"Between Barack and a Hard Place"

Until today I was not aware that there is such a thing as a White Privilege Conference. It is wonderful to see someone who is so passionate about a single topic, especially white privilege. Tim Wise's lecture reminds us of how when whites commit heinous crimes it is the individual that takes a toll not the entire race like it is with African Americans and Latinos. It is too often said that African Americans are violent just because of the things that particular people did-the crimes they committed. Is it fair to put this label on the entire race? Absolutely not. He also discusses how people believe that since Barack Obama is the President of the United States that we are in a post-racial era, but they are wrong. Near the end of this clip Wise mentions statistics about people with white sounding names are more likely to be called back for a job interview than people with black sounding names which were discussed in, I believe, the Johnson reading. He reminds us that we need to be the change that we want to see in the world.

White Privilege Youtube Video

I came across this video on Youtube today and I found it really interesting. Tim Wise, the same man from "Between Barack and a Hard Place," talks about whiteness in this clip. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Xe1kX7Wsc

In the Service of What? by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

1. "By engaging in meaningful service-whether tutoring children for whom English is a second language, helping patients in a hospital, doing difficult chores for the elderly, or supervising younger children's recreational activities-students will have opportunities to experience what David Hornbeck, former Maryland state superintendent, referred to as 'the joy of reaching out to others.'"
I chose this quote because personally I find joy in helping others. I think that everyone should want to lend a hand in whatever kind of service projects they're interested in, whether it involves feeding the hungry or building houses for Habitat for Humanity. When you go out of your way to help someone, you gain a sense of pride.

2. "The experiential and interpersonal components of service learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of 'otherness' that often separates students-particularly privileged students-from those in need."
One of the benefits of helping those in need is that it helps to erase the divide. By bringing the privileged and those who need the help together, it allows a bridge to be built between the two communities.

3. "To be critical thinkers, students must be able to consider arguments that justify conclusions that conflict with their own predispositions and self-interest."
This can be achieved by performing service work. Many times the volunteers are able to interact with a different group or class which can sometimes change their perspective about the particular group of people. After working with students for whom English isn't their first language one can understand their side of the argument.

Overall, I found this piece to be very interesting. In high school I was part of the Key Club-a club that performs community service. As a memeber of the Key Club I participated in many volunteer activities such as tutoring middle school students and setting up for Father-Daughter dances. Even though I was required to perform 25 hours of community service in order to graduate, I went above and beyond this because I enjoyed helping others.

Unlearning the Myths That Blind Us by Linda Christensen

1. "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream."
Television shows, along with other forms of mass media teach us from a young age what it is that we're supposed to be. It teaches us what we should strive to become.
2. "Both of these tales leave young women with two myths: Happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through consumption."
This statement proves how detrimental fairy tales are to young girls. They teach us the wrong lessons. As a young child, I personally wasn't a fan of the Disney princesses, but I know that many little girls do indeed suffer from the Cinderella complex. Disney is single-handedly destroying the self-esteem of girls all over the world.
3. "Students have also said that what they now see in cartoons, they also see in advertising, on prime-time TV, on the news, in school."
I agree with this statement. In my writing class, we have been discussing stereotyping in the media and I have viewed various movie and commercial clips demonstrating this exact thing. Take, for instance, a commercial for beer. Beer commercials typically portray women as being good-looking, thin, and blonde. Overall, this is how men think women should look.

This article was very enlightening. Although the topics discussed were not new concepts for me (I learned about gender stereotyping in children's television shows in a developmental psychology class and in my current writing course), I thought it was interesting how the author asked her class to examine these same ideas. Now a days, the television shows catered to children are not as evidently sexist or racist, but elements of these two "-isms" can be seen. Did you know that cartoons for children generally have more male than female characters? It's true. Watch a popular children's tv show and count how many characters are male and female and how these characters are portrayed. It's shocking what you'll find.