Diversity on Campus, and a Cabbage Patch Quandry

so i went to my diversity event tonight... it fuckin rocked out loud... some people thought it wasnt that great but it got the point across... ill talk about it in class tommorow...be there or be square :)

then i had a cabbage patch problem at work.... im sure we all know cabbage patch kids are the little dolls that you can customize to be like you, or find to look like you, and they can be "adopted" and they have names and birthdays and stuff.... yeah... those...

well at work amber and i had to rearrange the toys to make them look neater, so we decided to make a cabbage patch tree on the floor, you know... you put them in a circle and stack them in circles that get progressively smaller? we knew that his would be an issue if somebody wanted a particular one from the middle, soooo we decided to sort the dolls so one of each kind could be reached from the outside so there wouldn't be too many initial issues...

the sorting astounded me, there were 7 different kinds of dolls that we found... the tally stood at: Group 1: Caucasian Females with Pink Highlights (18) Group 2: Caucasian Females with Blue Highlights (17) Group 3: African American Girls with Pink Highlights (3) Group 4: African American Girls with Blue Highlights (2) Group 5: African American Boys (3) Group 6: Caucasian Boys (2) and Group 7: Oriental Boys (1).... interesting isn't it? people think that kids dont want boy dolls or dolls of different nationalities.... there were no oriental girls... all of the boys had blue highlights... there were no "girly" boys.... all of the girl dolls had t shirts on that said "Pirates Rock" and the boys had shirts that said "I love the Cabbage Patch"....

I actually suggested the sorting after I heard about the doll test that was done in classes during Brown vs. Board... I'd heard about it in the book, but i figured hell im going to be stacking dolls i might as well learn something... what i learned is that we need more dolls of different nationalities, and for gods sake get some boys in there! boy dolls need love too!

ok thats my bit....

Yet Another Talking Point on Kliewer

Christopher Kliewer and "Schooling Children With Down Syndrome"

This article is about:

• building better communication with disabled students
• how disabled students interact with thier teachers and their peers
• how many of the things practiced at home or for leisure can be incorporated into teaching for disabled students
• how some teachers are able to adapt to a student's individual needs
• how America is scared to help the disabled and how they are prejudiced from the get-go about how disabled people look and act

Author's Arguement:

Kliewer argues that America needs to become more accepting of the disabled in our community and that the prejudices held against them need to be broken down.

Evidence:

1. "Success in life requires an ability to form relationships with others who make up the web of community." (73) Our community is very diverse and one can only consider themselves a full member of that community if they are willing to work with others who are similar and different to them.

2. "They didn't think it was realistic, that she could handle that job. Here they have her educating America's future, but they're scared to let her work at a movie place." (78) People freaked out about letting a girl with Down Syndrome work at a movie rental place, but they had her teaching little kids.... something is ass backwards about their opinion.... she's able to do either if she really wants to, but for them to be like all freaked out... thats bull..... sorry... more of this will come in the comments section...

3. "So I guess what I'm arguing is that if you did pick Lee out, you wouldn't be seeing Lee. It's not Lee you're picking out. It's your stereotype, your mind-set. It's you, and it has nothing to do with Lee. But if that's how you choose to see him, I don't know that anything I could do, we could do, I don't think there's anything Lee could do to change your mind." (84) Because of obvious features and stereotypes given to the disabled over time, people think what they see is what they get.... however they don't actually see the real person... and their unique abilities...

Comments:

Ahhhhh another current issue that pisses me off... the prejudice against the disabled... mentally, physically, any type of disability really.... its sickening. Yeah... people see somebody with Down Syndrome and immediately believe that they are too different from the rest of us to be worth anything. I can tell you that I have an uncle with Down Syndrome, and I have worked with kids who have Down Syndrome, hell.... I've worked with kids with Cerebral Palsy, with Autism, with Aspbergers... hearing impairments, sight impairments... these kids are no different then any other child. And in the article where it was talking about "the man" freaking cuz of Anne who wanted to be a movie director trying to get a job at a movie rental store... dude what the hells your problem??? im surprised you're not freaking out about her working with your children (whoever you are), you know... with the age old addage about "oh theyll catch their stupid"... that pisses me off too.... stupid people leading stupid lives i suppose...... even something as awesome as the special olympics was ruined with the movie "The Ringer"... as good of a movie as it was... showing that a "normal" guy can infiltrate and steal something like that away from these kids is disgusting... even if the special olympians accepted him, its rediculous that somebody would bet on something like that. i realize i have been deviating from the article and stuff but i've had a very pissy week and all these rediculous articles about stupid people leading their stupid lives only make it worse.......

OMG THAT LADY WAS NUTTY AS A BABY RUTH!!!

holy god that movie today in class was freakin sweet!!! its about time people were shown what its like to feel inferior... and that screaming bitch chick who refused to apologize will be the first person at that event labled as a racist because she just didnt freakin get it. even the first girl that cried eventually figured out why the lady was being so rude... and what she said was bogus... "im sorry theres racism"... thats rediculous. the whole excercise was supposed to premote the fact that for once what hitler deemed the elite race of the "blue eyed people" would switch with those who suffered on a daily basis. unless your michael jackson or filthy rich... you cant change your skin color. and you know what... people should have to, nor want to. like the one african american student said he is proud of his heritage and he has every right to be. the point of the students with blue eyes wearing the green colors was basically to prove that when they left the room they could "take off" the oppression they had been feeling, again, people of color and homosexuals and any other type of discriminated person on earth cannot. some of the people in the blue eyed group appeared to be the types of individuals who are usually quiet, and as delpit would put it, the people in power are the ones least aware of it. think about it... how often has a blue eyed blond haired person been picked on? unless they are extremely nerdy looking, or gothic (in which they would dye their hair im sure) they probably never have been.... i even remember being envious and wishing i had blue eyes at one point in my life, and then theres the book "the bluest eye" where the young african american girl wishes for blue eyes. its sickening how some people are envied... even the extremely rich slutty mcwhorebags like Paris Hilton, or Britney the mother from hell... or Lindsey Lohan.... the child star turned drunken princess.... why do people look up to them???? why does anybody look up to anybody when EVERYBODY has flaws of their own??? look at me!! im a total bitch when it comes to stuff like this, and i am absolutely critical about my own appearance, but i do not hold myself to be superior to anybody else... not anymore... college was a culture shock that knocked the "smart kid superior" out of me... thats for damn sure... if only the entire world had that culture shock... maybe the world would be a better place... just like when we were talking about brown versus board.... the way that grown adults handled themselves was disgusting.... watch hairspray.... youll figure it out... i would love to shake that womans hand.

Talking Points on Lawrence

"One More River to Cross"-Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown: A Prerequisit to Shaping New Remedies by Charles Lawrence

This Article is About:

• How Brown only succeeeded in injuring the view of minority individuals further
• How constitutional violations are more the focus of Brown
• How desegregation is not the only step we need to take
• How schools do not properly prepare minority students for a life after high school

Author's Arguement:
Charles Lawrence argues that the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education was more of a hindrance than a help to the minority students in America. It has placed them in an entirely different category than they had originally been in.

Evidence:

1. "In short, segregation American-style, like South African apartheid, has only one purpose: to creat and maintain a permanant lower class or subcaste defined as race." (pg. 282) Basically, although racism existed because of segregation, racism existed after, it was just seen differently.
2. "...Burger only found constitutional violations within the city of Detroit and, therefore, limited the remedy to that geographic location." (pg. 286) Instead of fixing various problems nationwide... the problems are only fixed in the specific areas in which they are discovered. This needs to change.
3. "Following the rule that the remedy must match the injury, judges have ordered that schools be desegregated if there has been evidence of school segregation, that Blacks be given access to housing if there has been proof of discriminatory real estate practices, that Blacks be given jobs if there is sufficient evidence of discriminatory employment practices, and that states that have engaged in practices denying Blacks the vote cease and deisst from engaging in those practices." (pg. 287) Rules are put out... but not necessarily enforced.

Comments:

This article was so boring, so this comment section will probably be the shortest ever.... I skimmed the article looking for important quotes and points... and I still don't feel like I learned much. It was repetative... I got the idea that desegregation was bad in the sense that it created a whole new class of minority... but I got that idea in the first page... so the rest of the article killed me..... so yeah... I thought this was really boring.... but I can connect this to Delpit because the Caucasian people in power over this case were oblivious to the facts.... they were using thier power to "help" but did not foresee the consequences.....

Talking Points Number Whatever on Oakes

Tracking: Why Schools Need to Take Another Route by: Jeannie Oakes

This article is about:

• lumping students together
• the effects of putting students in certain groups or out of them
• the privileges displayed by the groups of "smarter kids"
• the uncertainty over which side to take, the lumping side or the integrator side
• what to do instead of lumping kids together
• how to teach kids so that they get the full benefit of their education

Author's Arguement:
Oakes argues that choosing sides between lumping students and integrating students is a hard decision to make, because both sides have their pros and cons.

Evidence:

1. "On one side of the issue, many educators and parents asser that when schools group by ability, teachers are better able to target individual needs and students will learn more." (pg. 178) Basically, if the same skill levels are put together teachers can pinpoint problem areas more easily.

2. "On the other side, growing numbers of school professionals and parents oppose tracking because they believe it locks most students into classes where they are stereotyped as "less able," and where they have fewer opportunities." (pg. 178) The counter arguement where many parents believe their kids are being left out.

3. "...students who are placed in high-ability groups have access to far richer schooling experiances than other students." (pg. 178) The misconception that some kids are missing out...

Comments from the Peanut Gallery:
Ok.... soooooo coming from an honors class life... I can say EHHHHHHHH WRONG..... on a lot of these comments..... yeah.... lets begin with that...

I did not feel privileged, and I did not feel like I was being pushed to "prepare for college". I barely ever had homework, and the work wasn't stimulating. I felt smart there... but I got to college and felt stupid because I was not at all prepared for what was coming to me. And there is no way that I can argue that college kids were prepped for like... Ivy League and top colleges.. because our valedictorian was rejected from Brown University because they were "looking for more private school kids"... so how is that for privilege? Our valedictorian had straight A+'s from 6th grade to senior year.... they checked..... she was a freak.... and she got rejected...

Yeah you had your people who thought they were special.... there was one girl who was in the AP level classes, and she busted our balls all the time because we weren't applying to Ivy League colleges. She thought it was disgraceful that some of us applied to community colleges or state colleges just because they "had the better choices for our majors"... she didn't believe in that...

Being in honors classes didn't make you do well on your college prep exams either.... I did horrible on my SAT's both times that I took them.... some people just don't test well.... funny thing is i got close to top scores on my PPST's... weird......

I don't have much else to say on this one.... but this article irked me... cuz it brought me back to those senior year days when everyone is freaking about entrance exams..... i told the story about my friend who had the seizure cuz of it... yeah... thats what it does to people....

Also, when you finally do put kids together disregarding personal abilities, its traumatic.... my brothers high school did away with levels this year... the kids are all screwed up... as are the teachers.... my brother feels stupid because he isn't in his comfort zone anymore. It's really not fair to those kids who want to try, but are constantly overshadowed by the fact that there are kids vastly more abundant in knowledge then they are...... I find that depressing... You don't know the problems with this stuff til you finally do it.... then it's too late...

Yet Another Life Connection...

you know... i vowed to never ever ever ever EVER use Delpit's name outside of the classroom... but i feel like i have too... Delpit states that the people with power are usually oblivious to its existance... this can be said with cops.... seriously...

i look up to law enforcement, and i believe in the idea of justice, but how far is too far for treatment of criminals and rule breakers??? i was watching COPS tonight (don't ask me why... I like the theme song.... bad boys bad boys.... whatcha gonna do? lol :) ) and every single case of criminal activity, the person was tasored..... now im all for punishment... but tasoring to me is like.... the electric chair... its cruel and unusual... pepper spray works just as well... for one thing, the little prods or hooks at the end of the tasor can become dislodged from the object and they can be stuck in peoples clothing or skin... duh... a health risk if not found... besides the fact that about 15,000 volts of electricity are pulsing through a being that is 75% water.... umm... hello? electricity vs. water equals big ZZZZAAAAPPPPPPP....

then i think we all know about the college student that raised his voice at a john kerry assembly at his school, who was tasored for speaking out and arguing a point during the Q and A session... just because he wanted to be a little bit of a hell raiser, and to bring about questions that maybe could have used a debate or an answer, does not give the cops the right to bring down a student and tasor him repeatedly... he did appologize for his actions on national television, but has no one realized that since the tasor was introduced into law enforcement it has been used more and more??? how did we cope without tasors??? do these cops realize what they are doing to people when they use this instrument of torture???

and how about those pellet guns that cops have??? when used to stop a riot (well not really a riot but a rowdy gathering) after the first red sox world series win since the Bambino's curse, one lady was hit in the eye and killed... how much more unnecessary pain and death must be caused because these "keepers of the peace" have the tools capable of causing it???? what the hell is wrong with society??? the cops dont even seem to realize what they are doing to these people... they just know they are doing it.... and they dont give a damn.... people look up to them..... but yet they are truly encouraging violence in thier own practices....

oh oh oh i had a moment!!!!!!!!!!!!

so we were allowed to dress up at work for halloween, i was suped... so i stole my younger brothers boyscout uniform. wow... the people shopping at kohls were funny... i had stuffed my hair up inside the hat for a majority of the time, and at one point this couple (a homosexual female couple, which i found quite astounding, not the orientation, but the situation that happened) was in my department and I asked them if they needed help, to which they responded that they were all set, and walked away at a rather brisk pace. A few minutes later I was paged over the intercom to help a couple in the boys section, when I got there it was the same couple... so I approached them (yes I had my name tag on, but I had put a piece of tape over the usual "Jessica C" and written "Jesse") and they gave me a strange look. "We were told a young lady would be here to help us..." In my head I was thinking "Do you wanna see my bra?" but of course I would never say that being the good little sales associate that I am... so instead I responded "Yes, that would be me..." and shook my hair out of my hat so they could see that I was in fact a female... kinda funny seeing as I wore olive green eye shadow and black mascara so that my eyes would stand out as feminine... they were even more bothered by this it seemed because they said that they had changed their mind and walked away.
even after that, I went into the bathroom to make sure that my drawn on cuts and scrapes (yes I was the beat up boyscout...) were still intact and to make sure I had not gotten anything on my brothers uniform. A lady washing her hands at the sink asked me if I was in the wrong room... I turned to her and responded... no I'm in the right one... again, took off my hat... and watched as she said "Oh my God" and walk out without drying her hands....
Later that night I also had a young man approach me and say:
"I saw you walking from behind and realized that it was not a dude" (yes he said 'It')
"No, IT is not a dude, IT is a female."
"Oh... so are you really a boyscout?"
"No, I stole the uniform from my brother for the night..."
"Oh... do you do that often?"
and I left it at that... wow... amusing...
So I guess the point is that even though it was Halloween, and people are usually dressed up on Halloween, people still get freaked out over little things like that... funny isn't it... that was my night of tapping the glass....