Race and Justice: Writing II, Spring 2010

My final thoughts about the theme of race and justice, it is the most important things to have responsibility of our own actions and words. I read a lot of articles in this class, and Actually this is the first time to face to the theme of race and justice, so at first time I felt it is a little bit far form our realities. However, through the article and leraning American history, it is very serious and I had a opportunity to think about the relation between race and justice.
It is so complicated so we can not just say that it is bad or good, right or wrong. And I know that justice has uncertain fate by the government, law, people, age,,,many elements of our surrounding.

My greatest impact material is Henry David Thoreau of Civil Disobedience. “Any government that is not totally just, totally moral, and totally respectful of the individual”. I believe that our individual actions lead to justice. I re-recognize that we are neither tool to earn money to pay tax nor be force as soldier for the government benefit, our mind is the most important things.
Also the movie that we saw in last class gave me a shock and made me think deeply the justice. Everybody has its own justice, however, just insisting our justice or forcing it to others sometimes leads to break everything( for example, things that we have built for long time, community or relationship,,,,).
When people got bad situation, people tend to aim their attack at others(other race etc,.). Discrimination and the mad from it is stronger than beautiful thing we have made. It is so sad.
Through my studying in this class, justice should be in our inside and We should not forget the sad history for discrimination. We should have responsibility of our justice.

Dear Professor Moriah
Thank you for teaching me about essay and making me think about race and justice. I really appreciate it.

The theme of race and justice was certainly a controversial topic and it brought about a lot of thought provoking situations in my mind. This course has showed me how divided society was and still is. Everyone is still being judged and racism still exists in 2010. It is certainly a lot better than the past has shown but there still is a lot of work to be done. Especially in our judicial system and in law enforcement. As cases have shown, the judicial system is still in need of a lot of revisions. The story of Leonard Peltier has certainly left a mark on me. His story was unique and really painted a descriptive picture of how living on a reservation is. His story is certainly a touching one and truly shows how our government engages in injustice acts sometimes. I am happy that he was able to get his story published and let everyone hear his side of the story. What I feel I will take away from this course is the fact that justice is truly hard to find. In a society that is so frequently disturbed by injustice acts, it is hard to get a sense of what true justice is. I think the best philosophy on justice is that it is not one thing. It changes frequently and is certainly obstructed by our wants and needs, or as Cicero would say, “wisdom.”

Reading the course description for this class, one would think that this class would probably be the most boring that Baruch had to offer. However, the person thinking that would be in for a rude awakening. I honestly did not believe that this class would be so fun and actually mind opening to how much we don’t pay attention to things that actually happen right in front of us. Even relating back to earlier in the class when we discussed Churchill and the level of open racism that many Americans don’t seem to notice. I also learned that you can talk about the same topic for more than one circumstance. Having to write three papers about race and justice seemed like it would take a toll on me but I actually enjoyed it and I think that it helped to strengthen me as a writer. When you are forced to write about the same general topic, you seem to specify more and those three papers actually ended up being on three different topics. I think that what had the most impact on me about this class was doing the readings and having discussions about them in class. This had the most impact because it is interesting to see how different people perceived the same things I did but we had two different opinions on it. I think the discussions also made us more comfortable with each other and this was very important to when we were grading each other’s papers. I thought that the peer editing of our papers would end up with them just being critical but we actually learned about each other and were able to end up helping each other in the end. Overall, I think this class was excellent and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who had to take it.

Race and justice has been covered in most of my classes throughout school but I figured this course would be a bit different. It was actually pretty much the same. I’ve always been asked to discuss race and justice and relate to an article or book. I really wanted a different experience in this class, probably a different theme would have been better. Nonetheless, the amount of material that I have learned about and examined in class was very insightful and interesting. I would have to say my favorite article/book was the Prison Writings novel by Leonard Peltier. I really enjoyed that book and it was great in portraying true injustice in American society.

I really liked working in groups because that made the class more livelier. I just wished we could have switched groups around a bit more and had a chance to work with everyone in class. I would have liked to know some people more better. I really think a class should be more hands on in order for students to learn something and that is exactly what this course accomplished. I really liked the blogging part of the course. I wished we could have implemented discussions about our blogs in class instead of writing assignments/ workshops.

Overall, the class was better than I expected though. I found myself realizing that some of my other classes were included in English whether it was from Philosophy or Psychology. It was definitely interesting. I think my writing became a bit better from this course.

Like all good things, I guess this class must come to an end. I will surely miss it. I can’t say that I will be walking out of this class the same person I walked in as.  For if I had both came and left the same then I probably didn’t learn anything. As I have stated all semester, I believe the proper title should be Race and Injustice. However, I believe that this course has added to knowledge that I previous obtained from past classes. I felt it was quite interesting to learn about Native Americans due to the fact that my previous assumption about the class was basically “Black  Studies” disguised as another class. Though Leonard Peltier’s book was rather boring and dull his words have a way of sticking to you, forcing you to remember. It was as if he did it for precisely that reason. Learning not only about black history but also that of Native Americans helps one to fully understand that no one is alone when they feel a certain way. As I said before, I really enjoyed this class and I wish it didn’t have to come to an end. GOOD-BYE

For My final paper I have chosen an article which is dated in the year 2000, entitled “Black and Blue” which was published in Time Magazine. In 1999, Amadou Diallo, a West-African immigrant, who was trying to start his own business, a young law-abiding man, was shot under suspicion of carrying a weapon. The police officers who killed him were four white males. They had stood trial, and they were acquitted on all charges brought against them. The terms “Black and Blue” are purposefully selected and juxtaposed as a title, since black refers to the race of the victim, and blue is meant to refer to the police force who traditionally wear blue uniforms.  Hence, blue, has also become a race in it’s own sense, since the policing culture is often hyped up on racial profiling. The article is released following the shocking acquittal, and gives readers something to think about, when it comes to whether or not our law judges everyone equally. What is concluded from the article after reading through it, that it is not, and that the law often strives to protect the interests of those representing it, and therefore it’s own. We would all like to think that the justice system by which we abide the law is fair, however it may come as a disillusionment that it is not, and the points brought up in “Black and Blue” are a perfect example of this. The verdict given to the officers who shot Diallo was seen by many as inadequate punishment for their actions. The controversies surrounding the outcome of the trial, and the ingredient of racial profiling is the main reason why I chose this article for my final paper, and I would recommend it as a further reading in connection to the theme of the class.

It is the end of the semester, and the end of our course as we all know. At the beginning few introductory days, Professor Moriah asked us to write a short essay to asses our writing skills. What is important to acknowledge from this exercise, is that our first piece about race and justice, and law, was also meant to asses our stance on the subject. Coming into the class we may have had a unique idea about what these terms meant to us. Coming out of the class, and having shared so many of our viewpoints with one another, everyone can truly say that they now have a broader understanding about how things function in terms of race and social interactions. I know that I have learned in depth about issues which I understood, but never fully analyzed.  The workshops were also a great way to connect with one another and share our thoughts on the many issues of inequality and racial injustices. I liked that many students shared their personal perspectives on the subject matter, since this added a new dimension to the class: suddenly race and justice weren’t just abstract terms that we had to be aware of for the sake of the class, but rather real life experiences that personally touched the person next to you or yourself. I say yourself, because even though not all of us have come face to face with racial discrimination, we could still relate to the other person’s story by viewing things from their position, since this is exactly what sharing their writing permitted myself to do. The most effective pieces were those written from a first-person perspective. I would like to thank the Professor for including the open workshops as part of the requirement for the class.  These are what really added depth to the theme of the course, and it is through the workshops that we came to know one another a little bit more than when we’d first entered the classroom. The small group assignments gave an opportunity to make new friends, and I am happy to say that I leave the course with knowing some very nice and open people. Professor Moriah was very strict in the beginning of this semester. I remember a few people walked out during the first class. All I can say is that I’m glad to have followed my instinct and stayed, because the course was really worth it. I enjoyed reading authors I’ve never heard of before- like Paul Butler and his brilliant “Hip-Hop Theory of Justice”. All in all, I am proud to say that I have come out of English 2150 with more knowledge than I had before, and that’s what a really good course is supposed to be  about. That and implementing the knowledge, and having a broader perspective on life as a result. Thank you everyone for a wonderful semester, and farewell!

This marks the end of ENG 2150 and I can honestly say i liked this class a lot. Throughout the year are theme for the class was Race and justice. We wrote papers, blogs, and journal entries regarding this topic and used a lot of texts and articles in order to prove our arguments. This class has helped me become a better writer by helping me organize my structure and creating  better thesis. This class also opened my eyes on the topic of racial injustice. With all the readings we have done from Ward Churchill to Rawls “A Theory of Justice”, we have learned to look at this theme from both sides of the spectrum. I think that race and justice is a topic that has been written about a lot but still there needs to be more work done. There are still unjust acts going on for having a different skin color or being of a different race and this has to stop. I have also learned a better appreciation for this theme and the writers that choose to write about it, whether through personal interest or personal experience. Out of all the readings we have talked about, i feel that A Hip Hop Theory of Justice was the best. This was a very easy piece to read and I was able top relate to it because I am familiar with a lot of the hip hop artists mentioned. My favorite lesson was when the class went on a trip to the Manhattan Criminal Court. I liked this because it was a unique experience and I grew  sudden fascination with criminal court.