Social Justice Reflection Paper

“Someone once asked me how I hold my head up so high after all I have been through. I said it’s because no matter what, I am a survivor. Not a victim” (Patricia Buckley). In the article “The Color of Success”, the book The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, and the Montgomery bus boycott all have something in common; they all have someone who refused to play the part of a victim. In “The Color of Success” written by Eric Watts talks about how he was not taken seriously as an African American man because he acted too white.

This knowledge of major themes, racism, and stereotypes the author entails in the beginning of the novel helps the reader presume judgement on future encounters the narrator

Martinsville had been suggested to be an all-white town that had known KKK organizations. Therefore, when police investigated the murder, they saw finding the murderer to be an unimportant task due to the color of Carol Jenkins. They also saw no reason to find a murderer because they assumed the murdered to be white and were trying to be lenient of the situation. 4.)

I never heard the name George Washington Williams until this very class, and I find that discouraging, to be honest. George Washington Williams was a well-educated man. During the time George Washington Williams had the most influence, was a time of deep oppression and racism toward the Black community. People actually believed that these African Americans did not possess any social or intellectual qualities that would make them writers of substance. (Franklin, 1978).

Rosa Parks was the first African American

We all wish it was not. But it’s a lie. I came from a country where race was not an issue; I did not think of myself as black and I only became black when I came to America. When you are black in America and you fall in love with a white person, race doesn’t matter when you’re alone together because it’s just you and your love.

How I feel Marginalized: I have never been part of the “in-crowd” due to a plethora of reasons. In fact, I have continuously gotten “INTJ” (introversion, intuition, thinking, judgment) on the Myers-Briggs test, if that is to be taken seriously. This has only manifested itself as an issue for me in college, since attending a large public university is not inherently the easiest place for an introverted individual like myself to meet people and make friends. At the same time, I consider myself to be highly independent and non-conformist, two character traits that quickly eliminate any possibility of me joining a social group, such as a sorority.

According to source C, When the railroad testified in court they said the segregated train cars were the same. However, the railroad did not back this up with any evidence so you can not be sure it is true. Also, looking at other segregated areas the train cars must have been worse if you compare it to bathrooms and water fountains for blacks. According to source A, buses were very segregated deep in the south. Rosa Parks does not give up her seat to a white person and arrested just for not giving up her seat, the back of the bus is also rarely cleaned and the seats are closer together which gives little leg room for the people.

They blamed themselves for losing the new feeling; they never talked about it, but they blamed themselves just like they blamed themselves for losing the land the white people took. They never thought to blame the white people for any of it; they wanted white people for their friends. They never saw that it was the white people who gave them that feeling and it was the white people who took it away again when the war was over” (Silko 39). Additionally, in Persepolis Marji has a hard time adapting to the new violent environment due to the war.

For instance, during my education life in the school, I got high grades lessons in most cases and attributed it to my great skills. However, when I got bad grades I started to blame teachers that they had bad cratering criteria or did not evaluate me fairly. After studying the Social Psychology course and knowing it is analyzed by Psychology science, I realized that it is not appropriate excuse for negative event to blame others in order avoid your own responsibility. Moreover, when I play PlayStation games especially football game with my friends I always attribute my achievements to my special abilities, and it make me boost my confidence unnecessarily. On the other hand, when I lose I start to say that PlayStation joystick (controller) is broken or not working.

Race wasn 't a prevailing theme on Cilvia Demo, though “Ronnie Drake” had some lines about race that stood out to me: “So don’t call me a nigga, unless you call me 'my nigga '” and “Hope they don’t kill you ’cause you black today.” In the wake of Eric Garner and Mike Brown 's deaths, do you find yourself writing more about race lately? I never thought about writing about race, really. I didn’t write “Ronnie Drake” to be politically correct at that time.

Whites are privileged because we are seen as the average American. We do not get second glances, because nobody suspects we are doing anything but living our lives. Though since we are not subject to this intense scrutiny we do not realize that we in turn do this to African Americans, just simply living their daily lives as well. McIntosh (1988) points out that she repeatedly forgot each of the realizations on this list until I wrote it down. For me white privilege has turned out to be an elusive and fugitive subject.

The title of “Emerging Scholars” was given to a group of ethnic individuals with varying backgrounds that made them struggle, but ultimately, the students were strong enough to achieve what they had always wanted, a promising future. A required reading for these students enrolled in the University of Massachusetts’ 190R class was titled The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler, a book reminiscing numerous sociological books that are composed of a series of interviews for the sake of proving/disproving a theory. The theory this time was how the poor are not always unemployed and are still struggling in America in numerous different ways, in home life, health, education and more. There were many daunting tales told in Shipler’s

I came to a higher understanding of the importance of respecting someone’s culture and heritage after reading this week’s assignments. Unfortunately, the ignorance around us does not allow us to visualize the harm cause on Native Americans. For instance, I am no sports fan but have seen the logos and mascots of many teams in which American Indian’s figures and languages are used. It was not until today that I sympathize with many American Indians who are offended with those images and slangs. My ignorance was not as a participant in this behavior but of an individual unaware of the situation.

Being a white teenager and going to a primarily white school, it was a peculiar feeling to be the minority, the odd one out. It shaped my view on the world entirely. The diversity there was refreshing and welcome. I had never thought of diversity as inferior, but rather it never occurred to me how many different ideas came from a more diverse group of people.