Racism

Race

            When race is discussed in classrooms, many people have very different opinions.  For me I do not agree with today’s racial issues.  I am not racist, because the way I was raised everyone is treated equal no matter color or gender. My generation was raised on the values of hard work and learning to appreciate the things you have instead of having things given to you all the time.  The way race is portrayed now is people not being able to get over what has happened in the past and blame today’s problems on the past instead of finding new ways to solve the situation. People want to fuss about every little thing and play the race card instead of actually standing up and making a stand for what is right no matter the race involved.  In the classroom it should always be equal regardless of your race or ethnicity.  As a teacher you should take the responsibility of not being bias toward any students or coworkers. 

            In the classroom teachers need to discuss racial issues but as they teach these topics they need to show the students every side of the spectrum. I feel a lot of the time only one side of a racial topic is presented and that’s why people today label things as being racist instead of standing up and fixing the actual problem.  In today’s times we label to many people as the victim of racism instead of understanding the actual situation they are in. I feel that in most of these cases we don’t ever hear the whole side of the situation, which of course leads to a misunderstanding of the issue.

When it comes to America, we are a nation of many races and ethnicity groups.  If things have changed so much in our history then why do we still have race issues.  We cater to what happen to those in the past instead of taking care of the present and our futures.  I am part Cherokee and what the government did to us has been a lot more harsh than what has happen to others but you do not see people complaining about that today.

Matt Roberts

Dr. McFaden

Educ 2120

January 22, 14

Cultural Norm

            Being a firefighter we are always helping others and doing things throughout the community.  There was a 5K race that some firemen were running in, and my station did not have anyone to run.  So everyone voted that I do it and they would pay for my race fee.  The only draw back was, I had to wear what they chose for me.  Many ideas came about very quickly.  They all gave me a hard time about what I was going to have to wear.  After they talked it all over they had decided on me wearing a dress.  Not just any dress, a white sun dress.  Once I was told this I wanted to strangle them, but that was the agreement.

            Once race day came, I went out and found a dress to run in.  I wore normal cloths up to the race and while I waited for my time to run.  Once it came close to race time I changed into my dress.  While I was changing I wondered what people were going to think about me and wonder why this guy is in a dress.  I came out from the room and immediately everyone began to laugh at me.  My buddies laugh because I actually did it and did not back out of the deal, while other people looked at me with confusion.  I was receiving a lot of different looks and some did not look very pleasant.  I know people did not know why I was in it but it still showed me how I was being judged. 

            Being a guy in America, your not suppose to wear a dress and since I did it was not culturally right.  As I ran throughout the course somehow I was separated from my group and that is when people really started making comments.  About half way through the race I ended up seeing a group of girls wearing dresses like I was.  I hurried up to them and they had a good laugh saying, I had some sexy legs.  I told them why I was in the dress and they welcomed me in their group to run.  It turned out to be a real fun race but for most people who saw me did not agree with what I was wearing at all.  It showed me how easily people will look at a person who does something a little different.  In our society you are judged by your appearance more than anything.  I learned not to judge people by there appearance but their actions instead.