English HW 04/14
We need the HR 40 bill to even determine if America can pay reparations and how they would do so. The constant rejection of it proves that racism is still impacting America today and that Americans aren’t as pure as they want to believe. In Coates’ article he talks about the history of theft and discrimination as well as the lack of paying reparations for the injustices towards the black community. The simple definition for reparations is the act of repaying a debt back to someone you have wronged. For hundreds of years we have shamed and discriminated against the black community and other minorities. Over the last 400 years up until now black families have suffered from racism and it sparks the question of whether the US owes the black community reparations. The HR 40 bill was a bill that funded studies for the efficacy of reparations towards minorities; however, the government constantly rejects this bill. In the article Coates said that it “suggests our concerns are rooted not in the impracticality of reparations but in something more existential.” The bill would just have been a study, but just the thought of this makes our government defensive and refuse the blame. This hesitation shows that racism is still a key part in our country and as much as people want to deny it and not talk about it, racism is still present and still causing problems. Reparations would be extremely beneficial towards black families and I think that our government should make amends for the many mistakes they have made but I’m not sure how possible reparations are. There is so much to even consider when taking into account the hundreds of years worth of wrong deeds and who decides what is fair and what isn’t.
I took his paragraph out of my rough draft on my paper about reparations. In this paragraph the importance of reparations is made and that racism is still at large in america. The paragraph talks about the importance of reparations but gets to see why america doesn’t want to pay them. This shows the audience the impact that reparations still have in the present and not just the past. The paragraph also brings in anther source that helps describe americans today and shows that we are still at fault for racism today and not just in the past.
English HW 03/31
Task 1
The HR 40 bill was a bill that funded studies for the efficacy of reparations towards minorities, however the government rejected this bill. In the articleCoates said that it “suggests our concerns are rooted not in the impracticality of reparations but in something more existential.” The bill would just have been a study to but just the thought of this makes our government defensive and refuse that they are to blame. It showed that racism is still a key part in our country and as much as people want to deny it and not talk about it it’s still present and still causing problems. I like the idea of reparations and I think that our government should make amends for the many mistakes they have made but i’m not sure how possible reparations are. There is so much to even consider when taking into account the hundreds of years worth of wrong deeds and who decides what is fair and what isn’t.
Task 2
In Ta-Nehisi Coates’ article he touches upon the history of reparations. For hundreds of years we have shamed and discriminate against the black community and other minorities. The simple definition for reparations is the act of repaying a debt back to someone you have wronged. Over the last 400 years up until now black families have suffered from racism and it sparks the question of whether the US owes the black community reparations. In Dwek’s TED talk she explains how people with growth mindset brains who are developed and are engaged deeply and people with a fixed mindset who demonstrate hardly any change or activity. “On the left there are fixed mindset students, there is hardly any activity, they run from the error, they don’t engage with it. On the right you have students with a growth mindset and the abilities can be developed. … They engage deeply and process the error they learn from it and correct it. ”(2:40) We can compare this to people in the US and racism. People who protest and speak up for minorities are deeply engaged and passionate about this cause and work to make things better demonstrating a growth mindset. People who continue to discriminate or not are shown that they make no effort to change and partake in something that has been going on for 400 years. Coates tells us the story about a man named Clyde Ross, Ross was a black man who stood up for himself and his family. No matter how hard it got and the many challenges he faced he persevered and overcame the systematic racism he felt and demonstrated growth mindset. He didn’t give up and succumbed to the hard times and he worked around it.
Task 3
We don’t know if reparations are possible and just us asking this question scares a lot of people. See we don’t know if it’s even possible and the government still doesn’t deal with the issues of systematic racism in modern times. In the past years there have been movements and protests to support black communities and while these are good steps to be taking but what about the people who are against these efforts of the people who are too scared to join due to fear of ridicule from friends or family. The people who are not afraid to speak for a cause they believe in and to support other people are demonstrating critical thinking. In the Schuer article he says critical thinking is, “the set of mental practices that lends breadth, depth, clarity, and consistency to public discourse”. I like to think that the people who made the HR 40 bill had critical thinking. They asked the question if it was possible to give years worth of reparations. They focused on if it could be possible not completely ignoring years worth of discrimination.
Coates HW 03/24/21
- How did elements of programs/agencies like the New Deal, the GI Bill, the Federal Housing Administration, and the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation help Whites up and hold Blacks back? Explain with at least 2 pieces of textual evidence. (Find key information in parts V and VI of Coates.) . In one example they say, “Though ostensibly color-blind, Title III of the bill, which aimed to give veterans access to low-interest home loans, left black veterans to tangle with white officials at their local Veterans Administration as well as with the same banks that had, for years, refused to grant mortgages to blacks. ” and in another example historian Kathleen J. Frydl observes in her 2009 book, ” so many blacks were disqualified from receiving Title III benefits “that it is more accurate simply to say that blacks could not use this particular title” These examples should properly show how they were clearly neglected and excluded in the new bill.
- Coates writes in Part VIII, “Contract Sellers did not target the very poor” (para. 7). Consider this section of the text and connect it to another section: Coates’ distinction between the Obamas and the Bushes at the end of Part II. How does what we’re reading help us consider why upward mobility be that much harder for Blacks than for Whites? Explain with evidence . In part two the describe the Obamas winning because they were twice as good as the bushes. This is how its like for all black men and women. They have to work twice as hard, be twice as good and follow all the steps and rules to stay safe. Just one slip up could cost them their lives.
- “Perhaps after serious discussion and debate – the kind that HR 40 proposes – we may find that the country can never fully repay African Americans…. The idea of reparations is frightening not simply because we might lack the ability to pay. The idea of reparations threatens something much deeper – America’s heritage, history, and standing in the world” (Coates Part IX, roughly para. 12). Why might the issue of reparations be so much more threatening if it’s not actually about the $? . Well some of the issues we talked about in class would fit well here. How long do you pay reparations, can you afford to pay them, and how do you pay them? These are hard questions america needs to think about and think if its even possible.
Coates HW 03/22/21
Pay attention to what happened to Clyde Ross, one example of a Black man who moved from the south to Chicago in the great migration. How does the information Coates provides about housing in Chicago complicate the perhaps more commonly known narrative of historical discrimination? Be sure to quote from at least one part of Coates’ text in Part I. Pay attention to the time period involved.
It didn’t happen extremely long ago and it really proves that racism is still a huge issue in america today. It also shows people who take advantage and exploit their power and make it more difficult for black families.
Homework 1 (Dweck Video questions)
- Dweck offers two key terms, Growth Mindset and Fixed Mindset. Explain these two concepts. Use a Dweck quote for each as part of your explanation. Be sure to offer your explanation in a way that a friend might understand it.
Fixed mindset: When someone has a vary narrow mindset and isn’t prepared to adjust when things become difficult. Typically they will face adversity and just give up.
Growth mindset: When someone faces adversity and instead of giving up they focus on learning from their mistakes and trying to find new way to improve themselves.
- Dweck names at least two ways to stimulate a Growth Mindset or to building a “bridge to yet” (3:53). What are they? Use a quote for each and offer a response. Do these seem reasonable? Does something about them bother you? Why?
One thing was rewarding the child for the process. This causes more strategy and engagement during the activities.
Yet and Not yet. They taught them and when the didn’t get a level of learning 100% they were told they weren’t there yet but that they would be. Not they failed.
- Intelligence. Dweck’s ideas may suggest a notion of intelligence or smarts that is different from what many might think about when considering intelligence. How do you see her model of intelligence? Explain with evidence from the text.
She talks about how if children have positive reinforcement while learning it increases participation and creativity which are vital assets when learning.
- Write about a fixed mindset moment in your own learning history. If you have one from your reading and writing experience, consider using it as an example. Explain how that moment worked out for you. Be sure to offer enough detail for a reader to grasp the situation, your approach/experience, and the outcome. (We all have them at some point!) Make sure to explicitly link your experience to a specific idea (or ideas) in Dweck’s talk. You’ll be making what we call a “text to self” connection here.
A fixed mindset moment was when I was choosing classes for Highschool. I chose the easier math class because I didn’t think I was good and math and didn’t want to fail.
A growth mindset moment was when I started to do indoor track. I wasn’t really sure I would be good at it but I learned and began to really apply myself and was one of the top shot put throwers in the state my senior year.
