Miranda: English II, Section F

Draft of My Speech

Injustice

The first thing to establish is…what is justice? To me…it is fairness and righteousness. It is preserving honor and trust in society. It is doing the right thing, the just thing, no matter who is watching. Injustice, or, a lack of justice, has affected me ever since I was little. When I was 4 or 5 and I would watch Disney movies, whenever the villain lied, or did something that was unfair, I was positively outraged. Like in the Little Mermaid, when evil Ursula puts a spell on Ariel, it’s not fair, because Ariel can’t do anything about it, and she even trusts Ursula, which made me really scared, because then Ursula could take advantage of her, and so on and so forth. I remember when I was about 10 years old, I was playing a soccer game, and the other team had the ball on one side of the field, and I was sprinting back to stop them when, all of a sudden, something clipped the back of my ankle, and I slid across the field (grass, dirt, rocks) face first. I looked up to find that the referee had (accidentally) tripped me. Before I could get up the other team scored. I understand that the referee didn’t mean to trip me, and of course he immediately apologized, but, I was so outraged that he had tripped me and then the other team had scored. I don’t know if it would have made a difference in that game, but, we lost, and I couldn’t stop myself from thinking that maybe, if I had run back, I could have stopped them, or maybe I could have scored a goal for my own team. But the reality of the fact is, I couldn’t play for the rest of that game, not because of physical injury, because aside from a few scratches, I was perfectly fine, but, emotionally, I was distraught, I was taken with seemingly uncontrollable tears, and I was unbelievably mad at the same time, I couldn’t believe it. I was so caught up in the unfairness that I felt, that I couldn’t focus on the task at hand, I was stuck in the past, and I was so emotionally affected by the experience, that I couldn’t play. That’s the problem, I can’t just let go of injustice and things that I feel aren’

t fair, I just keep thinking about them, and I get more and more frustrated about the fact that I am helpless to change the situation.

            When I did my monologue for the Shakespeare competition, I chose to do a speech in which Joan of Arc has just basically been disowned by her own father, and then she pleas for her life in front of a court of people. She has been unjustly accused, and she knows it, and she knows that she will be avenged for her innocent death by heaven almighty. The important part is that she pretty much knows that she is going to die, but she knows in her heart that she was unjustly accused. That is what I could relate to, the passionate feeling of defending herself against injustice. Only the problem is, I haven’t yet developed the use of Shakespearian prose to argue my point, in fact, I am usually so outraged at injustice that I either explode with anger, or I break down crying, but sometimes, I hold it in, as if in rebellion, like I am wearing the mask that I am simply indifferent so that I don’

t even give them the satisfaction of seeing my anger or tears. It is complicated, and it always affects me in a deep way, no matter how I deal with it or

choose to show it. For me, it is a problem, because it affects me to a large extent whether I show it or not. If I show it, I am almost uncontrollable, either with tears, or anger. If I choose to hold it in, then it affects me emotionally, I am cranky, I often refuse to talk, feel like I am on the verge of tears. It is a fault. I can’

t just let it go and move on, try to make things better, or just try to live in the moment. It is a problem that I struggle with on a somewhat regular basis.

            I feel injustice often and it affects me quite deeply. At the last Varsity Basketball game of the season, I was slightly out of control, in terms of the fact that I kept yelling at the referees, it was really bad, and embarrassing, when I think back on it. The referees kept on calling fouls on our players, to the point that two of our players fouled out (one of which was Nicki Speed, I was outraged when I looked  at the face of Nicki Speed, a senior, at her last Marlborough basketball game, who fouled out as a result of what I felt was unfair refereeing. When there was about two minutes left in the game and the Mustangs had about a 15 point deficit, when she realized that they were going to lose and tears came streaming down her face, and I knew, whether or not they would have won the game, the referees decided the outcome of that game. That is not supposed to happen. The refs should protect the players from dangerous or unfair play, but it seemed like they called a foul every time our players touched the other team.

            I remember experiences throughout my life of times when I have felt injustice, often in great detail, because it is something that is very important to me. I want to preserve justice, make people trust each other, and create trust in society. Maybe someday I’ll be able to achieve some of these things, but, for now, I don’t know. My deep reactions to injustice are in some ways, good, because they show that I want to preserve justice and am outraged when people do things that are unfair or unfair things happen. But in some ways, they are bad because at times, I am out of control, or if I choose to hold my feelings in, then I bubble up and almost get even more angry, because I am keeping my fermenting anger in, instead of just letting it out. I have to figure out for myself, how to deal with my frustration about injustice in a positive and embracing way. I have to figure out how to live in the moment and try to make things that are unjust, just, instead of just constantly thinking about experiences of injustice I have had, and thinking about how frustrated I am about them. I don’

t know if I will ever figure out how to overcome injustice for myself, and if I will ever be successful in overcoming justice in society. What I do know, though, is what my goal is, whether or not I will ever be successful, I have identified that I want to overcome injustice, whether just for myself, for society, for women, for the human race, I want to overcome injustice, and that is my goal.

Showing instead of telling, doing it instead of having to explain it (in relation to saying: this speech is almost like a blog for me or this speech—

breaking the 4^th wall)

Zoot suit. I felt very frustrated at the unfairness and clear racial prejudice of the jury against the chicano young men. It was clear that no matter George said in their defense, the young men were going to get convicted because that jury and the city of Los Angeles at that time was so caught up in racial discrimination, that they weren’t able to see through the prosecutions pathetic attempt at making the boys look like they had done it. It reminds me of the movie “To Kill a Mockingbird”, when Atticus so valiantly and passionately fought for innocent Tom Robinson, and the prosecution clearly made some obvious mistakes. It would have only taken a little bit of common sense to see that Atticus clearly proved, with concrete evidence, that Tom didn’t do it, but it was almost as if the jury’

s eyes were veiled by racial discrimination. The Court of Law is the epitome of justice. People expect it to preserve justice in society and make people feel safe and secure, and trust in the courts and the police who protect society from the effects of injustice to do their duty and punish those people who deserve to be punished [I forgot to blog before Sunday night this week. But this was posted on Wednesday, I am so sorry, I only remembered just now.] 

BLOG # 8: Continued Reflection on Beyond the Color Line (After We Have Finished the Portions of the movie that we are going to watch.)

 Part 1: Institutions (army and police force) & Racism in the South

Summary (how I see it): The army and police force nowadays have changed A LOT from what they were, and they are mostly “colorblind” with few exceptions. In terms of the South, many African Americans feel a certain, almost nostalgic, attachment to the South, as the place of their ancestors, and also, as the founding place of the Civil Rights Movement. It is where they feel at home, more than that, they think of it as their home, where they belong. Many who experienced racism when they were children, such as Morgan Freeman, still perceive the South as their home and the place where they belong.

Part 2: The Chicago Projects (racism in poverty)

Interviews with a family that had been in poverty for generations, interview with a young man living in poverty, and an interview with a prison inmate. The Chicago Projects is an impoverished and crime filled community dominated by African Americans. The conversation/interview with the woman who was the head of a household that included 3 generations of poverty was very sad, the woman was filled with hopelessness about her future and the future of her children and the future of her children’s children. She thought that even though they had decided to tear down the huge, claustrophobic building that she lived in at the time, she was still sure that the crime, drugs, violence, and poverty that she lived with at that point would follow her, along with her neighbors to another place, wherever they ended up settling. Their living conditions were almost sickening, in extreme heat they were stuck in this claustrophobic building with over 1000 other inhabitants. That, and her lack of hope for her future and the generations following her was very sad, and it was clear that there were so many other people and families in her same predicament, it was really quite sad.

The interview with the young man who was striving to leave the projects and create a better future for himself was also very sad. I can’t remember the exact numbers but I think that the young man could make about 10 times more money selling drugs per week than he made per year working at Popeye’s. He said Popeye’s was really the only job that he could find, and it was clear that he was trying to do the right thing by having a job, instead of dealing drugs, but it is easy to see how tempting it probably is for him to just sell drugs to make more money and get himself out of his impoverished and crime filled community. It is really sad.

The interview with the prison inmate was a little bit more uplifting and was actually a very revealing interview. It was perhaps the most open and interesting interview in the whole movie. The inmate expressed the fact that he had been in jail numerous times before, and that it had actually been kind of fun when he was younger, but now that he realized he was getting older, and had a wife and kids to take care of, he thought he would try to do better and not do anything that might result in his being sent to jail. In his eyes, the corruption in his community was because of a lack of role models for children, especially young boys to look up to. He said growing up he had not had a father in the house, because most fathers had left their wives, were involved with drugs or alcohol, or were in jail. He said that as a young boy, when he walked out his front door, he saw drugs, and violence, and crime, not firefighters, or professors or more positive occupations and role models. The man seemed very intelligent and experienced and he was very open in speaking with Gates. When Gates pointed out his intelligence and said that he could become a teacher, the man responded “I know”, but he went on to say that if he became a teacher or a professor he would just leave his community, and that would just add to the problem of having a lack of good role models in his community. What he had to say was very interesting, and I thought that it was a great interview.

 Part 3: Didn’t watch (racism in wealth)

 Part 4: Racism in Hollywood (the industry)

For African American actors at the top, overall they felt that a star is a star, no matter what their race. Pretty consistently the actors revealed that, yes, they had experienced their fair share of racism in their lives, but that the fact was, they had to just overcome it.

For actors that were struggling to make a living acting, they said that especially the color of their skin, whether it was darker or lighter seemed to have an affect on how successful they were, because, somehow, the fact that their skin was lighter seemed to have some kind of effect on how appealing they were to play a role. They said that they really felt racism when they auditioned for a commercial and they saw someone of a different race on the commercial on TV. I think this is true to an extent, but I think that all struggling actors deal with the fact that sometimes casting directors aren’t sure what kind of actor they want for a part, until they see all of the actors audition.

I thought Gates’ conversation with a famous director in the industry was particularly interesting. He talked about how a film starring two white actors would generally bring in about twice as much in the box office as a movie starring two African American actors, even if they are famous. The director attributed this fact to modern consumer culture, and the fact that people are more likely to go to a movie starring two white stars than a movie starring two well-known African American actors. This is a really sad fact, and I have to say that I thought a lot about how to change this, and I haven’t come up with a solution yet.

 Q: What was the purpose of this film?

 A: To explore racial views and perspectives towards African Americans and see how much times have changed, or whether African American people still feel largely affected by racial stereotypes, prejudices, and views. Also to explore African American lifestyles and their differences and how much they have changed over the last number of years.

 Q: To what extent was that purpose fulfilled?

 A: I thought Henry Lewis Gates Jr. and the people behind the making of the documentary did a really good job of interviewing a large scope of people, from famous African American movie stars to impoverished people living in the Chicago Projects, who are threatened daily by crime, drugs, and violence. The one thing about the movie that I would have liked to have added, was a closing statement from Gates about what he thought about racial views today, based on the movie, because, I feel like there was a lot of information packed into the movie. I would have liked Gates to make an arching, across the board statement about racial views in modern times, saying first that the viewer was encouraged to have their own opinion on the subject, but that, based on what he had witnessed, across the board, with a few exceptions, he made blank observation. Whatever it was, I feel like he addressed the making of this movie as being based on his own curiosity about African American lifestyles and how they have changed, and I think it would have been really interesting to see what he found and what he thought of his observations. Obviously, he might have a different opinion about it than me, or anyone else who watched the movie, but I am curious as to what he observed overall, or what he thought about the issue of racial views, especially after witnessing all of the movie first hand.

 Q: Have racial prejudices and discrimination changed to a large extent, or are they still a major barrier for large numbers of people?

 A: Yes, they have changed to a large extent, but in many cases, not even racial views, but the idea of segregation or integration is almost the same, even in all African American communities. White people often don’t feel comfortable living in those places that are dominated by almost all African American populations, and vice versa. I think the real answer is that, yes they have changed, but that they are still a big societal problem. The most prominent example of this was in the section about the army, when the white general was talking to Gates about a private who didn’t respect or obey the orders of an African American general, because his father had told him that he was never to obey the orders of an African American person. I thought this was very sad and a good indicator that racial prejudices and negative perspectives still have a big effect on society.

 Q: Was the movie biased at all?

 To a very minimal extent, but I was offended during some of the parts where I felt that Gates spoke about white people in a somewhat condescending or at least negative, manner. As I have said, I thought the movie was very well done, and I really enjoyed watching it, I am just being open on my blog about the fact that I was a little bit offended in some parts of the movie. Again, this was only to a very minimal extent, and I think it was actually only once during the course of the movie that I was offended. I am just putting that out there. Well, I feel bad about saying that, but I have said that I enjoyed the movie, there was just one part that I felt a little bit offended. And this is my blog so I think I am allowed to just be open about what I think and feel.

1,715 Words (FYI) 

Blog # 7: Reflection On Beyond The Color Line

I think the movie is interesting. Granted, we haven’t quite finished it, but I do think it is interesting to hear African Americans speak openly (or at least try to, because maybe some people feel uncomfortable about speaking openly about their racial experience, which is a problem in itself) about their lives and racism and how it has affected them. Parts of the movie that I remember as especially interesting (so far):

1)    Part about Martin Luther King Jr.

2)    White woman in an interracial marriage joining African American gospel choir

3)    People’s experiences that they remember from being younger. How it was not so long ago that the world was like that, and that some people still think that way.

4)    Man who opened an integrated church: his racial views were changed by Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”, completely transformed him as a person

5)    Police force is mostly racially tolerant and respectful, as is the army

6)    Morgan Freeman: even though the south is sometimes racially discriminate, Freeman lives in the south because it is his  hometown, it is where he grew up, and where his roots and ancestry are.

Question to ponder:

How can we/I help to erase racism in the United States and eventually the World?

1) Talk to people

            -ask them why they think they are better than another racial group of people

            -have diversity retreats like Face It where people can talk openly to each other about their views and opinions about racism, and reveal their experiences with racism.

2) Get people to stop talking about other people in derogatory terms or thinking that they are better than someone else because of their race or ethnicity

            -talk back to them

3) Respect people of different nationalities and their cultures. Get interested in what they do to preserve or continue their traditional culture

            -erasing racism isn’t about being color blind, it’s about respecting other people and their culture and it’s about not making derogatory comments about someone else or disrespecting them because of their race

            -erasing racism is about accepting people for who they are, whatever their differences, and whatever their beliefs, respecting people no matter what.

This blog is 353 words, but I actually want to write a short follow-up blog once we have actually finished the movie so that I have a true sense of what the film is about. Thank You.