A Particularly Cheap White Whine

A Particularly Cheap White Whine: 
Racism, Scholarships and the Manufacturing of White Victimhood 
By Tim Wise
-- Jennifer





1)"Consider a few things that have happened in the past month-and-a-half, in no particular order: First, comedian Michael Richards goes on a racist tirade at an L.A. comedy club, screaming the n-word at two black audience members, over and again for several minutes. Then, white students at four entirely different colleges dress up in blackface or throw "ghetto" parties, at which they mock low-income African Americans: next, a group of Muslim clerics are thrown off a plane because passengers get nervous after seeing them engaged in evening prayers prior to boarding their flight; and finally, New York police fire fifty shots at a group of unarmed black men, for no apparent reason, killing one who was due to be married the next day."
1. After reading this quote it made me think of what could have been going through these people's heads when they were doing all of this.
2. What the comedian did was very rude and unnecessary.  The incident with the new work police is just wrong. I don't understand how they could shoot people that are unarmed for no reason.


2)"white students are twice as likely as their African American or Latino counterparts to be taught by the most highly qualified teachers and half as likely to have the least qualified instructors in class being taught by highly qualified teachers is one of the most important factors in school achievement."
1.This quote does not make sense to me.  Whites are considered "privileged" so they get the best teachers, but the students that are considered unprivileged get the teachers that aren't as qualified.  It doesn't make sense to give the students that might need more help with the less qualified teachers. 
2. Also, I don't understand why a certain group of people get more qualified teachers over another group of people.


3)"It ignores the fact that the average white student in the U.S. attends school with half as many poor kids as the average black or Latino student, which in turn has a direct effect on performance, since attending a low-poverty school generally means having more resources available for direct instruction (5). Indeed, schools with high concentrations of students of color are 11-15 times more likely than mostly white schools to have high concentrations of student poverty (6)."
1. I think that if there are many poor students in a school and it effects the performance of the other students that something should be done.  It is no one fault, but it isn't fair for the students that are poor and it isn't fair for the students that are not.




This reading had a a lot of good information even though the first quote i used was very disturbing and crazy how things like that can happen and people can get away with treating other people so horrible.

"In the Service of What?" by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

"In the Service of What?"
 by Joseph Kahne and Joel Westheimer

Jen

1."Educators and legislators alike maintain that service learning can improve the

community and invigorate the classroom, providing rich educational

experiences for students at all levels of schooling. Service learning makes

students active participants in service projects that aim to respond to the

needs of the community while furthering the academic goals of students.

Students in a service learning project might analyze and monitor the

composition of nearby swamplands or produce an oral history of their

community. They might work with the homeless or initiate a cross-age

tutoring project. In addition to helping those they serve, such service learning 

activities seek to promote students' self-esteem, to develop higher-order

thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic

learning experiences—all goals of current curriculum reform efforts."

1) I agree with this quote.  Taking part in a service learning project is very helpful in different ways.  You learn many different skills and also help other people which is very rewarding.  A tutoring project is  a very good way to not only help someone with school work, but also be a friend to someone that could really need someone.

2. Some projects require a student to use what the learn in the classroom in a real life situation which is a good way to learn more about topics.

2."One student in Mr. Johnson's class, for example, volunteered at the Veterans'

Memorial Senior Center:

For Thanksgiving this year my stepmother and I helped serve the

seniors their Thanksgiving dinner. This was a very rewarding

experience helping others in need. It seemed that the dinner was

something special to them; it was a chance for them to get

together with their peers. Many don't have families in the area and

are all alone for the holidays. This made it a little less lonely,

which feels great. Thank you for giving me the chance to help!"

1.I feel that many students should be part of a project where they help make people's lives better.  I agree with what this student said about how great it felt to brighten the holiday for these people that might not have family around.  In high school my chorus would go sing at the aci and at a few senior centers.  Some of the staff told us how many of the people never smiled when they are there, but once we show up they are all smiling and singing.  It feels great to make a difference in someones life.

This article was confusing sometimes, but the meaning of it is very important.  Volunteering has been a big part of my life and i understand how you need to talk to the people that you are helping.  It makes the experience better and you can also help them out better if you know some things about them.

Unlearning the myths that bind us

Unlearning the myths that bind us
Christensen
Jen




1)"Students start to notice patterns-like the absence of female characters in many of the older cartoons.  When women do appear they look like Jessica Rabbit or Playboy centerfolds-even in many of the new and improved children's movies"
1. I have noticed in many children's movies that many times the mother has passed away and then the evil step mother comes into the house.  Students do notice the little parts of movies and cartoons that many people would just skip over.  Students also notice who is usually the servants and who is never a main character.




2) "Many students don't want to believe that they have been manipulated by children's media or advertising. No one wants to admit that they've been "handled" by the media."
1. Many people always say how they do not understand how people could believe that the media  can turn people into something they aren't.  It is very true though that the media can do that.  Girls that do not feel good enough will see the beautiful skinny girls on commercials and they will think that if they look like them then they will be good enough.




3)"Kenya asked have you ever seen a black person, an asian or a hispanic in a cartoon? did they have a leading role or where they a servant? women who aren't white begin to feel left out and ugly because they never get to play the princess"
1. This quote is something that i completely agree with.  If children notice that only whites are main characters then they will feel like they are not important because of their race, when everyone really is important.  Watching movies or cartoons like this can really effect a child.






This article makes a lot of good points.  Children notice a lot when they watch a movie or a cartoon.  What they see in these can have an influence on them.  A child noticing that a certain race is always the servant and never the princess can be very hurtful.  Having a child notice stereotypes can also affect them negatively.