Race in America

The issue of race is very prevalent in the United States.  Yet, as a nation, we manage to cover up all of the conflicts that result of the racial disparities. Instead of learning from one another, we judge and our “hidden biases” are ever more apparent. These biases exist because we do not educate people based off of race. One of the articles I read was “Trying not to raise racist kids.” I was immediately drawn to this article because of the title. I thought to myself, is there really a right way to try to raise kids who are accepting of all races? The process of teaching kids not to be racist must be difficult because everyone has their own opinions.  However, it is important to recognize that young adults develop perspectives based off experiences.  One of the ideas that I found to be similar to the articles from Andrew Hacker and Time Wise is that of ignoring the topic of race in general.  The article suggests the importance of being real and truthful with children. Instead of making ignorant comments, parents should not gloss over the racial disparities. Often parents talk in code about race instead of openly discussing race; as a result, these discussions are pointless. Furthermore, when parents do not acknowledge the differences of race, they are giving their children mixed messages. While some may argue that talking about race doesn’t come easily, as Wise and Hacker both mentioned, we do not take the time or effort to talk about race in an open environment.  Another article that I found to be striking was titled “Behind the Scenes: Black and shopping in America.” One black woman recalls herself and two of her friend’s power shopping in a store; they were all dressed professionally, but they ended up being detained for suspicious of shoplifting. Police found no stolen merchandise in the hands of any of the women. However, neither the manager of the store or police even bothered to apologize. This is extremely troubling to me because they did not do anything wrong, yet they were discriminated on the basis of race. This idea connected to one that Wise talked about- getting around the law. Wise was able to avoid many legal problems due to his race and he was actually doing things that were against the law. However, he recognized that if he were a black kid, he would have been in trouble. In this particular circumstance, Wise would argue that if he was in the store with friends, power shopping, he would have never been detained. And if in fact he was, the manager and police would be humiliated.  It is ridiculous to me that racial discrimination still exists to this extent. The solution? While there is no definite answer to solving racial discrimination, all of these articles propose the idea of talking about race openly. Black and white people must talk about the shared history and common bond that everyone shares.  It is time to have an open discussion about race, one that is truthful.  This goes back to the common idea that there are more similarities than differences. Yet, people in today’s society, seem to focus on the differences which results in more problems.

What's going on in the world?

I am very interested in the Wisconsin unions fight that is occurring. I have some background of the events so chose to read an article from “The Opinion Pages” on The New York Times section. It is called “Shock Doctrine, U.S.A” by Paul Krugman. He compares the events that have been occurring as very similar to that of Baghdad in 2003. Madison has been the scene of large protests against the governor’s budget bill. This bill involves denying collective-bargaining rights to public-sector workers. Although Scott Walker, governor, states that he needs to pass the bill in order to deal with the state’s problems, it should be noted that his attacks on unions do not correspond to the budget.  Krugman argues that the events in Wisconsin is a power grab, meaning that they are trying to exploit the fiscal crisis to get rid of the last major counterweight to the political power of corporations and the wealthy. The power grab goes beyond union-busting. The bill that everyone has been arguing about is 144 pages long. There are major pieces of information that are hidden deep; this goes beyond the argument at hand. Walker and his party do not intend on changing any of their goals because Union-busting and privatization remain the priorities. They will do whatever they can in order to sneak in their ideas to various budgets. I also looked at an article from CBS news, “Walker to unveil plan for Wis. budget crunch.” I was shocked that the cuts are projecting to around $3.6B. This is an extremely large number and it is what they are cutting that is troubling. The school districts are being affected greatly. Education is extremely important. Yet, it is being affected in that the class sizes will be larger, teachers are being laid off, and activities are being cut. This is something that the citizens cannot afford to happen because education is the basis to the future.  In a poll that I looked at, the public is against both cutting pay and benefits. The public’s opinion should be considered because they are the ones who live in Wisconsin every day. Their lives will suffer if things do not turn out the way they should be.

Mock Trial Recap

1.       I felt that the result of the case regarding sexual harassment was justified. I feel that while the defendant could have been viewed as a humorous and hardworking man in the bureau, his actions were sexual harassment.  One of the most compelling facts is the fact that the defendant put up racy and inappropriate pictures which clearly affected the welfare of the plaintiff. The pictures were just the half of it; he made disrespectful remarks to the plaintiff. He would playfully flirt and tease with her.  Although they may not have seen as serious to the defendant, the plaintiff clearly stated that she was uncomfortable. Whether or not the defendant agrees that his actions are inappropriate for the work place, he must respect the request. However, he blatantly ignored the plaintiff which was stated in the testimony. He could see that she was suffering and that is why she missed so many days of work. While she was disturbed, she still showed up to work as often as she could.  One of the witnesses that really stood out to me was the head of the bureau. She, in addition to the defendant, ignored the complaints by the plaintiff. This makes her just as guilty as the defendant himself. By not stopping him, she is condoning the sexual harassment behavior. In order for me to reach the opposite outcome, I would have to have been given testimony that the plaintiff engaged with the defendants remarks. She would have had to flirt back or said mixed things. However, this was not the case. She always stayed true to herself by saying no; she was firm and should not have had to deal with the sexual harassment that occurred in the workplace. In the second trial between David Jones and Susan Williams, I disagree with the verdict of non-guilty.  I feel that David Jones raped Ms. Williams because of the simple fact that she said “no.” Their relationship is long, and yes they have been intimate before, but in their most recent relationship, they had been taking it slowly. Mr. Jones was aware that Ms. Williams was not ready to be intimate, but still, he planned everything all along by putting on a condom. Before even discussing the possibility of being intimate, he put on a condom. This comes across as Mr. Jones fully intending on being intimate with her even if she did not want to. Another striking piece of evidence was the torn shirt that appeared to be ripped with a lot of force; she also had bruises along her arm. I feel that the testimony of Lee Streams, the psychologist, proved to be the weakest. His focus has always been on adolescent psychology. Neither Mr. Jones nor Ms. Williams are adolescents and he did not even know Ms. Williams. I feel that his testimony should have been disregarded. Furthermore, Ms. Williams’s testimony was difficult to listen to because she was obviously very distraught. However, it was honest and real. She was raped. In order for me to believe that she was not raped, I would have had to understand more of their relationship and of her leading him on. While she engaged in casually kissing, she did not intend on having sex with Mr. Williams that night. She was not ready; he should have respected her.

2.       People must know that in both sexual assault and sexual harassment, people react differently. We must respect the boundaries of other people. While some people may enjoy flirty comments and touching, others may find it to be extremely offensive. People must be cautious and learn to understand and respect the emotions of other people in order to avoid problems such as these.  I do not think that there is a problem of sexual harassment or sexual assault at DHS. I feel that the majority of guys respect the girls and their feelings. I have never seen any guy be physically or verbally abusive in school. That being said, I also do not look for it that much. If I saw something out of the ordinary I would notice it, but I do not go around analyzing conversations between the guys and girls. Both girls and guys are respected at DHS. The majority of everyone has an extracurricular activity that they are involved in. They work hard and understand the significance of treating others the way they would like to be treated. If sexual harassment or sexual assault was a major problem at DHS, I feel like it would be talked about more. Still, counselors and teachers look out for it and will react accordingly. I definitely feel safe at DHS. Overall, people must be aware of what is going on around them and understand that everyone behaves and reacts in different ways. There is no right way, but everyone should be respected.