Reflection Paper On Final Reflection

This movie in particular was three hours long, for most viewing a three hour film with speaking is draining. Seeing that I could barely endure my focus on what was being shown. I decided to divide the movie up into three days for an hour. For those days I took notes and really analyzed what I thought was wrong and miss told. In the movie the embellishments about Africa Americans was misguiding. The beginning of the second half, the whites were holding up signs stating they wanted “Equal rights, equal politics and equal marriages.” Realistically speaking, we all know that was not the case. For the most part whites only wanted that for themselves not for the whole community. The way that Griffith tried to reveal whites was in a way that said they were in favor for equal rights for all. That they were the “helpless white minority.” And to be quite honest I think that’s pushing it.

The importance of this film is that it puts the issue of racism and oppression in your face in such a way that it forces you to take an honest look, not just at the systematic oppression and racism experienced by African Americans, but also at how black lives in America are still undervalued as a result. In addition to this we are made aware even moreso that not much has changed for blacks in the sense

On September 6, 2017, I were documented for an incident that involved a University Housing policy violation. I was charged with violating the University Housing Alcohol 1.2 policy. With my violation, came consequences. I met with The Residence Conduct Coordinator to discuss my actions and came to the conclusion that I would have to schedule a meeting with The Campus Alcohol and Drug Education Center (CADEC) and with that, a reflection paper.

The approach Jose Antonio Vargas had for this documentary is intriguing. His comment, “we talk about race a lot in this country, usually without you (white persons)”. As I ponder that statement what came to my mind was race is talked about within groups of the same race whatever that race might be. It seems we rarely can handle talking about the issues with those we have issues with. Yet it seems we love to talk about race or issues with people that have the same mindset or agree with our opinion. This in effect does not solve any problems or incorrect stereotypes it only feeds them.

This was a presentation that everyone can get something out of whether you are white, black, hispanic, and much more. I learned that it is important to have conversations that make you feel uncomfortable and weird. It is crucial that we talk about these issues especially racism because we live in a world that needs to be reminded of its past. Our society tries to run away from slavery by saying it's been illegal for hundreds of years, but we live with the consequences of slavery.

The first thing that came to mind is why are we still having this issue in 2017? We have improved in almost everything but we are still struggling with racial bias. The message that came across to me was that race is still an issue and that the color of our skin means we are treated different. It was heart breaking watching the little boys and girls pick out the “pretty” and then “ugly” babies in the Doll Experiment. That was probably one of the saddest videos I have seen. It is so sad that these little kids already have racial bias and feel like they are different just because of their skin tone. I noticed that for the Doll Experiment that all the kids have very similar answers while being asked the questions. No matter what the color of

Anthony and his friend best represent deviance or acting out of the norm. Throughout the entire movie, there are several instances where these two act in a deviant matter. At the beginning of the movie, these two individuals point guns at the Cabot’s while hijacking their Lincoln navigator. Next, they proceed to run over an Asian man and flee the scene in the stolen car. Several occasions throughout the movie these two men are seen selling cars to the chop shop to make a profit for themselves.

Throughout each chapter- I discovered so many interesting facts (i.e. the six conditions of courageous conversation, four agreements of courageous conversation, as well as, three critical factors when conversing about race. The bottom line (my biggest take away) is that we must stop talking about it and be about it. Let’s stop stating the obvious and do something about it.

Five weeks into the semester and we have had many intriguing discussions. The Color of fear was a fascinating documentary that could take place in our society today. The race has always been at the forefront of our society for generations. Understanding how race, impact our lives is just as important in understanding how it impacts the lives of others. Our experience is valuable and when we are able to share them with others it allows us the opportunities to create dialog, that hopefully lets those who are in power and have privilege because of race, gender, wealth’s etc. to hopefully be more empathetic. I once read a quote from W.E.B. Du Bois that said, “A system cannot fail those it was never meant to protect.” As a person of color is easy

It made me think about Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie TedTalk: Danger of a Single Story. Mrs. Gladwell made it a mission to change the negative association attached to what a Negro is. She wanted to let people know that she was not the definition the encyclopedia gave. She wanted to be more than a ‘mentally inferior negro’, which apparently was the single story of black people everywhere for centuries. Other people wanted to deal with the issue of colourism differently. For example, Elvie Pineda is an entrepreneur who decided to bleach her skin and later create a billion-dollar skin whitening industry in the Philippines. Some may say she should have just embraced her skin color but the psychological toll it takes on a person can be drastic. To be constantly reminded that you are not normal is not something anybody wants to go through. I admire her taking such a negative experience and turning it into something meaningful is just brilliant and she gets to help those who felt the same way she did. This documentary honestly made me love my skin even more and I will end this paper with a quote: “Let the sunlight illuminate your skin and let your melanin flow from within”

The moment that stood out to me while watching the conversation with white people about race was when one of the speakers a male said, “I am not involved with the conflicted I am only the beneficiary, and so I feel as though I cannot talk about it”. This moment stood out to me because hearing the problem with race, and how someone how is white might look at it opened up conversation within myself that I had never really thought about. An example, is in the movie War Dogs no one expects the people sitting behind the monitor in America to be able to understand the price of war. This is kind of the same concept, how is someone supposed to understand the price of race if you are the one sitting behind a film just doing your job, the one that you were trained for. Before now I never really thought of it like that, and it made sense so it stood out.

As a participant there were different feelings than others because I am white, privileged female within the social work profession. When discussions such as racism were talked about, was somewhat uncomfortable since I could not relate to racial issues. Even though I am not a minority, there was still chances for myself to discuss how I see friends cope with feelings of racism. While discussing racism, I was exposed to how minorities feel when they are denied certain privileges that I am naturally born with because of my race. This shocked me because I was not aware of the amount of privileges I receive daily. This discussion gave me a way to be thankful for all of the opportunities I have without facing racial discrimination. Another feeling

The video about discrimination was the most awkward video I have ever watched. Conversations depicted in the video were real everyday conversations but they were conveyed in an awkward manner, which made it hard to watch. I did learn that discrimination and prejudice was an important issue on the University of Oklahoma’s campus. I also learned that people are basically the same. One other fact I found interesting was the fact that white males were not depicted at all, except for being the villain, in the video.

Going into this unit, I was apprehensive because I did not know how comfortable I would be talking about race in a big group of people. I am aware that my skin color affords me privileges that others in the United Stated don’t have, but I was worried about misstepping or saying the wrong thing. The articles we read, “Words to Use” activity, and documentary episodes that we watched helped me understand why race is so hard to talk about and why it is so important for me to learn about other experiences and perspectives when it comes to race. Much of what we think about race is not true. Whether its definitions of race, race “science”, or racial requirements for citizenship, it is kind of arbitrary.

The PowerPoint for last class really summarized what I have been learning for my interviewing and counseling skills class. There are so many aspects to focus on as a counselor. One has to learn active listening skills, pay attention to body language, ask the right questions, not give too much advice, become a good observer, etc. I have focused so much on using theses skills for the first time that I have not realized that these can be used in different ways. In a classroom, one does not get to have the opportunity to talk to everyone because of multiple reasons, on the other hand, when on is working in a small group allows us to get to know each other and have easier access to each other. When my group and I worked on the group project we had our difficulties. One of the group members was confused on their part and did not ask for help until the last minute. I was able to help this person but it’s difficult for me to have an assignment due soon, and still not have all the information together. However, we got our work done and we all did a good job presenting our part. Every one emphasized on their part and I was proud to be their group member. There were three topics that we all felt were necessary to talk about so we combined two of them and we were excited for it. Were grateful because we had class time to work on the project because our schedules collide with each other. Unless we could reserve a day, than it would have been harder for us to link our ideas together.