Racial Perspective

Recently I read an interesting article on Newsweek.com about children seeing race. The article focused on how parents should teach their children about racial differences. The author writes that discussion about race is critical considering the fact that children as young as 6 months can recognize and differentiate skin color. It was determined that most parents do not discuss race with their children, leading their children to think that there are in fact divisions among race and that they should not be amongst those of another race. Children then become more susceptible to judging others. Therefore, talking to kids about racial differences is important because it helps them understand that they should not discriminate.

It seems as though the answer to the prevention of discrimination is knowledge. The kids who never talked about race were more likely to judge people based on race than those who did. I think that this concept can be applied to the origins of slavery. Over the past few days in class we have talked about some of the ways slavery originated, but we never talked about why people think they have the right to make others work for them in the first place. Because the first settlers in America were mainly European and white, they had little exposure to people of different ethnicity like Native Americans or Blacks. The Americans' lack of knowledge about people of other races made them automatically assume that they had authority over them. This makes me wonder both about human nature and the way people determine superiority.

What do you think about some of the psychological reasons behind slavery?

Obama and Kanye

Many of you probably already heard about what Obama said to Kanye. But for anyone who doesn't, here's what happened. Before an interview with CNBC, Obama was commenting on the debacle between Kanye West and Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. Kanye West walked onto the stage during Taylor's acceptance speech and said that Beyonce should have won the award instead of Taylor. So before his interview, Obama commented on Kanye's behavior and called him a jackass. Obama's conversation was off-the-record although what he said was recorded.

At TMZ.com, a sound clip and also a video recording of Obama can be viewed. People can also comment on the clips. I read some of the comments and interestingly, many people wrote things like: "Yeah Obama!" and "Way to tell it like it is!". So overall the commenters seemed to support what Obama said. I thought more people would comment on the fact that he used a bad word to describe Kanye. Having never heard any president use a swear before, it both shocked me and led me to view Obama in a different light. Sometimes people might forget that the President of the United States is still a man entitled to his own personal opinions. I know I tend to forget the president probably has opinions on popular media events too. He uses the same vocabulary as many other men, just not usually in public. However, others might believe that Obama is setting a bad example by using that kind of language.

Any thoughts?

Dreams Do Come True... But At What Cost?

So far this Labor Day weekend has meant much more to 17 year old Melanie Oudin, the youngest tennis player to make it to the U.S. Open quarterfinals since Serena Williams. My dad told me how she upset the fourth-seeded player in the tournament, and after hearing that I watched her next match and defeat of Maria Sharapova. When a reporter interviewed her after her victory she kept talking about how hard she tried and how long she had worked to get where she is. Determination is a huge factor in Oudin's success: she even has the word 'Believe' written on her shoes. Although this rising star is making an enormous impact in the tennis world, she needed to make multiple sacrifices along the way. After 7th grade she decided to be home-schooled in order to practice more, and she admits that sometimes she is jealous of the more normal lifestyle of her twin sister.

All of this made me think about the commitments athletes make. Do the ends justify the means? Playing a sport at the pro level at such a young age surely requires tremendous amounts of dedication and practice, and I am wondering if the time commitment for a teenager is worth it. It seems apparent that Oudin's entire life has revolved around tennis, which obviously took away any chance of living as an ordinary teen. I definitely feel that now she must feel like things are paying off, but what about the young athletes who devote their lives for their sport with no satisfying results? In some cases working to be the best might not necessarily bring the best results.

Anyways, I'm definitely rooting for Oudin in the quarterfinals!