Sunday, November 3, 2013

Seperate but why not equal?

Brown Vs. Board of Education Talking Points



When reading that this weeks topic  was centered around the Brown vs. Board of Education court case I grew a little excited because this court case is one that I have studied several times over the course of my education as well is something that I am greatly interested in. This is why I chose to do a free response on the topic of segregation and white privilege.

Within Bob Herbert's, Separate and Unequal, as well as Time Wise's radio interviews, and the Brown vs. Board of Education court case article, I was able to extend my knowledge about segregation and the idea of white privilege. The same theme seemed to exist in a three documents which is the concept of being "separate but equal," which in my opinion is a statement that contradicts itself.


I was very intrigued by Tim Wise's videos as well as his view point of the way society views blacks verses white in a cooperate environment as well as in everyday life. One example that Wise gave that really made me think was his reference to George W. Bush and how society lets him off easy despite his incompetence on the sole reason that he is white where as there is much controversy over Barrack Obama being elected do to the fact he is black.

One statement that Wise makes is that we must acknowledge the problem in order to solve it and this instantly made me flash back to many of the articles we have read already. In particular I thought of Rodriguez and Christensen where they talk about voicing as well as addressing the problem/topic at hand.

 
 
Within Bob Herbert's article he states that even in todays day and age we are still somewhat segregated and this caused me to think about segregation within schools now. Remember in high school when there were "cliques"? Not only did the "black" kids hang out with the other "black" kids, and the "Asians" with the other "Asians" but the nerds, the jocks, the popular girls, ect. all separated themselves from the other groups and hung put with those who are more like themselves. You never saw the President of the debate club walking down the hallway with the Prom Queen now did you?
 
 
We separate ourselves from others for fear of not being accepted and the fear of being judged. It is very clear that racism still exists today but segregation is allowed to grow by allowing cliques to form in schools. By allowing children to associate with only others of their "kind" we are encouraging them to participate in segregation and the separation of others just because they are "different." We have had the discussion in class about ethnicity and minority as well as the fact that those of the same "kind" tend to migrate towards each other and become close do to the simple fact they are the "same." Why do we pick our friends? Because they have the same interests as us. Why do we pick our mates? Because they complement us. Why do those of the same race tend to hang out together? Because they feel more accepted then when they are around the majority.
 
This fact is sad but is unfortunately true. This is why when Doctor Bogad mentioned that her "white" son has a "black" baby doll I sighed with relief that there is still hope for society. Just because her son is "white" does not mean that he HAS to have a "white" baby doll and the same rule applies for cliques in schools and society.
 
 
By teaching children to become friends with all times of people we can help eliminate segregation and help our schools to become more diverse friendly.
 
 
Questions to ask in class....
 
 
How to we get children to venture out of their comfort zone encourage them to make friends of all difference?

4 comments:

  1. Lauren,
    the question, how to get children to venture out of their comfort zone to make friends more diversely is great because how many children in elementary or middle school have friends of a different color from them. In my personal experience, i did not have friends of color till i was a freshmen in college last year. I feel that i was taught not to be friends with people of color not because of my parents instead it was the media and the dynamic of school cliques. The nerds hung out with the nerds, the jocks and cheerleader hung out but if a white person and a person of color associated with each other it was a huge deal. Looking back I think that if school welcomed people of color both white people and people of color would benefit from each other. We all bring something different to the world, why should we hide it?

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  2. Hi Lauren,
    I love how you talked about school cliques in your post. These cliques are making it more difficult for schools to become segregated. I used to hate being labeled a "nerd" and "forced" to hang out with the other "nerds." I agree with Emma's comment; We all bring something different to the world, why should we hide it? I'd like to go a step further and say why should we be ashamed of it? Why should a child who is labeled "nerd" because they are smart feel degraded by a label? It is so sad that cliques still, and probably always will, exist in schools.

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  3. Lauren,
    I never thought of the connection you made between cliques in High School and racism, very thoughtful. And the picture of the two little girls= <3<3
    Bekah

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  4. Lauren,

    I think the way that we could get children to make friends outside of their race or social class would be to put less emphasis on differences. Everyone should be valued and I feel when that happens people would be able to see less differences and instead how much we are alike.
    Shanelle

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