Cincinnati Goddamn Reflection

Fereshteh “Bebe” Biaghoshi Professor B. Johnson Sociology 2319 8 November 2015 Remember the Titans Challenging America Through Touchdowns and Acceptance The struggle for civil equality is an ongoing war that shatters and has destroyed countless lives since the beginning of history. Differences such as religion, ethnicity, race, gender, disabilities and sexualities are ways we so easily class somebody into a subordinate group and unfortunately still hinder our efforts to rid the internal and external battles against one another for good. Our society has come along way with acceptance with an even longer road ahead of us, but in order to appreciate our current progress in contemporary America, we must be able to understand our history and the multiple identifying the problematic concepts adopted by people who believe we should make people with differences feel inferior. This class, Minority Studies lectured by Professor Bill Johnson, taught me that superiority, stereotyping and the fear of the unknown are the biggest gateways to the multiple types of discrimination one can inflict. Within this class we were able to watch thought provoking clips such as Tim Wise speaking on “White Privilege” and just recently being able to view Remember the Titans, an adaptation of the true story of the 1971 African American high school coach that integrated his football team to an unstoppable unit with acceptance of differences and football championships

Racial diversity is something that is often discussed on college campuses. As a student who self-identifies as a minority in more ways than one I often feel like I have a pretty good understanding of the subject of racism and race. However, often times when these issue are discussed I learn something new; this was the case when reading the articles this week. This week’s articles examined the issue of race from different perspectives. This allowed me to re-examine the issue in a fuller manner; it also allowed me to question some of my own notions that I hadn’t really challenged before.

Our racial ethnicity is influential in what we do in life, whether it would be with school, personal relations, or even job opportunities. There are many Americans today that hold racial prejudice against people of different color and different ethnicity, which as a result narrows many opportunities that minorities can actually have. In the essay “Race in America: “We Would Like To Believe We Are Over The Problem” Maryann Cusimano Love an associate professor of international relations in the Politics Department at Catholic University, addresses “To “get over” racial problems” (Love 387) we need to acknowledge them as well as the history of those racial problems in order to move forward as a multicultural society. Love reveals a study conducted by The University of Connecticut which shows “19 percent of the 14,000 college

Iverson uses critical race theory (CRT) to examine how discourses of diversity, circulating in educational policies, reflect and produce realities for people of color on university campus. Analysis reveals four predominant discourses shaping images of people of color: access, disadvantage, marketplace, and democracy. This article aims to enhance understanding about how racial inequality is reproduced through educational policies. CRT originated in the 1970s to contest the absence of attention to race in the courts and in law. Data from an analysis of 21 diversity action plans issued at 20 U.S. land-grant universities. Use of NVivo computer software designed for qualitative data analysis. He sought universities that had a diversity committee,

Supporting the success for diverse students on campus is just the beginning to make their experience as equal to that of the white community. Without positive campus attitude and without the recognition of what diversity brings to a school and a classroom, the system would not thrive and those of a different ethnic background will not be inclined to attend. The conclusion to Espinosa’s, Gaertner, and Orfields article is that college and university leaders

Module 4: Discussion The most memorable time when I was impacted educationally by diversity would be my freshman year in High School. I had gone to a private Christian school from Kindergarten through 8th grade. My mom thought that it would be a great idea to send me to public school for my freshman year. Mind you, I lived in Dallas, TX at the time and public school is quite different than private school there. I was not only the minority in school, but I was one of five Caucasian kids in the entire school. I was made fun of for being white, coming from private school, and for being smart. Just like the article, Helping Diverse Learners Succeed, I had to learn about my new environment. I didn’t understand why the kids were mean to me and why

The next segment during Diversity Day would have counselors running groups in order to educate students to stand up for others and also hear first-hand stories from other students that have been treated differently for being different. Counselors will facilitate students in discussing past stories of witnessing or receiving discrimination and have the students discuss what they have heard. For students that have witnessed these acts, they can discuss how they felt when they decided to stop the act of discrimination. Additionally, they can also discuss with the student how they felt when they decided to not stop the act of discrimination. For the students that have suffered from acts of discrimination they can explain how they felt when someone stepped in to help them. Additionally, students can explain how it felt when no one stepped in and just watched as they suffered from discrimination. The purpose of this activity is to educate the students on how the victims feel when someone helps them compared to someone who does not. Additionally, it will educate students on how people felt when they helped someone in need compared to someone who watched the incident without intervening.

Race Relations in America American society likes to believe that race relations in our country are no longer strained. We do not want to hear about the need for affirmative action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to appease our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive and well in the great U.S.A. It hides in the workplace, it subtly shows its ugly face in the media, and it affects the education of minority students nationwide. In the following excerpts from an interview with a middle class African American male, the reader will find strong evidence that race plays a major role in determining the type and quality of education a student receives.

Oh, to be a Black woman in America. When I entered college my interest consistently gravitated into the African American courses, since I wanted to learn more about my ancestors and my cultural history. The course name alone completely captured my attention and I could not pass up the option for this to be one of my elective classes this semester. Prior to this course, I had not taken a class that was centered around my gender or race. Therefore, I had hoped to learn more about the internal and external challenges of being a Black woman in America. Throughout weeks of captivating classroom lectures, intense readings, and additional coursework this class has surpassed my expectations, and I am not the same young woman that I was when this

The event covered the history of oppression and the cultural differences that minorities currently face in America, and did not exclusively focus on one group in particular. Instead, the students chose to act out scenes relatable to all minorities and their histories including: African Americans, Asian Americans, Arab Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans. Personally, I knew little about the history of these minority groups other than what I had gathered from lectures prior to the program. The ATP team presented engaging scenes and videos in order to inform the audience on the history of oppression and white privilege that has taken place in the United States over the past two centuries. With many of us in

Another topic discussed was ways to stop discrimination within professions and in everyday circumstances. Using the movie Crash, we were shown clips that defined different aspects of racism, sexism and inequality. After each clip, there was a discussion as to what type of discrimination was performed and ways to redirect

As a testament to the next discussion point of opportunities, especially within the realm of college admission, I have experienced firsthand the opportunities presented by affirmative action. As a low-income, first-generation college student, Virginia Tech had offered me a full scholarship based solely on merit and financial need. As a “minority” according to Virginia Tech, I had an

Having grown up in a family that values philanthropy, I always thought I was well acquainted with the plight of the underprivileged in society. However, a community service event on campus that promoted college education for inner city youth opened my eyes to the worrying extent of a few social problems present in today’s society. The idea of intersectionality, in which different forms of social problems and sources of oppression overlap, became readily apparent to me and exposed me to the complexity of the challenge. After interacting with some of the students, I became aware of how factors such as poverty, drugs, crime, incarceration, discriminatory policies, and broken families among other issues interact in exacerbating the already precarious

The 2015 Matriculation Convocation was held at 11:00am in the Murphey Fine Arts Center. As students entered the theatre, they were greeted with a musical prelude by Dr. Samuel Springer. As he played a beautiful melody on the organ, professors, and faculty ushered in wearing their decorated and highly esteemed

Imagine living in a world that is seemingly against all that you are and all that you want to be. Through modern stereotypes and accustomed oppression, the odds are working against minorities. As a society we have become familiarized with the comfort of color blindness, this is a term used for the ignorance that surrounds diversity issues today. Mellody Hobson, executive president of Ariel Investments, is an African American woman that has chosen to confront the lack of understanding involving diversity issues involving race, gender, sexuality, religion, socioeconomic status, and education and tagging it as Color Bravery. Throughout her discussion, Hobson engages and connects with her audience through her personal stories, facial expressions, tone of voice, and passion about diversity.