Race in America

Reading some of the articles about race that is currently in America really aren't surprising after learning what we have these past few weeks. A few articles in particular stood out to me most though because of their shocking values. One was about the lack of people who want or would appreciate their churches to be integrated for Sunday morning mass. In the opinion of the congregants, the religion (however the same) is practiced entirely differently. In African American culture a Christian service is lively with gospel and fun and a huge sense a community is felt among everyone. In European American culture a service is a lot more calm with traditional prayer. In Hispanic or Hispanic American culture a Christian service isn't even recited in english-- oddly enough, I practice Judaism and have been to one. But some people may not feel comfortable integrating with  how other cultures practice their religion. These people shouldn't feel forced to practice their religion in another way than they do- if it is a-traditional to them and they don't like to. The other article that stood out to me was significantly shorter but caught my attention none-the-less. The article was solely about whites becoming a minority within the next 50 years in the United States. Although this article is statistically backed up, I still think it lacks full credibility. I can not foresee America being majorly made up by African Americans and Hispanics judging by the amount of them there are today. How will there be such a drastic increase in such a short amount of time? It is not that I doubt the credibility or the potential of African Americans or Hispanics I just don't thin they will be able to immigrate and reproduce at such a drastic rate that they will become a majority in America.

Invisible Children Bracelet

Hey guys!

If you read my invisible children post and were wondering what bracelets I was talking about, this is the link:

http://store.invisiblechildren.com/bracelets

enjoy!

Hidden Bias

It came to no surprise to me that I had a slight prejudice towards European Americans during the simulation. However, I think that the simulation almost makes you have a bias. It directs your attention to good words and then European Americans and then bad words followed by African Americans. Then it switches. I do not quite fully believe that it was my bias towards African Americans that was stopping me from correlating them with good words or it was because I had just been used to seeing a good word and responding by typing with my right finger.
This is what Harvard University says about prejudice, "Prejudices are often accompanied by ignorance, fear or hatred. Prejudices are formed by a complex psychological process that begins with attachment to a close circle of acquaintances or an "in-group" such as a family. Prejudice is often aimed at "out-groups."  
This being the case, I agree with wheat they said. I am ignorant to African American culture and that sometimes does make me fear what I should not fear. I do not hate African Americans, I also do not have an extreme prejudice against them. I feel bad for having any prejudice against them but how can I be blamed? I live in a community where we can count how many African American students there are in our high school on our hand and we do not veer too far out of our little bubble when it comes to exploring the world on the weekends. We are completely "attached to a circle of acquaintances" and although there are activities we can do to negate that prejudice and stereotypical behavior we hold, we were never taught to- so why should we?
Deerfield is a great community where youth and teens are encouraged to strive and are pushed to succeed in the fields of math, science, english, art, journalism, football, track, and many, many more. One thing we were never pushed to do is integrate ourselves. We have never had to force ourselves or be forced to be around anyone we didn't want to be around. As time elapses, Deerfield is slowly starting to change that ugly pattern, however I fear (and I really hope it does NOT happen) that once there becomes too high of a percentage... well you can figure out the rest.

Invisible children

I actually found out about invisible children when I was in about sixth or seventh grade when the current fad was to buy a 20$ bracelet to support a cause that we were too young to understand the meaning of supporting. My parent agreed to let me get the twine bracelet on account that I watch the video that went along with it- the video we watched as second semester seniors in high school. Watching it being twelve hard but I didn't quite understand the extent of the issue as I do now. I must say the documentary was much more moving and intense the second time around. It really makes you feel as if you have the best life of anyone on the planet. I didn't get into one of my colleges last night but these children may not live to apply to college. And if they do, they may have been abducted and stripped of everything they once knew. Its not fair. These children deserve more. They are more. They are human. They are like me, like you.

Current Events

Complete and utter chaos is what floods Cairo Egypt in its current states. The articles I read reflect that former President Hosni Mubarak has resigned and  turned all of his power over to the military in January. As of now the former president feels as if he is in grave danger and has fled Egypt to go to Saudi Arabia for safety. After his departure Prime Minister Ahmed Shafiq resigned from his place causing even more of an uproar. Some of the videos I watched the people seemed really happy about the lack of power that their country had currently been under. There was constant yelling, of which I couldn't understand, and crowds and crowds of people everywhere. The pictures I looked at depicted a look of change and angst among much of the civilizations faces.
My research then took me to a headline and a video about how Lebonese soldiers who themselves refused to shoot were shot. I thought it was crazy that just because the refused to kill other people, they were in turn killed. This whole situation in the middle east seems to me to be avoidable, but then again I'm not the one fighting.

Mock Trial Recap

1. A) The first trial about Elyse Roberts was a pure case of sexual harassment. Kevin Murphy made her feel completely uncomfortable in the work place by doing things like touching her back, inviting her to parties that she specifically said she didn't feel comfortable going to with him, and making snide remarks about her clothes and her appearance. The verdict ruled that Kevin Murphy was sexually harassing Elyse Roberts and because the district attorney's office didn't do anything to remedy it, the office was found guilty. I whole-hartedly agree with the verdict that was made upon the conclusion of the case. Even aside from the side I was arguing in the case, I don't think there would have been a different, yet still appropriate, way to rule on the case. I believe the jury found the swimsuit catalog issue and all of the comments that Murphy had about Elyse and how she worked were very compelling in the case. The actions of Murphy were strong enough alone to sway the vote of the jury. But on top of Kevin Murphy's actions, the fact that the district of attorney's office not doing anything to remedy the situation was the icing on top of the cake. These facts were important to consider because they proved that sexual harassment took place. To reach an opposite opinion i think there would have needed to have been a lot more stress on the fact that Elyse Roberts' work deteriorated but NOT as a result to the actions of Kevin Murphy.
B) The second case to me was less clear cut of a case of sexual harassment. Susan and David were in there second relationship, in college, and had not been sexually active other than once on Susan's birthday. One night after a party, where they both drank a few beers, they went back to Davids house which was not out of the ordinary for either of the two. David and Susan started to get into their make-out session and David started making advances on Susan. Susan said no and tried to get up but in the midst, David latched onto her silk shirt and tore it. She eventually got back into bed and started making out with David again and again he made advances on her. She said no again got up and went to his desk to find that he had a note from another girl regarding him as her husband. This made Susan furious and she left. The verdict the jury came to in this case was that David was not guilty of raping Susan.Being a jury member for this case, I agree with this result. The way the defense made it seem like Susan had said "no," seemed to only be a flirtatious gesture more than an actual way of saying stop. It was really important in my opinion that the defense had stressed that actions speak louder than words and since Susan's actions said yes, it overshadowed her actually saying no. Looking back on it, I could have easily seen the case going the opposite direction with the exact same information given. I thought the plaintiff's lawyers did a sufficient job in showing the jury that no means no, no matter what. They could have maybe stressed what a good person Susan was like the defense did with David.

2. I think both issues, sexual harassment and rape, are very grey issues and can not be looked at through a black and white lens. In the first case, Elyse Roberts told Kevin Murphy to stop, and tried to take action on her problem in other ways. Some, however, may argue that she really just needed to lighten up because what he was doing really wasn't that big of a deal. In the second case, Susan and David were in a relationship. On top of that Susan was completely leading David on. Should David really be reprimanded for his girlfriend leading her on? Or should a flirtatious no really mean no? As far as I know, there really aren't problems like this in the DHS community. I think the students here are very respectful of others wishes and concerns and even if people don't agree with others no sever actions are really taken. The culture of DHS detracts from these issues because students are pretty easy going. When in a situation where these issues are prevalent, these issues can not be overlooked. The problems should be addressed with high alert and concern.

yours truly, 
Amy