Black and Latino by Robert Santiago

This assigned reading had put me in the shoes of Santiago. It painted a picture of hardships mixed children dealt with growing up. I agree with Santiago when he expressed how he wouldn't choose sides because that would be like denying apart of himself. I believe Santiago wrote this to let all mixed individuals know that they're not alone. He provided examples of comments and opinions of how others felt about his appearance and actions. I identified with Santiago when he spoke about his peers of East Harlem telling him that he didn't "act black," because when I was growing up some of my peers told me that I "talked white." I wonder where do these comments come from. What is "acting black?" What is "talking white?" Those are questions I've been trying to find the answer for, for a long time. After asking questions like these, most individuals would begin to list stereotypes of blacks and whites to prove a point. In this case, I'll leave the questions as they are.

The Current Event #1:Racial Disparity in School Suspensions

Studies have been made upon the history of suspensions on different races of middle school children. The data of these suspension rates were broken down by race and taken from 18 urban districts. The black children have the highest suspension rates throughout the years from 1973 to 2006.  Due to history, most likely these rates are increasing. Asians were shown to have less rates than whites in these districts. Hispanic and American Indian middle school students had higher rates than whites. The districts are claiming that they are using many strategies to decrease suspensions. I believe that they can't conquer this issue with a couple strategies that they thought out themselves. This is a historical issue that may take years to figure out. Prior generations mark the next generations before these districts and programs can get to them.This article shows how our black children are starting out early on a bad note. Other races will see this as a beginning of black children being incarcerated in the future and they will begin to familiarize themselves with seeing this from day to day. In my opinion, the high rates of suspension of our black children are giving an upper hand to other races to look down upon them. Our black children should be equal with other children of different races. Relating to Obama's book and speech, Obama's main goal is for us as U.S citizens of different races to come together as one in equality. He doesn't want us to bring down another race but lift each other up with encouragement to set examples for our future.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/14/education/14suspend.html?_r=1&ref=us

Where is Our Perfect Union?

The arguments of racial issues have accumulated throughout history and has made its way to our generation. Barack Obama has been able to get the people of America to finally listen. In "A More Perfect Union," Obama explained that Reverend Wright's controversial language had intended to widen the racial divide due to his distorted view of the country. In order to improve African American race relations, it takes a series of steps that Obama has provided for us. As African Americans we must be more exceptional as Gramps and Toot were, be available to help the community and occupy new jobs, and set examples for generations to come. We can begin these actions by touching issues that are present between different races and actually making progress to solve them a day at a time. According to Obama, the anger and bitterness that African Americans dealt with throughout history is keeping us from facing our own complicity in our condition today. In Obama's words, we must solve issues together, perfect the union, have common hopes, and better the future for our children and grandchildren.




Obama, Barack. "A More Perfect Union."National Constitution Center, Philadelphia.18 March 2008. Speech.