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kady
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 16:25
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Like millions of Americans, I am a sheltered American. I have never been outside the borders of the United States. Here, at OTF, I am at least partially able to connect with people of different nationalities and learn about other cultures. And, in doing so, it has provided me a glimpse of how I (and millions of others) have been instilled with beliefs and stereotypes that are falsely based on things which we do not fully understand.
I had the day off. I was bored. Kady and bored is like handing the souls of every human being over to the devil. It's just not good.
Luckily, I was able to find something productive to do. While going through all my old college textbooks, I found a book titled, Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching For Equity and Justice. This was one of those required readings for my elementary education degree that I never completed. Actually, I don't even think I read this book.
I read it today, though.
I thought I should share some of the content.
WARNING: Some of these posts contain some pretty heavy material, even though I've edited most so they do not violate the prime directives. Don't read if your feeling sensitive.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 16:30
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Lions
By Langston Hughes
Lions in zoos
Shut up in a cage
Live a life of smothered rage.
Lions in the forest
Roaming free
Are happy as ever
Lions can be.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 16:34
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what the mirror said
By Lucille Clifton
listen,
you a wonder.
you a city
of a woman.
you got a geography
of your own.
listen,
somebody need a map
to understand you.
somebody need directions
to move around you.
listen,
woman,
you not a noplace
anonymous
girl;
mister with his hands on you
he got his hands on
some
body!
****(edited to comply with the PDs)
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 16:54
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Forgiving My Father
By Justin Morris
I'd like to forgive you father,
but I don't know your heart.
Your face,
is it a mirror image of mine?
I'd like to forgive you father,
but I find your absence a fire
that your face might be able to extinguish.
I'd like to forgive you father, but my last name isn't
the same as yours
like it's supposed to be.
You rejected me, dad,
but can I sympathize for your ignorance?
For all the birthdays
you didn't send me a card,
for the Christmasses
when I'd wake up,
and you weren't sitting by the tree waiting for me.
What about the summer nights
where prospects of you began to fade?
Fade like you did 17 years ago.
Out of my life.
I'd like to forgive you father,
but I don't know you.
And for that
I hate you.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 1 Nov 2006 17:42
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Two Women
This poem was written by a working-class Chilean woman in 1973, shortly after Chile's socialist president, Salivador Allende, was overthrown. A U.S. missionary translated the work and brought it with her when she was forced to leave Chile. This is to be read by two people, one reading the bold-faced type and one reading the regular- type.
I am a woman.
I am a woman.
I am a woman born of a woman whose man owned a factory.
I am a woman born of a woman whose man labored in a factory.
I am a woman whose man wore silk suits, who constantly watched his weight.
I am a woman whose man wore tattered clothing, whose heart was constantly strangled by hunger.
I am a woman who watched two babies grow into beautiful children.
I am a woman who watched two babies die because there was no milk.
I am a woman who watched twins grow into popular college students with summers abroad.
I am a woman who watched three children grow, but with bellies stretched from no food.
But then there was a man;
But then there was a man;
And he talked about the peasants getting richer by my family getting poorer.
And he told me of days that would be better, and he made the days better.
We had to eat rice.
We had rice.
We had to eat beans!
We had beans.
My children were no longer given summer visas to Europe.
My children no longer creid themselves to sleep.
And I felt like a peasant.
And I felt like a woman.
A peasant with a dull, hard, unexciting life.
Like a woman with a life that sometimes allowed a song.
And I saw a man.
And I saw a man.
And together we began to plot with the hope of the return to freedom.
I saw his heart begin to beat with hope of freedom, at last.
Someday, the return to freedom.
Someday freedom.
And then,
But then,
One day,
One day,
There were planes overhead and guns firing close by.
There were planes overhead and guns firing in the distance.
I gathered my children and went home.
I gathered my children and ran.
And the guns moved farther and farther away.
But the guns moved closer and closer.
And then, they announced that freedom had been restored!
And then the came, young boys really.
They came into my home along with my man.
They came and found my man,
Those men who money was almost gone.
They found all of the men whose lives were almost their own.
And we all had drinks to celebrate.
And they shot them all.
The most wonderful martinis.
They shot my man.
And then they asked us to dance.
And they came for me.
Me.
For me, the woman.
And my sisters.
For my sisters.
And then they took us.
Then they took us.
They took us to dinner at a small, private club.
They stripped from us the dignity we had gained.
And they treated us to beef.
And then they raped us.
It was one course after another.
One after another they came after us.
We nearly burst we were so full.
Lunging, plunging-- sisters bleeding, sisters dying.
It was magnificent to be free again!
It was hardly a relief to have survived.
The beans have almost disappeared now.
The beans have disappeared.
The rice-- I've replaced it with chicken or steak.
The rice, I cannot find it.
And the parties continue night after night to make up for all the time wasted.
And my silent tears are joined once more by the midnight cries of my children.
And I feel like a woman again.
They say, I am a woman.
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teekay
Member
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# Posted: 2 Nov 2006 10:29
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Thank you. Especially for the last one. Thanks.
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 2 Nov 2006 15:02
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How cheerful.  
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jedimkypd
Member
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# Posted: 2 Nov 2006 15:42
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Wow....thanks. Really.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2006 06:32
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Grr. There *are* better ones, it's just that I have a very short attention span and these short ones were the easiest to type and post. Actually, there are good ones like the article that delves into the stereotypes of the fairy tales that we were told as children. I just haven't gotten around to posting it yet.
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cellucci2
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2006 06:53
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For once, I don't know what to say, other then, WOW
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fat_man
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2006 09:15
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I actually recognise the Last one you posted.
The two Women one was used by some people I know at the drama club, its a shame its not used more often.
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monny
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2006 09:18
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Thanks Kady!
The two women poem really puts some things into perspective.
I had never read it before.
Good luck with your quest for more multicultural learning. 
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2006 10:52
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See? This is why people should study anthropology! It IS good for something! Hah!
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 3 Nov 2006 14:07
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Unlearning The Myths That Bind Us: Critiquing Fairy Tales and Films
By Linda Christensen
I was nourished on the milk of American culture: I cleaned the dwarves’ house and waited for Prince Charming to bring me life; I played Minnie Mouse to Mickey’s flower-bearing adoration, and later, I swooned in Rhett Butler’s arms—my waist as narrow and my bosom every bit as heaving as Scarlett’s. But, my daddy didn’t own a plantation; he owned a rough and tumble bar frequented by loggers and fisherman. My waist didn’t dip into an hourglass; in fact, according to the novels I read, my thick ankles doomed me to be cast as the peasant woman reaping hay while the heroine swept by with her handsome man in pursuit.
Our students suckle the same pap. They learn that women are passive, men are strong, and people of color are either absent or evil. Our society’s culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream. The “secret education,” as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children’s books and movies instruct students to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints. And often that world depicts the domination of one sex, one race, one class, or one country over a weaker counterpart. My student Omar wrote, “When we read children’s books, we aren’t just reading cute little stories, we are discovering the tools with which a young society is manipulated.”
More than social primers, these tales, filled with ducks and mice and elephants in green suits, inhibit the ability of older students to question and argue with the texts they read. Children’s literature is perhaps the most influential genre read. As my colleague Bill Bigelow noted, young people, unprotected by any illegal armor, hear these stories again and again, often from the warmth of their mother’s or father’s lap. The messages, or “secret education,” linked with the security of their parents’ arms, underscore the power these texts deliver. The stereotypes and world view embedded in these stories become accepted knowledge.
Too often, my high school students read novels, history texts, and the daily paper as if they were watching a baseball game—they keep track of who’s up, who’s out, and the final score. They are consumers. Many students don’t know how to read. I don’t mean they are illiterate. They can read the words. They can answer multiple choice questions about who said “to be or not to be” and who wore a scarlet letter under his vest. But they just “walk on the words,” as Brazilian educator Paulo Freire says, instead of wrestling with the words and ideas presented.
My goal is to give students the tools to critique every idea that encourages or legitimates social inequality—every idea that teaches them they are incapable of imaging and building a fundamentally equal and just society. Children shouldn’t be taught that domination is normal or nice or funny. That’s why we watch The Little Mermaid and read The Ugly Duckling in my high school English classes.
Exposing The Myths: How to Read Cartoons
We begin by reading the preface and first chapter of Ariel Dorfman’s book The Empire’s Old Clothes, subtitled, “What the Lone Ranger, Babar, and other innocent heroes do to our minds.” I ask students to read Dorfman and keep track of their responses in a dialogue journal which consists of a paper folded in half from top to the bottom. They quote or paraphrase Dorfman on the left side of the paper and argue, agree, or question him on the right. Dorfman writes in his book:
“Industrially produced fiction has become one of the primary shapers of our emotions and our intellect in the twentieth century. Although these stories are supposed to merely entertain us, they constantly give us a secret education. We are not only taught certain styles of violence, the latest fashions, and sex roles by TV, movies, magazines, and comic strips; we are also taught how to succeed, how to love, how to buy, how to conquer, how to forget the past and suppress the future. We are taught more than anything else, how not to rebel.”
Thus, according to Dorfman, children’s and popular literature function to maintain existing power relations in society and to undercut the possibility of greater democracy and equality.
I ask students if they agree with Dorfman’s notion that children receive a “secret education.” Do they remember any incidents from their own childhoods that support his allegations? This is difficult for some students. The dialogue journal spurs them to argue, to talk back, to create a conversation with the writer. Dorfman is controversial. He gets under their skin. Many of them don’t want to believe that they have been manipulated by children’s books or advertising. As Dorfman writes:
“There has been a tendency to avoid scrutinizing these mass media products too closely, to avoid asking the sort of hard questions that can yield disquieting answers. It is not strange that this should be so. The industry itself has declared time and again with great forcefulness that it is innocent, that no hidden motives or implications are lurking behind the cheerful faces it generates.”
Dorfman’s desire “to dissect those dreams, the ones that had nourished my childhood and adolescence, that continued to infect so many of my adult habits” bothered Justine, a senior in my Contemporary Literature and Society class a few years ago. In her dialogue journal, she responded:
“Personally, handling the dissection of dreams, has been a major cause of depression for me. Not so much dissecting—but how I react to what is found as a result of the operation. It can be overwhelming and discouraging to find out my whole self image has been formed mostly by others or underneath my worries about what I look like is years (17of them) of being exposed to TV images of girls and their set roles given to them by TV and the media. It’s painful to deal with. The idea of not being completely responsible for how I feel about things today is scary. So why dissect the dreams? Why not stay ignorant about them and happy? The reason for me is that those dreams are not unrelated to my everyday life. They influence how I behave, think, react to things. … My dreams keep me from dealing with an unpleasant reality.”
In looking back through this passage and others in Justine’s dialogue with Dorfman, Justine displayed discomfort with prying apart her ideals, with discovering where she received her ideas, and yet she also grudgingly admitted how necessary this process was if she wanted to move beyond where she was at the time. Her discomfort might also have risen from feeling incapable of changing herself or changing the standards by which she is judged in the larger society. In a later section of her journal, she wrote, “True death equals a generation living by rules and attitudes they never questioned and producing more children who do the same.”
Justine’s reaction is typical of many students. She was beginning to peel back the veneer covering some of the injustice of our society. She appreciated the importance of constructing a more liberatory set of possibilities for girls and women, but at the same time was overwhelmed by the hugeness of this task—unsure if she would have anything to hang on to after she began dismantling her old values.
Charting Stereotypes
To help students both dismantle those old values and reconstruct more just ones, I carry twin objectives with me when we begin this study of children’s culture: first, to critique portrayals of hierarchy and inequality, but also to enlist students in imagining a better world, characterized by relationships of mutual respect and equality. We start by watching cartoons and children’s movies—Bugs Bunny, Popeye, Daffy Duck, and Heckle and Jeckle videos in one class; in my freshman class we also watch Disney’s The Little Mermaid. On first viewing, students sometimes resist critical analysis. Kamaui said, “This is just a dumb little cartoon with some ducks running around in clothes.” Later, hey notice the absence of female characters in many of the cartoons. When women do appear, they look like Jessica Rabbit or Playboy Centerfolds. We keep track of the appearance of people of color in classic children’s movies—Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White. We look at the roles women, men, people of color, and poor people play in the same films. We also cover men’s roles. As they view each episode, they fill in a chart. Here is a partial sample from the ninth grade class evaluation of The Little Mermaid.
Women’s Roles:
Ariel: Pretty, white, shapely, kind.
Goal: Marry The Prince.
Ursula: Fat, white, mean. Goals: Get back at Triton, power.
Maid: Chubby, confused, nice, white. Goals: Meals on time, clean clothes.
People of color: None, although Sebastian the crab is Jamaican and the court musician.
Poor People: Servants. No poor people have major roles.
After filling in a couple of charts, collectively and on their own, students write about the generalizations children might take away from the tales. The ninth graders are quick to point out the usual stereotypes of their own, “Look, Ursula the sea witch is ugly and smart. The young, pretty ones only want to hook their man; the old, pretty ones are mean because they are losing their looks.” Kenneth noticed that people of color and poor people are either absent or servants to the rich, white, pretty people. Tyler pointed out that the roles of men are limited as well. Men must be virile and wield power or be old and the object of “good natured” humor.
Both the freshmen and the seniors write critiques of the cartoons, targeting parents or teachers as an audience. Mira, a senior two years ago, attacked the racism in these Saturday morning rituals. Because of her familiarity with Native American cultures, her analysis was more developed:
“Indians in Looney Tunes are also depicted as inferior human beings. These characters are stereotypical to the greatest degree, carrying tomahawks, painting their faces, and sending smoke signals as their only means of communication. They live in tipis and their language reminds the viewer of Neanderthals. We begin to imagine Indians as savages with bows and arrows and long black braids. There’s no room in our minds for knowledge of the differences between tribes, like the Cherokee alphabet or Celilo salmon fishing.”
A Black Cinderella?
Kenya, a freshman, scolded parents in her essay, “A Black Cinderella? Give Me A Break.” “Have you ever seen a black person, an Asian, a Hispanic in a cartoon? Did they have a leading role or were they a servant? What do you think this is doing to your child’s mind?” she ended her piece, “Women who aren’t White begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess.” Kenya’s piece bristled with anger at a society that rarely acknowledges the wit or beauty of women of her race. But she wasn’t alone in her feelings. Sabrina W. wrote, “I’m not taking my kids to see any Walt Disney movies until they have a black woman playing the leading role.” They wanted the race of the actors changed, but they didn’t challenge the class or underlying gender inequalities that also accompany the lives of Cinderella, Ariel, and Snow White.
Kenya’s and Sabrina’s anger is justified. There should be more women of color who play the leads in these white-on-white wedding cake tales. But I want them to understand that is the race of the main character is the only thing changing, injustice will remain. We read Mary Carter Smith’s delightful retelling of Cinderella, “Cindy Ellie, A Modern Fairy Tale,” which reads like laughter—bubbly, warm, spilling over with infectious good humor and playful language. In Smith’s version, Cindy Ellie, who lives in East Baltimore, was “one purty young black sister, her skin like black velvet.” Her father, “like so many good men, was weak for a pretty face and big legs and big hips.” Her step- mother “had a heart as hard as a rock. The milk of human kindness had curdled in her breast. But she did have a pretty face, big legs, and great big hips. … Well, that fool man fell right into that woman’s trap.” Cindy Ellie’s step-sisters were “two big-footed, ugly gals” who made Cindy Ellie wait on them hand and foot. When the “good white folks, the good Asian folks, and the good black folks all turned out and voted for a good black brother, running for mayor” there was cause for celebration, and a chance for Cindy Ellie to meet her Prince Charming, the mayor’s son. With the help of her godma’s High John the Conqueror Root, Cindy Ellie looked like an “African Princess.” “Her rags turned into a dazzling dress of pink African laces! Her hair was braided into a hundred shining braids, and on the end of each braid were beads of pure gold!
… Golden bracelets covered her arms clean up to her elbows! On each ear hung five small diamond earrings. On her tiny feet were dainty golden sandals encrusted with dazzling jewels! Cindy Ellie was laid back!”
The students and I love the story. It is well told and incorporates rich details that do exactly what Sabrina, Kenya, and their classmates wanted—it celebrates the beauty, culture, and language of African Americans. It also puts forth the possibility of cross-race alliances for social change.
But, like the original tale, Cindy Ellie’s main goal in life is not working to the end plight of the homeless or teaching kids to read. Her goal, like Cinderella the First’s, is to get her man. Both young women are transformed and made beautiful through new clothes, new jewels, new hairstyles. Both have chauffeurs who deliver them to their men. Cindy Ellie and Cinderella are nicer and kinder than their step-sisters, but the Prince and Toussant, the mayor’s son, don’t know that. Both of the C-girls compete for their men against their sisters and the rest of the single women in their cities. They “win” because of their beauty and their fashionable attire. Both of these tales leave African American and white women with two myths: happiness means getting a man, and transformation from wretched conditions can be achieved through new clothes and a new hairstyle.
I am uncomfortable with those messages. I don’t want students to believe that change can be bought at a mall, nor do I want them thinking that the pinnacle of a woman’s life is an “I do” that supposedly leads them to a “happily ever after.” I don’t want my women students to see their “sisters” as competition for that scarce and wonderful commodity—men. As Justine wrote earlier in her dialogue journal, it can be overwhelming and discouraging to find our self-images have been formed by others, but if we don’t dissect them, we will continue to be influenced by them.
Writing As A Vehicle For Change
I hoped the essays they wrote critiquing cartoons would force students to look deeper into the issues—to challenge the servant/master relationships or the materialism that makes women appealing to their men. For some students, the cartoon unit exposes the wizardry that controls our dreams and desires—our self- images—but others shrug their shoulders at this. It’s OK for some people to be rich and others poor; they just want to see more rich people of color or more rich women. Or better yet, be rich themselves. They accept the inequalities in power and economic relationships. Their acceptance teaches me how deep the roots of these myths are planted and how much some students, in the absence of visions for a different and better world, need to believe in the fairy tale magic that will transform their lives.
Mira and her classmates wrote their most passionate essays of the year on this topic. But venting their frustrations with cartoons—and even sharing it with the class—seemed an important, but limited task. Yes, they could write articulate essays. Yes, they honed their arguments and sought the just-right examples from their viewing. Through critiques and the discussions that followed they were helping to transform each other—each comment or observation helped expose the engine of our society, and they were both excited and dismayed by their discoveries. But what was I teaching them if the lesson ended there? Ultimately, I was teaching that it was enough to be critical without taking action, that we could quietly rebel in the privacy of the classroom while we were practicing our writing skills, but we really didn’t have to do anything about the problems we uncovered, nor did we need to create anything to take place of what we’d expelled. And those were not the lessons I intended to teach. I wanted to develop their critical consciousness, but I also hoped to move them to action.
But for some students—especially the seniors—the lesson didn’t end in the classroom. Many who watched cartoons before we started our study say they can no longer enjoy them. Now instead of seeing a bunch of ducks in clothes, they see the racism, sexism, and violence that swim under the surface of the stories. Pam and Nicole swore that they would not let their children watch cartoons. David told the class of coming home one day and finding his nephew absorbed in Looney Tunes. “I turned that TV off and took them down to the park to play. They aren’t going to watch that mess while I’m around.” Radiance described how she went to buy Christmas presents for her niece and nephew. “Before, I would have just walked into the toy store and bought them what I knew they wanted—Nintendo or Barbie. But, this time, I went up to the clerk and said, “I want a toy that isn’t sexist or racist.”
Students have also said that what they saw in cartoons, they see in advertising, on prime time TV, on the news, in school. Turning off the cartoons didn’t stop the sexism and racism. They couldn’t escape, and now that they’d started analyzing cartoons, they couldn’t stop analyzing the rest of the world. And sometimes they wanted to stop. During a class discussion Sabrina S. said, “I realized these problems weren’t just in cartoons. They were in everything—every magazine I picked up, every television show I watched, every billboard I passed by on the street.” As Justine wrote earlier, at times they would like to remain “ignorant and happy.” The following year it became more evident than ever that if we stayed with critique and didn’t move to action students might slump into cynicism.
Taking Action
To capture the passion and alleviate the pain, Tim Hardin, a Jefferson English teacher, and I decided to get the students out of the classroom with their anger—to allow their writing and their learning to become vehicles for change. Instead of writing the same classroom essays students had written the years before, we asked students to think of an audience for their cartoon analysis. Most students chose parents. A few chose their peers. Then, they decided how they wanted to reach them. Some wanted to create a pamphlet which could be distributed at PTA meetings throughout the city. That night they went home with assignments they’d given each other—Sarah would watch Saturday morning cartoons; Sandy, Brooke, and Carmel would watch after-school cartoons; and Kristin and Toby were assigned before-school cartoons. They ended up writing a report card for the various programs. They graded each show A-F and wrote a brief summary of their findings:
DUCK TALES: At first glance, the precocious ducks are cute,but look closer and see that the whole show is based on money. All their adventures revolve around finding money. Uncle Scrooge and the gang teach children that money is the only important thing in life. Grade: C-
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES: Pizza-eating Ninja Turtles. What’s the point? There isn’t any. The show is based on fighting the ‘bad guy,’ Shredder. Demonstrating no concern for the townspeople, they battle and fight, but never get hurt. This cartoon teaches a false sense of violence to kids: fight and you don’t get hurt or solve problems through fists and swords instead of words. Grade: D
POPEYE: This show oozes with horrible messages from passive Olive Oyl to the hero ‘man’ Popeye. This cartoon portrays ethnic groups as stupid. It is political also—teaching children that Americans are the best and conquer all others. Grade: F.
On the back of the pamphlet,they listed some tips for parents to guide them in wise carton selection.
Most of the other students wrote articles they hoped to publish in various local and national newspapers or magazines. Catkin wrote about the sexual stereotyping and adoration of beauty in children’s movies. Her article describes how she and other teenage women carry these messages with them still:
“Women’s roles in fairy tales distort reality—from Jessica Rabbit’s six-mile strut in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? to Tinkerbelle’s obsessive vanity in Peter Pan. These seemingly innocent stories teach us to look for our faults. As Tinkerbelle inspects her tiny body in a mirror only to find that her minute hips are simply too huge, she shows us how to turn the mirror into an enemy.
…And this scenario is repeated in girls’ locker rooms all over the world. … Because we can never look like Cinderella, we begin to hate ourselves. The Barbie syndrome starts as we begin life-long search for the perfect body. Crash diets, fat phobias, and an obsession with the materialistic become commonplace. The belief that a product will make us rise above our competition, our friends, turns us into addicts. Our fix is that Calvin Klein push-up bra, Guess jeans Chanel lipstick, and the latest in suede flats. We don’t call it deception; we call it good taste. And soon it feels awkward going to the mailbox without makeup.”
Catkin also hopes to publish her piece in a magazine for young women so they will begin to question the origin of the standards by which they judge themselves.
The writing in these articles is tighter and cleaner because it has the potential for a real audience beyond the classroom walls. The possibility of publishing their pieces changed the level of students’ intensity for the project. Anne, who turned in hastily written drafts last year, said, “Five drafts and I’m not finished yet!”
But more importantly, students saw themselves as actors in the world; they were fueled by the opportunity to convince some parents of the long lasting effects cartoons impose on their children or to enlighten their peers about the roots of some of their insecurities. Instead of leaving students full of bile, standing around with their hands on their hips, shaking their heads about how bad the world is, we provided them the opportunity to make a difference.
** Linda Christensen teaches English at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon and is a Rethinking Schools editorial associate.
Works Cited:
Anderson, Hans Christian (retold by Lillian Moore), (1987). Ugly Duckling. New York: Scholastic.
Dorfman, Ariel, (1983). The Empire’s Old Clothes. New York:Pantheon.
Shor, Ira and Paulo Freire, (1987). A Pedagogy for Liberation. South Hadley, MA: Bergin & Garvey.
Smith, M. C. (1989). “Cindy Ellie, A Modern Fairy Tale.” Talk That Talk. New York: Simon and Schuster, 396-402.
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 10:01
Reply
Hah, I knew there was a reason I never liked cartoons.
But seriously. Most people are quick to point at magazines, cartoons, films and so on and place the blame there. Who buys these magazines? Who sits their kids down in front of the TV to keep them quiet? Why are these things so popular? No one is forcing you to watch - why do you do it?
Don't get me wrong. I don't approve of most of the stuff that's out there; I'm actively against Desperate Housewives, Hello! magazine, and "kids' TV". But I don't have low self-confidence just because I don't look like Barbie or Cinderella. I don't compare myself to cartoon characters or actors in a soap opera at all. So if it bothers you that much, just stay away from it. And keep your kids away from it, even if it does mean that - God forbid - you have to actually spend some time playing with them and running the risk that your brand new Prada glasses get smeared with chocolate pudding and your favourite dress gets a tear because your daughter wants to play swords like Mulan - who, by the way, is an Asian Disney heroine.
Sorry if I'm beside the point a bit. I'm just trying to say that look, no matter what, you're in control of your own thoughts. Once you start realising that, things are only going to get easier.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 11:38
Reply
<!--QuoteBegin--bria+Nov. 04 2006,10:01--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (bria @ Nov. 04 2006,10:01)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin--><font color=#9999ff>Hah, I knew there was a reason I never liked cartoons. <!--emo&:(--><img src="http://www.outpost10f.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':('><!--endemo--><br><br>But seriously. Most people are quick to point at magazines, cartoons, films and so on and place the blame there. Who buys these magazines? Who sits their kids down in front of the TV to keep them quiet? Why are these things so popular? No one is forcing you to watch - why do you do it?<br><br>Don't get me wrong. I don't approve of most of the stuff that's out there; I'm actively against Desperate Housewives, Hello! magazine, and "kids' TV". But I don't have low self-confidence just because I don't look like Barbie or Cinderella. I don't compare myself to cartoon characters or actors in a soap opera at all. So if it bothers you that much, just stay away from it. And keep your kids away from it, even if it does mean that - God forbid - you have to actually spend some time <i>playing</i> with them and running the risk that your brand new Prada glasses get smeared with chocolate pudding and your favourite dress gets a tear because your daughter wants to play swords like Mulan - who, by the way, is an Asian Disney heroine.<br><br>Sorry if I'm beside the point a bit. I'm just trying to say that look, no matter what, you're in control of your own thoughts. Once you start realising that, things are only going to get easier.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><br>Well, that's amazing that you don't get wrapped up into this stuff. But, do you know people who do? How many people do you know who always have to be the best.....earn the most money, get the most promotions (in real life, not OTF <!--emo&:P--><img src="http://www.outpost10f.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/ton.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':P'><!--endemo-->), have the latest fashions and drive the latest cars? And if they don't, they actually see themselves as less than those who do... It happens every day. It's all around us.<br><br>The problem is that this stuff exists. And if you just say, "Cartons and media are bad, but you're an idiot if you get wrapped up in it," then what exactly are you doing to remedy the problem? How are you helping someone help themselves?<br><br>The article also points to the fact that people think in stereotypes without even realizing why or where these stereotypes come from. I think awareness is the major issue here.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 13:09
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Gurl
By Mary Blalock
From Adam's rib
it's prophesied
I came,
but that's his story.
I'm walking on my own
down these streets
with a stop sign on every
corner,
takin' my time.
I've got no place to go 'cept
forward.
Down these highways without
a road map,
down these sidewalks,
where the cracks want to
break my mother's back,
where the city is crowded.
I'm walking on my own.
I'm not on a Stairmaster,
and I won't wait for an elevator.
I'm taking the fire escape
to the top floor.
If I want to,
I'll walk all around the world,
taking the long way
or the shortcuts,
'cross countries and through
oceans.
I won't be swimming.
I'll walk
on my own.
** Mary Blalock wrote "Gurl" when she was a senior at Jefferson High School in Portland, Oregon, 1994.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 13:16
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Lineage
By Margaret Walker
My grandmothers were strong.
They followed plows and bent to toil.
They moved through fields sowing seed.
They touched the earth and grain grew.
They were full of sturdiness and singing.
My grandmothers were strong.
My grandmothers are full of memories
Smelling of soap and onions and wet clay
With veins rolling roughly over quick hands
They have many clean words to say.
My grandmothers were strong.
Why am I not as they?
Margaret Walker was one of the youngest African-American poets to publish a full volume of poetry. She won the Yale Younger Poet award in 1942 for her book For My People, her master's thesis at the University of Iowa.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 13:25
Reply
To The Young Who Want to Die
By Gwendolyn Brooks
Sit down. Inhale. Exhale.
The gun will wait. The lake will wait.
The tall gall in the small seductive vial
will wait will wait;
will wait a week: will wait through April.
You do not have to die this certain day.
Death will abide, will pamper your postponement.
I assure you death will wait. Death can
attend to you tomorrow. Or next week. Death is
just down the street; is most obliging neighbor;
can meet you any moment.
You need not die today.
Stay here-- through pout or pain or peskiness.
Stay here. See what the news is going to be tomorrow.
Graves grow no green that you can use.
Remember, green's your color. You are Spring.
Gwendolyn Brooks is one of the foremost African-American poets in this country. she was the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, in 1950.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 13:26
Reply
I just wanted to stop for a minute and thank everyone who took the time out to post in my thread! Your support actually means a lot!
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 4 Nov 2006 13:42
Reply
Ballad of the Landlord
By Langston Hughes
Landlord, landlord,
My roof has sprung a leak.
Don't you 'member I told you about it
Way last week?
Landlord, landlord,
These steps is broken down.
When you come up yourself It's a wonder you don't fall down.
Ten bucks you say I owe you?
Ten bucks you say is due?
Well,that's ten bucks more'n I'll pay you
Till you fix this house up new.
What? You gonna get eviction orders?
You gonna cut off my heat?
You gonna take my furniture and
throw it in the street?
Um-huh! You talking high and mighty.
Talk on-- till you get through.
You ain't gonna be able to say a word
if I land my fist on you.
Police! Police!
Come and get this man!
He's trying to ruin the government
And overturn the land!
Copper's whistle!
Patrol bell!
Arrest.
Precinct Station.
Iron cell.
Headlines in press:
MAN THREATENS LANDLORD
TENANT HELD NO BAIL
JUDGE GIVES NEGRO 90 DAYS
IN COUNTY JAIL
Langston Hughes is probably the most famous poet for the Harlem Renaissance. He chose to write about ordinary people-- as he said, "workers, roustabouts, and singers, and job hunters....people up today and down tomorrow beaten and baffled, but determined not to be wholly beaten."
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 5 Nov 2006 18:14
Reply
<!--QuoteBegin--kady+Nov. 04 2006,11:38--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (kady @ Nov. 04 2006,11:38)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Well, that's amazing that you don't get wrapped up into this stuff. But, do you know people who do? How many people do you know who always have to be the best.....earn the most money, get the most promotions (in real life, not OTF <!--emo&:P--><img src="http://www.outpost10f.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/ton.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':P'><!--endemo-->), have the latest fashions and drive the latest cars? And if they don't, they actually see themselves as less than those who do... It happens every day. It's all around us.<br><br>The problem is that this stuff exists. And if you just say, "Cartons and media are bad, but you're an idiot if you get wrapped up in it," then what exactly are you doing to remedy the problem? How are you helping someone help themselves?<br><br>The article also points to the fact that people think in stereotypes without even realizing why or where these stereotypes come from. I think awareness is the major issue here.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><br><font color=#9999ff>I do know people who do. I am perfectly aware that pretty much everyone is in constant competition with each other and that some of the parameters of these competition are nothing short of ridiculous.<br><br>But firstly, I did not call anyone an idiot. I said that everyone has a choice. Far be it from me to judge what choice is right for who. I am saying that you make this choice, but once you've made it, you need to assume responsibility for it.<br><br>How am I helping someone to help themselves? Allow me to quote. "No matter what, you're in control of your own thoughts. Once you start realising that, things are only going to get easier." No, it's not easy assuming responsibility for yourself. It's a lot easier to blame the media, society, video games, whatever, and cry and moan about how you're a victim. But that's not terribly constructive, is it.<br><br>As long as people buy into this stuff, it's gonna continue to exist. Fact. So you've got the power to end it, right there. It's possible, I know that from experience.<br><br>How am I remedying the situation? By not following these trends. By refusing to be affected by these things. By being someone who people can be around without feeling the need to wear make up, have a fast car, or earn a lot of money. By accepting people for who they are. By doing things the way I believe I should do them. I'm not going to set out to fix the world. I set out to bring about whatever small change I can in my vicinity, in the people whose lives I touch, by just being different.<br><br>What I'm saying, what I said the entire time, is: think for yourself. That's what awareness is: thinking for yourself instead of blindly following what you've been told.
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 5 Nov 2006 20:21
Reply
<!--QuoteBegin--bria+Nov. 05 2006,18:14--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (bria @ Nov. 05 2006,18:14)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--kady+Nov. 04 2006,11:38--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (kady @ Nov. 04 2006,11:38)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Well, that's amazing that you don't get wrapped up into this stuff. But, do you know people who do? How many people do you know who always have to be the best.....earn the most money, get the most promotions (in real life, not OTF <!--emo&:P--><img src="http://www.outpost10f.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/ton.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':P'><!--endemo-->), have the latest fashions and drive the latest cars? And if they don't, they actually see themselves as less than those who do... It happens every day. It's all around us.<br><br>The problem is that this stuff exists. And if you just say, "Cartons and media are bad, but you're an idiot if you get wrapped up in it," then what exactly are you doing to remedy the problem? How are you helping someone help themselves?<br><br>The article also points to the fact that people think in stereotypes without even realizing why or where these stereotypes come from. I think awareness is the major issue here.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><br><font color=#9999ff>I do know people who do. I am perfectly aware that pretty much everyone is in constant competition with each other and that some of the parameters of these competition are nothing short of ridiculous.<br><br>But firstly, I did not call anyone an idiot. I said that everyone has a choice. Far be it from me to judge what choice is right for who. I am saying that you make this choice, but once you've made it, you need to assume responsibility for it.<br><br>How am I helping someone to help themselves? Allow me to quote. "No matter what, you're in control of your own thoughts. Once you start realising that, things are only going to get easier." No, it's not easy assuming responsibility for yourself. It's a lot easier to blame the media, society, video games, whatever, and cry and moan about how you're a victim. But that's not terribly constructive, is it.<br><br>As long as people buy into this stuff, it's gonna continue to exist. Fact. So you've got the power to end it, right there. It's possible, I know that from experience.<br><br>How am I remedying the situation? By not following these trends. By refusing to be affected by these things. By being someone who people can be around without feeling the need to wear make up, have a fast car, or earn a lot of money. By accepting people for who they are. By doing things the way I believe I should do them. I'm not going to set out to fix the world. I set out to bring about whatever small change I can in my vicinity, in the people whose lives I touch, by just being different.<br><br>What I'm saying, what I said the entire time, is: think for yourself. That's what awareness is: thinking for yourself instead of blindly following what you've been told.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><br>*applauds* Well written! <!--emo&:)--><img src="http://www.outpost10f.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smi.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':)'><!--endemo-->
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 6 Nov 2006 10:01
Reply
Love's Gonna Get Us
(Material Love)
By Damon Turner
Hey, Mr. Smooth! Mr. Ladies' Man!
Yeah, I'm talking to you, Man.
I see those threads you have on.
Yeah, I see the Reebok Pumps,
Avia sweats, and Nike cross trainers
you wearin',
And you're not even an athlete,
brothaman.
I know what these David Robinson,
Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson commercials
do for you.
Now you seem to think
that you can go out
There and do it all.
What do they tell you?
Oh, yeah,
they tell you to 'Just Do It.'
that is, just do it wearing your Nike,
Your Reebok, your Adidas,
and your Converse.
Who are you trying to be
wearing that
Mars Blackmon/Michael
Jordan t-shirt?
Do you think wearing that
shirt
Allows you to defy the forces
Of gravity as we know it?
Hell no! I don't think so.
what Nike, Reebok, Adidas,
Avia, and Converse
Don't care about is you.
What they 'care' about
Is yo' money, yo' money,
and mo' of yo' money.
Next time you wear your athletic attire
Endorsed by those million dollar brothers,
Think about the economic dividends
Taken out of your community
And placed into their greedy little hands.
Yeah, when you jump another brother
For his NFL or NBA endorsed starter,
Think about what good it does your people.
Yeah, brothaman. Mr. Nike, Mr. Adidas,
Mr. Reebok pump you up.
Just think about it.
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katrina
Moderator
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2006 09:08
Reply
Melissa - some fabulous stuff in that book. Very thought-provoking.
I totally agree with what Bria is saying - though I am not against Desperate Housewives as entertainment, people do have to think for themselves. I am currently in an English class focused on argument, and the major overriding theme of the class sessions always comes back to race. I never even notice race, and I was under the impression that more of the world was like me, until this class started and the people in it started talking about how racist white people are.
It's kind of like the "cliques" perceived to exist within this community; it doesn't matter if a person IS racist, what matters is if another person perceives that person to be racist. The entire experience has left me somewhat disillusioned as to the state of the world. My classmates all pointed to movies and popular culture for reasons why "white people are racist." I wind up sitting back and blinking most of the time, because I don't have time to watch so many movies and so much television.
If I did have time, I would only take what I watched as it was intended - entertainment. But apparently the larger portion of society takes things much more to heart.
I have more to say, but my keyboard is being really irritating, (maybe batteries are running out) so I'll stop.
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monny
Member
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2006 10:39
Reply
It's really refreshing to see this kind of intellectual journey unfolding here. 
I think that what a lot of the victims of racism and prejudice would appreciate is if others could at least try and see things from their perspective.
Katrina~ Don't let those peeps upset you because I know how it can get. Some believe that everyone should feel the guilt that their forefathers did not.
A lot of that perception of racism is so deeply ingrained in American society that it is hard to properly define or irradicate.
Some people take the entertainment sector more seriously than others. In this day and age I think a lot of the images that are portrayed have to do with fear of changing the status quo.
Cartoons, films and television series have enjoyed commercial sucess doing it this way so why would they take a risk to make a so socio-political statement. (That could be their motivation.)
Phew! now I gotta try and finish reading all this stuff 
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kady
Member
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2006 12:59
Reply
<!--QuoteBegin--katrina+Nov. 08 2006,09:08--></span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td><b>Quote</b> (katrina @ Nov. 08 2006,09:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"><!--QuoteEBegin-->Melissa - some fabulous stuff in that book. Very thought-provoking.<br><br>I totally agree with what Bria is saying - though I am not againsty; it doesn't matter if a person IS racist, what matters is if another Desperate Housewives as entertainment, people do have to think for themselves. I am currently in an English class focused on argument, and the major overriding theme of the class sessions always comes back to race. I never even notice race, and I was under the impression that more of the world was like me, until this class started and the people in it started talking about how racist white people are. <br><br>It's kind of like the "cliques" perceived to exist within this communitperson perceives that person to be racist. The entire experience has left me somewhat disillusioned as to the state of the world. My classmates all pointed to movies and popular culture for reasons why "white people are racist." I wind up sitting back and blinking most of the time, because I don't have time to watch so many movies and so much television.<br><br>If I did have time, I would only take what I watched as it was intended - entertainment. But apparently the larger portion of society takes things much more to heart.<br><br>I have more to say, but my keyboard is being really irritating, (maybe batteries are running out) so I'll stop.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd--><br>Katrina: Your class sounds amazing! Good luck with it!<br><br>I've actually kind of been through the same experiences. People have asked me, "Oh! You live in -insert town here- so are you racist?" And of course, I'd look at them indignantly, and say, "No." And they'd answer, I didn't actually think you were. It's been odd.<br><br>In high school, I elected to take a Civil War history class by an extremely bright history teacher who wound up teaching me more about history than almost anyone in my life...including most of my college professors. The thing is, I wasn't looking to enroll in this teacher's Civil War history class, but wanted to take his sociology class instead. I was skeptical that anything taught by a Civil War history class could be used in real life. Was I ever wrong!<br><br>On the first day of that class, the teacher began accusing us of being racist and having racism embedded into us. He seemed psychotic so I went straight to the guidance counselor's office afterwards and said I wished to be put into a different class. I accused this teacher of actually being racist against white people. "Look," I said, "I did nothing racist in my entire life. I am not supposed to be receiving the flak that people before me did. I didn't do it!" This inspired a long conversation with the guidance counselor in which he attempted to assure me that the teacher was not psychotic and not racist. I returned to the class the next day and continued out the semester. Looking back on it, it was one of those great educational high points of my life. I actually had to look at an issue, admit that I had perceived it incorrectly, and learn from it.<br><br>I think that a lot of people in OTF need to look at issues, admit that there are times when they perceive them incorrectly, and learn from those situations. People need to learn to see through the eyes of the person on the other end of the conversation. We are too quick to jump into arguments and point blame.<br><br>As far as the media issue, well....I fully admit that I watch Desperate Housewives sometimes and have enjoyed it whenever I do. I don't watch much television, though.....I need to stay proactive and just sitting or lying in front of a television is way too passive for me. <br><br>I've been told by many a college English professor that I over analyze characters and texts, so I imagine others do as well. Sometimes, we read things into a scene that was really never intended to be there. But, mostly, interpreting books and movies and tv shows is just a psychological exercise. And it really can show you the inner workings of the minds that created it. For instance, why did the writer choose to write that character's personality like that? What motivated it? <br><br>There is a highly criticized tv show that has the absolute most amazing dialogue. I used to watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer *JUST* for the quotes about life.....they're genius. The best part is, they are so applicable to life in general....not just some dumb cult fiction show. If you ever actually just start keying in and listening to the conversations, it's remarkable.<br><br>Monny, I think you're right. Sometimes creators of cartoons want to avoid controversial issues because they realize there's always going to be a critic out there who is going to try to get people to ban their show due to political correctness. So, if they write about a group of turtles who eat pizza and battle crime in the sewer systems, they think they're never going to offend anyone and still get to keep their ratings and earn a revenue. <br><br><br>And Kat, you made some incredibly insightful and valid points about the "clique" issue within OTF.....I just hope people read them. Even if they don't, you certainly just confirmed why you have always been one of the people I met through OTF who I will always hold in the greatest regard.
<br><br><!--EDIT|kady|Nov. 08 2006,13:29-->
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katrina
Moderator
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# Posted: 8 Nov 2006 20:53
Reply
I adore Buffy for the exact reasons you pointed out, Melissa. Especially since as it aired, I was only a few months older than Buffy's character (now I'm dating myself) and her issues were my issues. I own two copies of every episode on DVD. (yes, I'm insane)
The class would be better if the people in it were smarter. Sometimes they just say things that make me shake my head, and then I go to work and tell stories about the people in my class who make me so sad. At least I tell the stories and they're funny. And it gives me something to contribute to this conversation.
Monny - I think the problem is that I feel completely removed from the society all my classmates are in. For one thing, they're mostly much younger than I am (20 or so I guess) and for another thing, they're all a product of a society I never participated in. Or maybe rather, they've never been in a community like this and talked to people with no distinction whatsoever made based on race.
Honestly, I don't care much of anything about most people unless they're my friends - I can't be bothered to remember what people look like. My friend Sherry says that people go in one of my eyes and out the other. Those 3D people models take up a lot of space in my head- I dump 'em and keep the valid info. Probably a result of so much chatting around here - you dump the avatar 'cause the person might change it. Hrm, it's a good topic for a paper. . ."Online chatting reduces racism by focusing more on the individual's merits and ability to communicate."
I read a book called "Everything Bad is Good for You," in which the author explained how newer TV and video games actually are better for you than most people make them out to be. I believe that - especially since Buffy made my brain work so hard. It's a pretty good book.
And Melissa, I appreciate the sentiment and return it in kind.
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polson
Member
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# Posted: 9 Nov 2006 21:23
Reply
*dances around with Katrina*
On the subject of the thread, understand that I say what I'm about to say under the full knowledge that racsim happens and that it hurts people and that it is world wide. I understand poverty exists and in some groups more strongly than others, within North America and world wide, I am not blind to any of that so don't go all "you're naive!" on me.
It seems to me that America is obsessed with racism. It's not just an issue, it's THE issue. Everything goes back to it. Every movie I watch with racial differences, it comes into play and someone is always accusing someone else of being racist, or someone is being racist or people are being awkward about race. Every Oprah episode comes back to "ethnicity". Survivor this season was tribes divided by race! I don't know if it's just because of where I live, but it would never have occured to me in a thousand years for them to divide tribes by race, I didn't even think of it as a catagory.
I love living in a province where it such a non-issue that I'm shocked by American tv and media. You'd think it would be an issue when the vast majority of people living here are white and you can count the number of other races on your fingers and toes (in the smaller areas, Edmonton and Calgary don't count). It's not. I went to a school with approximately 8 black people, three half black people, one girl from Singapore, a Japanese guy, someone from the Ukrane, thirty some Americans, a hundred white kids who grew up in missionary families around the world, and another three hundred white Canadians. Race never impacted anything - cultural differences maybe, but we were all students, teachers, people. Okay, well, we tease the Americans, I'll admit that. We call Josy "the halfbreed" because she has duel.
We go as far as to make fun of racism. Brian always joked that he was the only black guy in the northren half of Alberta (he wasn't of course, and he's only half black anyway). I remember him saying "you're just saying that because you're racist against my people" (he said that all the time to mock it). Yuya, who's from Japan would always respond with "word, brother" and my cousin Clinton and I are 1/8th first nations (supposedly, it's through our great great grandmother so I do'nt know if it even counts on paper) so Clinton always then says "get off my land."
You might think us flippant, but it's more because we know a secret...race doesn't reflect value. We can tease each other because it doesn't matter. I'm more worried about Yuya's mullet and mustache than his ethnicity.
Again, I am not saying that it is not an issue world wide and even in Canada (here though, it's more the English/French thing, and the Americans...), racism is real and extensive. It's just...America's obsessed with it. Even if you're not "aware" or knowledgeable on it, or even admit that it exists, it's everwhere. It seems that there is nothing more important to the USA than who gets to be what race and what that race gets to call other races and themselves, etc etc etc. It's draining to watch your media and movies and television when the predictable, "Because I'm black???!!!" challenge is the most common phrase. Other than the 'f' word of course.
I'm just saying. Start understanding each other instead of obsessing over each other.
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bria
Member
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# Posted: 10 Nov 2006 12:38
Reply
Polson, I think I've said this before: get out of my mind. Although, you said it a lot better than I probably would've myself. Kudos! You rock. 
Living in Ireland, most people I deal with on a daily basis are white. But racism isn't an issue. It ain't what colour you are, it's how you behave. And over here, if a "foreigner" isn't liked, then it's generally because they haven't made any effort to be liked. They refuse to speak the language, they're rude, they refuse to make any effort to fit in. I moved over here and I did make an effort to fit in, and no one's ever discriminated against me.
And if you keep screaming "I'm being discriminated against!" whenever something doesn't go your way, then chances are people are going to roll their eyes and say "Oh, just shut the hell up, will ya?" Not because you're black, or white, or purple, or an alien, but because you're being a jerk. If you didn't get an award/degree/scholarship/etc and someone else did, then it's not because you're black* and they're white*. It's not because they're male* and you're female*. It's not because you're from Nigeria* and they're from Ireland*. It's because whoever gave out the award/degree/whatever decided that they deserved it more than you did. Maybe you're just not as smart as the other person - and if you're constantly whining about being discriminated against when there is absolutely no reason to, then really, I wouldn't be surprised.
99% of the world doesn't care enough about you to discriminate against you. And if people didn't keep drawing attention to these "differences" by saying that they don't matter... well, chances are that most people wouldn't even notice that they're there in the first place. Especially kids. And if we really want future generations to interact with each other without perceiving that "difference", then don't introduce kids to it. Simple. And don't say cartoons do it, kids don't care about hair colour, age, or whatever else either when they're acting out their favourite 'toon or film.
Rant over. Shutting up now. 
* Feel free to substitute another term here if you'd rather see different examples, if you'd prefer two terms to be switched around, and so on. Before you start breathing down my neck.
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