Leftsolidarity
7th February 2012, 18:12
This is an article I'm writing for my school paper. Can you tell me what you think of it? I don't know how I feel about it right now and I know it needs some work. If you see anything that should be changed just tell me.
School on MLK Jr. Day
January 16th was any old school day just like every other. Go to school, go to class, and go home; nothing special, right? Wrong. January 16th was Martin Luther King Jr. Day but you wouldn’t be able to tell at ***. Not only did we have school but while we were at school there was no recognition or celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Luther King Jr. was a major leader in the struggle for civil rights throughout his life and eventually ended up being assassinated because of his work. In 1964, he was the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent work to end racial segregation and discrimination. MLK Jr. has been one of, if not, the most influential people in the USA to embrace pacifism and struggle against racism and other injustices.
Many places, especially schools, give recognition to the holiday by giving the day off or doing something to remember the great work MLK Jr. did. Why did *** do neither of these? These are the kind of questions we must be asking.
One could see by taking a look in the halls or flipping through the yearbook that *** is a, by a far majority, white school. Racism, whether consciously or unconsciously, is not something that doesn’t touch *** and it manifests itself in different ways.
It can manifest itself through openly bigoted and ignorant language or it can take a more subtle route. It can be things such as an indifferent attitude towards oppression and exploitation that people of color communities face, victim blaming when it comes to things like police brutality towards people of color, or failing to acknowledge the holiday for one of the most influential black leaders in the history of our country.
If you talk and listen to the vast majority of people in this school you will realize they are out of touch with communities of color. This area is composed of almost all whites and, according to jsonline, *** has a poverty rate of only 4%.
With the conditions here being so different from the conditions of the communities of color, it is almost impossible for students here to grasp the problems and struggles that people of color deal with. MLK Jr. Day was a perfect opportunity for students to be educated on the struggle for civil rights by people of color. Instead, it was ignored and students left ignorant.
School on MLK Jr. Day
January 16th was any old school day just like every other. Go to school, go to class, and go home; nothing special, right? Wrong. January 16th was Martin Luther King Jr. Day but you wouldn’t be able to tell at ***. Not only did we have school but while we were at school there was no recognition or celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.
Mr. Luther King Jr. was a major leader in the struggle for civil rights throughout his life and eventually ended up being assassinated because of his work. In 1964, he was the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his nonviolent work to end racial segregation and discrimination. MLK Jr. has been one of, if not, the most influential people in the USA to embrace pacifism and struggle against racism and other injustices.
Many places, especially schools, give recognition to the holiday by giving the day off or doing something to remember the great work MLK Jr. did. Why did *** do neither of these? These are the kind of questions we must be asking.
One could see by taking a look in the halls or flipping through the yearbook that *** is a, by a far majority, white school. Racism, whether consciously or unconsciously, is not something that doesn’t touch *** and it manifests itself in different ways.
It can manifest itself through openly bigoted and ignorant language or it can take a more subtle route. It can be things such as an indifferent attitude towards oppression and exploitation that people of color communities face, victim blaming when it comes to things like police brutality towards people of color, or failing to acknowledge the holiday for one of the most influential black leaders in the history of our country.
If you talk and listen to the vast majority of people in this school you will realize they are out of touch with communities of color. This area is composed of almost all whites and, according to jsonline, *** has a poverty rate of only 4%.
With the conditions here being so different from the conditions of the communities of color, it is almost impossible for students here to grasp the problems and struggles that people of color deal with. MLK Jr. Day was a perfect opportunity for students to be educated on the struggle for civil rights by people of color. Instead, it was ignored and students left ignorant.