politics

Reparations: The Final Destination for White Guilt

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The injustices and horrors that were common place in the antebellum United States may live for some only as they are presented in history books but for others the lingering effects from slavery are felt in everyday life. So, how do we, as a nation, begin to undo the wrongs that were committed? Many argue that reparations would be an official way for white America to recognize their wrongs and allow for closure in the …

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Jordan Davis – Law and Implicit Prejudice

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While what would have been Trayvon Martin’s birthday recently passed, a similar trial was finished in court – the trial of the murder of Jordan Davis. On November 23, 2012, Michael Dunn pulled into a gas station in Jacksonville, Florida. He saw a red SUV full of black teenagers playing loud music and walked up to them to complain. He thought he saw a gun being taken out, so he shot at the teenagers, killing …

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Racial Stereotypes and NYC’s “Stop and Frisk”

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New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio recently followed through on his campaign promise to reform the city’s “Stop and Frisk” policy. “Stop and Frisk” is an NYPD program in which police stop a person and search him or her for weapons and drugs if they appear suspicious. In practice, people of color are stopped at a much higher rate than white people. Last year, a judge ruled that this policy was unconstitutional and that …

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The Majority vs. Minority vs. Other Minority Race (pun intended)

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A friend shared another blog with me recently, called Black Girl Dangerous, that I believe has a lot of posts and discussions related to this class.  One post (the link is at the bottom) called “Broke on Broke Crime: On Black and Brown Living and Unity,” written by Kitzia Esteva-Martinez, discusses her personal experience being mugged at gun-point by three young boys in her neighborhood.  Kitzia identifies as Latina and identified the three boys as Black in …

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President Obama and the Promotion of the American Dream

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After our class pulled apart a speech that Obama gave before he was elected president in 2008, I knew that I wanted to pay extra special attention to his first State of the Union speech of the new year. The former speech had been constructed around comments made by Reverend Wright, the former pastor for Obama and his family. Reverend Wright made comments about the state of the country in terms of race, and how …

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America’s “monumental” problems

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In 2008 Obama had the opportunity to speak about race with the whole world listening. He had to walk the fine line of a politically correct statement, or getting at the heart of real racial issues in our country. “Reverend Wright’s comments were not only wrong but divisive, divisive at a time when we need unity; racially charged at a time when we need to come together to solve a set of monumental problems – …

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Voting Rights Act Struck Down by Supreme Court

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While we celebrate the Supreme Court’s momentous decisions on DOMA and Prop 8, we must not overlook their decision on the Voting Rights Act.

Read Mother Jones Story here:   http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/supreme-court-voting-rights-act-decision

What other facts and findings suggest we still need policy and laws like the Voting Rights Act?

White Backlash to Electing Black Politicians – Then & Now

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This blog entry from CNN discusses how the first Black man to be elected to the U.S. Senate was met with a white backlash that “helped destroy Reconstruction” after the Civil War.  It draws parallels between the white backlash then and the white backlash to electing Obama in 2008.  What are your thoughts? Is is a reasonable comparison to make? The post quotes a history professor from Fordham who says we aren’t post-racial but we …

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Kony 2012: An Observer’s Perspective

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As of right now, I have remained a sideline observer of the Kony 2012 initiative. I have read countless facebook status updates, tweets, and quite a few articles from everything from news sites to blogs on Invisible Children and the make Kony famous initiative. I have been apprehensive about deciding whether I am for or against Kony 2012 for a few reasons, most of which are about the racial issues about it.

A few of my concerns are highlighted in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KLVY5jBnD-E

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Playing It Safe

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Coming into this course with previous experience in this topic, I assumed I would be prepared and conditioned to the material, at least in the beginning. However, this week I was really surprised when I found myself sinking into my old white-girl-ways. As we discussed Obama’s speech in class, in which he responded to Reverend Wright’s comment on racism in America, I sat quietly while other’s expressed Obama’s “chickening-out”. Although I completely agreed with this view point, it took me a little while to get there.

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Reflection of Obama’s 03/18/2008 Speech

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In our last class, we went over a speech President Obama had made in 2008. One of the things he said really stuck out to me.

“ For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding out particular grievances – for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs – to the larger aspirations of all Americans.”

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