SumBlog #4

Even though I had a difficult time thinking about a time when I had experience as being privileged I realized when I was younger I experienced a type of privilege. While my sister and I were in elementary school we had a friend who was an African-American girl. She lived fairly close to us so we would all ride the same bus. There wasn’t much racial diversity in our school, in fact there was very little. So I’m not sure if other children weren’t use to or accepting of her but there would be times when we would all be together on the bus or in public and people (mostly other students) would make comments to her in regards to her race or would even give us weird looks as if we shouldn’t have all been hanging out together. Or even be friends for that matter.. Although I always felt terrible for her because of the comments her and her brother would receive I also felt very fortunate because that wasn’t something I had experienced. She would constantly tell us how upset she would become but it was hard to truly know what she was dealing with because my sister and I have never had those negative experiences.

 

I wish that children didn’t even pay attention to others race – I know that is a pretty big wish but I feel that as they would get older they would be able to teach their children and so on that race doesn’t matter. I don’t know why there needs to be so many negative stereotypes and it is very sad that children can pick up on them.

 

With all of that being said, those situations reminded me about a documentary I had watched in one of my other classes. We watched a documentary from CNN which showed how children view race (which I have the link below and it is about 10 minutes). I was very surprised because of how recent this documentary was (2012) and that these bigger racial issues still seem to be problems within the schools. I know racism still exists but since society is slowly changing I wish that would be something that would change too. Most people truly don’t know how good they got it unless they have experienced a situation similar to what minorities may have. It is so sad to see how young children can be to experience and even partake in racial discrimination. I hope that things will continue to change

 

http://youtu.be/TC1nRepRSxo

 

Religion - SumBlog #3

The material that stood out the most to me in class this week was our discussion of religion and the Westboro Baptist Church. When we were asked to think about whether or not we are a Christian nation I debated that answer in my mind. I agreed mostly that our nation had quite a few Christian practices such as sayings like “in God we trust, God bless America, one nation under God” etc. There may be individuals who aren’t Christian but still may say those things. I know of individuals who aren’t Christian but still respect those sayings unlike the Westboro Baptist members.

I found the film of the Westboro Baptist Church very hard to watch. I found it so difficult because those individuals are so different from majority of the public. They don’t respect other religions because they believe the Westboro Baptist religion is the only correct religion. I understand that each religion is different from one another and may have different believes. I also understand that each individual has a right to believe what they want. However, in my opinion, this religion is difficult to understand. They have their believes and when they were asked why they believe what they do, it seemed as though they always answered with saying everyone else not in their religion was wrong and they are doing what God wants. It didn’t seem as if they had a clear cut answer.

I am confused with the Westboro Baptist religion because their views are opposite from some other religions. I know different religions that practice and preach different topics but overall those religions seem more similar than different, whereas the Westboro Baptist religion is so different. Even though people have different religions which may appear similar, individuals usually act in a more professional and appropriate manner while discussing their views. It was frustrating to hear that members of the Westboro Baptist community wouldn’t even listen to a different individual’s point of view without criticizing them.

I also had a hard time accepting the fact that they would throw flags to the ground and sing songs that represent America in a horrible way. Since I have been young it has always been known that one should never let the flag touch the ground and as Americans we show support and pride towards our country. In my opinion, it almost seemed as though members of the Westboro Baptist religion weren’t American by their actions. It was also very frustrating to see those individuals have signs which had messages indicating negative comments about dead soldiers. Again, as Americans we tend to be proud of our military members for all of their support. I can’t believe Westboro Baptist individuals didn’t respect the military and constantly wished for more dead soldiers. The video below stated their wishes for dead military members.

 

http://youtu.be/k56_o9XRQFQ

Disabilities - Sum Blog #2

 

            In class last week we discussed the topic of disabilities. The idea that stuck out the most to me was the statement saying “a different sort of normal.” I agree with that statement and found it to be very interesting. I have never thought of disabilities in that way. I have always thought (probably due to the social norms) that individuals who are disabled are different from me. There are some cases of disabilities that may be more severe and those individuals who have a more severe form of disability may need to be cared for. I say this because I have an aunt who is thirty-seven years old and is completely disabled. She lives in a home in which providers are caring for her twenty-four hours a day. Obviously, this is a situation in which she is different from me.

There are other individuals who have less severe disabilities. For example, an individual with a disability may look or sound different but in reality no two people are alike. Just because an individual may look or sound different doesn’t mean they have a different lifestyle. However, just because they may have that small difference doesn’t mean the individuals with a disability aren’t normal.

The short video clip below informs the public of individuals with Down’s Syndrome who share experiences that any person could relate to.

 

http://youtu.be/-cA3t1HW1Ow

 

            As you can see, the individuals in this video clip talked about everyday lifestyle choices that they enjoy and look forward to just as non-disabled individuals would. Just because of their speech pattern some individuals may think that individuals with Down’s Syndrome aren’t able to live on their own or perform everyday tasks. Those individuals enjoy some of the same hobbies that non-disabled individuals would. In the clip you see that one of the ladies is enrolled in college and has dreams to be successful just like anyone else.