Race vs Class

Tags: Class, March, March book 3, Race, race vs class

I think that the issues then were heavily influenced by race. That is not to say that class had no influence on everything that was happening but white people would not look down on another white person because of their class as heavily as they looked down on a black person just because of their race. I think that both play big roles but during March race would always outshine class because of how strong white people’s hatred of black people was. Even if a black family was in the same class as a white family the white family would still see them as less than others because of their race. I think that in today’s society race vs class can change in importance depending on where you look at. Just last week the blog prompt was about the KKK. How they are still a very active hate group who have the same ideals as they have always held even if they do not kill people anymore. This shows how big race is still playing a part in everyday life. Yet people will make fun of other people for what social class they fall under. People will get made fun of if they struggle to make ends meet. If someone has an old phone they will get made fun of for it. Both race and class are still causing divisions today because people still hold very shallow-minded views about other people. Some people will just look down on anyone they deem “less than” which can be related to either race or class or it can be a combination of both. Class causes divisions because it will change how a person goes through their life and what measures they will take to make sure they or their family is comfortable and not struggling as much.

Ariana November 13, 2022 1 Comment

What We Don’t Forget

March Blog Prompt

Tags: change, history, kkk, March book 3, memorial, social media, violence, violence against minorities

We look back on history with the notion of certain events happening in the distant past. It’s so distant that, more often than not, we forget that the offenders are still alive today. Even though we have moved forward as a society, looking down on the actions of our ancestors. Some people never change. They pass on their radical beliefs down from one generation to the next, which leads us to today.

Their Activity Today

The KKK is known as one of the oldest and most violent hate groups across the states. Nowadays, their hate is not only directed at black people, but also directed towards other minorities. Members of the LGBTQ+, immigrants, and Jewish people have all been targets of the KKK. As of recent years, there has been a decline in active KKK member activity. This can be chalked up to COVID-19, however, there has been a trend of their decline for the past few years.

Now, they work as separate groups and continue to cause each other problems. Infighting, disloyalty among groups, and lack of media coverage were some of the main issues that caused their decline. As well as, in 2021 several cases of members getting doxed. In 2022, many internet forums, websites, and social media but continue to get banned and kicked off different platforms for their continuous hate speech.

We Don’t Forget

As we move forward, we refuse to forget the violence of the past. Deep southern states like Alabama and Mississipi have a tendency to look the other way when it comes to facing their own history of racism. However, in 2018 a memorial was opened in Montgomery, Alabama. This museum was dedicated to the victims of slavery, Jim Crow Laws, and lynchings. This museum aimed to bring these horrible acts of violence to light, but also to let us come to terms with our history.

Works Cited

https://museumandmemorial.eji.org/memorial
https://www.adl.org/sites/default/files/documents/assets/pdf/combating-hate/tattered-robes-state-of-kkk-2016.pdf
https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/ideology/ku-klux-klan
https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/anonymous-doxing-missouri-kkk-ferguson/

Nicolle November 6, 2022 1 Comment

The Horrors of June 21, 1964

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

Tags: Activism, Andy Goodman, James Chaney, March book 3, Mickey Schwerner

Mickey Schwerner, Andy Goodman, and James Chaney were all civil rights activists who were working on a project for the Congress of Racial Equality, or CORE for short. One of their main goals was to get black people to register to vote in Mississippi. Mickey Schwerner was married to Rita Schwerner Bender who was also a civil rights activist in Mississippi. Before moving to Mississippi, Schwerner led a CORE group in Manhattan and was also helping in trying to desegregate Maryland. Andrew Goodman had grown up in a community that was very big into activism and socially progressive. James Chaney was very big on activism from his teen years and continued into his adulthood. He had been a part of the freedom bus rides that traveled from Tennessee to Mississippi.

They were attacked by KKK members and were killed while traveling back to Mississippi from Ohio. They were first stopped by a deputy for speeding and once released they continued on their way back to Meridian. The deputy followed them all the way to the county line where he once again pulled them over but instead of taking them into the station he took them to a deserted area. The deputy turned them over to the KKK where they were severely beaten and shot then they were buried and remained undiscovered for over 40 days. They were traveling to a church that had been burned down that they were planning on using as a freedom school. It was as they were returning from the church that they were harassed by the deputy and taken to a secluded area. There were 18 men arrested in regard to their murder yet only ten were actually convicted of anything. None of the men arrested had a trial held for murdering Schwerner, Goodman, and Chaney.

Ariana October 31, 2022

Death Abounds

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

Tags: #whenwillitstop, BLM, Freedom

The main event that stuck out to me was the bombing of the church. The bombing stood out because black people were just leading their everyday lives attending church as normal and were disrupted by ignorance and white supremacy. It was truly disheartening because an incident quite similar to this happened, except it wasn’t a bomb, but a gun.

To inflict this type of pain upon humans is monstrous. It is truly sad that they were literally just in the middle of Sunday service never intending that something like that would happen, but then it did. It resulted in the injury of 21 black children and killng four beautiful young girls who were probably no older than 16. Instead of the police providing protecting and investigating why the bombing happened, they ignored it and carried on with their lives. The killing didn’t stop and justice was never served. Two more boys, Virgil Lamar, 13 and Johnny Robinson, 16 were involved in racially motivated assaults. Virgil Lamar was shot down by a group of teenage boys who were in the Eagle Scouts and these boys had just attended a KKK meeting prior. Johnny Robinson, was gunned down by the police, unprovoked, but because he was a black boy they ruled his death as an accident.

In today’s society, however, incidents like these are common. A black childs death never makes the news and IF it does there is usually no context behind the murder. It is ruled as an accident or the white man, was simply just ‘protecting’ themselves. Recently there was a 15 year old boy, Jahiem McMillan, who was handcuffed to the ground and shot in the head by policemen. The murder did not reach the news and when the parents asked to see their child the police officer was adamant on keeping them from viewing him. The officer lied and pronounced that he was brain dead when he was actually dead. No matter how many years has passed the struggle to protect Black Lives has not been any easier. If anything it is more dangerous for black boys and men to roam the streets past a certain time without being looked at negatively or as if they are livestock. The killings never stopped and it really makes you wonder if anything has really changed. If we, as black people, will ever be on the same footing as white people

Kayla October 21, 2022 1 Comment

Freedom?

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

Tags: Activism, Freedom, March Book 2, protests

What would I do for freedom? I can start writing about how I would protest and participate in everything to gain my freedom. I can say that I would be part of every protest and be okay with getting arrested and staying in jail for however long the law deems fit like the Freedom Fighters did when fighting for their freedom and rights. The reality of the situation is that I do not know what I would do in that situation until it actually happens. When you grow up in a life without freedom you can start to lose hope and think that nothing will ever change no matter how hard you try. That mentality would seriously diminish any fight you could have had to make changes in your freedom and others’ freedom. That is not to say I have never spoken out and been an activist but I have never gone to protests because I could not. I had wanted to go to protests in DC when Roe v Wade was overturned and during the BLM movement but I was never able to because I had no way of getting there. I would always try to sign petitions and do as much as I could with what I was able to. The thing is you never know if signing petitions actually helps anything or if it is just a way to make the person feel as if they had done something helpful. Even though I have spoken out about issues in government and things I disagree with I will never know if I could be part of their sit-ins and be completely peaceful when people shout and throw stuff at me. I would like to say that I would do everything in my power to get freedom for myself but that is just a hope I have for myself.

Ariana October 14, 2022 2 Comments

Blind Eye to the Ten Commandments

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

In march book two, the theater was the next place they planned to do stand ins after weeks of doing it in the diner. These attempts to buy a movie ticket for the Ten Commandment movie were continuously denied because they would not sell tickets to black customers. Day after day they would attempt but would get the same result. In addition to being denied they faced discrimnation and hate speech by the white people standing in line behind them. The white people acted as if they were an inconvenience to them. They would get spit on, stuff thrown at them, and heard derogatory terms used towards them.

The ten commandments hold sacred value for those who believe them. They are seen to be the “rules” given to us by God. It goes over the do’s and don’ts to live by as a practicing religious individual. You can make the assumption that anyone of the time going to see the Ten Commandments movie in theater had a religious background that supported this belief. Yet do their actions portray God’s word? Absolutely not! The people standing in line were living a life of hypocrisy. By discriminating and disrepecting black people they go against commandments 3,5,6,8. For those who don’t know, those listed would be thou shall not take the lord’s name in vain, honor your father and mother, shall not murder, and shall not steal. You make question why I bring up the last one but the people discriminating are taking away rights of black people and robbing them of their dignity they rightfully should have.

Alaina September 30, 2022

Let Freedom Ring: March Book Two

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

Tags: comics, Freedom, freedom riders, graphic novel, March, Senator John Lewis

The pages of this week’s reading in March Book Two were violent to say the least. The images in the comic are hard enough to see, but the images of the event are by far harder.

In reading March Book Two this week, think about the phrase “Let Freedom Ring.” What does that mean? And to who? What would you be willing to go through for the freedom that we all take for granted every single day? Where do you see yourself in this text? Do you believe that people today would be willing to go through these sacrifices for freedom, and why?

It’s a lot to digest, but these events are not just important historically. They are important TODAY!! Why?

If these thoughts do not appeal to you, what about this part of the text does?

[Image on the left comes from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/18/us/politics/freedom-riders-john-lewis-work.html]

[Image on the right comes from http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1605]

Dianna September 27, 2022

The Hypocrisy of Southerners

Engl 165-16 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

Tags: BLM, hypocrite, Religion, Ten Commandments

In March, the Freedom Riders were trying to see the Ten Commandments movie in a theater that doesn’t allow black people in their theater. Anytime someone asks to purchase a ticket they are not allowed to and you see people talk about them while just standing in line. This goes against what the ten commandments actually ask of a person. The ninth commandment states “thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor” yet everyone in line to see the movie judges the black people just because they are black. It is hard to miss the irony of how the white people react and gossip about the protesters when they are supposed to be seeing a movie where one rule they are supposed to follow is to not judge the people around you or make assumptions and gossip. The movie follows Moses freeing his people from slavery and their oppression which is very similar to what the Freedom Riders are having to deal with. Yet white people are the ones who watch this movie and then leave and still treat black people horribly.

Even though everyone who participated in the stand-ins were peaceful, police would show up and scream in their faces. This is similar to how cops dealt with protestors in the BLM movement. When they peacefully protested the police would still aggravate people and try to force them to leave. So much about what is being protested in March is the same as today’s BLM movement. In March they are protesting for abolishment of segregation in the south. The BLM protests are about the mistreatment of black people by the police and both involved peaceful protests that the police would always get in the way of. The people in both instances practice peaceful protests which is a constitutional right as stated by the First Amendment.

Ariana September 23, 2022 1 Comment

Why Should I Care What the Gospel Says?

March Blog Prompt

Tags: Biblical Gospel, Christianity, Dr. Martin Luther King, John Lewis, March Book One, Religion, Social Gospel

I have never been able to connect to Christianity despite coming from a very religious background. At a young age I was being suffocated by the same religious beliefs my parents had been raised by. I attend a private Christian school in my home country. As I grew older, I felt more and more disconnected from my religion. As I began to discover who I was as a person, my beliefs shifted. Suddenly, my parents’ prayers fell on deaf ears, my bible sat on my desk gathering dust, and my feelings got the better of me at the dinner table. I don’t consider myself as a religious person anymore, I don’t think I ever was. So, when I saw John Lewis preaching to the baby chickens as a child, I couldn’t help but sigh. I went into the book with a very negative view of Christianity, but to my surprise I didn’t find myself rolling my eyes.

“He applied the principles of the church to what was happening NOW, today. It was called the social gospel and I felt like he was preaching directly to me.”

This is what John Lewis mentioned when he first heard Dr. Martin Luther King on the radio. The social gospel is a more modernized version of the biblical gospel. One that’s more focused on the liberation of others. More often than not it was used to silence minorities, used to protect injustices, and even encourage the mistreatment of others. Even if that wasn’t its intended purpose, that’s how a lot of people used it. One of the ideas that struck me the most was of social evolution. It stuck with me the most because of the idea of moving forward in society. Being seen as everyone’s equal, no matter the color of your skin, is something we still struggle with to this day. It’s why I think this gospel is one I could get behind, despite my past.

Nicolle September 9, 2022 4 Comments

Preaching to the Public

Engl 165-04 Fall '22, March Blog Prompt

Tags: comprehension, March Book One

When thinking of social gospel, the idea of preaching comes to my mind. The concept to go into public and tell the outside world how you feel about a specific topic, that is what I think of when talking about social gospel.

When learning about the civil rights movement I learned about Martin Luther King Jr., a very passionate, caring, and thoughtful black man who knew he wanted to make all individuals have the same rights. In March, Lewis was just as passionate about having his voice heard as Martin was. They both preached about equal rights, wanting every white and black female and male to all be equal. Through God’s eyes we are all the same, that is what Christians believe, that is also what Martin and Lewis believed. When these men went out and gave speeches, they told their ideas through God’s ideas. These men preached just as much as a preacher would, going into public, into the media’s eye, wanting to be heard and seen, just trying to get their voices out into the world. That is what social gospel is known as.

If you asked me what social gospel was, I would tell you it’s voicing how you feel into the public, putting your ideas out to the people who want to listen and have the same viewpoints as you do. I can see that continuously throughout March, in the beginning with the chickens being preached to, then later having it become thousands upon thousands of people. In today’s time, social gospel is used in the media, and across many platforms. Everyone has something to preach about, and throughout time it has become easier to do so. Many people have become fluent in the way of social gospel, myself on the other hand I am do not feel very literate in social gospel, at least not as well as Lewis or Martin. Martin stood at the podium in Washington D.C., gave his ” I Have a Dream” speech, something I do not believe I could do. In conclusion, I believe social gospel is when an individual expresses themselves to the public religiously about something they care very strongly about, and I feel in March, that is an ongoing theme as well as in our everyday real lives.

April September 9, 2022 1 Comment