Perspectives on Race

The other day I overheard these two white males making  Jewish jokes. The jokes were very cruel, but they didn’t have any problem saying the. The one joke that I happened to hear was, ” How many Jews can you fit into a VW Beetle Answer: 54, 2 in the front, 2 in the back, and 50 in the ash tray. The fact that these boys found these jokes funny is extremely disturbing to me. The Holocaust was a horrible event that happened in history and over 2 million Jewish people were killed during this time. I find it horrible that people would say stuff like this, but it reminds me of the world that we live in . I don’t know if these boys were racists, but it shows that they have don’t have any regard for people’s feelings. I’m pretty sure that these boys were pretty smart to get into UF, but the things that they were saying were ignorant and insensitive. Many people in the public eye say ignorant things such as this, and then they turn around and try to take it back, but the damage has already be done.

I never thought that there would be a time when my kids might go to school and not have the opportunity to learn about their ancestors or important parts of American History. Government officials believe that the textbooks now are filling young kids’ minds with filthy leftist views. Board members want for us to spend less time talking about Abraham Lincoln, the Civil Right’s period, and people like Martin Luther King, and focus more on things like the Conservative resurgence in the 80′s. I believe that all textbooks have a balance between conservative and liberal views, but there are certain points of American history that need to be taught because they shaped America as a society. For instance slavery, slavery basically built the economy in America, and it was a horrible practice. So I guess that the Texas board members want to erase that so that children are not aware of the horrible practices that were used to build this country. Maybe we should cut out the Civil Rights movement, that affected almost every single person in America. These movements started the rise of the Klu Klux Klan and other groups. The Texas Board members are basically trying to erase history, and don’t want for kids to be aware of this country’s history of injustice. This policy scares me because history will repeat itself if we choose to forget  about it, but the choice is ultimately up to us to raise our kids and teach them the right things in our homes, or let them become entrapped in the Conservative web of bullshit.

This was the name of an article written by Brad Macdonald from the Trumpet. The article basically talked about how America was expecting for President Obama to heal the racial issues in America, but in return he has made them worse. This article caught my eye, because during the elections racial tensions were very high and people were afraid that something bad might happen to President Obama. There were  so many threats towards Obama from many different racist groups here in America. The article also talked about Obama’s comments concerning the arrest of his friend and African American Harvard Professor, Henry Louis Gates Jr.. I don’t know if you all remember this, but Obama commented that the officer who arrested Professor Gates, “acted stupidly.” The article goes on to talk about how it is Obama’s fault because of the racial tensions in America today. Anyways, let’s get to the main point here. I didn’t know that there were very many people who thought that electing a black president would heal the racial issues in America. If that was the case, then there wouldn’t have been so many racial remarks, and threats made against President Obama. I just find it kind of odd that he would use this argument against Obama, when conservatives and their views are some of the main causes of racial tensions. I have the link to this article, and I want to know what you guys think about it.

http://www.thetrumpet.com/?q=6363.4823.0.0

In class today we discussed how one statement can have a lasting impression. For some people this may be true. But I honestly feel some times people can say things in the heat of the moment not really meaning to hurt anyone. but when they say it a second time there might be some truth in it. Do it once shame on me doi it twice shame on you.

On Monday I took a Survey on campus. I was notified of the survey by a good friend who said that if i took the survey they were giving $10 cash, But the catch was that you had to be an African American student. When I went to take my survey there were so many black students up there. I asked the professor why only Black students and he said because they had already had enough participation from white students.  Though I did take the survey and got my $10. I really feel that offering $10 was not the only way to get the black population in to take the survey. Like we are greedy for money like that. Maybe in the survey was dvertised more and more ppl knew about it they could have found more of the Black popilation.

So  i was just sitting here thinking about interracial relationships and was wondering if people in interracial relationships are in them because they truly like it or was just wanting to experience something different from their own race? I have never came across anyone who has just to try it but it makes me wonder do some people do it. I myself believe that everyone should truly be with who their happy with. I support interracial relationships or any relationship that is truly love for that matter.

Tonight I witnessed something that truly disgusts me. We had elections for a club I am in. Last year half of the board was from the same sorority. Coincidence? I don’t think so. Tonigiht every single person that was elected to the board for next year was a blonde sorority girl. This truly disgust me to my core. Every minority was disgriminated against and people were elected to the board based on appearance alone. I am just shocked that people can be so shallow as to only vote based on appearance.

OK, so last week I wrote about the book called “Stop Being Niggardly”, Well this week I found another issues related to this word. Someone put up a sign on the front of a business that says that reads Obama = niggardly and that he hurts small biz. Another part of the sign says Buck Obama.” Now after watching this video it is very clear to me that the context in which the word was used could mean selfish; but I know tha’st not what the people who made this sign mean. They could have used many other word to describe the president being selfish but they choose that one. And the busniess owner is acting as if the sign is normal. I secretly feel that she was the one who put it up. I don’t know. Watch the video and tell me what you think? Am I overreacting? Is this a harmless mistake?