish that more Huck Finns existed in the world. He was able to see past the skin, past the exterior and just see the human inside. Every single person is just another consciousness within a body. Not everyone can see that, which keeps racism alive today.]]> 2017-12-18 02:15:12 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216830699 The beauty of human skin in every color virginia_sullivan https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216838942 In this Ted Talk, Angélica Dass explains how so many people's fist and lasting impressions come from the color of one's skin. She made a project called Humanae, where she took photographs of all different people with various skin tones, races, and it just showed that there can't be just four colors. She took portraits of more than 3,000 people! It personally opened my eyes up to see that there really are so many different kinds of people out there. People tend to just group different people's skin into black, yellow, red, and white categories. Instead if immediately placing someone into one of these, why not just let them decide for themselves? This relates to Alex Dang's slam poetry where he felt stereotyped and put into a category. He just wanted to be himself and look the way he does without being stereotyped. Angélica's project Humanae grew and inspired many people. It is beautiful to see such diversity and know that everyone is different. She hopes that this discrimination no longer will exist because of the first impression of someone and their skin. Everyone is different, and I hope that people that don't, will start to understand so our country can move forwards with these race-related issues.]]> 2017-12-18 04:11:22 UTC https://padlet.com/virginia_sullivan/lgsqlfpdhpia/wish/216838942