Reading Reflection #7: Free Write on your individual topic.

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The topic I am discussing in my critical annotated bibliography is “Racial Disparities in the Justice system.” I am very passionate about this topic because I see it daily and know people that have experienced it. It has always been a big issue in the United States. The united states had always oppressed black people in most aspects of their lives. However, in this paper, I will specifically address the oppression in the criminal justice system.

I have a lot of black friends that are very genuine, smart, and nice people. This may lead to some bias, but I am sure that it does not affect the matter’s truth, considering the arguments and the evidence I will provide. With that being said, I condemn the treatments of the criminal justice system towards them. We can view this problem differently; for example, we can look at the policies made out against black people, sentencing, incarceration, police brutality, etc. Compared to whites, the black community is always viewed as a minority group. There needs to be a change in the justice system; A change in the laws, treatment, and policies against black people. The black community’s oppression needs to stop, and Racial equality should be applied in the justice system.

I am most interested in learning and expanding my knowledge about this topic. The more I look into this topic, the more evidence I find that supports my claim. This topic has been an issue in the United States throughout its history, and it surprisingly has not been solved yet. It would be very nice to see equality being applied between races in the justice system. No one should be discriminated against or pressed based on something they do not control, which in this case, is the color of the skin.

First Essay: What it’s like to be an immigrant

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I’ve chosen to write about being an immigrant in this country. I picked this topic as it was the cause of experiencing things such as racism, learning a new language, and dealing with a whole new society and culture. In writing this essay, I hope that I analyze the actions and things I have done as an immigrant, and see if I could have done anything better. For others, I would like to inform, educate, and help them see things from my perspective, an immigrant’s perspective.

7 years ago, we moved to the United States. I was only 10 at the time. All we wished for is a better life. For my parents, it was the limitless opportunities they saw in the US. They wanted me and my younger sister to be in a safe country, with good education, and jobs. We had already imagined the struggle we could face moving to a new country, but it was so much worse.

We arrived in the United States. Everything was different; people, cars, streets, weather, and language. I remember my aunt and uncle taking us to a hotel. It had this weird smell that never went away even when I left the hotel. I opened the fridge and took a sip out of this weird looking can that had “Pepsi” written on it. It tasted so nasty to me. I asked my aunt if this was expired. She said, “no, but it has way more sugar than the Pepsi at home.” We knew that we had to adapt eventually. It was only until school started where things got bad for us. I was in a class surrounding by all these kids that were staring at me, saying stuff that I couldn’t understand, and whenever I tried to speak, they laughed. The country I came from, the food I ate, and the way I dressed were all good reasons to be harassed. That is when things got really hard.

 

Reading Reflection #2: Implicit Bias and Race

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IBé Questions:

  1. I felt sickening after reading “Trouble in Mind: To Be Black Is Blue in America” as it shows the underlying racism of some people in the community. When I was 10, I came to the United States for the first time. That’s when I experienced racism but on a small level. I still remember comments that I didn’t really understand what they meant at the time, but looking back at them, I realized that they were racist comments.
  2. He is saying that in America, racism exists against black people, even on an unconscious level. If the black community were to look closely at the meaning of comments they receive, they would find ambiguity in them. Did they say that because I’m black, are they being racist, or do they not mean it in that way. Therefore, it is stressful to be a black person in the US.

Microaggressions in a classroom:

  1. I have experienced and witnessed many microaggressions in the classroom. For example, “You don’t look like your Arab”,  “Will your parents get mad because you got a B?” to an Asian student, and “I thought you played basketball” to a black student. After hearing such comments, 99% of the time people move on and don’t even address the comments. We have socially normalized it, without thinking of what other students feel.
  2. It is very important for students to feel welcomed in a classroom as it will help them learn. If students are feeling some sort of obnoxiousness or anxiousness going into a class, then they can’t cooperate or engage in the classroom. This will affect them mentally and therefore would lead to not learning.

Do Conversations About Race Belong in the Classroom?:

  1. Although the majority of my school was white, I would say that it was somewhat diverse. Although Arabs are considered white, they are still considered a minority. Therefore, I can not give you the full experience of what it means to be white in America. I know for sure that it is nothing compared to being black for example.
  2. No and yes. No, because I feel it’s ridiculous to teach students that we should not hurt, discriminate, or judge others based on their race. I mean isn’t it obvious to treat all races equally? However, looking at it from another point of view, our society does need to be educated on that topic. Sadly, there is so much ignorance that people carry.

Reading Reflection #1: Critical thinking

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1. The values of a critical thinker are:

  1. Autonomy, which is seeking different views that aren’t our own.
  2. Curiosity, asking questions about the information that you consume.
  3. Humility, admitting that you may be wrong and not holding on to your beliefs because of your ignorance.
  4. Respect for good reasoning wherever you find it.

2. Weak sense thinking is different than strong-sense thinking in a way that weak-sense thinking has one unconcerned of the truth. Strong-sense is harder to use because it humiliates you forces you to get rid of bias.

3. The argument we have with our parents are small arguments that may not be backed up with evidence and is more opinion-based. The argument in the book is more of an intellectual argument with the claim, evidence, and a conclusion.

4. It is difficult to find the right answer because most people do not use critical thinking as the way they look into thigs in real-life. We do not consider other points of view and hold firmly on our beliefs.

 

Why Questioning-

  1. I personally like questioning because it would lead me to learn more and would expand my knowledge.
  2. As children grow, they become less interested in the world around them. People like Bezos and Steve Jobs carry own the curiosity attribute which is part of their success.
  3.  In college, questioning would be crucial when absorbing information to actually understand the content rather than just memorizing it.

 

 

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