Responses

Mr. Benton:  I am wondering if I misnumbered my responses?

Proposal-First part

The Acceptance of Homosexuality in America

Since the beginning of time being different from the majority in America was considered a bad thing.  It would bring shame and confusion upon that person; especially if you were homosexual.    So being a gay or a lesbian in America was not always so accepting.

From the time the Puritans colonies part of the Americas, they brought with them their views of religion and what should be the norm.  Ministers would shout to their congregation that being a gay man can bring the fear of the “sin of Sodom”.  This god-fearing way stayed with America’s mind frame well into today’s time period.  But, even starting in the early twentieth century homosexual groups started to form.  These group/clubs gave these people a relatively safe place to congregate, meet other people and to put out the word that being gay is not a disease or a crime.

The United States has come a long way since the earlier times of the 1900’s.  But, it still doesn’t stop the stigmas associated with someone who is different than the next. 

If you ask a young child if they are gay or straight, you won’t get an accurate answer.  Children know that they may not be the same in some aspects as their neighbor, but, being able to figure out why is another issue.  According to the book Looking at Gay and Lesbian Life, there seems to be a process that a young child “comes out” of the closet.  This child is usually between the ages of ten and fourteen years of age.

There are five crucial steps.  Stage one: Pre-Coming-Out:  This stage states that the child is not aware of the same sex attractions, due to the defenses built up.  He or she does feel the difference from others but does not quite understand what it is.  Stage two: Coming-Out:  The person becomes to a conscious or semi-conscious state of having the same sex feelings towards another.  This is a very confusing part on a young child.  Many will only tell one or two close people that they trust.  Many will reach out to those they know are gay or lesbian.  Rejection is a major part of this coming out.  Stage three:   Exploration:  The person at this point will interact with more gay and lesbians individual and experiment with their new found sexual identity.  This mostly occurs in adolescence, but those people who were not able to come out earlier due to social stigmas undergo what is referred to as “developmental lag”.  Stage four: First relationship:  Following stage three, the person usually desires a relationship with another person who has the same sexual feelings.  And finally Stage five:  Integration:  This is a very important part of being accepting of one’s self and being accepted by others in the community.

For some it takes years and sometimes a lifetime to accept who they are.  Society has taught us that sexuality should be viewed only one way.  It is time for America to step up and see that just because you love someone who is the same sex as you, that doesn’t interfere with your ability to learn, care, outreach to others. 

Homosexual Americans have struggled with obtaining equality.  Not only in everyday life such as obtaining a career or buying a home.  Homosexuals struggle with being able to marry who they wish out of love.  Adoption of a child to gay men has been a hard road for most.  Many lesbian women have lost their children to the father’s once they “came out”. 

 Kate
Burns, The History of Issues:  Gay Rights. Greenhaven Press, 2006

Eric Markus, Making Gay History. HaperCollins, 2002

Walter Williams and Yolanda Retter, Gay and Lesbian Rights in the United States. Greenwood Press, 2003

Glenn Wilson and Qazi Rahman, Born Gay. Peter Owen Publishers, 2005

Warren Blumenfeld and Diane Raymond, Looking at Gay and Lesbian Life-updated and expanded. Beacon Press, 1998

Proposal-Homosexuality in America

For this paper I am going to write and discuss how homosexuality in America is viewed.  I want to see how America views homosexuality today versus twenty years ago.
Do gays have the same civil rights as others?  Why can gays marry in some states and not others?  Can gays adopt children?
Military aspect-why can gays not state who they really are?  Does it really affect how one serves our Country?
Jobs and schooling. 

Poverty in Schools-Response6

The Poverty in Schools

Poverty is everywhere you look.  The more people this country has and the amount of work does not equal.  Our children are the products of this poor society.  When poverty has affected the ability to learn that is when we have an issue.  We have made a paradigm of the poor.  The poor are not like the rich, they are different than the mainstream.  They have different ideas and thoughts than the rest of us.

In a educational world where 90% of the teachers are white, middle class and not racially diverse, whereas schools are more racially diverse and students are of lower class parents.  How can we expect a white teacher to reach and be on the same level as a poor black child?  That white teacher cannot begin to know the inner workings of the racially poor community. 

In reading “The Culture of Poverty Reloaded”, by Monique Redeaux of the Monthly Review, she compares two “experts” on race and poverty.  On one side of the table we read of Ruby Payne.  She has based her work on a racialized “culture of poverty” model.  The poor do not have a separate set of morals or beliefs as the middle or upper class culture tends to believe; but it seems like throughout history the poor is put into a class of different values.  According to Payne, the poor seem to not trust and punishment is a way of life.  If you do well, you are generally rewarded with food in this culture of the poor.   Payne insist that teachers need to teach these racially poor students the “hidden rules” of the middle class so students can obtain academic success.   Payne has missed the target.  She did not come from a poor family, nor is she African-American.  She even has books and workshops for profit.  She targets those inside that paradigm of the rich.  The lower class school systems cannot afford her workshops and books!  All her proceeds are turned over to her.  How is she helping this problem of her “culture of poverty”?  She cannot help at all. 

But, when you read of Lisa Delpit, an African-American educator, she has some of the same similarities as Payne.  Her “culture of power” states that the middle and upper class hold the keys to success.  Delpit has argued that for the black student to succeed, they need to be taught by a teacher of color.  The “codes” of language of the black culture differ greatly than other cultures.  Delpit argues that technical and critical thinking skills are essential in learning.  We don’t want to just train people to work at the bottom level, we want them to succeed. 

Bottom line is this, we have to ban together as a community of all races and of all classes.  If we don’t change our culture how can we expect to change the educational system to fit every kid?

 As Paul Gorski said: “If I want to understand economically disadvantaged students, I must understand poverty.  If I want to understand poverty, I must understand the classism inherent in the ways in which our society, and by extensions, our schools, institutionalize poverty. “

Redeaux, Monique., “The Culture of Poverty Reloaded”, Monthly Review., 07/01/2011

www.monthlyreview.com