Source/Author/Date: The Oregonian/Oregonian Live, Lizzy Acker posted October 26th 2016 and updated October 27th 2016.
Key Points: After a racist photograph circulated through Twitter, Oregon City HS students planned a walkout of class as a... demonstration of anger. This upset students because several of the students in the photo were other OCHS students. Administrators knew of the planned walkout and stated, "Students are planning unity events with the support of school administrators."
Relevance: Social conflict is highly discussed by our media. Our nation is experiencing a high level of social injustice and social movements in demonstration of a lack of equality. The highly covered instances done by the media relate closer to the Midwest than up here in the pacific northwest. However, this article shows that social issues do not merely exist behind a television screen. Our students here experience racism and social injustice and are beginning to demonstrate their frustration with the inequality. We as educators need to be conscious of these social injustices that occur and find a balance between supporting peaceful protest and still creating a safe learning environment. I do not believe that students should be punished for peacefully demonstrating their anger over the racist tweet and I think it is critical for educators to constantly support and advocate for social equality. Because this instance happened in our backyard, it is another example that social injustice is not an isolated phenomenon.
Bobby, I’m glad you posted this video. Often we believe we are separated in the Pacific Northwest from the situations going on around the country. The fact is we are not isolated at all. I like to believe we are a little more forward thinking than other parts of the country, but we still have our own issues to deal with both socially and in the education system. I believe the girl in the video made good points. Racism is a learned behavior. It comes from the culture and surroundings the students grow up in and around. I think she was also correct in saying racist jokes are inappropriate. One cannot simply say, “I am not racist,” but continue to make jokes which our racially charged. As educators we need to re-teach our students and help them to have respect for everyone. Stop focusing on the things which make us different and focus on our similarities as human beings.
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