KKK

Yes, I think his story offers a credible way of overcoming misunderstanding and hatred between races. After all, it wasn’t a fictional story. It would be easy to believe that this story could have never happened and that it’s uncredible and ficticious, but if you have even an ounce of hope in your body, you can believe that something like this really happened! This man overcame his prejudice, just by talking and communicating with others of different opinions! It’s something close to a miracle, but it’s wonderful!
Yes, I think this could work on a larger scale, but I don’t think it would affect all of the people in the meeting. I believe a handful of the population in the meeting would walk out completely changed, but not absolutely all of them. Of course, I’m not one to doubt any glimpse of hope there could be, but I believe not everyone would be affected. But who am I to predict whether or not a miracle will happen or not?

Yoshino

Yoshino says that “the mainstream is a myth” because no one is purely mainstream. Mainstream is the concept of the absolute norm, with no difference whatsoever. We’re all different in someway, therefore no one can be completely mainstream. There are many qualities that are necessary to be mainstream, and no one has all of those qualities naturally, they have to disguise themselves into that mainstream. There can never be a true natural mainstream because we’re all too diverse. Most Americans try and conform to the mainstream, but they’re covering up everything about them that isn’t mainstream- therefore they’re not truly mainstream.
His reasoning is very persuasive because we can all relate to this. Whether the reader is part of the population that tries to conform to the mainstream, or part of the population that strives to be unique- it relates to all of us whether we want it to or not.

Life in the North

Life in the north isn’t all that Linda thought it would be at all. Linda is living day by day, fearing for her life because she is still a slave. She realizes that even if she isn’t a slave, people still don’t treat her equally because she’s African American, and it’s very similar to the south where she came from. Linda finally attains her freedom from a white patron purchasing her freedom. She is so happy that she is finally free, but then she’s also sad because she wasn’t born free. She isn’t happy to live in such a place where freedom has to be bought for certain people, and where people of a different ethnicity are treated with such cruelty and indignity. She doesn’t quite know if she should be happy or sad or angry, or what to do.

Emotional Passage

“Are doctors of divinity blind, or are they hypocrites? I suppose some are the one, and some are the other; but I think if they felt the interest in the poor and the lowly, that they ought to feel, they would not be so easily blinded.”
This was a particularly emotional passage for me because of the feeling behind it. Linda is such a caring and nice girl, and she has such intellectual thoughts, that it makes me sad that she is so abused.
The author combines her feelings with her intellectualness and it simply makes the reader feel for the character. She uses her thoughts and her inner questions to make us feel pity and sorrow for her, which is a very advanced tactic for appealing to pathos. Also, she uses a disability in her thought/question, which is a clever way to appeal to emotions. We all feel more emotions for someone with a natural disability, and including it in an emotional passage makes it even more emotional.

Incidents in the life of a slave girl

When writing such violent and sad stories, it is important that they’re truth and not fiction. If the book was fiction, then most people wouldn’t believe that all of these terrible things could happen to anyone. This is a powerful novel, and in order for these novels to serve their purpose of educating people about how ruthless slavery was, people need to know that this really happened.
It is important that the editor didn’t clean up the language or content because it adds to the appeal to pathos. When they hear such harsh language spoken to someone, it appeals to their emotions. Also, this is not fiction. The author has to tell the account of what happened the way it really did- not a died down version for appropriateness. The situation wasn’t appropriate. That would diffuse the purpose. This book wasn’t written for young children, it was written for teenagers and adults to educate them on what happened in times of slavery- as awful as it might be.

CNN election coverage

I was watching the election coverage on CNN at about 9:00 and I noticed something highly upsetting. When presenting the news on the election, the reporters seemed to be noticeably biased toward how they reported the news. If they were a McCain supporter, then they would be happier when the republicans were leading, and they would be gloomier, and trying to defend their republican view when Obama was leading, and vice versa for the democrats. This was very surprising to me since I didn’t think that such a reputable station would be so biased toward such an important election. However, they did present some very interesting studies. Studies show that more people who thought race mattered, voted for Obama than McCain, and even the ones who didn’t thin race mattered, voted more for Obama. Also, those who thought age mattered, voted more for Obama by a long shot, and those who didn’t think age mattered also voted more for Obama. These were interesting statistics because age was Obama’s largest downfall, however it turned out to be an advantage. The race statistic surprised me, but it surprised me in a better way! I’m happier that there are less people racist than those who aren’t!
I was very disappointed, however, with the republican’s, “booing”, during McCain’s speech. That was probably the rudest thing I’ve ever seen in my life. How would it feel to be, “booed”, in front of almost all of America? Not that I particularly like McCain at all, but even I felt sorry for him. I also commend McCain on his concession speech. It was the best speech he has given so far. After all these months, he has finally got the hang of public speaking!
I’m overjoyed that Obama won, but I’m surprised at how rude and biased people can be toward important events. Although, I did make a mental note- when I’m reporting the presidential election on the news station (hopefully), I can’t show my biases!

Wachtel responce

I, surprisingly, have not had a confrontation about race that was set in a harmful manner; however, I have had a confrontation about a prejudice with someone whom I don’t wish to name. This person was not prejudice in a harmful or dangerous way, in other words, she didn’t pose as a harmful threat towards those whom she was prejudice towards, but she certainly had prejudice thoughts. This person was prejudice toward people of a different religion.
She was very devout to her religion, and believed that anyone who didn’t believe in her religion was going to hell. She would push her religion on people, and talk badly about those who weren’t worshiping in the same religion. I had this encountering when I was very young, and she was telling me how if I didn’t do “x”, “y”, and “z”, then I would go to hell, and so would everyone else if they didn’t. Being two years old, I didn’t try to argue much, but I do think I made a difference. I cried, and when she became upset and asked me why I was crying, I said (I don’t remember exactly what), but something close to, “That’s not very nice”, and resumed crying. Not many people can take making a two year old cry and be completely guilt-free. By saying and doing what I did, I think I made her question if not her beliefs, then at least her actions. Since then, she hasn’t said anything like that to me. I’m not sure if I really changed her beliefs at two, but I’m proud to say that I at least changed her actions toward others.
After reading Wachtel’s article, I believe I understand the experience differently. Most people don’t get through to a racist person because they are making accusations themselves against them. By appealing to someone’s emotions and making them question their morals themselves, it will be more affective.

Parillo

Parillo talks about learning that takes place in the early childhood years that is from your parents or childhood guardians. These beliefs and ideas that were thrust upon you when you were younger, and concepts that you still believe throughout your life, and into adulthood. There are steps to this prejudice, and they fully show in your older years. When I was younger, I took, and still take, very intensive ballet. I was taught that ballet is the most difficult form of dance. It is technically, and artistically harder, than jazz, tap, and hip-hop. Although my prejudice isn’t very strong, I still believe that ballet is one of the hardest, if not the hardest art form of dance. This is what my ballet teachers instilled in my brain at a young age, and is what I continue to somewhat believe.

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Cose believes that official investigation, apology, and restitution are important to the victims of great historic injustices or to their descendants because it not only helps them, but it furthers the community. It is the country’s job to acknowledge their mistakes, and pay their debt to those they owe it to. This is needed in order for the country to move on, and become better as a whole. It is stated, “By finally admitting a wrong, a nation does not destroy its integrity, but rather reinforces the sincerity of its commitment to the constitution, and hence, to the people.” Of course, making mistakes are bad, especially in cases such as slavery and violence, but if the nation admits its wrong and tries to fix it, then it is reinforcing the use of the constitution, and serving the people. It is important to society as a whole because it is necessary for the country to keep governing according to the constitution, because that’s what our country is founded on. We reinforce our values by exercising our country’s morals in the constitution, which furthers our integrity and reinforces our country’s values.