Blog #7

               I think, above all, that this trip has taught me how prevalent racism and segregation still are today. There were so many disturbing things about racism in the south that really hit home with me. Seeing pictures of happy slaves made me think that southern students are taught differently about the civil war than we are. Additionally seeing how many people still took pride in the confederate army really opened my eyes. Last but not least, hearing the stories of segregation in schools and fraternities/sororities was extremely troubling. 

            Although it’s easy to point my finger at the south and say how bad racism is there, this trip also made me open my eyes to the injustices all around me. Knowing that Hmong students were recently singled out on our campus, and that Eau Claire is a hub for sex trafficking, makes it obvious that there’s still a lot of work to do in our community. In order to make a change I will no longer be a silent bystander when I return to Eau Claire. Every slur I hear will be an opportunity to teach someone about the injustices behind that slur. I will fight for equal opportunities for all people, and check myself whenever I experience internal racism. Additionally, I will be engaged and informed about the world around me. I will use my citizenship to bring about systemic change and support causes that advocate for it.  

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Blog #6

            Today I would like to talk about the blatant discrepancies in education that took place in Little Rock, Arkansas.  We learned a lot about the preceding events that led to the Little Rock nine integrating into Little Rock Central High. When Little Rock Central High was built, another school for African American students was also built. However, the “black” school, was 1/3 the size of Little Rock Central High and it’s teachers were paid a fraction of what the white teachers made. Additionally it did not have the same technology or learning resources as the “white” school. When the Supreme Court ordered the integration of public schools, the Little Rock school board surveyed the interest of the African American students and got an overwhelming response. In order to limit the number of African American students who would integrate, the school board put restrictions on their offer. The students who decided to integrate could not participate in sports or any other after school activity. Henceforth, the students who decided to stay at the “black” school were getting a lower quality education because of their lack of school funding, and the students who decided to integrate were also getting a lower quality education because they couldn’t explore their interests in clubs or sports. Education is the most important component to success, and we can’t expect people to be successful unless they’re given an equal education as their peers.

            In order to make social change it’s imperative that you are engaged in politics. To put it frankly, you can’t achieve systemic change without changing the laws that the system follows. Although this may sound daunting, this does not mean that the only way to achieve social justice is to become a politician. In order to promote social justice an engaged citizen can do many things. They can “vote with their dollar” and only shop at companies they support. They can vote in elections, and write letters to their representative. They can challenge laws they don’t agree with and take a stand. Systemic racism will not change unless engaged citizens force it to change.  

Blog #5

           I think a major difference between New Orleans and other southern cities is their history of slavery. The French (who first populated New Orleans) learned early on that it’s better to have loyal servants than fearful slaves. Also, the type of work needed in New Orleans was different than the plantation type of work. New Orleans needed handymen to build the city, and the slaves were very skilled craftsmen. The slaves living in New Orleans had better living conditions (only when compared to plantation slaves) and were able to do more things.

            We learned during the bus tour that slaves in New Orleans would sometimes have weekends free and they were able to congregate and play music and dance. This was a stark difference to the lives of slaves who worked on plantations. Many of the plantation owners knew that the slaves could communicate using drum beats across long distances, but in New Orleans they were able to express themselves freely during those weekend gatherings. Additionally if other people wanted to hire the slaves during the weekend, both the slave and the slave owner would take a cut of the profit. Plantation slaves were never paid for their work, so this is a big difference as well.

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Blog #4

           I chose to upload a photo that represents the problem of segregation in the schools of Selma. I was very surprised to find that Selma’s private school only consists of 1% minority students, whereas the public school consists of 99% minority students. Not only are their schools not integrated, they’re not even desegregated.  When we watched the RATCO documentary, we learned that, for many of the kids, RATCO is the only time when they play with kids of a different skin color. How sad is it that in 2015 it’s still acceptable to have schools that are so blatantly segregated.

            I’ve had interesting experiences with school integration in my hometown. In Eagan, the elementary school you go to depends on where you live. My elementary school encompassed a lower-income neighborhood and had a much larger percentage of minorities than the surrounding schools. I never thought anything of it until I went to middle school and heard everyone refer to my elementary school as “ghetto”.  My elementary school received the exact funding that the other schools received, and was the exact same model as the others, but the only difference that mine had more minorities.

             Additionally a couple years after I’d left the elementary school, the district was getting into legal trouble because of the radical concentration of all the minorities in a single school. Instead of trying to do a better job at integrating the schools, the district had a different idea. They converted my elementary school into a “magnet school” which meant, legally, it could have a larger number of minorities than the other schools in the area. Racial segregation is present in many different forms all over America.

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Day 1
Every time that Hollywood makes a movie based on a true story, it is important to watch it critically, and see whose story is being told and whose is being left out.  While I greatly enjoyed the movie Selma there are many inaccuracies and people who were not represented.  I think it is necessary to realize with any movie that is made, it is going to be based around a main character.  Selma is no acceptation.  Martin Luther King Jr. was an incredible man who made large strides in the Civil Rights Movement; however, so many others were crucial in aiding him along the way.  The movie did talk a little about others who helped King along the way.  For example they included some of the struggles Coretta Scott King experienced.  It is important to remember that there were so many other people who made the march happen, behind the scenes, and many foot soldiers.  Without these people supporting King and other famous leaders they would have never been able to accomplish all the great things that were done.  I think it is a problem when movies leave other important members out, because many people now a days get their information from media and film, and if someone is not represented they may never know all the great work they did.  Selma like other movies also portrays historical inaccuracies to make the move more dramatic.  For example in the movie Jimmy Lee Jackson was killed by police and died right there, while he was protecting his mother and grandfather.  In reality Jimmy didn’t die until several days later and went back out on the streets that night to protest.  Hollywood chose to change that scene in order to create emotion and drama, but we must realize as viewers that this scene, as well as others, is not accurate.  Another example is the entire relationship between the president and Martin Luther King Jr.  They have a conflicting relationship in the movie but what actually happened was Johnson supported King and wanted to help him in his work with Civil Rights.  Movies are wonderful and it is a great way to shine light on important points in history, but as viewers we must critically consume media and look into both sides in order to obtain accurate and knowledgeable information.

Photo-(Frank Dandridge/Getty Images; Atsushi Nishijima)