Final Presentations of Blogs

In our world today, we get most of our information off of the internet, you can Google just about anything. While technology was accessible during these times that we focus on in class, the internet had not really taken off yet. Typically we hear about a lot of world issues through the internet or the news but it has not always been like that. I can only imagine how different the civil rights era would have been with access to the internet and blogs. If this movement happened today, there would be news coverings, blog posts, and even hashtags supporting the movement. It amazes me that after learning the impact many people made on the world through the civil rights movement that they did that without the help of the internet. In events that have occurred in our lifetime, that one day will be taught in classrooms, we have all come together with the help of social media. For example, school shootings, presidential elections, BLM movement, and even natural disasters. Social media and the internet has allowed us to all have free access to fight for what we believe in and stand up for it.

It almost seems unfair to me that Martin Luther King did everything he did and made that big of a difference without the internet or social media. If Martin Luther King had access to a blog I think it would have totally changed the Civil Rights Movement as we know it. I think that if MLK had everything that we have today he would have approached things very differently, it would have helped publicize the movement better and faster. The great thing about the internet today is that whenever there is a world issue, we all hear about it extremely fast. I believe that MLK would have used the internet and social media as a great outlet to speak out in the injustices. The internet gives people that would usually not be listened to an outlet to speak out against injustices and give them a voice in these different situations.

One thing that I found very difficult to keep up my blog this semester is the fact that it is public for everyone to see. I tend to get nervous when other people see and critic my work which often impacts the outcome of my work. On the contrary, it also helped me that it was all behind a screen instead of having to present every single blog post. I like the idea that we have access to read our fellow classmates work and listen to their ideas and opinions on everything we learn and discuss in class. One thing I would recommend to future students is to not be afraid to express your opinions through your blog posts as well as discussions in class. Having you own blogs gives us our own creative outlet to express our thoughts and ideas through the internet. 

Something I learned EOTO 3

 The most recent EOTO and mock trial, Regents v. Bakke, we learned a great amount of very valuable information. Something that really stuck with me during these presentations was the segregation of academies. During these times schools were segregated therefore white and black students were not in the same schools. There was also a huge difference in the learning style and environments. White people typically were the first ones to receive textbooks and actually had decent size classrooms and a reasonable student to teacher ratio. Black schools had none of these. Their classrooms were very subpar, most students did not have textbooks and there was a terrible teacher to student ratio. 

While talking about education, "White Flight" refers to the decreasing white enrollment in poor performing, inner-city public schools. In some cases, parents withdrew their children from certain schools based on the amount of colored students attending and/or the location of the school. Many white families decided to send their kids to private schools and pay an expensive tuition just so they would not be in a classroom with colored students. Many private schools claimed that they were christian or church schools that provide that type of education but their only objective was allowing parents to avoid enrolling their children in racially integrated schools. Many of these schools exist where there is a very low percentage of color in the student body. These are schools that do not legally discriminate against minority students yet still have an extremely low amount of diversity.

Mock Trial

    In Regents of University of California v. Bakke, the supreme court ruled that using racial “quotas” in the administration process was unconstitutional. A racial quota is when business and educational systems use numerical requirements in hiring or admitting only a certain race. The medical school at the University of California reserved 16 percent of its admissions for applicants who were minorities. Allan Bakke who was a white Californian had been denied by the school twice filed a lawsuit against the school. He proved that his test scores and grades were a lot better than most minority students so he sued for reverse discrimination. Bakke fought in court and proved that he had a higher GPA and test scores than these other students therefore proving that the only reason he got denied from the school was simply because of his race. While the school had nothing but good intentions with their decision to reserve 16 spots for “qualified minorities” it is still unfair to the other thousands of applicants. Having this quota system directly violated the equal protection clause in the 14th amendment. 

Having a racial quota in special admissions is well intentioned but it is destructive of equal opportunity. Having these quotas make it impossible to compete with the other students that are not in these groups. The only way this could be okay is if the constitution was constructed so that whites would have less protection against discrimination than minorities. White students were allowed to apply through their special program but not one of them had ever been admitted through it. Having these quotas only for minority students makes it extremely unfair to everyone else that does not meet the requirements for the quota. It gives these specific students a better chance at getting admitted into the school while other students were not helped out one bit. In this specific case the school blocked off ⅙ spots for acceptance for only a specific type of student. This is not the only time this has happened. At Harvard, 11.8 percent of students admitted as freshmen are African American which is almost exactly the same amount as years in the past. Hispanic students are also 11.8 percent of the admitted students and these statistics have stayed the same year after year. These quotas are also present when it comes to athletes, coaches are given a certain amount of spots for the athletes that they want on their teams in the future. The admission process for college should be extremly equal and race should not even be looked at in these types of decisions. The fact that your race and other factors that can not be controlled are considered in this process makes it so that you do not have the same chance to get into the school as another student even if you have exactly the same grades and extracurriculars.