Monday, March 29, 2010
Psychology
Choose a current story related to African American Studies and psychology from the list of online sources in the handout and on the introduction page. Try to choose a news outlet that you don’t read regularly so that you can use this assignment to become more familiar with it. To find a relevant story, you should scan the headlines on the home page of whatever magazines or journals you may choose, but also be prepared to do a search of recent published stories. The names of the specific fields may be too broad as search terms; depending on the numbers of links that come up in your initial search, you will have to refine those terms by focusing on a specific issue. Psychology issues include interracial identity, transracial adoption, stereotypes, personality, racism, mental health, and group identity.
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Identifying: In your wiki post, clearly identify the title of the story, the author of the story, and the date the story was published. Briefly explain why you chose the story, what you found interesting about the story, and summarize the main point of the story. As you examine the details of the story, you should select three ideas or pieces of information presented in the news story that surprised you, upset you, confused you or made you think differently about the issue, and explain why you responded the way that you did. Finally, state why you think your classmates will find the story useful, and attach a link to the story.
ReplyDeleteAnalyzing: Use all of these questions to develop and organize your analysis:
ReplyDeleteHow does this story frame public discussion of an issue (by repeating various story elements, using common metaphors, quoting similar people, etc.)?
Who are the main spokespeople on this particular topic, and how are they being quoted? Are they mainly advocates, policymakers, academic experts, etc.?
How often are these various spokespeople quoted and in what context?
What topics are being covered, and what topics are being ignored?
Is this story not covering or ignoring an issue or organization that they should be covering?
Is there a time of year when this issue (or organization) is more likely to be covered than others?
Is this topic or organization a front-page story, and if not, where in the magazine or webpage is that topic or organization covered?
Which reporters are writing on this issue/organization?
The Truth About White Masters, Black Mistresses and Toure
ReplyDeletehttp://www.theroot.com/print/40167
http://bossip.com/222682/what-kind-of-sick-fantasy-does-toure-have-about-black-female-slaves-and-their-masters/
Type- interview (feature story)
Front-Page Story
By: Natalie Hopkinson
Posted Date: March 23, 2010 at 6:20 AM
I chose this story because it tells of the psychological hurt that Caucasian males have caused on African-American women. Historically, African-American women who were slaves were raped by their white masters. This psychological hurt is still embedded in the African-American cultural today. Many African-Americans do not approve of interracial marriages based on this historical fact. Dolen Perkins- Valdez has written a historical novel about enslaved mistresses. Her interview attacks BET host Toure who insinuated that slave sex themselves to freedom or for favors. The main point of the story is that African-American women were forced into sexual relationships with their masters and many were of a very young age. It is very upsetting to me at this type of sexual abuse happened to slaves. However, for Toure to use such carelessness when speaking of the suffering of his ancestors is appalling, he should be more sensitive towards this issue. Nevertheless Dole Perkins-Valdez shed some important light on African-American women situations during slavery.
Nick Shirley
ReplyDeleteCarol Rose, The Boston Globe, Racial Profiling is Alive and Well, July 22, 2009, Opinion.
What interested me about this article was the fact that the person accusing the police of racism was very prominent Harvard scholar and influential person in the African American community. Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested after a passerby called the police because he saw a man “trying to wedge” himself into a door. When police were dispatched the call came across the radio as a burglary in progress so police responded accordingly. They mistook Gates for the burglar in his own house after he locked himself out. A verbal confrontation then in-sued and Gates refused to calm down and continued shouting “this is what happens when you are a Black man in America” so police arrested him for disorderly conduct.
Targeting a black man as “suspicious” has long been a problem in law enforcement in Massachusetts.
This makes me wonder if the thin blue line is getting thicker in law enforcement. What these officers fail to realize is, once they opened the door and confronted Gates and received identification the issue should have been over. Further, I think something happened that is not clearly defined that caused Gates to erupt. Even though the charges were dropped the incident should be heavily investigated by another neutral agency to prove no wrong doing. This man was a Harvard scholar, not a bum panhandling on the street for drugs, which was the only reason the charges were dropped. The Massachusetts Police Department knew they would be opening a can of worms if they did not drop the charges.
Or perhaps the Cambridge police thought that they could just ignore the law. That’s what some 40 percent of 247 Massachusetts police departments have done in response to a state law that requires them to track the race and gender of people stopped by police for alleged traffic violations, according to the Executive Office of Public Safety.
This makes me angry. The very people that swore to uphold the law are breaking it every day. Police should be unbiased and honest. The fact that they are breaking the law that they swore to uphold is completely ridiculous. Would this have happened to a White male or Hispanic? It is absurd that this problem has not been addressed by someone that is higher up in the criminal justice system.
Massachusetts is long overdue to address charges of racism in law enforcement.
This makes me wonder what other states are overdue for reconstruction in their police departments. Law enforcement is supposed to be cutting edge on technology and equipment. I think the officers may be too busy going through firearms training and not situational circumstance training. This may be the calling for departments to require higher education for better critical thinking skills. Even if Gates was irate there was no reason to arrest him. Why didn’t the police just leave, no criminal offense existed so the police made up one so they could arrest him.
Classmates will find this article useful since it shows what happens to some of the most affluent African Americans in the United States. The year was 2009 when this incident happened and we still have not overcome the issue of racism in the criminal justice system that is supposed to be blind. This should make many wonder what happens to anyone of color when they deal with the police. Moreover, what would have happened if it was a White male yelling at police? I suppose you could go back into the Massachusetts Police records and attempt to find similar cases, but that would not be likely since they can’t even account for the tickets being written.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/07/22/racial_profiling_is_alive_and_well/
http://www.utne.com/Politics/Menstruation-in-the-Developing-World.aspx
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to post this story because it amazes me how I have also come from a third world country and has never experienced such things. I grew up in the city and parents were no rich parents and neither did I live in such fancy neighborhood, but I can remember that I had almost anything I need and went to one of the bests catholic schools in the city. My point is that i also had started my menstrual cycler there at the age of 14 but never did I ever had to miss school because pads were expensive. I guess in order for us to be able to understand what people go through you must really experience this situations and understand it. Its very odd how we all live in the same place, and we all go through different things and face complete different problems.
According to the article published March 19 in the New York Times, author Erick Eckhom describes the inequality of treatment in zero tolerance disparity between white and black students compared as 1/200 for black students and 1/1000 for white counterparts. The zero tolerance is politically popular yet seems to violate the student’s constitutional rights. The background suggests these children using vulgar language and fighting at school. The story talks about how a generation ago children that participate in these kinds of behaviors were normally sent to the principal’s office for discipline, but now they are suspended under the zero tolerance.
ReplyDeleteI remember being in the principal’s office once. The circumstances were embarrassing and I felt I was sticking up for myself against a mean teacher. Many times adults that choose to not respect a student that student responds the only way they can and it may not be appropriate. Adults should be more cognizant of students needs and realize that not every child learns at the same pace as others. I simply asked for her to clarify the assignment and she raised her voice and said “I just went over the God damn assignment, if you didn’t listen that’s just too bad.” I was embarrassed by her placing me in the attention of the rest of the class and I responded by calling her a mean Bitch.
I suppose it was inappropriate but I think she was more shocked than the class was on how this quiet kid that never had been in trouble used that language at twelve years old. In the early 70’s it just was not something one hears coming out of a child. I spent the rest of the year outside the assistant principal’s office during that class period. No suspension, no call to home simply a long talk from the Assistant Principal. I share this story because I believe we have taken zero tolerance too far. In my story I could have been suspended ended up as a recorded problem student which could have labeled me in my academic years to come. This is the affect on today’s children under zero tolerance.
It is important that we not fear what might happen and make it difficult for the ones that will never be a future problem. At some time in our lives every one of us could argue our constitutional rights were violated. In the case of the disparity of whites and blacks punishments the court will decide the conclusion. The constitutional challenge stems from whether a school can deny a child an education by suspending them for a long length of time and not allowing them any alternative to continue their class work. The two defendants are black females. One could argue that what got us to this point is hostility to each other because of our differences. Prejudices exist in many facets of life; we need leaders that represent how we interact respectfully with each other. When our country divides ourselves between red and blue states, white and black, illegal and legal aliens, haves and have not’s, the list goes on and on.
Individually we as a people need to come together for a greater cause to make a difference. It is up to us to be good role models. We need to remember the children are watching us on how we react to each other and those lessons will be how they learn to treat others. If a child hears demeaning language in your private home don’t be surprised if you hear your four year old say it in public. I remember in the late 70’s in line at a grocery store hearing a four year old say “look mommy there’s a nigger.” I scolded the boy’s mother telling her she should be ashamed he even knew that word, all she did was laugh. Respecting others begins at home and I believe that is where zero tolerance should begin. It is difficult enough to be a kid in this world without making it more challenging by ignoring your personal responsibilities as a parent.
Source URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/19/education/19suspend.html
Zero tolerance is of course a way of getting trouble students out of the hair of the teachers and school administrators. Today most teachers and school administrators are there for pay check, when I was in school teachers and students came from the same neighborhood. When students cause trouble the teacher knew the child and what type of parent they had. It was well known by the student that the teachers had access to the student's parents and if there was a call from school you were in trouble. In addition teachers and administrators were there for the student, what I mean is they were concerned about what was going on in each of their student lives. Very rarely did teachers intentionally embarrass their students. Today, teachers live in segregated neighborhoods away from most of their students that are poor or African-American decent. They are unaware or not concern with what their students have going on in their lives.
ReplyDeleteNevertheless students are aware of the teachers who have a sincere concern for them and the students also have the knowledge of those teachers who are in the school for a pay check, with little or no concern about the student. You can see this with high school football and basketball teams, when you attend these games some of the teachers are there for their children's school or the school of their neighborhood not for the school in which they teach. I am not saying that parents should not be there for their children however, teachers have a great impact on the students live and they need to be aware of how their actions affect their student. In fact most of the teachers in poor and African American neighborhoods are there just for a job, until they are able to work in schools that are located in their neighborhood. However, they pretend that they are loyal to the school and the students until a position opens in their neighborhood. I have seen teachers and administrators who make such a difference in their students because of their color and social economic status. In one middle school a principal once stated that black and white students do not mix on my campus. As long as there are teachers and administrators who continue to make difference based on the color and the student’s social economic status schools will continually be in trouble. Until administrators and teachers of school taken interests in their students and treat them with respect as they desire to be treated. Student will continue to demand attention in inappropriate ways. Student can respect a teacher who is strict and fair but one who displays prejudice will continue to get disruption in class due to the student acting out against the prejudice that is shown. Zero tolerance should not be used with adolescence that is going through learning stages. There should always be some tolerance allow for mistakes, until corrections can be made. Then I am certain that many of the class or school disruption will began to decrease.
Identifying Media Watch
ReplyDeleteAppointee plans big change for King Center, this article was posted March 20, 2010 by Steve Visser on http://www.aje.com/atlanta/
I choose this story because, so often we see and hear about how families don’t agree on running or taking care of a business of a family member that passes on. This story is similar to that. What I found interesting about this story was how the courts appointed Terry M. Giles, an outsider to be custodian over the “Atlanta’s King Center, that was named in the honor or Dr. Martin L. King Jr. Giles plans to make the center live up to its full potential by moving the King children and their allies from control.
I founded this story to be interesting because a family feuded that took place in 2008, the children of Dr. King, Martin and Bernice King filed a lawsuit, accusing their brother, Dexter of mismanaging and looting the family corporation.
The main point of this story is to put someone in charge of the center and turn things around, and get the center back functioning again, more importantly, it should renew its commitment to teaching nonviolent tactics and organizing.
Good work here so far, everybody!
ReplyDeletewww.newsweek.com/id/217795
ReplyDeleteSharon Begley, Black CEO's and the Teddy Bear Effect, October 15, 2009.
"...impeccable credentials, demonstrated competence, and tireless diligence, successful Black leaders possess disarming mechanisms." says author, Sharon Begley. Sharon gives great detail on the type of characteristics needed in order to attain a job in a fortune 500 company, as a black male. She backs her theory with reports from Robert Livingston, a professor at Northwestern University's school of management. Along with the named attributes her findings include having a "babyface" (large forehead, small nose, large ears) is quiet common when looking at the fortune 500 black employees. Possessing these distinctive looks portray the feeling of being non-threatening. This is key in obtaining a lucrative job in for lack of better words, white America.
As we continue with our goal of becoming race-blind, seeming least intimidating as possible, when you’re black, enables you to receive jobs. As opposed to white counter parts that otherwise would exude being authoritative, and strong. I honestly follow conveying a non threatening appearance, due to my knowledge of obtaining jobs. I know for certain that the proper business attire, and verbal speech helped along with my facial features will most likely land the job. My mother instilled these principles of dressing and seeming the least threatening, because this is how the job market operates, and will continue to. Mainly because the stigma of an angry black man, is not the appearance white business owners would like associate their company name with. Even with outstanding credential’s black employees must seem truly friendly, in order to conceal the psychological factors instilled in many white business owners.
This article definitely makes an argument for black employees, but it would enhance the article, if detail of white exuded behavior, was furthered. This Life/Heath post has granted insight of this issue and sparked my interest on relating this information towards our President Barrack Obama.
I think that its ridiculous that "Black" people have to look a certain way to get a certain job position. I do believe that the way some one looks doesn't describe the amount or quality of job one may be able to do. Its very unfortunate for many African Americans, because most of the times they have to portray themselves they way someone else wants them to be instead of being who they want to be. I get very upset of the fact that black people have to always try to imitate the white way of being in order to be successful in life. You must dress white, speak white, act white and even live as a white person. I think that its unfair and they need to be given more chances than what they get, because there are so many of them that have the potential and capacity of doing a much better job than a white man would.
ReplyDeleteThe story I chose to identify was The Battleground of the Mind, by Tuala Williams, published on 12 April 2010.
ReplyDeleteQuite honestly I chose this particular story based solely on the title, in my mindset the words battleground and mind in the same sentence has to reflect a powerful statement, in regards to this newspaper. I found it interesting that African Americans were denied accurate treatment and understanding when dealing with mental illness. It is ludicrous to value an individual life based on social class, race and/or gender. Is this what the world is coming too? Has monetary value and power established a new meaning? In this story Williams reference the movie “Precious” as her prime example of showing how African Americans experience mental illness, treatment methods and the common downfalls that results from lack of proper assistance/treatment.
In this article Williams touch on a variety of issues contributing to mental illness among African Americans, one in particular being social factors.
A lot of the evidence points to struggle and social factors of blacks and coping techniques used in replace of the proper treatment. In the film, Precious experienced depression and her mother was no doubt some kind of crazy! However, in all honestly the film reflected a real life situation; portraying poverty and weird behavior of a dysfunctional family struggling to hide the fact that there is a problem. I enjoyed this film because it showed something real, something a lot of people can and will relate to. Another point Williams addresses is social factors that contributes to the mental stability of individuals, stating African Americans experience the worst of the worst resulting in greater chances of developing a mental illness. Now this struck a nerve with me, because it is just like the “white people” not to help the ones in need. The story gone on to conclude that African Americans statistically in a greater risk than whites with little regards to professional help because of financial reasoning. Although there is no evidence to back such a claim, which actually confused me, why is it that when help is sought it seems to always come down to money? Does monetary value outweigh life itself? I believe people will fine this story helpful in regards to understanding the mindset of African Americans and why often times blacks more so depend of their community rather than seeking outsiders assistance, in part to financial reasoning.
http://www.aframnews.com/websitepublisher/articles/the-battleground-of-the-mind.html