Race and Justice: Writing II, Spring 2010

In today’s edition of the New York Times, there was a story about a Palestinian professor by the name of Iftikhar Baloch who was assaulted by Islamic students in his very own office. This issue led to a unity among the professors who have been on a three week strike that ended this Monday. It turns out that the students that attacked Baloch were from the Islami Jamiat Talaba  group which is a Islamic gang that secretly rules over  the university due to the  political leaders that give the gang power. This gang terrorizes all who come and go at the university. They ban music classes and any drinks that were imported from the US.  The professors, whom have had enough view the Jamiat Talaba as a group that shares in the view s of the Tailiban military. So fear that if this gang is not removed soon, it may be the direct downfall of Pakistan’s largest and top university .

An article recently appeared in the New York Times entitled “What Haiti Needs Right Now”. This article discusses the graveness of the consequences of the earthquake,  especially the monetary effort needed to put in in order to improve reconstruct Haiti. An estimated 800 million has already gone to Haitian government so that it may provide at least some relief for its citizens, and now it is said by the U.N that “this is only half of the 1.5 billion which Haiti needs in order to get through the next year.” I remember hearing something similar on the ten o’clock news, and was simply baffled by the number which the Haitian government requested in aid. The problem is, as the article puts, the possible corruption and that funds may stray from the use they were intended for. The majority of Haiti’s citizens are African-Americans, and Haiti was always considered an underdeveloped country. Sadly the rates of corruption in similar countries do seem to be higher. Incidents where the government would deny its citizens aid are known also in underdeveloped African nations. I remember watching a documentary on how various humanitarian efforts were made to provide food and clothing to poorer countries in Africa, and to those people who are really struggling to survive. I can’t recall exactly the name of the film, but know it had to do with the G8. What was most shocking, is that the people were filmed receiving all these donated goods distributed to them through military-style officials, but once they thought the cameras were turned off, we can see those things being snatched away! This is horrible! In Haiti’s case- aid must be provided if the nation is to recover, since this natural disaster delivered a final blast to the already struggling economy (and this term does not compare to the struggling economy in the U.S- it’s far worse). It is just unfortunate that there is the possibility that the citizens of Haiti, who as racial minorities have endured a lot of hardship in the past, may have a chance of not fully receiving the necessary assistance for their survival in this rough time.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/17/opinion/17sat1.html?ref=opinion

Tamding Sherpa
I have been living in the Queens for the past two years. I do not know my community that well enough to actually compare it with other communities. However, I do try to play an effective role in my community by trying to spend my money within Queens so the shops here can prosper and have my tax.

Yesterday, April 19, 2010, my class went for a walk around Baruch campus. Within a walking distance of Baruch, I came across a huge public library, a post office, two clean, well looked after parks, countless restaurants, a middle school with a large playground and a lot of people on the streets. However, if I walk around the same amount in my community, the most things I encounter are houses. Unlike the tall buildings of Manhattan, the area I live in is occupied with smaller residential houses. I have also never come across any library of any sort or a post office, and the only park is in a terrible condition. The middle school in Manhattan had a big playground even in the middle of a very busy street, while the one in Queens had a very small one. This could also show how the teaching level varies within the two schools. It is evident that the people living in the Manhattan area are provided with more and better opportunities.

However, I have only come to live in the Queens, and I am happy with where I am, though I do not mind moving. Life is much calmer and relaxing in Queens. The traffic is a thousand times lighter and with the subway two blocks away, it drops me to the city in less than 20 minutes.

Christopher DeRise

Over a week ago in Russia, a Polish plane went down holding the Polish president and 96 other influential Polish citizens. These Polish elite were going to commemorate the massacre that took place during World War 2, in Russia were over 22,000 Polish elite were killed. This massacre was seen as the extermination of the Polish elite. That massacre was truly a tragedy, yet the losses have not stopped for the Polish people.

The Polish president and other dignitaries flew to commemorate this massacre and in true tragedy, their plane went down killing everyone on board. Not only is this extremely ironic, but extremely saddening. These political elites whom were going to commemorate a horrible tragedy of injustice on their people some 60 years ago, were all killed in a terrible accident.

The injustice which occur ed nearly 60 years ago, had caused a serious rift in Russian, and Polish relations. Yet Russian attempts to mend this wound are being seen. Russian officials refused to investigate the crash without Polish officials on hand, to make sure nothing was tampered with. Hopefully someday these ill feelings can turn into something else.

http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=171459

Racism in comedy has grown its own acceptance in the minority community. With comedians like Richard Prior, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chapelle and more comedy has related to minorities on a more personal level. During the 1970s Richard Prior took comedy out of its regular seat and places it on the African Americans only section. He introduced the term “Nigger” and delivered it in such a way that most minorities to whom it applied to no longer felt insulted, they felt patriotic towards the word and finally felt like they owned its true meaning. These comedians use many rhetorical techniques to engage their audience, some of which are alliteration, satire; personification, bandwagon, and rehearing to bring to light the injustice that still remain in this country.

               Richard’s joke often made fun of the way in which African Americans were treated by Caucasians. He would create these examples that were taken to the extreme but were in direct connection with what was happening during the 70s. Dave Chapelle constantly jokes about the government secreting plotting to frame most African Americans, except for the “Nerdy-ones”. In his comedy he claims this country could care less about African American hostages, and that white friends are always needed because someone has to be able to speak to the cops.

               http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32OX1E59nA8&feature=related

Sandra Levkovich

As I was looking for something that relates to this week’s blog entry, I have stumbled upon a New York Time’s article. The name was “A Mighty Pale Tea Party”. I did not think much of this article until I read it actually had to do with lack of diversity.

What this article is about is that the author, Charles M. Blow went to a tea party in Dallas. Charles was excited for the tea party because he thought it was going to be diverse but he realized when he arrived that it was not. He was even approached and asked, “Are you working tonight?”

As you read on you find out that 1% of the supporters are black and another 1% are hispanic. It’s insane how things like this still go on, and Charles had got to experience it. He ends his article in saying

“And even when compared to other whites, their views are extreme and marginal…Furthermore, they were more than eight times as likely as white independents and six times as likely as white Democrats to think that the Obama administration favors blacks over whites.”

What Charles had stated is outrageous to even think our very own President favors blacks over white.  However, no matter how you convince people in rethinking their theories, people will think the unbelievable. I think in the world we live in, as much as we want justice, there will never be but we can try to better then those who are racist or prejudice against others.

On the night Barack Obama won presidency the borough of Staten Island turned into madness. On January 8, 2009 four young men armed themselves with a pipe and a police baton and drove around Staten Island looking for large black populations to assault. Throughout the night they sent a black teenager to the hospital, beat a black man and threatened a Hispanic man and a group of residents that were celebrating the election win. They also ran down a white man with their car, thinking he was black, and put him in a coma for more than a month. All these events took place within an hour and a half. There was 15 task force investigators and a bunch of detectives that visited over 1,000 homes looking for witnesses or any video surveillance. F.B.I. agents also joined the investigation within days to send the right message to the nation. The men were caught and are being tried at court for their assaults. This just goes to show how much work this country needs in providing a safer society. People are still racist and it’s 2010. In a state like New York where there is so much diversity it amazes me how much people still can’t treat others with the same respect they would want.