White Like Me is a documentary on what it means to be white in America. We have overcame a lot of race issues in this country over time. Tim Wise, the author is an anti-racist person who is trying to show white people that we are blind to racism in America. He is trying to say that white people are hated, not just minorities. A documentary before this called Black Like Me was about a white man who used dyes to make his skin dark, and experiment to see how whites would react to him. Tim Wise says instead of asking what it means to be black, but rather what it means to be white? I really liked this question, it opened my eyes because nobody has ever asked me that before.
The documentary goes back in history to see where racism really began. Even the senate and congress tried to give benefits to white people. America even gave housing advantages to white people. The G.I Bill did not protect black veterans, therefore they did not get the benefits that the white people did. The government gave trillions of dollars to white people, where people of color had a difficult time.
Isn't racism a thing in the past? In 2008 Barack Obama was elected the president of the United States. This meant a lot to African Americans. Years earlier African Americans could barely even vote, this showed a lot of progress in America. 43 presidents before him were white males. Certain states such as Alabama or Mississippi, only 10% of whites voted for Obama.
Eventually the documentary goes onto saying that whites are going to be a minority eventually. Whites are growing very angry because they "want their country back" People of asian decent and middle eastern decent are moving into America. Taxes are a big problem in America, Americans are arguing that we pay too much for taxes.
This documentary really opened my eyes to what is going on in todays world. Racism is still here in America. Where will we be in 5, 10, even 20 years?
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Klansville USA
The Ku Klux Klan started in 1865 as a fraternal organization. They were very violent and extremely racist. Eventually, over 4 million Americans claimed Klan membership. More people became involved the leaders of the KKK were gaining momentum. The civil rights activists were trying to stop them because they were so against the black race.
The black people eventually grew tired of this and began to revolt. They wanted to run for office and start to take leadership positions which was a big change in this time period. Bob Jones was still going strong and made even more meetings across the state of North Carolina. The Klan rallies were having thousands of people support them. Children and families were coming to the rallies and following along with what the Klan was doing.
The Klan was walking around in public trying to show off and show everyone that they had power. They marched down sidewalks and had people move out of their way. They were allowed to do this by law, and it did not matter what they stood for. People eventually grew angry and tried to fight back against the marchers.
Eventually Jones started to lose members due to taking money from the Klan for himself. North Carolina started to fight back against the Klan.
The black people eventually grew tired of this and began to revolt. They wanted to run for office and start to take leadership positions which was a big change in this time period. Bob Jones was still going strong and made even more meetings across the state of North Carolina. The Klan rallies were having thousands of people support them. Children and families were coming to the rallies and following along with what the Klan was doing.
The Klan was walking around in public trying to show off and show everyone that they had power. They marched down sidewalks and had people move out of their way. They were allowed to do this by law, and it did not matter what they stood for. People eventually grew angry and tried to fight back against the marchers.
Eventually Jones started to lose members due to taking money from the Klan for himself. North Carolina started to fight back against the Klan.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Boston Bombing trial
As you all know on April 15, 2013 the world famous Boston marathon was attacked by terrorists. Bombs were set off at the finish line of the race. The two men who did this horrible act of terror in Boston were chased, and eventually found by Boston police and SWAT teams. The older of the two men was killed in a shootout, yet the younger escaped. He was lated found and brought into prison.
The trial has been going on for over a year now and the Jury has finally reached a verdict today. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was brought to justice which was very necessary. The jury is now trying to decide whether to give him life in prison or give him the death penalty. Personally, I believe that he should have to face life in prison.
I am from New Hampshire, but it is only a 40 minute drive into the city of Boston. I go to Boston very frequently, it is my favorite city. To me, Boston is a place that I can almost call home. I have been to the marathon before and it was absolutely tragic to see this happen on live tv. My cousin lives in Boston and was at the marathon about 15 minutes before the bombs went off, I am very grateful that she and her fiancé were not harmed.
In conclusion, I believe that he should receive life in prison because it means he has to sit there every single day. I do not necessarily believe in the death penalty, because I think they should have to sit in prison for the rest of their life. I hope the jury made the right decision.
The trial has been going on for over a year now and the Jury has finally reached a verdict today. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was brought to justice which was very necessary. The jury is now trying to decide whether to give him life in prison or give him the death penalty. Personally, I believe that he should have to face life in prison.
I am from New Hampshire, but it is only a 40 minute drive into the city of Boston. I go to Boston very frequently, it is my favorite city. To me, Boston is a place that I can almost call home. I have been to the marathon before and it was absolutely tragic to see this happen on live tv. My cousin lives in Boston and was at the marathon about 15 minutes before the bombs went off, I am very grateful that she and her fiancé were not harmed.
In conclusion, I believe that he should receive life in prison because it means he has to sit there every single day. I do not necessarily believe in the death penalty, because I think they should have to sit in prison for the rest of their life. I hope the jury made the right decision.
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
The March
The south was a very interesting place during the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King led people to end segregation. Birmingham, Alabama was one of the most segregated places in the country at the time. MLK did his best to lead his people to victory in ending segregation. African Americans would sing and march for their freedom. Violence broke out and they were treated absolutely terribly. During marches they would be attacked by dogs and sprayed with fire hoses.
Birmingham was not getting any better. MLK traveled around the country giving speeches to end segregation. He spoke to thousands at a time. People listened to him because he was intelligent and he was very influential. A. Phillip Randolph came into play and organized marches in Washington. Instead of limiting the marches to just blacks, Randolph wanted to make it a national organization.
JFK was elected president in 1960. Martin Luther King did not like what JFK was doing because he was not doing enough for racial equality. Kennedy eventually realized he needed to take a stand. Violence was breaking out in the streets all over the country. Kennedy wanted to propose that race had no role in American life.
The marches got more intense and they wanted all blacks to come to Washington from the south. Word spread about the violence happening in the south and more people went to Washington. Busses were flooding into Washington with thousands waiting to march for freedom. Hundreds of busses came per hour from all over the country into Washington. People performed and spoke before MLK took the stand. John Lewis also gave a great speech before MLK.
Martin Luther King gave his most famous speech and the people were very influenced by it. He brought al of his speeches together and spoke in front of hundreds of thousands of people. He wanted everyone to be free. A year later the civil rights act of 1964 began. Martin Luther King was successful.
Birmingham was not getting any better. MLK traveled around the country giving speeches to end segregation. He spoke to thousands at a time. People listened to him because he was intelligent and he was very influential. A. Phillip Randolph came into play and organized marches in Washington. Instead of limiting the marches to just blacks, Randolph wanted to make it a national organization.
JFK was elected president in 1960. Martin Luther King did not like what JFK was doing because he was not doing enough for racial equality. Kennedy eventually realized he needed to take a stand. Violence was breaking out in the streets all over the country. Kennedy wanted to propose that race had no role in American life.
The marches got more intense and they wanted all blacks to come to Washington from the south. Word spread about the violence happening in the south and more people went to Washington. Busses were flooding into Washington with thousands waiting to march for freedom. Hundreds of busses came per hour from all over the country into Washington. People performed and spoke before MLK took the stand. John Lewis also gave a great speech before MLK.
Martin Luther King gave his most famous speech and the people were very influenced by it. He brought al of his speeches together and spoke in front of hundreds of thousands of people. He wanted everyone to be free. A year later the civil rights act of 1964 began. Martin Luther King was successful.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Fraternity shenannigans
As we all know, Sigma Alpha Epsilon at Oklahoma University got in a bit of trouble recently. They were caught with a video of some brothers screaming a racist chant. SAE is now banned from Oklahoma University. This is not just a problem for the SAE's but it makes all fraternity members look bad.
Fraternities generally do not have the best rep. They party, and get in trouble frequently. But what I'm getting at here is that fraternities aren't always doing bad things. The bad things are always getting put on the news and online. The good things get swept away and people do not realize that fraternities also do philanthropy events to benefit good causes such as Kappa Alpha Order and the muscular dystrophy association.
Yes, fraternities party and do stupid things. Being a member of Greek life myself, I find it very annoying that people look down upon fraternities and their members for associating things that they would never do. I know an SAE from a university in NH and he is one of the nicest people I know. Its sad to see people getting looked down upon for being guilty by association.
Being a part of greek life has been the best decision that I have ever made and I hope my children take after me and go greek in college. You make so many friends that you keep for life and make some of the best memories you will never forget.
Fraternities generally do not have the best rep. They party, and get in trouble frequently. But what I'm getting at here is that fraternities aren't always doing bad things. The bad things are always getting put on the news and online. The good things get swept away and people do not realize that fraternities also do philanthropy events to benefit good causes such as Kappa Alpha Order and the muscular dystrophy association.
Yes, fraternities party and do stupid things. Being a member of Greek life myself, I find it very annoying that people look down upon fraternities and their members for associating things that they would never do. I know an SAE from a university in NH and he is one of the nicest people I know. Its sad to see people getting looked down upon for being guilty by association.
Being a part of greek life has been the best decision that I have ever made and I hope my children take after me and go greek in college. You make so many friends that you keep for life and make some of the best memories you will never forget.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Michelle Obama and the war on good food
http://www.letsmove.gov/eat-healthy
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/todds-commentaries/mrs-obama-americans-should-drink-unsweetened-tea.html
Michelle Obama, the first lady of America, is deciding that Americans should drink unsweetened iced tea. Now, this is quite ridiculous because we all know that everyone loves a good sweet tea, especially southerners. I am from the north and really do love sweet tea, it is one of my favorite things about the south. Michelle wants kids to eat kale burgers and curried pumpkin. Is she serious?
Michelle has always been against having sweets in school and she has always tried to restrict school lunches. In high school, the school lunch was not fantastic. Over time, from having school lunch in middle school, which was very good, until my last year of high school where it was just gross. We used to get full sandwiches with french fries, which changed to half a sandwich and a small salad.
She is a big proponent of lettuce and bean sprouts apparently, and she wants us to wash that down with unsweet tea? That sounds absolutely disgusting, to be honest. Sweet tea is a symbol of the south, and that will never change. I feel bad for younger children who have to eat small meals in school, which don't taste very good to begin with.
Michelle has a campaign called "Lets Move!" which is really lame. I don't support her in anything she does with that campaign. If I was in high school still, and i wanted to drink a sweet tea with my lunch, I should be able to. I was 18 my senior year of high school, which is legally an adult, and you're telling me I cant have a sweet tea? Unreal.
http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/todds-commentaries/mrs-obama-americans-should-drink-unsweetened-tea.html
Michelle Obama, the first lady of America, is deciding that Americans should drink unsweetened iced tea. Now, this is quite ridiculous because we all know that everyone loves a good sweet tea, especially southerners. I am from the north and really do love sweet tea, it is one of my favorite things about the south. Michelle wants kids to eat kale burgers and curried pumpkin. Is she serious?
Michelle has always been against having sweets in school and she has always tried to restrict school lunches. In high school, the school lunch was not fantastic. Over time, from having school lunch in middle school, which was very good, until my last year of high school where it was just gross. We used to get full sandwiches with french fries, which changed to half a sandwich and a small salad.
She is a big proponent of lettuce and bean sprouts apparently, and she wants us to wash that down with unsweet tea? That sounds absolutely disgusting, to be honest. Sweet tea is a symbol of the south, and that will never change. I feel bad for younger children who have to eat small meals in school, which don't taste very good to begin with.
Michelle has a campaign called "Lets Move!" which is really lame. I don't support her in anything she does with that campaign. If I was in high school still, and i wanted to drink a sweet tea with my lunch, I should be able to. I was 18 my senior year of high school, which is legally an adult, and you're telling me I cant have a sweet tea? Unreal.
Wednesday, March 4, 2015
Plessy V Ferguson class case
Homer Plessy is suing Ferguson under the fourteenth amendment because he was arrested for sitting in a white railroad car.
Argument for Plessy - He was sold the ticket knowing of his racial lineage. They sold him this ticket to get him into trouble. He was essentially set up for buying this ticket. The argument for Plessy stated that it was the railroads fault because they knew that he was african american, and still sold him the ticket to a white persons car only. He legally bought this ticket, and there was an officer on the train waiting for him to be set up, this is infringing on his rights. The cars were technically supposed to be equal, but they were clearly not.
Argument for Ferguson - Ferguson was told by the community of citizens to buy the ticket, therefore he knew what he was walking into. The train company was a private company, therefore the government could not act upon the racism of the company. It does not state in the 14th amendment that black and whites must have the same social equality, such as the railroad carts. Fairness does not necessarily matter.
I believe that the second time had a better legal argument, yet the first team had a better moral argument. Ferguson won the case.
Argument for Plessy - He was sold the ticket knowing of his racial lineage. They sold him this ticket to get him into trouble. He was essentially set up for buying this ticket. The argument for Plessy stated that it was the railroads fault because they knew that he was african american, and still sold him the ticket to a white persons car only. He legally bought this ticket, and there was an officer on the train waiting for him to be set up, this is infringing on his rights. The cars were technically supposed to be equal, but they were clearly not.
Argument for Ferguson - Ferguson was told by the community of citizens to buy the ticket, therefore he knew what he was walking into. The train company was a private company, therefore the government could not act upon the racism of the company. It does not state in the 14th amendment that black and whites must have the same social equality, such as the railroad carts. Fairness does not necessarily matter.
I believe that the second time had a better legal argument, yet the first team had a better moral argument. Ferguson won the case.
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