Social Injustice Project

The article “What Happened in Ferguson,” from the New York Times is explaning a topic that infuriates people due to social injustice. The article shows controversy with witnesses, some say Michael Brown charged towards the police officer (Officer Wilson), while others say he did not. I think this article shows social injustice, because the color of Brown’s skin probably affected the outcome of the situation. If Brown (hypothetically) charged towards Wilson, then why would the officer have felt there was no choice but to shoot him dead? Many are convinced it’s because of his skin color. There currently is a strong stereotype for african americans, which probably influenced Wilson and made him shoot out of fear. If there was a white teenage boy charging at the officer would he have felt in the same amount of danger? Would he have fired 12 rounds at the incoming boy? The article makes me realize how we haven’t come as far as we thought we had in terms of racism. There’s footage of protestors in the streets being taken out by tear gas, which looks similar to the protests for voting rights, that occured years ago. We do have a black president which is a major step forward, but seeing people shouting at officers in the streets really makes you wonder how much farther we have to go until we are all equal.

Buchanan, Larry. "What Happened in Ferguson?" The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Aug. 2014. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html>.

Imagine by John Lennon (excerpt)

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion too

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace...

This excerpt from Imagine by John Lennon is about how much conflict there is in the world. It tells what the world could be if there wasn’t war, and tells the reader to imagine that. It traces war back to the division of the world by asking the reader to imagine no countries, and how that could mean “living life in peace”. The excerpt demonstreates injustice, because some of the army members are people who have no choice, because they really need the money.

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One day when I was walking down the street, I heard a man whistle to a woman. She was simply strolling down the street in jeans and a low hanging shirt, and hadn’t done anything to provoke this man. I watched in disgust as his eyes went up and down her body, and he shouted things at her. This is unfair to human rights, beacause you don’t see women whistling at men in tight shirts, or shouting for their number. This woman was only seen for her body, which is an example of something happening in this soceity that’s cruel and unfair.

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While watching popular TV shows my younger sister would watch on Disney Channel, I saw reocurring patterns. For starters, teens my age are generally white. They are skinny, wear flashy clothing, and never wear glasses (only “nerds” would wear those). They are portrayed as sneaky and are always hiding things from their parents. In every current Disney show there will be one episode where a main character breaks an object, or looses something. They will lie to their parents, and try to avoid any consequence. Eventually, they will get caught and are forced to fix their mess. Most of the teenagers live in big cities like Chicago or New York, and have loose parents who are willing to let them run around freely. These TV shows, give kids a strict image of how they should look, or what “pretty” should look like. Plus, there are many gender stereotypes. A typical girl character would buy shoes instead of studying, or a guy would play with trucks and throw dirt at his sisters. Looking back on the shows I used to watch on Disney, there are similarities and differences. For starters, there were actual african americans on the shows I watched. On Disney now, the only black person you will see is an extra in the background. Also, all the actors weren’t a size 0, which made kids love their bodies as they are. In addition, some of the episodes in shows would be relatable and would serve as advice, to educate and help kids watching. There would be episodes focusing on bullying, or even puberty. However, shows now and then have things in common. For instance, some of the older shows did include sneaky characters who would manipulate parents. Overall, the portrayal of teenagers is unrealistic and negative.

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One of my moms, named Jen, used to work at a law firm for many years of her life. During her time there, she worked on many cases involving social injustice, one of which being racism. Low income black families were being cheated out of their money by the owner of their house, and Jen worked hard to prove this was happening and ended up winning her case. She was able to get money back to the people who really need it. Because the families were black, the predatory lender took the little money they had.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to be a lawyer?

A: Nope, not until late collage.

Q: Why did you want to be a lawyer?

A: In collage I learned a lot about civil rights movement and womans right movements and I felt that some things in the world are really awful, and unfair, and I felt like it would be great to try to do something about it.

Q: What do you think the greatest social injustice problem is facing the world?

A: I would say racial and ethnic stereotypes, and the distructive actions people take due to these assumptions that the stereotypes are true.

Q: What do you do to try to fix these problems?

A: For 16 years I represented poor people in court for free, and I tried to educate people in community groups about their rights and now I run a program for City Collage students from low income backgrounds who want to become lawyers.

Q: What was your biggest case to help these people?

A: In 2011, I and four other attorney attorneyrepresented six families against a predatory lender and who also fraudulent developer of homes. We won 10 million dollars for our clients and created the first case law regarding this particular type of loan, which will help other lawyers help other families who were victims of preditory lending.

Q: Would you say you change the world?

A: I feel like during my times at legal services I represented 2500 people or families, and won almost all of those cases so I feel like I changed a lot of individual peoples worlds, but on a global level I don’t think the work I did made a humongous change except fighting the fight against injustice.

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I asked my mom named Lisa, about her opninions on social justice:

Q: How do you think we can fix social injustice problems?

A: I really don’t know, there’s just such a history in our country of salvery and anti-immagration.

Q: What do you think the biggest issues are?

A: One of them is definitely racism, I think everyone is somewhat racist today, but its not that simple because they deny it. Every white person has had at least one racist thought because of our history, and how we were rasied.

Q: What do you think is fair in the world?

A: Democaracy is the main prefered gov in the world i think this is a much better gover than kings and dictators and also there is all this social revolutions of the 60s: gay rights, womans rights, black luebration its open the door for people to disucss things like difference and acceptance of difference.

Q: What do you think is unfair about the world?

A: Biggest issue is economic difference rather than racial difference, the difference having money is of such high value in our culture.  

I personally agree with what Lisa was saying, there is definitly a problem with racism, and there are so many people who are racist because of our history. I think preventing racism will be a challenge for the US, because while we have come far, there’s still a lot of racism today.

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On the news there are many heartbreaking events, and one I saw was about a fire. The newscaster explains how a fire taking over 40 homes forced people to evacuate, and some people had merely moments to escape. The building was left demolished, and all belongings were destroyed. It would be tragic to be in their situation, because they would have lost almost everything. To have to escape from your home before your burned alive, and then having to watch your home go down in flames would be heartbreaking. You keep photo albums, electronics, toys, and so much more in your house, and I can’t imagine all of that being gone in a second. And now the evacuees are left searching for a place to stay, and then a new home.

Is Banning Books Necessary?

Emma Malcolm 802

Dear Ms Berner,

Potter Stewart, a past member of the Supreme Court once said, “Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself.” In the United States today, over 11,300 books have been banned due to censorship. All over the country, libraries and schools pull books away from students in fear of the content being inappropriate. There’s a lot controversy over how much a teen can handle when it comes to gruesome topics like murder, rape, suicide, and others. However, constricting book access to teenagers is impractical, because dark and depressing topics can expose kids to the world, and can help them withstand it. Schools shouldn’t limit students access to certain books, because grim young adult novels can be beneficial to teens when applied to life.

“If subjects like these [depression, self harm, etc] are in YA books, it’s to show that they are real, they have happened to others, and they can be survived.” Says the article, “Yes, teen fiction can be dark-but it shows teenagers they aren’t alone,” by Maureen Johnson. Growing up as a teenager is challenging, and there are many difficult situations one must endure. A woman struggling through a methamphetamine addiction, for example, was saved by the YA novel Crank. “Banned Books Week 2010: An Anti-Censorship Manifesto,” by Ellen Hopkins explains how a woman, “...saw herself in those pages, and suddenly knew she didn't want to be there. That book turned her around.” The depressing and dark novel was able to guide a woman from her addiction. Think of how many other people could be saved daily by these novels. For instance, if a self harming teenager reads about another teen in the same situation, she would know she’s not the only one struggling. Maureen Johnson says, “For teenagers there is sometimes no message more critical than: you are not alone,” and proposes, “If the character overcomes her complication, a kid reading could get the courage to do the same.” Sherman Alexie the author of, “Why the Best Kids Books are Written in Blood,” explains “Now I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers...I write to give them weapons–in the form of words and ideas-that will help them fight their monsters.” Those who have survived gruesome events can use their experiences to assist others.

        Grim young adult novel plots tend to be based off real life situations and, “Fiction is a safe way for kids to explore these issues,” as described in “Books Bring Dark Issues To Light For Teen Readers”. These YA books can help a teenager learn about their world through a character's eyes, instead of living it firsthand. YA novels “make [teens] ask questions about the world they live in and the choices they make.” Through books, teenagers are able to see different perspectives of a known issue, and the world itself. Many young adult novels are raw, and don't sugarcoat the problems described, this way teenagers are able to see their environment in a realistic way, even if it can be gloomy and frightening. They are able to fully understand issues in the world. “Are Teen Novels Dark and Depraved- or Saving Lives,” brings up the idea that, “Books...deal with millions of subjects that are sometimes uncomfortable to deal with. It’s the way we deal with and introduce subjects into the consciousness.... We can use those resources in art and literature as ways of understanding them.” Dark novels can bring difficult topics into discussion, and cause awareness.

There are many people against the idea of topics like depression, or child abuse, in the minds of teens. Many worry the popular YA novels will normalize intense problems facing the country, and could even encourage teenagers to try them out. It’s been said that it’s "also possible...that books focusing on pathologies help normalize them, and in the case of self harm, may even spread the plausibility and likelihood to young people who might otherwise never have imagined such extreme measures," explains the article, “Should Young Adult Books Explore Difficult Issues”. However there are many accounts of teens showing the opposite effects that were accused. In the article, “Banned Books Week 2010: An Anti-Censorship Manifesto,” Ellen Hopkins exclaims, "I have received tens of thousands of messages from readers, thanking me for turning them around, giving much needed insight, and even literally saving their lives”. YA books encourage teens to avoid the situation described in the book, because most novels show the terrible outcome these situations have on the character. Young adult books do not convince kids to follow the footsteps into a terrible addiction for example, they convince kids to avoid the addiction entirely, or to get themselves out of it.

There is no real reason to ban books. Banning books would make it more difficult to get the book, but not impossible teens can access censored books on the internet, or from friends.  The world can be a scary and dark place, and YA books are the survival guide. They don’t exaggerate the dark parts to life, they simply don’t try to hide it. Teens deserve to learn about problems they could face in the future, or may already be suffering through.