Critical Response of Race Article

I read the article about the principle who called all the students together to ask them who was planning on attending the dance with people outside of there race. He canceled the dance after many students rose there hands. The article didn't really say anything about what happened to the principle but apparently he was fired but then elected superintendent. This shocked me because this only happened 15 years ago, and the fact that he was CHOSEN to basically be the top person in the school district makes me wonder what kind of people were living in the town. I honestly don't get it because the article said that a lot of students said they were taking someone outside of there race but then this man was elected into a position. 

The article also talked about how things like affirmative action were first put into place to help minorities who have been discriminated against, but now it just seems be making things worse for some of those people. It's giving people more reasons to be racist towards them because they don't think that they deserve something like that. I think that there should be a balance, but it's hard to say what that it because ultimately it's going to be swayed one way. Another important point that the author made in the article was how races are generalized and all put into one category when there really are so many different subgroups within a race that should be recognized. I never really thought of this because I've never really been discriminated against but like for the white race I can think of many different branches that exist.

Caucasia

So far I really like this book a lot more than the other two that we have read. Even though I've never been in the same situation as Birdie or Jesse is, it's still something that you can connect to. Everyone has changed themselves in some way to fit in with other people or to be part of a certain group. I feel really bad for Birdie because she never really knew who she was because of her race, and on top of that she has to pretend she is a completely different person. Her new identity could change at any time because of a slip up on either her or her mom's part. I can't even imagine how stressful that would be knowing if she said one wrong thing, her mother could go to jail, and she would have no family.

Her mom makes me extremely angry because I hate all the secrets she's keeping. It really bothered me when she got mad that Cole wasn't telling her stuff anymore, but now she is doing the exact same thing with Birdie. I really just think her mom is crazy, because I don't know what she could have done that was so bad that she would take her daughter away from her home and make her live on the road. I think she's a really big hypocrite for falling for Jim because he could easily be part of the FEDS, and is just there to get close to her to gain information. Jim seems like he is forcing himself on their family by telling the kids from the beach that they were Birdie's parents. At that point in the book, it didn't seem like her mom and Jim were that serious to make such a bold statement. The thing with Jim confused me a lot also because I thought her mom was a lesbian, because of that Bernadette girl.

I really want to know where Cole went because she could have easily not gone to Brazil, and they could be living close to Birdie. Cole was really the only person that Birdie had, and she looked up to her so much. Because I have two sisters who I am really close with, I can't even imagine having one of them taken away during the middle of the night and not know where they went or what is happening to them. What if her dad got in trouble and Cole had no family or was left with Carmen? It's all so unclear and disconnected just like how her mother won't tell Birdie what's going on.

A time I was aware of my race..

I'm not racist or anything, so I hope no one takes offense to this because it's just something that happened. My friend Kelly was dating this guy named Lawrence, and she convinced me to go to one of his basketball games at MATC. I went because I didn't want her to have to go alone, but I was still pretty nervous because I'm used to being around mostly white people not that I have anything against African-Americans. His entire team was black except for one guy, so mostly everyone watching the game was black. We walked in and it was seriously like something you hear about on a show or in a movie. Everyone stared at us including girls from Lawrence's school. We thought that they would stop staring at us if we sat down but things only got worse. Lucky for us, Lawrence's ex-girlfriend was there who was also white, but she was good friends with all of the girls from his school, so they automatically hated us. We found somewhere to sit only to hear these girls yelling mean things down to us. We didn't know what to do so we just sat there, but they made it pretty clear that we weren't welcome. At the end of the game, we were scared to leave so we waited for Lawrence to get his stuff. Thankfully Lawrence was with us because the girls were waiting right by the door. It was probably one of the most awkward situations I've ever been in, but they were never that mean to us at any of the other games.

Censorship

I think that there should be some censorship because if there wasn't, kids would be able to get their hands on things that aren't suitable for them. I don't think that it should be as much up to the school or government as much as the parents should be involved in permitting what their kids read. I think that the internet blocking has gone way to far escpecially at our school. It's hard to do a project when you can't get on the websites that have the information you need just because they have a bad picture or bad word on them. There should be some blocks on websites though because I can name five people from our school who would look up porn.There should be a balance between what the parents think and what is right for the child. It's hard to say whether all the power should be in the parents hand because I know some people have very overprotective parents who wouldn't let them read anything. It could also could the other way if the parents didn't care at all and let their child have access to anything. I don't think that there should be one set rule for everything because there are so many different cases that could come up that there has to be some variation.

My babysitting war..

It was the winter of my freshman year, and my aunt and cousins were over for christmas. I really didn't want to babysit because I just wanted to hang out with them, but I had already told this family that I would a long time ago. So I sucked it up and went over there only to find out that both the kids were sick. I knew it was going to be a long night, but I didn't see what was to come. The kids parents left, and I was just supposed to let the kids watch a movie, and they would fall asleep, at least that's what the mom said. Everything was going pretty well until the little boy who was probably 5 at the time had to go to the bathroom. He was in there for a long time, so I went to check on him to make sure everything was okay, but it wasn't because he had thrown up. While I was in the bathroom, the little girl got mad because I wasn't helping her write her name or something so she started screaming. I walked out of the bathroom and saw her crying in the corner, and I walked over there to see that she had thrown up all over the carpet. I knew she felt bad but still it really was not fun to clean up. So I'm sitting there clean it up, and then I hear the little girl yell my name and tell me that her brother pooped on my jacket. I just sat there for a while because I didn't even know how to deal with it. After like ten minutes, I went over there and the little boy is sitting on my jacket with no pants on with poop all over the place. It was horrible and the kids were getting even more wild because they knew there was nothing I could do to stop them. By this point, it was probably around nine and the kids were supposed to be in bed an hour ago, so I called my aunt because she is a daycare director to ask her what to do. She told me that I should call the parents and tell them they need to come home and deal with there kids. I didn't want to be rude by calling them, but there was really nothing else I could do to stop them, so I called. They said they would be home in a little bit and to give the kids a bath hopefully settling them done. I gave them a bath, finally got everything cleaned up, and had managed to get these devil children to sleep by the time their parents got home three hours after they said they would! I was so mad because seriously what parent does that. They knew the kids were sick and obviously had to have known that they had some pretty wild kids. It was honestly the longest night of my life and no amount of money could make up for what happened!

Metamorphosis

From what I had read, I didn't think I was going to like the book after the first chapter. It's just so awkward that he turned into a bug out of no where. There's really nothing for me to relate to because I've definitely never had this experience. It was also confusing because his parents just seemed to ignore everything which made me think that everything was in his head. I finished the second chapter and saw the humor in what was happening. It is so strange how his parents just lock him away in his room, trying to pretend nothing is going on when really there is a huge problem! I really like his sister because she's trying to help him and is the only one who seems to be acknowledging what is going on. The stuff that Gregor does is extremely weird like hanging onto a picture on the wall and just staring out the window for countless hours. I guess if I was locked in a room I would do the same, it's just so random. I didn't know if this picture had some importance because the author never gave any background information which made me kind of mad. I hope that when I finish the story, it somehow makes sense because right now it seems like the author is going to leave it pretty open ended.

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

At first when I read this poem I didn't understand it at all but after reading it a little closer I kind of got a sense of what the author was trying to get across. It talks about the black bird in so many different ways and places that I think it means that everyone is connected in some way. A sense of chaos comes off to me in the first and second stanza's because he's talking about the blackbird in multiple places. It's weird how the blackbird is included in everything, and all the different situations don't seem to be related to each other at all. He also could be talking about the fact that everyone sees the same situation differently because everyone in the story somehow sees the blackbird.
Another thought I had was that the author was talking about wishing you had something that you already do, but just can't see it. It also could mean that everyone has so many things that they don't realize the simple things in life are taken for granted. This makes a lot of sense when looking at the seventh stanza because he talks about golden birds which seem much more important than a blackbird.



I
Among twenty snowy mountains,
The only moving thing
Was the eye of the blackbird.

II
I was of three minds,
Like a tree
In which there are three blackbirds.

III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.
It was a small part of the pantomime.

IV
A man and a woman
Are one.
A man and a woman and a blackbird
Are one.

V
I do not know which to prefer,
The beauty of inflections
Or the beauty of innuendoes,
The blackbird whistling
Or just after.

VI
Icicles filled the long window
With barbaric glass.
The shadow of the blackbird
Crossed it, to and fro.
The mood
Traced in the shadow
An indecipherable cause.

VII O thin men of Haddam,
Why do you imagine golden birds?
Do you not see how the blackbird
Walks around the feet
Of the women about you?

VIII
I know noble accents
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;
But I know, too,
That the blackbird is involved
In what I know.

IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,
It marked the edge
Of one of many circles.

X
At the sight of blackbirds
Flying in a green light,
Even the bawds of euphony
Would cry out sharply.

XI
He rode over Connecticut
In a glass coach.
Once, a fear pierced him,
In that he mistook
The shadow of his equipage
For blackbirds.

XII
The river is moving.
The blackbird must be flying.

XIII
It was evening all afternoon.
It was snowing
And it was going to snow.
The blackbird sat
In the cedar-limbs.