Race and Justice: Writing II, Spring 2010

Jeremie Lin, is a Taiwanese American college senior who plays basketball for Harvard University. He was born in California to immigrants from Taiwan with ancestry. When he was in high school, he become a champion for basketball, however he did not get the offer of scholarship by anywhere. Jeremy won a state championship as a senior in high school, but he received no Division 1 scholarship offers. He was scrawny, but don’t doubt that a little racial profiling, intentional or otherwise, contributed to his underrecruitment.

Some people still can’t look past his ethnicity. Everywhere he plays, Lin is the target of cruel taunts. “It’s everything you can imagine,” he says. “Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian.” Even at the Ivy League gyms? “I’ve heard it at most of the Ivies if not all of them,” he says. Lin is reluctant to mention the specific nature of such insults, but according to Harvard teammate Oliver McNally, another Ivy League player called him a C word that rhymes with ink during a game last season. On Dec. 23, during Harvard’s 86-70 loss to Georgetown in Washington, McNally says, one spectator yelled “Sweet-and-sour pork!” from the stands. In the face of such foolishness, Lin doesn’t seem to lose it on the court. “Honestly, now, I don’t react to it,” he says. “I expect it, I’m used to it, it is what it is.” Postgame, Lin will release some frustration. “He gets pissed about it afterwards,” says McNally. “I have to tip my hat to him. I don’t know how I’d react. The type of dude I am, I might not be as mature as Jeremy.”
Lin’s maturity could lead him to the ministry. A devout Christian, Lin, who is an economics major, is considering becoming a pastor in a church near his Palo Alto home. “I’ve never really preached before,” Lin says. “But I’m really passionate about Christianity and helping others. There’s a beauty in seeing people change their lifestyles for the better.” He was a superior student so he got in Harvard University by himself, and he has continued basketball. He leads to the small and weak team, and he is in the spotlight by media due to his exploit.

Ironically, more and more he flourish, he become to got slander of racial discrimination by competitor or audience because he is Asian American.He says that he is used to be casted aspersion on his race and he feel it is not unusual. He is excellent student and also is excellent basketball player. In America, brilliant people such as Lin, they still get slander about their race and lose some opportunities.

Tamding Sherpa

I recently watched a movie, ‘The Sun Behind the Clouds’. It was the last day of its viewing, and my dad really wanted me and my sister to watch it, so after my work, we went to the theatre to catch the 10 p.m. show, that too on a weekday. The movie is not only shows the Tibetan people’s protest against the Chinese government, but moreover, humanity’s protest against injustice and violence.
The movie is basically about the protest and uprising that took place inside and outside of Tibet, just before the Beijing Olympics, 2008. Video clippings taken within Tibet, where people beg for the outside world to come help them, protest against the Chinese government’s rule on religious freedom, and plead to be allowed to receive the blessing of His Holiness, at least once, before their death is heart rendering. It then kills you, to realize that these people have risked their lives, by showing their face and speaking in front of the camera, because it is illegal to voice against the government. The person who had clipped those videos is said to be already missing, on his way to India from Tibet. The movie also shared the perspective of the Tibetans living outside of Tibet and how they have gone tired of His Holiness’s ‘Middle Way Path’, an agreement where the Tibetans would live under the Chinese rule as long as they are allowed religious freedom and the Dalai Lama gets to return to his homeland. His Holiness, being a faithful follower of Buddha, is determined, that this is the only solution where both sides will benefit. But without the Chinese government’s acknowledgment, after having refused any sort of compliance with His Holiness, the Tibetans have gone wary and doubtful of this solution and therefore now seeking complete independence.
I held a tissue with me throughout the movie and even shared it with my sister at some point of the movie. It is saddening to see how injustice and violence harms and affects the people of my country, while I am living a good, comfortable life in a free country.

For those of you who don’t know, Emmett Till was a 14-year-old African- American boy who was beaten to death in Mississippi by two Caucasian men after whistling to a lady earlier on the day. The two men dragged him out of his bed during the night, beat and shot him in the head, then threw him into a river. His mother, Mamie Till was an activist and fought justice for her son. For his funeral, she wanted his body exposed so that people worldwide could see what resulted because of a whistle.The two men who were charged were trialed in an all White court; a white judge and white jury. Because the charges were acquitted against the men, people began protesting that the court was bias to the men due to their race.

This documentary is based on letters from his mother during and after the trial as well as newspapers and other primary sources. I first discovered this documentary during Spring Break through a friend who recommended that I watch it for English class which is based on the theme of race and justice. i do recommend that you watch this documentary whenever you can because it was a real eye opener to see how even in the most obvious cases where crimes were committed, justice is not easily served.

For my final paper i have decided to write about the Ku Klux Klan and the many acts of violence and discrimination that they put blacks of the south through during the 1960’s. The Klansman murdered count less blacks through methods such as lynching, stabbing, and even bombing. Although the Klan itself is still functioning today, it does not openly follow the customs that the 1960’s generation followed.In my paper I will  illustrate what was done to stop the many violent acts that the Klan took part in and also how it became possible for the U.S. to acquire yet another domestic racial stain in its history.

http://proquest.umi.com.remote.baruch.cuny.edu/pqdweb?index=0&did=115435272&SrchMode=1&sid=3&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1271294593&clientId=8851

Sandra Levkovich

The article that I will be using for my critical response essay INDICTMENT IN MISSISSIPPI New York Times (1923-Current file); ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2006) Sep 7, 1955; pg 30.

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=82670629&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=10&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=HNP&TS=1271256103&clientId=8851

 The reason that I chose this article is that in class when we had the presentation about the library database, the presenter used the topic the murder of Emmett Till. I was curious as to find out what this murder was about. Before picking this topic as my critical response journal, I researched about the murder. I want to be able to succeed in this essay meanwhile writing about something that truly interests me.

Basically what the article describes is that in Mississippi, there is a high percentage of black people in their population. It is said in the article that Mississippi “makes the state a particularly important testing ground in race relations.”  The state was known for where many lynching ,to put to death, especially by hanging, by mob action and without legal authority, had occured on the racially different people.

To go on with the article, a boy named Emmett Till was accused of whistling at a white woman. He was found dead three days later. Emmett was 14 years old. Two white men were indicted for Emmett’s murder but they both deny that they had done the crime. The grand jury was made up of white men who are against the other white men for a crime against a black person.

The discussion of this article in my critical response essay may take me to elaborate more about what had happend in the case, what the final verdict was and etc. I would discuss how this article has to do with the race, crime and justice in the United States.

For my final paper I have chosen to do a murder case involving a famous boxer Rubin Carter and his associate John Artis. They were convicted of a triple murder at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in New Jersey in 1966. The controversy arises over the fact that they were black and if they had a fair trial. In the article below it speaks about the two white witnesses that were “pressured” into testifying against Carter and Artis. Their false testimonies put Carter and Artis away for life. There was no other substantial evidence in the case besides the two witnesses that lied. I think that this discussion will dive into racial tension that existed in New Jersey at this time as well as the controversy over the trial being fair.

http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=80228454&sid=8&Fmt=10&clientId=8851&RQT=309&VName=HNP