I saw this commercial on tv tonight. I thought it was an awesome commercial and made a great connection to the conversations we've had in the past about diversity in commercials as well as inclusion.

Privilege, Power, and Difference

“Privilege, Power, and Difference”
By: Allan G. Johnson


Author’s Argument:

Johnson’s argument in this article is that the only way that the only way that the problem of privilege and oppression can be taken care of is if all of us become part of the solution.


Quotes:

1. “Privilege exists when one group has something that is systematically denied to others not because of who they are or what they’ve done or not done, but because of the social category they belong to.”

• This quote is pretty much the best definition of privilege I’ve read so far and has helped me understand it all more clearly. It says that privilege is the denial of something to one group because of their social category, not because of who they are specifically or anything in particular they’ve done.

2. “Also paradoxical is the fact that privilege doesn’t necessarily lead to a “good life”, which can prompt people in privileged groups to deny resentfully that they even have it. But privilege doesn’t equate with being happy. It involves having what others don’t have and the struggle to hang on to it at their expense, neither of which is a recipe for joy, personal fulfillment, or spiritual contentment.”

• This quote reminded me of the saying money can’t buy you happiness. This quote is saying that privilege doesn’t cause you to have a “good life” so most people who are considered part of a privileged group deny that they are privileged because they don’t view themselves as leading a “good life” or having a lot more then others. Privilege also doesn’t bring happiness or fulfillment, it just brings stress and struggle and the need for denial.

3. “We don’t have to think sexist or racist thoughts in order to participate in a system through which sexist and racist trouble happens. Participating is all it takes to involve us. It’s also all it takes to give us the potential to be part of the solution, for when we see how we’re connected to the problem, we can also see how we can make a difference by choosing differently as we participate in making systems happen.”

• This quote is saying that in order to participate in a negative environment we don’t need to actually do a negative act we just have to be part of the system and to not try to be a solution. If we can all be part of the problem then we can all be part of the solution.

Questions/Comments:
I really liked this article by Johnson, much better then the first one we read by him actually. I have a much clearer understanding of the meaning of privilege and everyone’s role in the problem and the solution. Maybe I liked this article better because the first Johnson article was towards the beginning of the semester and it seems like I’ve learned and grown since reading that article.

Schooling Children with Down Syndrome

"Schooling Children with Down Syndrome"
By: Christopher Kliewer


Author's Argument:
In this article Kwielwer expresses the need for people to view and respect people with disabilities as equals and provide them with equal opportunities.

Quotes:

1. "How absurd to be judged by others at all, especially by those who have never experienced a disability or who are unwillingly providing us with support or who don't listen to the voices we have."

• This quote is speaking about judging others when you've never experienced what they are. This quote reminded me of a quote from Peggy McIntosh from the conference “Nobody is the authority on your experiences but you". It isn't fair to judge or refuse to help those who need us because we are ignorant to their differences.

2. "[Community] requires a willingness to see people as they are-different perhaps in their minds and in their bodies, but not different in their spirits or in their willingness and ability to contribute to the mosaic of society. It requires the "helper" to have the humility to listen for what the person says he or she needs. Also, the "helper" must see that the interaction "helps" both ways."

• This quote is saying that community means we must all view each other as equals even when we are different on the outside. Also, everyone's ability to participate in society must be recognized, we all play different roles that make up this very complex world. A person "helping" someone with a disability must realize they are helping and being helped through the experience.

3. "...society itself is hurt when schools act as cultural sorting machines-locations that "justify a competitive ethic that marginalizes certain students or groups of students...[that] legitimize discrimination and devaluation on the basis of dominant society's preferences in matters of ability, gender, ethnicity, and race...and [that] endorse an elaborate process of sorting by perceived ability and behavior."

• This quote made me think of the tracking article we read a few weeks ago. This quote is saying that society is hurt when schools track and that schools legitimize these practices based on what dominant society says who meets the standards. Also, it's saying that children of all abilities and standards are being judged in this way, children from all cultures, learning levels, and those with disabilities.

Questions/Comments:
I essentially agree with what everyone else said, this was a great article once you got through all the technical stuff at the beginning. I've always felt like there isn't enough stuff like this out there, in the mainstream, to make people understand what disabilities are all about and to teach them to be more compassionate about the topic. This article was touching, and even though my concentration isn't in special education I hope to one day have a classroom of mixed students, all working together in harmony, helping each other go further, and where there is no judgments passed.

One More River to Cross

‘One More River to Cross“
By: Charles Lawrence

Author’s Argument:
In this article Lawrence argues that African Americans were emotionally and physically affected by segregation. African American student’s education was affected by the segregation, and forced them to view themselves as inferior.

Quotes:

1. “The third is that the institution of segregation is organic and self-perpetuating. Once established it will not be eliminated by mere removal of public sanction but must be affirmatively destroyed.”

• This quote is saying that segregation is self-sustaining, meaning once it starts it continues on its own. Once segregation is established it cannot be gotten rid of by just saying it’s gone or has to stop but it must be directly taken care of and destroyed.

2. “That the purpose of the institution of segregation has always been to stigmatize and subordinate rather than to simply separate is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that whites in the antebellum South had no aversion to commingling with African Americans so long as the institution of slavery made their superior status clear.”

• This quote is a statement about the true purpose of segregation. It says that segregation was never meant to just separate people, it was meant to condemn a certain race and put them at a lower status. The quote gives the example of the South, and how segregation was meant to separate whites and African Americans, but it was ok for them to commingle when it was in the form of a slave and slave owner because the class and status differences were made very clear. So as long as in the situation it was made very clear the superiority of the whites, then it was ok for each race to be together at the same place and same time.

3. “Many African American schools that existed within the segregated school systems of the South were in fact superior to their white counterparts. It is ironic that most of these schools achieved their excellence as a direct result of the discrimination inherent in a segregated society, in that the best African American professionals were forced into teaching by their virtual exclusion from other fields.”

• This quote stood out the most to me in this article. Segregation was meant to not only separate, but as I said before, make a clear point to condemn and undermine a certain race. This would mean overall that whites viewed themselves as superior to African Americans and they made it known that they were of a higher status. So it is in fact ironic that the African American schools were better then the white schools because segregation forced very intelligent African Americans out of their original professions and into teaching. So if the purpose of segregation was to essentially prove white superiority, it did exactly the opposite in this case and made the African Americans better then the whites.

Questions/Comments:

This article was interesting but very long and drawn out. I do believe our country is still in a slightly less severe state of segregation and discrimination. I don’t believe it will ever end until some day, some how people learn that we are all equal. We are all made up of the same things, and the color of our packaging is the least important thing. It is in fact just skin, nothing more, and nothing to hate eachother over.

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route
By: Jeannie Oakes

Author’s Argument:
This article is about tracking and ability grouping in schools and the students it helps and harms in doing so. The author of this article is saying that by grouping students into high, average, and low performing groups schools are limiting the resources each group gets. They are pushing the high performing students higher, keeping average students “uninterested” and “unspecial”, and keeping the low performing students down and unable to excel.

Quotes:


1. “Students who need more time to learn appear to get less: those who have the most difficulty learning seem to have fewer of the best teachers.”

• This quote is a reflection of how each group of students gets attention after they are grouped into those high, average and low performing categories. This quote states that the lower performing group is the one who needs more time in the classroom, working on the topics they are struggling with, but they are the ones who get the least amount of time dedicated to that. It also is saying that the lower performing groups are the ones who need the most help with learning and they don’t get the best teachers to help them, like they should, the higher performing groups get the best teachers. This quote stood out to me because it’s something being talked about a lot right now as part of the Presidential election campaigns. Obama has talked about giving the best teachers more money to work in lower performing schools to help them. Obama has said that he realizes it isn’t fair that the high performing get all the good supplies, teachers, buildings and funding and the lower performing schools and stuck being lower performing because they aren’t given a chance at better resources.

2. “…the proliferation of classes and special programs for students at the extremes-students with high abilities or with handicaps-had the effect of making students in the middle “unspecial” and guaranteeing that they were taught in quite “unspecial” ways.”

• This quote is a statement about how the average performing students are treated when it comes to tracking. The high performing students get the best teachers, and resources, and are pushed to excel. The lower performing students don’t get the best teachers, get the bare minimum of resources and aren’t taught the things they would need in order to excel and possibly become part of the high performing group. The average students on the other hand have very little expected of them. Their teachers set routines, lecture them, give them worksheets or “busy work” and all work and learning is kept to the minimum required. Distractions are encouraged and these “average” students are rarely asked or expect to thinking outside of the box or deeply about any subject they’re being taught. The average performing students are taught to do just that, skate by doing the minimum requirements and get “average” grades, don’t push yourself of try to be better or excel. This is INSANE.

3. “Perhaps the most important and difficult task for those who would change tracking is to confront deeply held beliefs, such as the belief that academic ability is fixed very early and is largely unchangeable or that achievement differences can be largely accounted for by differences in ability.”

• This quote is saying that in order for the act of tracking in schools to be changed the people doing it would have to change the belief system that is causing them to do it, which is that everyone has a set academic ability and that no one can do any better or worse if they’re given different resources or give more effort. This quote basically says if you’re a high performer from birth you always will be, and if you’re average you’ll always be average and never be able to excel and be better then average, and if you’re a low performer you’re screwed. Low performers are destined to nothingness, they’ll never excel or ever be better, so why bother wasting time helping them? This is also INSANE. Why should we help students who have trouble learning? Because everyone can be better. I was always brought up to do my best. If I brought home a 90 it could have been a 100. If I brought home a 100 I could have gotten the bonus question. How can we doom mere children to being stuck at a low level for life when maybe they just have a different style of learning then other children? You can’t give up on them. We can all do better, but it isn’t all up to us and out self-motivation, we have to all be given equal opportunities and resources to excel.

Questions/ Comments:

I enjoyed reading this article even though it was kind of upsetting. I hope that tracking is something that they are getting out of schools ASAP because it isn’t helping anyone. This says that some children benefit from tracking because if we put all children in the same classroom and taught them all at the same pace that some children would be bored and some would be stuck on certain things. Well I’m doing the reading buddies program as my service learning project, and I’m helping children who are struggling with reading and phonics. We have special programs in schools for high and low performing students. The children I work with aren’t taken out of their class because they’re struggling, they just get a little bit of extra help on the side, just like high performing children can be guided to learn more on their own so they wont get bored. I don’t believe tracking helps anyone and should be removed from all schools.

In The Service of What? The Policies of Service Learning
By: Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Author’s Argument:
In this article the authors discuss the important of service learning projects emphasizing meaningful service. The authors believe that a service learning experience should inspire a desire for change, not just charity.

Quotes:

1. “Educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational experiences for students at all levels of schooling. Service learning makes students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the needs of the community while furthering the academic goal of students.”

• This quote is trying to stress the importance of service learning projects in all schools by explaining how they enrich students educationally while at the same time helping the community. I completely agree with this quote. All students should have the experience of working in the community as part of a service learning project. Service Learning isn’t just helping others, it should be an experience where the student learns from the person they are helping or learns about the situation they are helping to change and make better.

2. “To tap into the full power of service activities, however, these practitioners would want to combine critical inquiry with action. This process can transform students’ understandings of both disciplinary knowledge and the particular social issues with which they are engaged.”

• This quote is talking about how service learning can’t just be a community service project where the student is allowed to just do work and stay disconnected from the people involved. The school needs to first get the students educated and involved with the actual problem they are dealing with, whether it be homelessness or a natural disaster they are helping victims of. The students need to have a background and full understanding of the problem at hand in order to come to an understanding and brainstorm a plan to CHANGE and best help those in need. We need change and solutions, not just a band aid on all of our problems.

3. “These statements testify to the transformative power of service learning experiences. The effect could become even greater if students discussed the possible causes of these rumors and their impact.”

• This quote is from part of the article that is talking about students who were nervous about going to a certain neighborhood for their service learning because of what they had heard about the area. This quote is saying that service learning has the power to transform the minds of the impressionable and teach them that not everything is what people say it is and that people can be different then what you always thought they might be. It is also saying that if the students who go to those “bad” neighborhoods take the time to talk about the way people judged those neighborhoods, and how it had made a bad impression on them that would have stayed if they hadn’t gone to see for themselves, they might be able to urge others to be more open minded.

Questions/Comments:
This wasn’t my favorite of all the articles we’ve read so far but there were some parts I liked. I do like certain things that they said about service learning such as that it should be about change and not charity and how it has the power to transform people. I love that we talk about our service learning projects in class, it helps me look at my own project in a new light and I’m happy to share and hear how other people are opening there minds to theirs.

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us
By. Linda Christensen


Authors Argument:
In this article the author discusses the “secret education” taught to children through books and movies. The “secret education” Christensen is talking about is to see the world, sex, race, and class a certain way, subliminally through cartoons.

Quotes:

1. “The “secret education”, as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children’s books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints. And often that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, on class, or one country over a weaker counterpart….When we read children’s books, we aren’t just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated.”

• This quote is saying that children are taught a “secret education” through books and movies, and that this “secret education” teaches them to see the world, sex, race and class a certain way. This “secret education” is taught subliminally through these children’s books and movies, and also through cartoons, so as to be deceiving to someone not looking for racism or sexism.

2. “ It can be overwhelming and discouraging to find out my self image has been formed mostly by others or underneath my worries about what I look like are years (17 of them) of being exposed to TV images of girls and their set roles given to them by TV and the media…..So why dissect the dreams? Why not stay ignorant about them and happy?”

• This quote is talking about the influence of advertising and media on girls self image. The girl who said this was acknowledging the fact, not happily, that her life has been influenced by the media and other people. She felt as though she’d rather live in ignorance of it all and be happy with the way she was living her life before rather then dissect everything in the media and see it for what it really is and be miserable that she let herself be influenced so much, and question her true identity.

3. “Because we can never look like Cinderella, we begin to hate ourselves. The Barbie syndrome starts as we begin a lifelong search for the perfect body. Crash diets, fat phobias, and an obsession with materialistic become commonplace.”

• This quote is a reference to how the media, even children’s stories, portray women. The image of women in the media is tall, skinny, and beautiful and by starting to show children this image at such a young age in everything they read and watch it gives them “Barbie syndrome”. These unrealistic images of women influence girls and women to do everything they can to achieve that perfect look, the perfect body and they become materialistic and most of the time live with an unhealthy obsession with weight.

Questions/ Comments:

I thought this article was great. It really made you think about how much you let media influence and control your own life, since you were a child even. It also made you look back at some of the movies, TV shows and books you read as a child and break them down and think of what the characters may have portrayed and taught. It was especially important to me that this article contained so much about the role of women: the portrayal of women in children’s books/movies, how media influences women, and the Barbie syndrome.

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community

Gayness, Multicultural Education, and Community
By: Dennis Carlson


Author’s Argument:
In this article the author talks about the normalization of gayness, how gay teachers are viewed in schools, and the representation of gays in popular culture. Also, the author mentions gay culture, a person’s desire to “be themselves”, gay people discovering their identity.

Quotes:

1. “…and a number of states explicitly prohibit teaching about homosexuality. In 1993, for example, the gay rights movement claimed a major victory in the signing into law of a Minnesota bill that makes it illegal to discriminate against lesbians and gay men in employment and housing. Yet what got ignored in all the celebrating was a provision in the bill that prohibits teaching homosexuality in public schools.”

• This quote is talking about how there are a few states in the United States that have laws that forbid schools from teaching students about homosexuality. Minnesota wasn’t one of those states and in 1993 a law was passed that made it illegal to discriminate against gays and lesbians when it came to employment and housing but hidden in the bill the state added on that they didn’t want homosexuality being taught about in their state either. So while the gay rights movement made a small step towards something they also got a right taken from them at the same time.

2. “To the extent that gayness is recognized in the curriculum, it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease. For example, one of the most popular health texts on the high school market is Health: A Guide to Wellness, which mentions homosexuals or homosexuality once in acknowledging that “the first group in the United States diagnosed with AIDS were male homosexuals”

• This quote is saying that in the states and schools that do mention homosexuality in their curriculum it usually gets mentioned during health. Homosexuality gets related to health because schools relate it to disease by teaching kids that homosexuals were the first people to be diagnosed with AIDS.

3. “…nothing seems more certain than that homosexuality is contagious. Second, homosexual teachers were presumed to be lecherous and develop “ridiculous crushes” on students” (Willard Waller)

• This is a quote by Willard Waller, a sociologist, states that homosexuality is contagious like a sickness or a disease. He also believed that schools should get rid of homosexual teachers if they knew of them in their schools because their homosexuality was contagious, and because they would develop unsafe crushes on their students and the schools wouldn’t want that.

Questions/Comments:

This article was a little tough to get through. The parts about how homosexuality is viewed in the world of education were surprising and sort of upsetting to read. You wouldn’t like to think people were so intolerant of those who are different, especially those who are teaching the youth of our nation. Also, some of the things done and said to those teachers seemed very hurtful and unnecessary. We all have the right to be who we are, and not be discriminated against for it. It’s judgmental and wrong to say a gay teacher will develop a “ridiculous crush” on their students just because they are gay, and it’s INSANE to propose that being gay is contagious. It isn’t a sickness or disease. It’s a lifestyle, it’s a choice, it’s the way a person is born.

Vice Presidential Debate

Just finished watching the Vice Presidential Debate. I have to say I started to watch it with sort of a biased opinion of the candidate, especially after our discussion in class today about Palin. I was fairly certain I felt more strongly about Obama/Biden up until this point, and after hearing what everyone said about Palin in class today (the Katie Couric interview, the Supreme Court thing, etc) i thought she sounded pretty stupid. But I have to say after watching the debate just now Biden was the one who made himself sound stupid and Palin sounded very intelligent. She was excellent at debating, didn't make any errors, was articulate and made very strong points. The language she used was easy to understand and she directed most of what she was saying to the middle-class, working, American. Biden on the other hand I felt made very confusing points. Most of what he said wasn't clear, and according to ABC News a lot of which wasn't even correct. Biden also spent almost all of the time he was given attacking McCain and his policies rather then expressing the ideas and policies that he and Obama were working towards, while Palin mention Obama about twice during the entire hour and a half debate. One thing that ABC News is bringing up right now though is that Biden kept tying McCain to Bush throughout the entire debate. Biden brought up many cases in which McCain supported and agreed with many of Bush's policies and ideas and Palin kept trying to change the subject because she had no way to argue this.

All I know is that every time I watch a debate or read something about the election or the candidates or talk to someone about them I just change my mind over and over. I just keep getting more confused :-X

Talking Point #2: Teaching Multilingual Children

Teaching Multilingual Children
By: Virgina Collier


Author’s Argument:
In this article the author discusses the different approaches and aspects of being a teacher with bilingual students. The article talks about the “romanticized” view of teaching, and the reality of it being much harder then that ideal.

Quotes:

1. “Teaching is complicated, but it is also rewarding in ways that many other jobs can never be. You have the chance to interact daily with live, growing, thinking, maturing human beings, and that time is special despite the complication of managing bureaucratized, overcrowded classroom of over tested, underchalleged students.”

• This is probably my favorite quote out of this entire piece. To me this quote sums the entire article up and I cant think of a better way to define teaching. When I’m at my elementary school doing the reading buddies program, as stressful as it becomes sometimes, this quote is something I try to always be thinking of. Teaching IS complicated, there are a lot of different events that occur every day that need to be dealt with, and the children are at all different education and learning levels then the others. But the way you choose to teach will have an effect on each child. You make an impact on their life every day. It’s a special thing to be able to mold the minds of children that are “growing, thinking, and maturing” every day. Who knows what you may influence to do, and become in their future.

2.”Caregivers repeat themselves using the same syntactic patterns, not through exact repetition, but through rephrasing.”

• This quote really stood out to me because it’s actually something I took a note of today at the elementary school I’m at. As I’m working with the students I have for reading buddies, I also try to pay attention to and take things from the way the teacher in my classroom teaches. Today, one thing I happened to make a note of was her use of repetition with the other students. They were discussing the calendar and how they had days off coming up, and two birthdays in the classroom occurring this month. The teacher repeated the things she was saying, but rephrased them each time, as a way of expressing the information was important, and to put it a few ways so as to stick in the mind of the children.

3. “Instead, whether in English, Korean, Spanish, Greek, or Portuguese, you are working to develop the child’s language as an effective instrument of intellectual growth.”

• To me, this quote is saying that no matter what language you are teaching or working with you should view it as a tool you’re teaching a child that will help them learn and grow forever. Language is the base of everything. You need language in order to continue learning and developing your mind. So a teacher should view teaching a student another language as a catalyst to bigger things.

Questions/ Comments:

I enjoyed reading this piece. It was a little tough to get thorough some of it, but being able to pick out certain parts of it that I could really relate to the classroom work I’m doing felt great. It’s one thing to notice things in the classroom that you feel may important knowledge to hang on to for the future, but it’s nice to be able to relate it or see it in a piece of writing that is gauged towards teaching and teaching methods.

Black Monopoly

I found this bumper sticker on facebook. I felt it pertained to our class discussion about race and ties in with the Muwakkil article about the rates that blacks vs. whites are sent to jail. I know the picture is a little hard to make out but its of a monopoly board called "Black Monopoly" and all the spaces where the houses and railroads should be (except the jail space) are all turned into go to jail spaces.

Talking Point #1: McIntosh and Muwakkil

White Privileges: Unpacking The Invisible Knapsack
By: Peggy McIntosh


Author's Argument:
In this article McIntosh argues that privileged people are taught not to recognize their privilege. Also, that white privilege comes in the form of an "invisible knapsack" full of "unearned assets" or "special provisions" for only those white people to use.

Quotes:

1. "Whites are taught to think of their lives as morally neutral, normative, and average, and also ideal, so that when we work to benefit others, this is seen as work that will allow "them" to be more like "us".

• This quote is saying that white people are brought up to think they are "normal" and "average"and when they participate in charity or do work to help others it is seen as them trying to bring people up to their level, or the "ideal" way to be. This quote stood out for me because I can agree with it, most of us in the white culture are brought up to see ourselves as average and nothing more, unless we are either taught that we are 1. a better race or 2. equal and we can't bring anyone up to our level because they're already at it.

2. " I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color that more or less matches my skin".

• Things are made in "flesh" color, which is a white tone. When the word flesh is used it is reflective of or saying that that is the normal, average, or right skin color.

3. "I was taught to recognize racism only in individual acts of meanness by members of my group, never in invisible systems conferring unsought racial dominance on my group from birth".

• Most people are brought up to view racism as individual acts of hate by "racists", they aren't taught to see racism and hate through bigger institutions looking for dominance over other races, not just to hurt individual people.

Questions/Comments:

I really enjoyed reading this piece by Peggy McIntosh. I honestly hadn't considered race and privilege in the light that she brought to it in this text. One point that really stood out for me in this piece was the third paragraph on the first page. I feel this paragraph/quote highlights the theme of the whole piece "The Invisible Knapsack". In the third paragraph McIntosh talks about unpacking said knapsack and says "I have come to see white privilege as an invisible package of unearned assets that i can count on cashing in each day, but about which I was "meant" to remain oblivious. White privilege is an invisible, weightless knapsack of special provisions, maps, passports, code books, visas, clothes, tools and blank checks". This quote was incredible to me. Who ever thought of white privilege as an invisible set of tools that gets carried around and used to our advantage?



Data Shows Racial Bias Persists In America
By: Salim Muwakkil


Author's Argument:
In this article Muwakkil argues that although the conservative opinion is that racism is over, it is far from over in America. Muwakkil also includes a lot of studies done and statistics showing that racial bias and profiling still happens in our country.

Quotes:

1. "The researchers sent fictitious resumes in response to help wanted ads; each was randomly assigned either a white-sounding name (Emily Walsh, Brendan Baker) or a black-sounding name (Lakisha Washington, Jamal Jones). The study found that applicants with white-sounding names were 50% more likely to get called for an initial interview than applicants with black-sounding ones. What's more, higher-quality resumes provided little advantage for black applicants".

• This quote was only somewhat surprising to me. It was just a study for further solidify how racist our country really is. These companies hiring only saw names, and they couldn't even see past the names to see the importance of better qualifications in the African American applicants.
  

2. "Not surprisingly whites without drug busts on their applications did best; blacks with drug busts did worst. However, white applicants with prison records were still more likely to be hired then black men without them".

• This quote shocked me. How is this even possible? A white man with a prison record could get a job before a man without one just because the other man is black? That makes me sick. I think sometimes you don't want to think our country and the people in it are that low, but this makes it really hard to ignore.
  

3. "The study found the greatest disparity in Illinois, where blacks were jailed for selling or using drugs at 57 times the rate of whites. The report also found that blacks comprise 90% of the inmates imprisoned for drugs".

• This quote to me says racial profiling all over it. Blacks are jailed 57 times more then whites are? Are the police not even seeing the white people? Are they invisible? This is insane. And blacks comprise 90% of the inmates imprisoned for drugs, are you telling me that they're the only ones using drugs? Or the only ones getting caught? No. They're being targeted.
  

Questions/Comments:

This piece by Salim Muwakkil was an interesting read. Racial profiling is a well known practice in America but some of the statistics in this piece still surprised me. The parts about the fictitious resumes wasn't very surprising because whites being chosen over African Americans even when the African Americans are sometimes more qualified is a huge part of racial profiling. But the statistics stating that whites with prison records were morel likely to get hired then African Americans was shocking. How is that even possible? Also the two quotes "Blacks constitute about 13% of Americas drug users but make up 58% of those sent to prison for drug possession" and " "The study found the greatest disparity in Illinois, where blacks were jailed for selling or using drugs at 57 times the rate of whites. The report also found that blacks comprise 90% of the inmates imprisoned for drugs" totally astounded me. If those studies don't scream racial bias then what does? But what can be done?

Hey everybody! What's up? I'm Kandace. I'm an Elementary Education major with a concentration in English. My semester is going pretty well so far, just a little hectic. It seems like it's crunch time now, try to get everything in, do a ton of stuff for your portfolio, balance classes, working in a classroom and a job. I get a little overwhelmed sometimes. When I'm not in class....well I'll still be in class starting next week, since we'll all be in our elementary/middle school classes by then. I also work A LOT, and try to spend the rest of my time with my boyfriend, and my girlfriends, my family and doing homework :P Always busy. I've come to think I like it that way though. I love to travel, and to read and I'm always looking to do something new everyday :)