Racial Discrimination: Where is It from and How to Stop it?
By Brian Bergma
EDI 600 Psychological Foundation of Education
School of Education
Long Island University, C. W. Post
May 27, 2009
Tonight’s class was AMAZING, TERRIFYING, and, so MOTIVATING for me. I found myself totally engaged in all areas of the conversation and had a sense of what a teacher might feel like, as I was explaining and discussing my experiences with the class. With so many different students, ethnicities, and religions in the classroom, we all need to always keep in mind the key word of RESPECT. Respect for oneself and respect for one another. I think that tonight we all showed each other that together we can have an in depth conversation on topics that can easily offend.
I learned in this evening’s class that in my personal life and when I become a teacher, I need to always keep an open mind to all people, students, ethnicities, religions. Having so many of these variables within a class it is important to teach the students that no matter how different we are, we are all still people. The movie that we saw was a great example of how to explain to children the differences of life. People are all the same, they might have different colored eyes, skin, hair, or religions, but at the end of the day, they are all kids. As children are products of their environments, we must educate them to see thru the differences of the outer person, and focus on the inner person.
I define my race and ethnicity as white and Jewish. As we discussed in class, my own family history has not been defined, as I don’t know where my family comes from. I would characterize myself as American, An American Jew. My heritage and faith is Judaism, and I have learned the customs and traditions of my religion.
I sometimes envy people that can say they are Italian, Irish, German, etc… I think that knowing where you come is an important part of knowing who you are and what you belong to. It has always amazed me that some people can track their lineage back hundreds of years, and that there is a connection to so many people, places, and countries.
It is unfortunate that skin color affects your learning process, but I think it is true. I think that so many people have been prejudged because of their ethnicity, that they sometimes feel that it is not worth pursuing an education. I believe that the stereotypes that are placed on people are very hard to break. Some of the ones we discussed are: Jewish people are cheap, arrogant, doctors, lawyers, and educated. Hispanics are drug dealers, cleaning people, and nannies. Italians are in the mafia.
These stereotypes and differences can be devastating to a child. Being called names or singled out as different can create a negative stigma on a child that may never be erased. People with differences will be able to coexist if they are taught that everyone has some type of difference within themselves. We need to teach our children that these differences make us unique as people. These differences are what shape the world; these allow us to express our ideas and thoughts. I think that my allowing new thoughts and ideas into our lives we are educating ourselves on a continual basis.
I don’t think that race will ever disappear. Although it is an unfortunate statement, there are things that have been set in place in our history that will not allow race to be eliminated all together. When racial divides ease on one culture, it becomes tenser on another. Current events shape this everyday, we watch the news and see nuclear testing in countries, and then racial divides occur. Although the white / black race issues might have eased, there is now more emphasis on Middle Eastern racism, due to the events of September 11th.
I enjoyed watching the movie A Class Divided; however I was upset by some of the language that was tolerated in a school, and at such a young age that the children were. Although it was a time in history issue, and things were very different, I was just upset that a teacher allowed the use of this language. The teacher did make her point however, and the reactions of the children were very interesting. I was surprised to see how they turned on each other because of what she said. Best friends were now upset that they were different than others and could not enjoy the same freedoms and liberties that they were able to just hours ago. I would be very curious to have seen children being interviewed as adults. What impact did this experiment have on them as they grew up? Were their views of race and quality different? Were they more tolerant of theses differences? I wonder can this world that we live in be changed.
Long Island University, C. W. Post
May 27, 2009
Tonight’s class was AMAZING, TERRIFYING, and, so MOTIVATING for me. I found myself totally engaged in all areas of the conversation and had a sense of what a teacher might feel like, as I was explaining and discussing my experiences with the class. With so many different students, ethnicities, and religions in the classroom, we all need to always keep in mind the key word of RESPECT. Respect for oneself and respect for one another. I think that tonight we all showed each other that together we can have an in depth conversation on topics that can easily offend.
I learned in this evening’s class that in my personal life and when I become a teacher, I need to always keep an open mind to all people, students, ethnicities, religions. Having so many of these variables within a class it is important to teach the students that no matter how different we are, we are all still people. The movie that we saw was a great example of how to explain to children the differences of life. People are all the same, they might have different colored eyes, skin, hair, or religions, but at the end of the day, they are all kids. As children are products of their environments, we must educate them to see thru the differences of the outer person, and focus on the inner person.
I define my race and ethnicity as white and Jewish. As we discussed in class, my own family history has not been defined, as I don’t know where my family comes from. I would characterize myself as American, An American Jew. My heritage and faith is Judaism, and I have learned the customs and traditions of my religion.
I sometimes envy people that can say they are Italian, Irish, German, etc… I think that knowing where you come is an important part of knowing who you are and what you belong to. It has always amazed me that some people can track their lineage back hundreds of years, and that there is a connection to so many people, places, and countries.
It is unfortunate that skin color affects your learning process, but I think it is true. I think that so many people have been prejudged because of their ethnicity, that they sometimes feel that it is not worth pursuing an education. I believe that the stereotypes that are placed on people are very hard to break. Some of the ones we discussed are: Jewish people are cheap, arrogant, doctors, lawyers, and educated. Hispanics are drug dealers, cleaning people, and nannies. Italians are in the mafia.
These stereotypes and differences can be devastating to a child. Being called names or singled out as different can create a negative stigma on a child that may never be erased. People with differences will be able to coexist if they are taught that everyone has some type of difference within themselves. We need to teach our children that these differences make us unique as people. These differences are what shape the world; these allow us to express our ideas and thoughts. I think that my allowing new thoughts and ideas into our lives we are educating ourselves on a continual basis.
I don’t think that race will ever disappear. Although it is an unfortunate statement, there are things that have been set in place in our history that will not allow race to be eliminated all together. When racial divides ease on one culture, it becomes tenser on another. Current events shape this everyday, we watch the news and see nuclear testing in countries, and then racial divides occur. Although the white / black race issues might have eased, there is now more emphasis on Middle Eastern racism, due to the events of September 11th.
I enjoyed watching the movie A Class Divided; however I was upset by some of the language that was tolerated in a school, and at such a young age that the children were. Although it was a time in history issue, and things were very different, I was just upset that a teacher allowed the use of this language. The teacher did make her point however, and the reactions of the children were very interesting. I was surprised to see how they turned on each other because of what she said. Best friends were now upset that they were different than others and could not enjoy the same freedoms and liberties that they were able to just hours ago. I would be very curious to have seen children being interviewed as adults. What impact did this experiment have on them as they grew up? Were their views of race and quality different? Were they more tolerant of theses differences? I wonder can this world that we live in be changed.
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