Tim Wise & Brown v. Board of Education

Brown v. Board of Education was obviously a huge milestone in the civil rights movement. It paved the way for everything to come in terms of equality. But just because the law now said that it was unjust to segregate people because of race, did not mean that white people still felt superior to minorities and that racism still heavily existed. Since then though, America has been steadily improving towards a more equal society. Many people may even say that racism is extinct. But there are more however who agree that racism is still very present in more subtle ways.
Tim Wise would argue that we have simply graduated to a less extreme or more disguised form of racism; racism 2.0 instead the blatant 'old school' racism 1.0 of 50 years ago. He thinks that while Obama was also a step towards racial equality, we are by no means free of racism, and that to continue to deny that is only hindering overcoming the issue. He claims that in order to be seen as a successful colored person you have to either be a stereotypical rapper/R&B artist, or athlete, or otherwise a 'perfect' individual. Whereas white people are considered successful every day for minimal achievements.

I really enjoyed browsing the Brown v. Board of Education website and being able to read all of the information. I originally thought that the video was also a great idea, but while listening to it, I'd find myself having to pause and rewind so I could jot down notes. Overall not an ideal mode of transmitting information, but creative nonetheless. I however would prefer to be presented with text that I can read, make notes on, highlight, and go back multiple times to reread. But overall, the topics were very interesting.

In the Service of What? The Politics of Service Learning-Kahne & Westheimer

• "By engaging in meaningful service--whether tutoring children for whom English is a second language, helping patients in a hospital, doing difficult chores for the elderly, or supervising younger children's recreational activities--students will have opportunities to experience what David Hornbeck, former Maryland state superintendent, referred to as "the joy of reaching out to others"."

This aspect of service learning encompasses the charity angle. Participants enjoy helping others and recognize that it not feels good to reach out, but it is beneficial to the recipients of their 'charity'. It does not however convey the reason behind their helping. The children see the effects of their efforts on the surface, but they may not really know why they are helping, or even why some people need their help so badly.

• "The experimental and interpersonal components of service learning activities can achieve the first crucial step toward diminishing the sense of "otherness" that often separates students--particularly privileged students--from those in need."

What may be an obvious outcome of a service learning project is the willingness of a student to reach out and help, strengthening their sense of altruism. But what may not be so obvious is that a service learning project can be one of the first steps of change, starting with recognizing the similarities of all human beings.

• They used a quote from Paul Hanna: "Time and energy given to such superficial betterment [Hanna gives as an example making Thanksgiving baskets for poor families] could much more efficiently be spent in getting at the basic inhibiting influences which perpetuate a scarcity economy in the midst of abundance."

Some people argue that service learning could be used much more effectively if it is done with the intent of making an overall impact in the grand scheme of things, instead of just making tiny, though not altogether insignificant, 'cosmetic' changes. Fixing something on the outside will make it appear better for a time. But if you don't get to the root of the problem, nothing really changes in the long run. We need to work on making permanent changes and coming up with methods of prevention, instead of a one-time assist that may camouflage the real underlying issue.

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us-Linda Christensen

1. "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream"

• This quote almost kind of sums up all of the readings we've had so far. Johnson, Delpit, everyone seems to agree that there is an overwhelming culture of power in America that very subtly instructs people on 'the way things should be'.

1. "Children's cartoons, movies, and literature are perhaps the most influential genre "read." young people, unprotected by any intellectual armor, hear or watch these stories again and again, often from the warmth of their mother's or father's lap."

• Christensen argues that even embedded within children's books, movies, and cartoons are many messages promoting the culture of power, and looking down upon everyone else. She also believes that these types of 'subliminal messaging' have the greatest effect, because young children have no filter yet, they are not skeptical of what they take in, especially when their parents are allowing these forms of media. They often lack the skills to separate and distinguish between knowledge, fact, fiction, deception. At such a young age, children are very moldable; everything they are exposed to is absorbed into their brains and helps to shape who they are and who they become.

1. "I don't want students to believe that change can be bought at the mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman's life is an "I do" that supposedly leads them to a "happily ever after.""

• The ideas that are portrayed through children's movies and shows and books can often give children a false sense of reality. Nobody's life is like a fairytale, and aiming for the perfection that is shown is movies is an unrealistic goal that leads to disappointment. Christensen wants children to know the truth.