We opened class talking about the
teenager in Irving who was arrested after bringing a handmade clock to his high
school. Fourteen year-old, Ahmed Mohamed basically get punished for being
creative because teachers mistook his homemade clock as a bomb. I personally
think the fact he was Muslim had a lot to do with it, which is very sad. After
the tragic events on September 11, 2001, American media has painted a picture
depicting anyone of Arab or Middle Eastern decent as a “terrorist.” This panic
and major profiling that is present today has most Americans always thinking
the worst when talking about these nationalities.
I understand that the fear is real
but when we react to stuff poorly like in this situation, it only really shows
us as ignorant. What is crazy to me is that when the Oklahoma City bombings
happened in 1995 by white male, Timothy McVeigh, America didn’t go into an,
“all white males are out to kill us,” frenzy. As we see, terrorist attacks can be
carried out by any race of people so to just single out those of Middle Eastern
or Arab decent is ridiculous.
I hope Ahmed continues to keep
tinkering with electronics and that those police officers and teachers offer
him a big apology if they haven’t already. There was a much better way to
handle that situation than having that young boy arrested.
On another note, my dad use to
always tell me how men are visual creatures and women are more audio. A man can
basically look at a female and get easily turned on and women are often turned
on by what a man tells her. As I got older, I really understood what he was
talking about and as we discussed the difference between how women are
portrayed sexually versus man, this came to mind. Yes, men are more visual but
in all honesty so is the rest of the world. Media portrays women often in one
or two ways and that is either as housewives or as sex objects. These images of
woman have been ingrained into our minds and our culture which gives rise to
certain stereotypes of women being accepted. For example, just look at the many advertising
agencies that use women body parts to help sell their products. Women and men are
definitely portrayed differently.
Also from class, after looking at a
documentary of The Black Press, it really opened my eyes to how black people
were involved in journalism and how much of an impact it made. At a time where the
White Press was not recognizing black people unless it was to report a crime,
the Black Press simply highlighted black people and their everyday lives. As
said in the documentary, it gave a voice to people who were voiceless. Across
the country, Black newspapers were being published before and during the civil
war movement and it gave a sense of hope and faith to blacks. These newspapers
brought forth the realities blacks were facing, the very same ones that white
newspapers tried to suppress, like lynching for example.
Personally, the documentary was
very touching. To see this aspect of journalism and how these black newspapers
stood for so much makes me proud. Blacks have always fought for their rights
and I think this kind of history should definitely be implemented in schools
especially journalism schools.
I would love to just hold a copy of
The North Star, Chicago Defender or the
Pittsburgh Courier of that time and just read it.
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