Month: March 2012

By Jasmine King

Writer

The biggest controversy of the weekend: race in the blockbuster hit “The Hunger Games.” Almost 10 days after the movie premiered, it is obviously something bold and different that this topic is still buzzing. Suzanne Collins, the author, describes each of the characters with such precision that it wasn’t difficult for directors to place people who look similar to the characters in those roles. Being true to the entire story is not something that movie adaptations are notorious for. Instead, they find the most fitting actors for their vision of how the story will play out. Skin color should not have an effect on how the audience feels about their characters. Sad to say, though, this is not the case. Audience members are outraged by the fact that Thresh and Rue are dark-skinned. One anonymous tweeter even went as far as to say, “Kk call me a racist but when I found out rue was black her death wasn’t as sad. #ihatemyself.”  This sentiment, I am guessing, comes from the fact that in the book, Suzanne Collins’ describes that Katniss has such a connection with Rue because Rue resembles Katniss’s little sister, Primrose.

But the racism gets worse; it bothers me more that the two African-American characters are from District 11–the poor agriculture district. Which is an interesting point in itself to the fact that Suzanne Collin’s herself confirmed that District 11 is located in the “Deep South.” In further investigation of District 11, the inhabitants of District 11 are described as having “dark skin and dark hair.” The most disturbing action comes with the fact that if any person in District 11 was caught stealing crops, that person would be publicly whipped, which happened often. I am sure that I’m not the only one who connected this with slavery. I am honestly not sure if Suzanne Collins was trying to say that our country will go back to its dark days of enslaving human beings or whether District 11 was located in the Deep South because it is the best place to grow crops and she is generalizing that dark skinned people happen to live there. But, if only for the reason that I love Suzanne Collins’ writing, I will say it is the latter.

These two controversies over race should not occur. The color of someone’s skin should not determine the merit of their acting, but the fact that Rue is dark skinned is overshadowing any thought about how well the actress played that role. And to end on this note about the race controversy in general, we, as Americans, say that we are past slavery, but we cannot say that we are past prejudices.

By Josh Haywood

Writer

Words cannot possibly describe my fury over what happened to Trayvon Martin. The most depressing fact is that this happened over month ago and Zimmerman remains free, charged with no crime. Protests have erupted all over the nation calling for justice to be brought to the Martin family. This crime only illuminates the issue of racial profiling and injustice that exists in the county. If Trayvon had “fit” the profile of the neighborhood he would have never been noticed. As for racial injustice I know damn well if the roles had been reversed and the person who was killed would have been white that the courts would have had a field day throwing the book at the shooter.

Why hasn’t anything been done about the case? The Sanford police have done nothing and have offered little as to the progress of the investigation. Meanwhile, a grassroots movement has sprung up seeking to have Zimmerman arrested. The reason nothing has been done is due to Florida’s unique modification of the “castle doctrine” law, called the Stand Your Ground law, which allows citizens to use force, in this case a gun, to “prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself or another.” Under this law according to Zimmerman’s account of the incident, he was in the right. 

I really doubt a grown man was beaten up so badly by a 17-year-old adolescent that he needed to shoot the child to save his own life. The worst thing about the case is that unless someone comes forward or other evidence is presented stating otherwise, Zimmerman will more than likely walk free. Zimmerman is the only one that really knows what happened that fateful February day. The only fact in the case is that Trayvon Miller is dead: resting in a casket full of family memories and crushed dreams. It’s just disturbing that justice might possibly never be served for this youth struck down in his prime.

Rest in peace, Trayvon.

By Josh Haywood

Writer

The U.S. education system needs to restore its integrity and capability to produce a strong workforce, which in recent decades has faded. There are three definite issues in need of reform: the emphasis on standardized testing, forced education of irrelevant material and the ease of access to charter schools. All of these things are what hold our industrious nation from reaching the levels of achievement it had in the post-World War II era.

The issue of how much weight should be placed on standardized testing is far too great as it changes the role of education from actual learning and focuses on rote memorization. Standardized testing just forces teachers to meet standard requirements, whether the information is relevant or not. Why do we waste time and tax dollars trying to make a one-size-fits-all education system?  The world does not, and should not, work like this. Standardized testing does not measure a student’s creativity or innate knowledge of the world. I witnessed the negative effects that standardized testing brought on my class when 130 out of the 300 people didn’t receive their diploma as a result of failure to pass their 10th grade standardized test. I saw some great friends miss the chance to walk across stage with a diploma over a test that should in no way serve as a determinant for employment. 

Some people want to be a mechanic or a hairdresser, so why are we trying to teach them Shakespeare? Teach students what they want to learn. Do not force-feed them nonsense information they will never use. Our fill-in-the-bubble educational system ignorantly ignores the fact that, putting all other things aside, certain people end up going into a blue-collar profession. Let students choose what they want to learn, because it will de-emphasize the lack of respect school systems put on trade skills and provide support for those students who want to enter such trades. There is nothing wrong with being a blue-collar worker; they are the people who built America. From the steel high-rises of major cities to the highway system that pumps the economy’s blood, skilled workers have built this country. Too much emphasis is placed on going to college, and such focus acts as a depressant for those who do not want to attain higher education.

For anyone that does not know about charter schools, they are essentially privately run schools who get public assistance. These do not resemble that of Kent or Hotchkiss. These schools are designed for students who have failed at traditional public schools. The major problem with charter schools is that while they are publicly funded, they do not have to adhere to the curriculum guidelines of public schools. These essentially are graduation factories that churn out “degrees” that are worthless due to the dissimilarity between various charter schools and thus, possess no known value. Educational guidelines act as a set of loose state curriculum requirements that each school can hand pick to teach depending on what the school district sees as important. This is different from standardized testing because it is a set of information that the state seeks to test students on to make sure the teachers are able to complete their job. The issue is that standardized testing does not look at other knowledge possessed by students, such as trade knowledge, which is impossible to test for on a state level.

We need to continue our domination of world industry, and education is the key. Give students more variety when it comes to high school education because it will allow them to focus on fields that best suit their own abilities. Scale back how much we rely on standardized testing and eliminate these “cop out” charter schools that just waste money that could be used on education somewhere else. There is nothing wrong with trying to prime students for college, but you also need to remember that students need to fulfill their own dreams, not someone else’s.