Talking Points #7

Author:
Charles Lawrence
Title:
“One More River to Cross” –
Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown: A Prerequisite to Shaping New Remedies
Author’s Argument:
I think Lawrence is trying to argue that if people understand segregation better then chances of finding a solution will increase.
Quote #1:
“It is time to evaluate the success of Brown v. Board of Education with the hindsight of a quarter of a century of history.”
Now the first thing I saw when I read the article minus the author and title and what not, I noticed, “Brown v. Board of Education”. This struck me as odd because I remember the professor and the class mentioning it, but I do not remember what was said. So I am like oh no! Therefore, I had to choices from there: continue reading and hope that the article will mention more about it than just the name or I could go look it up and see if I can become less ignorant on the issue. So I decided to research it and I saw that black children were denied by America to have equal education? Now, by this point I am like fuming upset. Which also left me wondering… who was the president during this time period? Not my idol T.J. right?
Quote #2:
“A second and related aspect of the court’s misunderstanding of the segregation is demonstrated… discriminatory actions of the state authorities.”
This quote reminded me of what was said in my INST class. The professor was telling the class just the other day how “teachers don’t break rules, they only bend them.” I do not know how this is related but as I was trying to understand this passage, her voice was the only thing that was like lighting sparks. I guess it is related in a sense that laws can be extremely bent to a certain point because laws are so general. Like she used the copyright as an example. Teachers are not allowed to make copies and hand out to students. Everyone is allowed only one copy; therefore, teachers play it smart and require the students to go make their own copies. See? No law was broken… just bent a little. Am I wrong to continue to think that these two stories are related?
Quote #3:
“Perhaps the most detrimental effect on the court’s refusal to acknowledge the true nature and scope of segregation has been the resulting failure of …the public at large…”
Now, I do not know if I am understanding this correctly…Lawrence wants to place blame on whom now? The public? I can actually agree with this. I highly doubt that laws are the reasons why people are so racist. People cause their own problems when it comes to racism. Before the Emancipation Proclamation, people chose whether or not they wanted slaves… that was their decision, not the state! On the bus before Rosa Parks, people of different race was separated… was it because they felt like they had to get up when a white person enters the bus and offer that person their seat? Or did somewhere in the book of laws state that a colored person has to get up and give up his or her seat when a white person enters the bus? I seem to not be able to grasp this concept. People choose to be racist. Some are unaware that they are being racist while others know it but chooses to continue to do so. Like the n word. People that are heard using the term are frequently corrected. Like in my high school. Kids would walk around using the term freely until a teacher hears them and asks them kindly not to use the word, a majority of the students replies back, “I am black, I am allowed to use the word N****.” For real? I do not like the term either so when I hear it, I ask politely that the person not use the word… and this person will snap at me saying that I should not get offended because I am Asian. Then we go off into a little debate about it and I ultimately lose the debate so I just ask them kindly to at least not use the word in my presence. That word I keep as a swear and so I tell everyone not to swear around me and most people respect that and apologize and tries.
Comments:
I do not think I will pass this course with the grade requirement. I feel like I am struggling with the reading comprehension and there is no way I can work around that. The most important part of class is reading the articles and talking about it. We have a month left I just hope that the other articles are easy read like the one with the princess movies and what not. Omgeesh! I am going to fail!