Part 1: Being Informed and Entering the Conversation
A long time ago, before you guys were born, people would watch or listen to broadcast news to get information about the world, the country, their hometowns, etc.
Each night, around 6ish, families would gather around whatever medium--tv or radio depending on wealth--and listen to folks tell them exactly what was happening that day, that week, etc.
They would talk about it, form opinions, maybe argue, and then, when it was over, go back to their lives. But, they were informed.
For about an hour a day, without any thought to politics or sides or personal interests (which was only possible because there were no paying commercials back then to influence what anyone heard), people just listened to the facts as they happened, and somehow, some way, they were intelligent enough all on their own to make decisions about what they heard, and act accordingly.
What a time to be alive.
Alas,
this is not the case any longer (unless you listen exclusively to NPR which can get tedious after a while), and when we read about things--especially politically divisive things like BLM, or #metoo, or the Thin Blue Line--we are usually getting the facts from a slant.
This means that whichever network is delivering information is doing so from a selfish perspective--they have more at stake to show you this story rather than that story because that story will make advertisers not want to pay for a lot of commercials during the time slot. Switch channels and the opposite will be true.
Most of you get your news from media (social or news) sites. That is not a criticism--I do, too--probably just different ones. But they fall into the same trap I described above. And that is bad because in order to have a truly informed, truly intellectual conversation, we need ALL the facts. This is hyperbole and kind of a pipe dream--nobody really ever has ALL THE FACTS. Please remember that.
So, the best we can do is read vastly different perspectives on the same subject and see where we fall. So, for this week's blog we are going to do two things--which means there will be 2 due dates. Skkkkkkkkkkrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt.
Really, Bunj?
Yes. Sorry.
In addition to being informed and entering the conversation, this should also show us how different mediums present the same information.
So, I have copied a documents with several links related to 2 different topics. You choose which one you want to learn more about and read or view some of the links about that topic. Then, answer the following:
What did you learn that you didn't know before?
What did you find valuable enough to want to share with someone else?
What issues did you have with anything you read? What did you disagree with or feel passionately about?
Did anything make you uncomfortable?
Were there things you read that you feel you wouldn't want to talk about in a public forum? Why?
Any other comments or ideas or thoughts or opinions or questions you want to share?
THIS PART IS DUE WEDNESDAY, AS PER USUAL
Each night, around 6ish, families would gather around whatever medium--tv or radio depending on wealth--and listen to folks tell them exactly what was happening that day, that week, etc.
They would talk about it, form opinions, maybe argue, and then, when it was over, go back to their lives. But, they were informed.
For about an hour a day, without any thought to politics or sides or personal interests (which was only possible because there were no paying commercials back then to influence what anyone heard), people just listened to the facts as they happened, and somehow, some way, they were intelligent enough all on their own to make decisions about what they heard, and act accordingly.
What a time to be alive.
Alas,
this is not the case any longer (unless you listen exclusively to NPR which can get tedious after a while), and when we read about things--especially politically divisive things like BLM, or #metoo, or the Thin Blue Line--we are usually getting the facts from a slant.
This means that whichever network is delivering information is doing so from a selfish perspective--they have more at stake to show you this story rather than that story because that story will make advertisers not want to pay for a lot of commercials during the time slot. Switch channels and the opposite will be true.
Most of you get your news from media (social or news) sites. That is not a criticism--I do, too--probably just different ones. But they fall into the same trap I described above. And that is bad because in order to have a truly informed, truly intellectual conversation, we need ALL the facts. This is hyperbole and kind of a pipe dream--nobody really ever has ALL THE FACTS. Please remember that.
So, the best we can do is read vastly different perspectives on the same subject and see where we fall. So, for this week's blog we are going to do two things--which means there will be 2 due dates. Skkkkkkkkkkrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt.
Really, Bunj?
Yes. Sorry.
In addition to being informed and entering the conversation, this should also show us how different mediums present the same information.
So, I have copied a documents with several links related to 2 different topics. You choose which one you want to learn more about and read or view some of the links about that topic. Then, answer the following:
What did you learn that you didn't know before?
What did you find valuable enough to want to share with someone else?
What issues did you have with anything you read? What did you disagree with or feel passionately about?
Did anything make you uncomfortable?
Were there things you read that you feel you wouldn't want to talk about in a public forum? Why?
Any other comments or ideas or thoughts or opinions or questions you want to share?
THIS PART IS DUE WEDNESDAY, AS PER USUAL
Learn More about Media Representations of Fatal Police Shooting of African Americans
OpEd: How the media smears black victims
When a police shooting victim is a white woman
The conversation we need on police shootings
Learning more about double consciousness, codeswitching, and negotiating multiple identities
Double consciousness from DuBoisopedia
Learning How To Code-Switch: Humbling, But Necessary
American Promise: Idris Codeswitches
Being Black—but Not Too Black—in the Workplace
I chose to do the first topic. I found out that social media outlets and mainly the news describes black individuals as the criminals, the violent ones, the "animals." When compared to a white woman she is seen as basically an angel. Even though in both articles the black man and the white woman got unrightfully shot they are viewed in two totally different ways. If I were to talk about this topic to someone else I would definitely mention the part of the article where it talks about all the consequences given to the police officer who shot the white woman, I would talk about how the chief of the department even stepped down. Most times when a black individual has been shot there are little to no consequences. I mainly feel passionate about how when the white woman was shot multiple people lost their jobs, this is the opposite to when a black man was shot. The same punishments are not being taken for the same crime. Nothing in particular really made me uncomfortable when reading this. The main thing that makes me uncomfortable is having to share my opinion, since this is a very controversial topic I don't want anyone to think of me a particular way. I had to choose my words very carefully in order to I guess prove I am not racist. That is also why I wouldn't want to talk about a subject like this in a public forum because people take things the wrong way sometimes and a lot of times are super sensitive about certain topics. I am 100% not racist, but somethings I say sometimes don't come out how I mean them.
ReplyDeleteI chose the first topic. I loved these articles because it brought attention to the VERY different media respresentations when a black individual is killed versus a white individual. When a black individual is killed, they often include their past criminal record (if any) to describe them. For example, they will say, “Caughman, who has 11 prior arrests walked for about a block after the stabbing...” for a black man, while when a white woman is shot by a cop, they will name the article, “Woman calls 911, shot dead by Minneapolis officer.” Both are victims, but are portrayed by the media differently. Nothing made me uncomfortable reading these, because I know it is a problem that I feel passionately about, and it is finally being addressed. I would definitely talk about this topic in public and not care what anyone says, but that’s just me personally. Black victims deserve justice, and it could start by media representation. Instead of them being known for which crimes they’re committed, they should be known as a victim of police brutality, and people should know their name. Authors who write these specific articles might do it subconsciously, but hopefully awareness is being brought to this issue, because people deserve justice.
ReplyDeleteI chose the third website, The Conversation We Need on Police Shootings, by James Gagliano of CNN, which is all about police shootings and the victims involved. Specifically, though, police shootings involving African Americans and the fear that comes along with it. The article points out the issue and goes all the way back to colonel times, when there were slaves in America. In the article, I learned that African Americans have always had problems with law enforcement, even in the early times. In the beginning, in South Carolina 1704, the patrols of slave codes where designed to "maintain control and instill fear." This was done to make sure the slaves stayed in line and were never to "out number" the whites. For one, I find the whole topic valuable. This entire topic on police brutality of African Americans needs to be recognized more and the brutality needs to come to an end. These people should not feel that they need to be afraid of cops or feel like cops are against them. I feel passionate about this topic, obviously. The only thing I really felt uncomfortable reading this article was when the author stated, "This disproportionate representation of criminality might explain how even the most pure-of-heart cop can be fearful when interacting with a black motorist on a lonely stretch of highway or when investigating a crime on a street corner occupied by young men of color," (Gagliano). Not that I don't think that this is what people think, I just feel so strongly that no one should feel this way about a race and it makes it hard to read things like this or just comprehend that there are really people out there who think like this. There are really people out there who feel as though they are better than one race, or that they need to feel afraid because of someone's skin color. It baffles my mind. But, well said, and this issue did need to be pointed out and talked about, because it is something that happens on a regular basis. I don't believe that there were things in the article that I wouldn't talk about on a public forum, because they all need to be talked about at some point. Without talking about these things, nothing would ever be solved and nothing would change. Everything in this article is very important to today's world that we live in and it is the first step to changing our society. No one deserves to feel as though they need to be scared of police and everyone should feel safe. No matter what.
ReplyDeleteI am choosing to do the first topic. I have been “undercover” online for a large portion of my life. For over a decade, I have had some kind of connection to the internet. Most of the information I received from my adolescence was on a website called tumblr. If anyone has heard of it, god bless you. It has a terrible reputation for users who are “snowflakes” and over-exaggerate too much. While that may be somewhat true about the people on the site, I was brought up being told not to trust everything you see. So naturally, I picked out the things I saw people saying and I made my own judgements- every so often giving the topic a little google search, if it interested me that much. Anyways, the reason why I brought this up is because the the first big realization I had about the world and reality (after living a life of innocence) was the shooting of Ferguson, as mentioned in the first article you provided. The moment I opened up the link and I saw his eyes, I immediately knew who he was. I had a flashback to hearing about what happened in 2014, so I decided to start the blog out with my initial reaction. And another thing: Calling this “The Shooting Of Michael Brown,” as some articles describe it makes me upset. I don’t believe his name should be put into a title--a statistic--like that. He was more than that, and to me: he was a turning point in my ideology.
ReplyDeleteWhen the article mentioned how The New York Times described Michael Brown as “no angel,” it made me sick. Whether or not someone is “an angel” (really, who is?) does not authorize the law enforcement to unlawfully convict him of doing so.The fact was that he was not proven guilty was what made it clear to me that something did not add up. How could a police officer get away with firing a gun 12 times, 6 of which directly shot him in the front of his body. According to Dorian Johnson, who was with Michael at the time, Brown turned around with his hands raised after being shot at his back. His hands were raised when he was shot multiple times until he fell to the ground- yet there are no charges or penalties against anybody.
Would I talk about this on a public forum? I definitely think not. Not because I don’t strongly believe in what I say, (I do) but because I am not the type to start a controversial conversation. I would rather not waste my time getting into arguments that I cannot sway with people who cannot comprehend what I tell them.
I will be addressing the second topic: Code Switching. What I know now is that people, including myself, switch personalities and ways of communication based on the different kinds of people we are around. Like when teachers say, “You wouldn’t act like this if your mom was here, would you?” (I used to be a class clown) The answer is “yes” I actually wouldn’t because I code switch when around my friends. What I found valuable to share with someone else is to let them know that they code switch, maybe even tell them when they do it. If you know how to code switch it can be an important tool to use.
ReplyDeleteI disagree about what W.E. Dubois said, “He wouldn’t bleach his Negro blood in a flood of white Americanism… He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American.” He’s implying that a black man didn’t try to act white around people, but they wished to become both as a person. Bit I believe, today at least, when you’re a minority and around majority of white people you tend to put on that “flood of white Americanism”. In other words you tend to act white or similar to them in order to fit in. Other than this I don’t really disagree with anything else about code switching.
I agree passionately that code switching is way to make yourself more understood. If you were to approach a professional environment with how you are to your teammates or your friends then, first off, they wouldn’t even take you seriously. Second, you would look like you are probably uneducated. Also, they probably wouldn’t be able to fully understand your message or main point the way your friends would.
I would chose to do the first topic. Even way before major shootings and such, people of color were discriminated against. Social media often almost always portrayed those with color much more differently than those that aren't. In the article where it talked about the white women getting shot compared to the other articles, the news outlets changed up the way that the public would view it. They both were victims, but yet the reaction wasn't the same. Society now and days are so biased towards a certain topic, and those that aren't are often the ones that are discriminated against. When an officer that shot and killed a black person, he almost got no consequences for his actions, while when a officer shot and killed a white women, the public was in outrage, and his actions were punished for much severely and differently. Nothing really made me feel uncomfortable because this issue has been around for so long, but yet social media outlets are not taking this seriously enough. As much as I love voicing my opinions on things, something like this, I wouldn't say on a public forum because I know that this topic is extremely sensitive to some people and I know that whatever that I say can be taken differently from the way that I interpret it, so I wouldn't do something as big as that.
ReplyDelete“Learn More about Media Representations of Fatal Police Shooting of African Americans”
ReplyDeleteBy reading a couple of the articles I’ve learned not only a whole other pov but the unfair realities of what a large majority of the US perceives as okay and or normal. One is, although more black people are being shot, harmed, and killed by police constantly, and receive almost zero sympathy when it comes to white people, it took a single white woman to be killed for other whites to come to conclusion that ‘there needs to be a change’ and ‘this can’t go on any longer’... when in reality it’s been going on all along but they could only sympathize with their own race. Of course all condolences to Justine Damond and her family, what happened was unfair and tragic. However, what about all the other people shot by police officers? Black people, these people matter... just as much as Justine Damond. Yet she gets all the sympathy? I find this entire topic valuable because it’s unfair and a continuous issue. If more are aware, more can prevent, educate, and create at least an ounce of emotion for the black community. At the end of the day, white people can say “we all matter” all they want... of course everyone matters, but blacks have never felt like they’ve mattered, they need the attention and empathy more than ever, both they’ve never fully received, never to the full extent, never given complete respect, which a white person can easily gain, and abuse. Another issue in the Justine Damond shooting was all the blame going towards the black police officer, no one was there to reason and give excuses for him... yet these racists...whoops I mean white police are shooting and abusing black people during crime scenes in seconds like it’s apart of their daily routine, and STILL getting excuses for their actions. For what they thought they saw or heard... “oh no... I wasn’t stereotyping because it was a black child... they just seemed really suspicious!!!” No. This is not okay. It’s ridiculous and horrifying statements similar to that are sliding by because certain cops played victim and wanna use their loaded weapons like nerf guns. These are people, black people; teens, adults, CHILDREN. It’s time to address the issue and take actions that will make changes rather than hoping everyone will see everyone as one color and no different than the each other someday.
I chose to do the first topic and learn more about Media Representations of Fatal Police Shooting of African Americans. These articles are all talk about the victims in the scenes of police shootings. These articles, especially the third one, The Conversation We Need on Police Shootings, by James Gagliano of CNN, main topics need to be recognized more and not just pushed to the side like whatever. How policemen are so brutal to African Americans needs to stop. Even if some are “bad”, there are also “bad” white people and everyone shouldn’t be labeled the same, just based on color. I was well aware that this has been a problem, however one thing that I didn’t learn, but also didn’t realize was how African Americans always have had problems when it comes to law enforcement. When it was inserted that the force was considered “hopelessly racist” is something I would like to share with someone else. I consider this valuable because if you’re in any kind of law enforcement, being racist shouldn’t even be a thought. Policemen have one job and that is to protect all of us, not shooting African Americans just because they may “look suspicious” and not having a valid reason for your shootings. I feel passionate about this topic because nobody should be living scared of policemen and think that they are a target, when cops should be making us feel safe and content. Already knowing that this was an issue in life, nothing made me uncomfortable. I have no problem talking about any of this in public because all of this needs to be talked and handled about at some point. Nothing’s going to change or get solved without talking about it. Hopefully, these articles open up other people’s views on this problem because nobody deserves to be scared and everyone deserves justice.
ReplyDeleteI chose the second topic about “code switching”. In the video I watched, a young black boy was made fun of because he was talking like a “white boy”. Therefore, at his basketball games in which majority were black, he tried to speak with a sort of slang so no one would tease him. This is obviously a major issue in society. I have a major issue with this because people are trying to act differently because of the people they are surrounded by. Now, evidently when you are with friends and when you are with family it is a whole different story, but this is not the case. It was not the boys fault that he sounded a certain way, it was just the way he found himself speaking to the people he was around most. Just because others who did not experience the same thing ridicule you for it, does not mean you are due to change. However, I also came to the conclusion about another side of code switching, a side that isn’t all that bad. If you think about it, code-switching can have a positive side to it in which people in a system become more productive from it such as in workplaces. I feel like everyday in school I see someone code switch in some way, but not like too noticeable. Nothing really made me uncomfortable watching the video and reading the articles, because I feel like it should be talked about more often.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading these articles on police shootings I have learned about the shooting of Justine Damond, a white women who was killed by a black police officer. When I first read this I figured the reason I didn’t hear about before was because she was a white women and often times media only portrays black victims. The reason for this is because that's what sells most media outlets don’t care about spreading real news but instead they only care about getting clicks. The most valuable thing I read in these articles was the media is terrible at portraying equal sides of stories. If its a white cop shooting a black person than often times the media makes the black person out as a villain while its the exact opposite when a black cop shoots a white person. After thinking about why media outlets do this I came to the conclusion that it isn’t that the media is racist it’s just that they are just doing it for more views. Think about it, every time a story surfaces about a police shooting everyone flips out over how the media covers the story. This is genius because even though it is bad publicity it is publicity nonetheless. When it comes to the shootings themselves I wouldn’t feel comfortable talking about them because I don’t anything about them except what I hear from other people. Which depending on who I talk to could either be “police are pigs” or “The media blew what actually happened out of proportion”.
ReplyDeleteI've decided to learn more about code-switching because it caught my interest once I realized I've always been doing it. After reviewing the 4 sources, I've gained a better understanding of code-switching and how it affects people, more specifically, minorities. I learned about how code-switching can start at an extremely early age, and continue into someone's career, like when the articles mention minorities attending university or minorities in a professional setting. I completely agree with W.E.B Dubois's comments about how people adapt to their current situations, especially in this country. Minorities change and meld into a hybrid of their own culture and American culture, instead of picking one or the other. I found this notably interesting because of my personal experiences with minorities. I've seen people change, "Americanizing" themselves to adapt to the unique culture in this country. I didn't have any issues with the information presented in the sources, and I actually firmly agreed with most of it. The sources offered different perspectives on the topic, allowing me to formulate my own opinions on the issue. The only part that made me feel uncomfortable was the part about Idris being bullied for his way of talking. This type of bullying was also mentioned in an article when the author describes his childhood memories of changing his personality based on his surroundings. I believe this would be an interesting topic to discuss in a small public setting because I believe many people have experienced code-switching in some form another. This was an interesting subject to learn about because it offered an explanation for different social phenomena that started in my childhood.
ReplyDeleteEver since I was a little kid, I was somewhat of a master code-switcher. I realized at a young age, that I had to communicate in different ways to relate to different people. This became prominent to me in middle school, when I made different friends. I talked to them about different things in different ways, based on my surroundings. I didn't know what it was called, but I did it throughout my years, and I'm guilty of still doing it a little today, but I don't think it's a bad thing. Code-switching seems to have a negative connotation, but it has helped me navigate social obstacles throughout my life and I probably wouldn't be the same person today without it.
Any other comments or ideas or thoughts or opinions or questions you want to share?
ReplyDeleteI picked “the conversations we need on police shootings” and this article is nothing new to me, I knew these situations have been happening since the beginning of time. The article brings up the controversial decisions police officers make daily. They also brought up the issue with many African American people getting shot by law enforcement officials. These situations need to stop, it's just going to change the people’s minds about law enforcement. It bring them the questions of are they really there to save us or go against us? Also if you're an African American, you could ask “ if the group or organization that is supposed to protect us is against us, who is really for us? I personally want to be a police officer, I know that when you're in action or in shootings or in tough situations you have try to come out with the best possible outcome. I wouldn't like to talk about this situation because it just brings many racial issues to the table. But situations like these need to stop people are just going to have a misconception of police officers. The article also mentions about some cops being bad, and that is sometimes the case. Some officers are racist and they misjudged the situation for their own reasons and think that the black guy did it. But the white guy who actually did it, and the black guy gets arrested or shot. I feel like just hiring people that are going to make decisions like those shouldn't have to do anything with the police force. They are giving a misrepresentation of law enforcement. This needs to stop because people are going to more and more against each other.
After reading about both topics I decided to choose the second one: Code Switching. Code switching is when you switch the way that you present and communicate yourself based on where and who you are around. For example, you would not talk or act the same way you might around your friends, to your mom. Maybe around certain people or scenarios you make your voice a little lower to seem more professional when talking to your coworker.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I found valuable is how minorities feel like they can’t be themselves in a professional environment without being discriminated against. For example being Black but not too black, in the article they talk about how many Black women straighten their hair to look more professional, whereas if they were to wear cornrows to work they would be condemned for it. This is one of the things that I kind of feel passionately about and it comes back to the topic: if a white woman wears cornrows in the workplace it’s okay. When really it shouldn’t be because if black women aren’t allowed, why should anyone else be? Why doesn’t she get judged for it? It’s not fair. Black women all over the globe are told to tame their hair and tame their frizz, because it’s not okay. When really they should be embracing it because it is a part of who they are. And honestly that goes to anyone, Latinas too, growing up as soon as my mom could put a blow dryer on me, she did. I didn’t even know I had curly hair until I was 10. You just have to eventually learn to embrace your hair and love it for what it is.
To be honest I wouldn’t want to talk about any of this in a public forum, the reason for that is that I wouldn’t want to offend anyone else. I wouldn’t want to be seen as ignorant, even if I already read about it. I know I can’t always please everyone, for some reason I just feel like it’s not my place.
I choose to read and learn more about the article where the white woman was shot and killed by a black police officer. When I saw the title and began to read the article, I thought I'd be reading all this hate a black man would be getting for protecting his community or doing his job but he would simple be getting the hate for it because of their skin tones. But reading it more I soon learned that the women was apparently calling 911, and then just gets shot. How does something like that just happen? It doesn't. there clearly needed to be a reason behind this shooting. I've learned that switching the roes around in this kind of situation can get just as much media attention then if it were to of happened the other way around. I'd share that everyone's story should be heard, because of the messed up story of wrong kind of message could be spread. Some things did make me uncomfortable in this article, talking about how one of the headlines were "People are more likely to empathize with victims of the same race". Why? Why is it so hard to accept people for how differently they look from you the they have just died in the most horrifying way? I've never understood why some human beings have such a hard time accepting others, and maybe I never will. But I do know that some are way to fast at assuming and some just don't have the space to accept anymore.
ReplyDeleteI decided to write about code switching because it’s something I’ve been surrounded by my whole life without realizing what it was. What I learned from reading the articles and watching the videos was the two black boys were teased by others because they “talked white”. Personally, I’ve experienced this myself with my family members. I constantly get told that I sound like a white girl and I’m constantly getting called a gringa for it. The only issue I had with anything I read was, why is this even a thing? Why do minorities feel the need to code switch to fit in? Why do we have to change our tones around certain races? I’ve noticed my mom, she’s hispanic, and my stepdad, he’s black, do it plenty of times without realizing what exactly they were doing, until I just learned about code switching. I’ve noticed in a professional setting, my mom switches her vocabulary and starts speaking in a “professional” tone, while at home she’s more relaxed and comfortable and uses slang. I never thought anything of it. It makes me a little bit uncomfortable, because it’s almost like minorities are fighting for attention from usually white people. Like we want to sound “educated” and smart just because the words are pronounced more clearly. I wonder if people even realize they do it at times and maybe it’s just a natural thing, or if they do it purposely to fit in, or maybe a little bit do both.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI chose the 2nd topic: Code-switching. I chose this topic because it has great interest with me; the way people change their speech patterns around other people, especially those of a different race. People changing tones around other people is completely normal, and I see it everyday with other people. The way people talk to me compared to my father is so different that person talking might as well be a whole new person. Whether they are doing it because they are one of my friends and do not want to insult my family, or someone who has the job to talk to my father and myself for whatever reason, such as a guidance counselor. These code switches I was already aware of. However, the code-switching done with the black community to the white community is remarkable to me. I grew up in schools that were predominantly black, and when moving to white schools, I never noticed a difference in people’s tone when talking to friends. I do not believe people code-switch when around someone of the different race, to do so is kind of racist in itself. These people who perform the code-switching claims they have to because they will not be accepted, so they force themselves to act more like the other race. How does someone act like the other race? To do so will be placing a stereotype on that person’s race, one of the most racist things you can do. To code-switch for a job interview is not code-switching to act white, it is code-switching to be more formal. In a different time, it may have been different, and even today there are still people who do not accept people from other races, but acting like that person’s race will not solve that issue. If anything that would make the problem much much worse for everyone. The act of code-switching is too common today for it to ever go away, so as a species we must all adapt to it. Not a race, a species, all of us.
ReplyDeleteThe topic i would like to learn about was code switching. Code switching is very common. It isn´t very wrong to change how to sound, act or appear for other people to fit in. I have seen this everywhere, we are different around certain people. I see people who are very nice sometimes but if they talk to someone else they switch up their whole attitude. This is why code switching caught my interest. People can code switch in so many different ways, people can be mean, sneaky, be trying to fit in, or might be being nice. It is a huge thing when meeting new people, when you try to make friends you may act like them to build a familiarity and understand each other. Even though there are instances where code switching doesnt hurt i think its mostly a bad thing. When i get close with someone i dont want them to act differently to me. I want to know them for the same as everyone else knows them, if you dont code switch it proves you are really you, sets you apart which some people think is a bad thing. A little code switching is ok but when it gets to the point where you just copy someone or do everything to fit in it gets to a point where it clouds up your true personality
ReplyDeleteI was not really uncomfortable reading this topic.
ReplyDeleteWho i am, i dont mind talking about controversial topics. I dont enjoy sugar coating thingsd and i enjoy hearing other peoples raw opinions, which tends to come out in topics as heated as this one. I learned that people are more likely to empethize with victims of the same race.
Outcomes for police shootings are different based on who the cop is, the victim is, and what happens. The after actions should be the same for a wrongly shot victim. White, black hispanic, whit on black, black on white, whit on white, black on black. However, being a cop is scary. You never know what kind of situation you are going to walk into. I understand both sides of the arguement, however i still stand next to the officers that protect the community from threats, whether the threat is white, black, hispanic, asian. It doesn't matter. However, i do acknowledge that it’s easier for me to say that because i am white, and have priviledges.
I decided to read the links on code switching. Overall, I was just learning more information on this topic that I didn’t know before. I didn’t even know that code switching was a “thing” until Bunje explained it to us. I realized how serious it can be. In the link “Learning How To Code-Switch: Humbling, But Necessary”, it states in the beginning how the black boy Eric Deggans who is the also the author, was told by his black friends that he sounded like the white boys he went to school with. These comments can make someone feel uncomfortable and that’s why code switching is kind of necessary. The whole idea of some people feeling like they need to code switch is something I have an issue with but code switching itself I don’t have an issue with. I don’t like the fact that there are people like that little boy, that feel like they need to change the way they talk in front of certain people or certain races. I do understand though that some people do it unintentionally. When you are around certain people everyday you start to catch on to what they say without even meaning to just like the boy did in the article, I disagree with the idea that it’s something bad like his friends were trying to say. The article didn’t make me feel uncomfortable, I think it was all valuable enough to share with someone else. A lot of people don't know about code switching and I feel like it's important for people to know and learn about it. The topic itself isn't something I would have an issue speaking about but being able to put my words together to express how I feel I would struggle with.
ReplyDeleteWow so I definitely posted this but for some reason it didn't send? Regardless, I will just rewrite my answer. I read the article on Justine Damond and there are a few things I need to say. All sides of media are guilty for playing the race card. This article (of course) unfairly judges the right wing for doing this while the left does this consistently. Every time a controversial shooting occurs, there is always one predominant adjective. Black. We need to stop examining the race, and start examining the events. However this is not the only problem with this article. The author has no problem identifying people's opinions on this and comparing it to other shootings of black males, yet makes no effort to identify what actually happened. This author clearly is leaving this information out for a reason. I understand that this reaction was different but so where the circumstances. Assumptions like this are dangerous. And by drawing such thin lines based on opinion, controversy is bound to stew. I have not heard of this shooting. Why? Because social networks knew this wasn't a story that a race card could be pulled. That means no money. The author even acknowledges the very large difference in police cases and makes no effort to refute them? They concede right then and there that their opinion is unsubstantiated. Overall, this article lacks in many areas and the opinion is horribly constructed. I understand that the reaction is different. I understand that conservative media is finally taking the side of the victim (strangely). But try looking at the different cases and point out every difference. The difference in the reaction is not because of the difference in skin color but the difference in circumstance. This women wasn't wrestling with police. This women wasn't even being arrested. She was reporting a possible rape and the jittery finger of an unsuited police officer lead to her death. It is as simple as that.
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