Affirmative Action

The University of Michigan admits their students based on a point system. It is a very controversial system because applicants who are in a racial minority receive 20 points, when there is a total 150 points. Although many people believe this is not fair to white people because they cannot receive those 20 points, Tim Wise disagrees. This goes back to the idea of White denial. Those 20 points are highlighted and bolded, but no one is looking at the points that are almost impossible for students of color to get based on where they live and the resources they have, "Ten points are awarded to students who attended top-notch high schools, and another eight points are given to students who took an especially demanding AP and honors curriculum"(Tim Wise). Although its possible for blacks to get those points it highly unlikely just based on where they are from. So even though those 20 points seem unfair, no one is commenting on the amount of points that are hard for people of color to get. In California there is a law banning affirmative action for college admission, but now that has been under review because, "the percentage of underrepresented minorities have dropped significantly at UC's most prestigious campuses since Proposition 209 was passed, creating a more hostile environment for those students". This proves that having a system that brings in more diversity will be beneficial to the students in a classroom environment. Having a system set to bring in more diverstiy will just give those students a more equal chance of gettting into those colleges as the white students. As I said before it can connect to the idea of white denial, because white people are not realizing that without a system like this, black people do not have the same equal oppurtunities to be accepted into colleges without have race and background coming into play. If they want the program to be equal having something like a points system to have more diverstiy in a school really is not a problem.

Denial

I read the chapter Denial, in the book "White Like Me" by Tim Wise. In this chapter he discusses how people say all the time that racism is gone, it doesn't exist anymore, but in reality that is just denial about the racism that does exist in our country. It all starts from being white and not wanting to admit there is a problem, because, "If you're white and willing to concede that the system is stacked against people of color, that means it must be stacked in your favor, and to admit that is to open oneself up to all kinds of unproductive guilt and self-recrimination." It is easier to be in denial and say there is no problem when white people are getting all the privileges and having no problems. Once they start to speak out and admit there is an issue,  the issue then becomes bold and out there. It immediately becomes an open issue and if someone triess to ignore it or stray away from it they will, to start, feel guilty, and two, be in the public eye and be seen as a racist, "once a crime is acknowledged, it can't be minimized, smoothed over, essentially made to be no big deal." That is the core idea of denial. Racism is clear all over the place, but if people don't talk about it and act like its not there, they start to believe it actually doesn't exist especially because they don't experience it.

Another part of white denial that is mentioned, is the "Oprah effect". Oprah is an obvious successful black woman. She is a person who extreme left wing David Horowitz uses to try and prove that racism and inequality doesn't exist because she is black and so successful. Yes it is possible to be successful with the right resources and hard work, but just because there are a few exceptions to inequalities again does not mean they don't exist to a huge degree. Wise also makes the point that no matter if you are Oprah Winfrey, or just a black person, their will always be insecurities that somebody is judging you just because of your skin color, "No white person turned away after a store had closed, or given bad customer service, would ever have to consider that perhaps we had been treated that way because of out race".  White people never worry about racism because it has never been a problem for them. That's what makes denial so much easier. They have not experienced it, they don't know what it feels like so they just say that it doesn't exist.

If I Were A Poor Black Kid Response

        When I read the article "If I Were A Poor Black Kid," my initial thought was the question that was brought up in class the other day. The question was, if you had to change from white skin to black skin and you were offered any sum of money for the inconvenience how much money would you ask got? My response was I would ask for enough money to be able to have the same opportunities I have now, no matter my skin color. Like the article said, there are opportunities for everyone, it is just about pursuing those opportunities that stops people. It is easier for color people to get involve with a bad crowd at school or outside of school, then coming home from school and opening their books and pursing all the free options and resourses on the computer. I believe that yes, it will be harder for a black person going to a inner city school, with less resources to prepare one for the next steps in life, but its still possible and the excuses about where your from and who your are, are not enough. The hardest part about doing this, is getting started, because like the author said, "Many of these kids don’t have the brains to figure this out themselves – like my kids.  Except that my kids are just lucky enough to have parents and a well-funded school system around to push them in the right direction." That is the one speed bump, the fact that these kids are not being pushed or motivated to do anything with their lives. most of them do not have parents pushing them to go to college and do good thinsg in their lives, and it seems like the teachers in their schools are letting them know all of the possibly resources out there. The hardest part is they have to do it all on their own. That is something I know I never had to face, and im pretty sure 95% of my school doesn't do it alone either. Even though that is such a simple concept, when a person ahs noone to tell them how proud they are, or to keep them in line, they feel useless, and they go out and get themselves into trouble, because why not? Thats why I believe although its possible for all the things the author said in the article to happen, its not all that likely because these kids are doing it alone.
        After reading other responses to the article, I still feel the same way. I agree with what they say that this is almost unrealistic, but I still dont think its impossible. I think a huge problem in this issue is the discount between blacks and whites. White people write blogs like this with their opinion, might not be true because, yes, they have not experienced living as a black person, and the black people respond like it was the most insulting thing ever that a white person could write something they think is possible. I understand that they do not appriciate people thinking their life could possibly be easier then it is, because then it looks like they arent working as hard as they could. I get the amount of inequality in the world and how much harder it is for black poor people to succeed and get jobs. I get that all. But instead of continuing to complain and become offended about it, why dont they explain it. Until blacks and whites start to get along, and dont view eachother as ignorant (on both sides of the spectrum), there really wont be any change. It takes two sides to make a difference. Not saying that a nice response to an article is really going to make a change, but maybe it will show the author of "If I Were A Poor Black Kid" that what he is saying is not reality. Showing him that and proving it in a respectable way, will maybe change his and others opinions on the matter. I know after reading that response, my opinions didnt change, but i got angry at the way it was written, just like the author of the response got angry at the Forbes article. Its a too way street, people need to start talking and acting different if they want to see change.

Hidden Bias

The results to my race IAT was that I slightly favor European Americans over African Americas. Which means that I have a small hidden bias towards white people. I was completely surprised by these results, although I do not believe I have a hidden bias. One thing that was hard about this test is that it puts you in a distinct rhythm, so without thinking about it you click the letter. When the test changes, its hard to get out of the rhythm right away so the first few words are put into the category that it fit with in the first round. With that said, I don't think this test could really be that accurate. I did read the frequently asked questions, and that question of how accurate the test is because of the rhythm was brought up. They said that it is possible that these are not 100% accurate but for the most part they do show the hidden bias.
I believe that prejudice and stereotypes are around everyone all the time, and those things definitely influence what one believes and feels about a certain subject. Ones environment will influence how the feel about a situation. For example, if someone lives in a predominately white area, like me, they might have a slight or moderate bias towards white people, just because thats what they are around, and accustom to. my environment that I live in my be why my results were the way they were.

I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine #5

Finishing the book, I realized that a lot of these inmates have the capabilities to change. I didn't realize this because they left jail and never came back, some of them did come back, but I realized this from what some of them said. These kids do have things in their life that are more important then breaking the law. Dario who really was a smart kid, found himself in the SHU, which was the "special housing unit, a maximum security isolation block for the worst inmates"(Chura 190). To me this would be the scariest part of the prison. But when David Chura had to go to the SHU to give Dario a english test so he could get his High School diploma if he past, the scariest people there were the workers, not the inmates. These people who were supposed to be the scariest inmates in the jail, were quiet for the hours it took Dario to finish his test. They all wanted him to succeed. One guy named "old Cal" told David Chura, "Smart, too. You tell him I'm gonna keep these guys real quiet for him so he can think"(207). The people in the SHU helped dario pass his test. They worked together like a family. Old Cal saw someone in jail who he didnt believe should be there are he did as much as he can to help get him out and keep him out, because so many of the people in jail could be succesful in the real world. They have the capablities they just need to try their hardest. Some of the inmates are very intellegent and talented that if they used their brains they wouldn't have to be in jail.
I really enjoyed reading this book, because I got the chance to read about real people stories. Real reasons these people are in jail. I learned alot from this book that I would have nevered learned or thought about.

I Don't Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine #4

For the post I want to focus on the idea of loss of innocence because obviously these kids who are in jail loss their innocence in one way or another. Throughout this whole book, I have been meeting different people in jail and reading their story's. The one thing I've been most interested in as how these people made the leap from innocence to committing crimes. For almost all of the people mentioned in the book, they have no had the best childhood. Ranging from their parents being involved in gangs, to their parents dying when they were very young, to being in and out of foster homes. None of that is easy. But their was one kid who everyone went to so he could write their letters to the judge, Eddie. He was not from the ghetto, living pay check to pay check, and involved in a gang, selling drugs. He was from a rich suburb of Scarsdale, and his father was a big lawyer there. One thing from his past that was hard on him was his mother disappearing when he was six. The most interesting thing I read was that he really was not fit for jail, "He had to remember to yank his pants down his butt, not pull them up;to slouch and shuffle when he walked; to curse. And he had to work on not calling out the answers in class or getting interested in a lesson"(Chura 132). He did not lose his innocence because he got caught up with the wrong group of people. Instead he lost his innocence waiting and wishing for his mom to come back, "When he was younger it as as though he was being bad in order to force his mother out of hiding and straighten him out"(Chura 132). Eddie was an intelligent guy who cared about people. He wanted to help the other guys, he listened to them and he cared about their future. He really didn't have much of a place in jail. He knew better, but it almost seemed like he lost himself trying to find his mother. When his mother left and he became old enough to understand, he tried to be someone he was because apart of him was missing. So he sagged his pants and got ready for his future in jail, helping the other inmates out.

I Dont Wish Nobody to Have a Life Like Mine Post #3

The Chapter that im going to write about is titled, "The Things They Carried," which in jail is not much. The things the prisoners were allowed to carry with them inside of jail was nothing they brought with them, they were allowed, "one orange uniform, one pair of slip-on blue canvas sneakers, and an ID"(Chura 105). The prisoners didnt even get their glasses. Besides from the three things they are allowed to have with them in prison, they carry no other tangible objects. It seems that in prison they are not even allowed to carry dignity or a sense of individualism with them. Everyone carried the same three items, in fact everyone looked the same while crrying them. One thing that was impossible to be banned was the idea of carry tattoos. Tattoos could not have been taken away the way peircings were or glasses were. Tattoos were the only difference between the inmates, considering most of the inmates did carry some sort of tattoo with them. Prison is  a place were inmtes do not deserve to carry anything. They lost their chance of this, when they carried to many tangible and intangible objects with them. They carried, drugs, violence, gangs, stolen property, anything illegal a lot of them have once carried. With that, why should they be given freedom to carry anything else when they absued their chance of being their own person. So if the prisons make such a huge statement by letting these inmates have virtually nothing with them, why is it that these inmates will go through so much trouble to get a new tattoo while in prison? The author david chura said, "Whether I agree or not with the DOC, I still flinched whenever a student came into class with his upper arm, the back of his hand shiny with vaseline, a sure sign that a tattoo was freshly done"(108). Yes a tattoo is an expression, and indivdualism, a chance for a person who wishes to express themselvse permenatly on their body to do so, but its also a chance for prisoners to rebel. Yes if they are caught they will most likely just be in jail for a longer period of time, or even go to the state jail, but is that helping the prisoner change? Does David Chura see a change in these kids in jail. To be honest im not sure. He sees troubled kids, still rebelling in prison. After a while maybe they do change just having nothing to carry, nothing to do, nothing to be proud of. But these kids are in prison, just trying to be themselves, and the only way they could do that is rebel, and cause problems. Im not saying that prison isnt the right place for these people, because for a lot of them it is, but are the prisons trying to punish the kids while trying to fix them? Or are they just punishing the kids, not caring if they come back or not?