Monday, April 16, 2018
The Segregation Academy
Kirsten Green grew up being, as she writes, "sheltered." How was she sheltered and for what reason(s)? This is a question that arose several times while we were reading Sotomayor. What is the importance of diversity in school (diversity of students, of teachers)? What did Kristen lose out on by not being around non-white people? What did she gain when she went out into the world and lived in more diverse communities? What were people like her grandfather trying to "shelter" her from? Green's prof yells at her that "Nice doesn't mean good!" What is the significance of this statement? Another way of asking this question: Do you have to hate to be racist? Does racism have to be intentional?
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I think her grandfather was trying to shelter her from what he did not understand. Diversity is important because you learn about different cultures, you learn from each other. Nice doesn't mean good because while all the gentleman in her town were civil to people they were closing schools to keep the county segregated. I think in the book the people of the county were racist because they decided to close school in response to a court order. They had no regard for the women that cleaned their homes and raised their kids. This in my opinion was about cheap labor and control.
ReplyDeleteKristen Green was sheltered from the world. She became unaware of what life outside of her community would be like. Attending a all white school and being around only people of the same race left her to believe other people of different race didn't exist. On page 113 she stated that" growing up in Prince Edward, I rarely considered that other people existed beyond the community of whites I encountered at school and church". Being sheltered negatively affected her life, being around non- white people for most of her life later gave her knowledge of the history of her family and hometown's past. It was then that she realized why her life was just surrounded by only whites. It now hurts her to know her family was so racist, although to me it seems unintentional, they were trying to protect the children. This was like a big stereotype. "Nice doesn't mean good" insinuating blacks being nice are not essentially good people. Kristen green lost out on the importance of diversity because she was always around whites. Now that she has her family and now out in the world without being sheltered, Kristen as seen we are all one it doesn't matter our race.
ReplyDeleteBeing sheltered restricts her from having the ability to adapt to different social settings, it puts blinders over her eyes from the real world and how cruel or how much potiental for growth there is out there. I believe racism is taught, it is not something that spontanously becomes a part of the way we see other groups of people.
ReplyDeleteI read a passage in the book describing Ms. Greens paternal grandmother as loving black people on pg 123. That's why I associate Virginians behavior with misunderstanding. Her grandmother would feed the little kids at her kitchen table while feeding their parents on the back porch. She would collect goods and distribute them among both communities although she felt she was better than the black people.
ReplyDeletei think her grandparents didnt know anything else. what could they have really have known other than this? they were raised on theses ideas their whole lives. they dont understand it and they refuse too. diversity is a key in life ! you need if you truly wanna explore the world and understand it.
ReplyDeleteShe was being shelters from the world. her grandfather did not want her to know about other cultures.she had went to an all white school. diversity is something that everyone needs to be around. what she lost on not being around was, she didn't know her family was so rasicts. on page 91 " Edward countys leaders were well mannered souotheren gentlemen. they has also closed the schools. nice doesn't mean good" I feel that was being rasist towards the blacks saying that there not good people. but now that she is out on her own and not being sheltered by her grandfather she sees the world really different from when she was raised
ReplyDeleteI don't believe someone as to hate to be a racist because sometimes its just unintentional. Sometimes people don't think before they speak and then whats being said is perceived differently. In the Loving video I remember Richard's friend was provoking him about his wife, saying "why you don't just get a divorce and stop making it harder for themselves. You have it better than us". I believe this was a example of unintentional racism. Although it was coming from a black person himself.I believe it is possible for people to be racist to their own kind.
ReplyDeleteShe had always been inside a bubble at first we might think she's being sheltered but in reality she isn't she does not understands how the world outside her town works. It is important to have diversity in schools because you get to learn a lot from different cultures.
ReplyDeleteBeing sheltered from the world around you can only have a negative effect, bc you're always going to think that whatever is out of the norm you're use to, is not right. there for without even wanting to you become racist.
ReplyDeletekristen Green was shelltered because she went to all white school . her grandfather was a segregationist who with the help of the defenders closed the the school because the court ordered to accept blacks students into school. she did not under what segregation or desegregation meant
ReplyDeleteKristen Green was sheltered in a sense that she lived in a community where the white people had more opportunities, whites and blacks were separated. After she met with her first journalist professor in college she realized that she did not know much about segregation and integration of schools. She also had friends of different races. One of her Asian friends had told her about calling Asians Oriental. Kristen unknowingly said something that offended her. Her friend told her that she shouldn't say Oriental it was offensive to people who were Asian. Being in college Kristen was around all different races and she was learning how to be civil to all people. She didn't know what to make of her Latina friend who spoke Spanish to her parents. I think that going to college and meeting people of different races really opened the chapter of her childhood in Prince Edward County. She started to question what really happened.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Kristen was sheltered from diversity; during her grandfather's time people did not accept different races and I believe it's mostly because they were reluctant to believe that the differences between races is what make us all alike. Kristen's grandfather followed tradition and I imagine that it was hard for him to see beyond it, but helping an entire community to remain sheltered only was a segregation of his own kind. Unfortunately, most of the students that attended the segregation schools will probably go on and shelter their children and the cycle continues.
ReplyDeleteWhen Kristen was finally in a diverse environment, she was culturally shocked.
Kristen Green's grandfather sheltered her from the outside world to prevent her to learn anything beside her environment. Diversity is important because there's not only just one race of people living in this world. It's important to learn about different cultures to understand other people. She lost many opportunities from gaining more knowledge by not being around non-white people. Personally, I don't think we have to hate to be racist. By the way when someone speaks, most of the time they don't even meant what they're trying to say.
ReplyDeleteKirsten was sheltered because her family was racist, then they did not want that she could be mix with people from other races. Diversity in schools avoid discrimination, keep a same level of education for everybody. Kristen did not have knowledge about other cultures and races. Actually, when she started to know different people from other races. she understood so important was know about them, even she wanted to learn Spanish to understand better when she has to research from Hispanic people. Defender wants to keep the white race far from the rest of the races. they were against students integration. I don't have to hate to be racist, it could be from different way and still been racism. Racism does not have to be intentional, it could be even just because the environment where you raised.
ReplyDeleteKristen was sheltered from the outside world and diversity.People like her grandfather were trying to "shelter" her from the possibility of her interacting with non-whites. She missed out on culture and different life experiences. When the prof. said nice doesn't mean good, he was referring to the fact that a person is well mannered and treats you "nice" does not make them a morally good person. I don't believe you have to hate to be racist but you can be really ignorant. Sometimes racism can be unintentional because of the way some one was raised they might not know any other way
ReplyDeleteShe was sheltered from other races. This came from her grandfathers beliefs about whites not mixing with other races. I think diversity is important because it opens up your mind to other peoples differences. I think if your isolated from other races you become close minded. Kristen lost out on being exposed to something different and meeting good people. Nice doesn't mean good kind of means just because someone is smiling at you doesn't mean they have your best interest at heart.
ReplyDeleteI think some people are racist because it taught at home. however, all human beings have certain kind of racicm in them
ReplyDeleteRacism can be intentonal
Racism is taught at home
"Nice does not mean good" because kristen was sheltered that is the reason she spoke to the man on the phone and called him nice she need to spend more time with people and decide if they are nice people or bad. however, every human begins have some kind of racism in them that includes me. l am afraid of men who cover their head with hood l think they are criminals or they are trying to rob me.
Kristen was sheltered because her grandfather beliefs was not to mix the race whites and black. In my opinion, I think the grandfather didn't know any better. I believe diversity is important to learn from one another, accepting and respecting each other differences with mutual understanding.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think about the book is that Kristen Green was in a shelter for the rest of her life. Diversity is important because you can learn different type of culture from other people. Also all womens had it raised their children and clean their homes. She was being restricted from the shelter because she had the potential growth out there in the streets. She was also shelted by races. She also meet good people.Many people were closing school to keep the country segregated. In my opinion, I think that all humans have certain racism on them and at home too. I also think that Kristen's grandfather thinks that white people are not mixing with other races because he is not racist and he is a different kind of person than other people that are racist from another country that they don't respect each other.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer: I'm not really sure what you mean by writing that Kristen was in a shelter. She wasn't.
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