Steven Feldman

Protesting #101

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On April 13th, Muhlenberg College participated in a nationwide day of action against racism and student debt by participating in the #MillionStudentMarch. This movement is a united demand for education as a human right. The movement seeks to gain 1) tuition-free public college, 2) cancellation of all student debt, 3) a $15 minimum wage for all campus workers, and 4) divestment from private prisons by all colleges and universities. Our Contemporary Racism class thought that it would be a good …

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Complacence in the Classroom

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I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my own racism. In class discussions of explicit versus implicit racism, I realized that although I am not an overt racist, I do (like many other White people in today’s society) exhibit implicitly racist tendencies. Over my education both in previous courses and this class of Contemporary Racism, I have become increasingly more aware of these tendencies and am actively making every effort to combat them. For example, a couple years ago in …

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Ignorance Taking Form as a Need to Identify with Music

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This post was sparked by a conversation between a White friend of mine and a White woman about Beyoncé’s song Formation. The woman believed that many White people felt betrayed by Beyoncé because her newest song did not allow for White people to relate to it. Additionally, this woman believed that the song depicted Black people as dominant (but she also believed the song had nothing to do with race). Although she did not fully consider Beyoncé’s intent in making the …

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“Cultural Appropriation” – Where Do We Draw the Line?

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One of the most widely used terms in discussions about race is the phrase “cultural appropriation.” And yet despite its frequent usage, cultural appropriation is one of the most controversial concepts. It is especially difficult to understand in conversation with the arts. The primary purpose of the arts is arguably to provide a medium for creative and emotional expression of the artist(s). The visual arts allow for creative expression devoid of auditory stimuli. The performing arts such as dance, theatre, …

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