Monday, April 27, 2015

World Problems?... Where to Begin

Honestly, sometimes I am ashamed of my race. It baffles me that as humans we cannot simply co-exist in a peaceful and positive world.
The world is a system of checks and balances, good and evil, right and wrong. It may seem like fairy tale nonsense or karma, but either way its a simple fact. Its Newton's law applied in a social setting, for every action there is an equal but opposite reaction. After reading all of the Readings for Ideas, my one question comes back to: why? Why in the first place did any of this have to happen? I believe the problems our human race has had in the past is a wakeup call. From a scientific standpoint our actions hold no value, because underneath sexual orientation or pigmented skin or religion, we are all the same. As humans we MUST end this hatred we have for others that may be unlike us. This uneasiness of the uncertain should not manifest into aggression or discrimination. We are all beings of one race the human race. A call for action is needed so that these problems we've had in the past will never become a problem again. A more open mindset is a necessity. Our natural tendency should foremost be positivity to keep the scale tilted more in favor of the good in life. With a more open mindset we can utilize all of the creativity, intelligence, and knowledge the world has to offer without worrying about race or sexual orientation. To improve the world, we must improve our mindset. This means carrying out actions of non-violence to protest problems such as how the Greensboro Four acted in response to segregation. Or how MLK chose to respond to being thrown in jail in Birmingham, Alabama. Chose consciously to look past flaws, race, or personal choices. Weather it matters to you or not, that person has their own thoughts and feelings which are just as important as yours. As outlined in Brit Bennett's article, it's exhausting to be biased toward others, if there were no discrimination or prejudice life would be simpler, less stressful. Everyone would be just another individual trudging through the game called life. Moreover, who is one person or a group of self-entitled individuals to claim they are any better. Everyone should be treated with kindness and respect, even if they are different than you. If everyone were to have this mindset then the world wouldn't have so many social problems. It's all bullying, and dominating, its all wrong. I just hope that the human race realizes that we will be our own downfall if we do not do something to change our social ills today.

7 comments:

  1. Brit Bennett’s “I Don’t Know What To Do with Good White People,” she confronts the problem that many white people fail in intentions. They simply do kind acts so others view them as a good person and can be “rewarded for their decency.” I believe the best way to remove this problem and improve our nation is to establish a just and simple understanding of culture, race, opinions, and ideas between different states and nations through the world. When a legal conflict arises we should do what our Founding Fathers instructed us to do under the United States Constitution. We must bring the conflict or allegation to court to have a judge and jury review the issue and decided the most just solution or punishment for that conflict. As Americans, we have the right to be social activists and speak on the behalf of our concerns within our nation or world. Many people before have done this in-person or via the internet. Martin Luther King is a great example of one who has taken advantage of their rights. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he responds to his fellow clergymen who have criticized his non-violent fight for each American’s right to equal freedom. He was in a seemingly endless battle to simply improve the unjust nation and had a plan to establish justice for all. He established his plan to be the most reasonable and safe way to end the South’s unjust society. King and many other African Americans stood up against the southern racists through non-violent actions that soon changed our nation for the better. In “Small Change: Why the Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted,” author Malcolm Gladwell explains how the quick rise of the internet has “helped make it easier for the powerless to collaborate, coordinate, and give voice to their concerns” without being physically involved with the movement. The history of teaching the idea to understand and accept others moves us closer to improving our world by setting a successful example of the possibilities.

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  2. What Bennet talks about in "I Don't Know What to Do With Good White People" is exactly why I hate talking about race issues because she constantly begs the question of if racism is still prevalent today and never reaches a true conclusion. She is constantly unsure if either the lady at the airport cut her in line because she was being racist or she truly didn't see her there. Compare that with Martin Luther King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail" where King takes direct action about racism. MLK is world famous for his role in the civil rights movement, he became THE leader for civil rights because he was one of the few people that took direct action. This I believe is the way we can change the world. There has never been any change that's changed the world from people just sitting around in a room talking about racism. If you want to see change happen you have to go out and make it happen.

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  3. "Letter To Birmingham Jail" is thoroughly logical and inspiring. Mr. King outlined all the issues with societies at the time and compared unjust laws to good and just ones. The upsetting realization when one reads this is that not only did these horrible actions and views happen before, but there is still residue of these feelings clinging on to some communities today. Protests were made decades ago for racism to be extinct in America today, so how come some people haven't taken the hint, haven't grasped the knowledge that no being is inferior to another and unfair treatment needs to have ended Yesterday. "I Don't Know What To Do With Good White People " is a personal opinion of Brit Bennet. What it has in common with "The Revolution Wont Be Tweeted" is that they both imply the "activist" is being so passively, not because they truly want to take action for change but because they want to be able to say they "are good people".

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  4. I completely agree with Racheals response. We should all look at each other as people, nothing more, nothing less. If we all could do this seemingly effortless task, then there would not be any violence or racism. after reading "I don't know what to do with good white people," I realized that some good white people see their actions as praise-worthy. When in reality they are just acting and treating each other how they should in the first place. Children are born not seeing color or religion and they make friends with each other with no effort or conflict, it is not until their parents or someone else puts the ideas that other people are different, even bad. If everyone would accept each other and look past color or ethnicity then there would be less violence and less racial tension.

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  5. Racism is a touchy subject to start talking about for me. I constantly think to myself about how lucky I am to have grown up in the generation where we are desegregated and race is not as big of an issue as it was many years ago. Sure things have gotten better, but the problems at hand still exist today. In the article, “I Don’t Know What To do With Good White People,” is good example on how the problem with race still exist. The author explains how people of color constantly have to question if peoples actions are because of someone else’s race. She explains in the article that when the white woman cut her she thought it was because she was black, but then the woman apologized and said she did not see her. Personally I do not understand how the white woman did not see her, I’m more than sure that she is not invisible. A problem that people have today is accepting and letting people walk all over one another instead of standing up for themselves. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” I believe that MLK jr was right all throw his letter. Everything he is explains is what is wrong with people and racism. I believe that if we really want to improve the world we have to really want to do it and take action. No one can sit around and just let it happen. In “Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted,” the author basically explains that social media gives the quiet people an opportunity to have a voice behind the computer. Like I said before though, you have to do something about it to improve what is going on in the world today. You can’t just sit back and voice your opinion. Do something about it.

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  6. "Letter from Birmingham Jail," "Why the Revolution Will Not be Tweeted," and "I Don't Know What to do With Good White People," are very different pieces, however they all call the audience to action. Martin Luther King Jr. emphasizes the equality of all men regardless of race and scrutinizes the injustice of institutionalized racism. Malcolm Gladwell promotes social activism that is actually active beyond the computer screen. Brit Bennet evaluates how people tend to excuse terrible human acts by believing that they had good intentions. Adding the message of each piece together equal an effective way to go about changing our world.To implement change, we must be humbled, knowing that no one is better than anyone else. Once true equality is established people must come together in an organized manner, unified under the same purpose of change, and actively do their part, not just tweet about it. People must also stop making excuses for bad people/acts. To improve our world we have to be able to accept that there is a problem and be willing to confront the problem head on, rather than make excuses or give more chances for redemption. I think America today has become complacent in regards to racial equality. Yes, America eventually abolished slavery, gave African Americans the right to vote, ended segregation, and YES that looks great in our history books, but in reality, black American citizens still suffer greatly from racism.

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  7. This world that we live in, is on the road to destruction. There is so much hatred. There is so much unearned privilege. There is so much biased, and the list extends far beyond what I just mentioned. In our society there is this invisible cloak. This cloak contains the fantasies of this world. Such as gender equality, Rights for gay marriage, racial equality and even economic equality. These are all aspirations that would improve our world immensely if achieved, but the problem is it is never going to happen. History repeats itself time and time again. Rather if it’s good or bad. Desmond Tutu once said “Forgiving is not forgetting; it’s actually remembering--remembering and not using your right to hit back. It’s a second chance for a new beginning. And the remembering part is particularly important. Especially if you don’t want to repeat what happened.” The problem with our world, which is part of my invisible cloak theory is that we like to “forget” bad things that have happened in the past. Therefore we repeat the misdoings that have been brought on to others, in a relentless cycle. If our world learned from our past mistakes than maybe things like the Baltimore riots, would not be happening now. As mentioned in Bennett’s article there are too many stories that start with a young African American versus a white police officer, and end with the death of the African American individual. Resulting in a riot. Like Bennett mentioned Daren Wilson and his non-indictment parallels with the story of Eric Garner, and the list continues. How many lives must be lost in this battle of civil rights? In Mlk’s speech he talks about how Negros were getting prosecuted for reacting to racism in nonviolent manners. This parallels with Gladwell’s passage about the four freshmen in Greensboro who also practiced nonviolent tactics. The problem with all these examples is the message that is being sent to everyone for many generations now. Is if you do peaceful protesting you will be punished, and if you riot you will be punished. You’re damned if you don’t and you’re dammed if you do. My answer is a bit cynical, but I don’t really believe that world has any hope in improving.

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