blog 5: comparison

         Monster and Incognegro are similar because they both highlight racism in America. Monster shows present day racism. The jury look at Steve as a young black criminal and he is looked at as guilty from the start. Incognegro shows racism in the south when there was still a lot of hatred towards African Americans. The hate is more noticeable in this book because there are lynchings in this book as opposed to silent prejudices.   In Monster, Steve's lawyer says that his race might sway people to think he is automatically guilty. In Incognergo, the sheriff knows that Zane's brother is innocent, but it doesn't matter because he is African American.
          Both books create conversation about the topics we discussed in class. White privilege is shown in Incognegro because Zane can easily maneuver through the town when the people think he is white. He can     deceive the powerful people in the town because they see him as a white man. If Steve would have been white he wouldn't have been labeled as guilty from the start. Power is shown in both books because the white men are the most powerful. Years ago and present day in both books, the African Americans have less power than the white people. Zane and Carl gain power when they pretend to be different races and Steve gains power when he separates himself from the young black criminals.

Blog #4

          The videos we watched presented new ideas about racism to me. The way I have always thought is that in America, the amount of effort someone puts in leads to the amount of success earned. I have always thought if someone works hard enough they can get mostly anything they want. The first video discussed white privilege and that it might be that way for some, but it isn't for all. For some it doesn't matter how hard they work they still will not be as successful as white people purely because of race. I had never thought of this before. The second video was interesting to me because the children had still remembered the experiment years later. If that small class benefited so greatly from the activity I think that teachers should do it today. Trying to end racism is talked about a lot in schools but there are not many activities that put children in other people's shoes like that.
        The belief statement I chose is, "Hatred is Learned." I said that this statement was true in a sense that we are all taught hate, we are not born with it. Whether it is a sibling, a parent, or a peer, our beliefs are shaped by the people around us. Hatred of different races is born from prejudices of our family and our neighborhoods and learned when we are raised around it. Hatred isn't something we all posses, it is something that is taught and learned by each other.