Sports Taboo

"White Men Can't Jump", came directly to my mind as I was reading this text. It was about a white man who could play basketball very well. He really couldn't slam dunk but aside from that he was great. The black men on the basketball court decided to compete for money and finally the white man won and it was a great defeat because according to the black men, there was no way that they were going to let that white man beat that them at their own sport. This is so wrong in some many ways. There are no black and white sports. Yes I do agree that most of the black athletes are glorified. And I believe that this happens because people tend to believe that without sports that black people cannot succeed. This type of acknowledgement only hinders that white people who do not get the same respect as a black person playing with the same level of aggression and making the same amount of points. Before Tiger Woods came about, Gulf was thought to be a white mans sport. I have yet to even see a white female play gulf. And the same goes for Venus and Serena Williams with Tennis. Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't see the Williams sisters as black tennis players. I see them as great tennis players whether they are white or black is not a factor for me.

It is really mind blowing how just about everything that I have read in "the world is a text" has some level of black vs. white or man vs. woman. When can we start looking at individuals for who they are.

Black Kids In The Cafeteria

My middle school and high school memories are very clear to me. I went to a 80% inner city urban school and I did not notice that there was a "black" table of kids at lunch. Honestly we all mixed in very well. I did notice that most of the Asian kids sat together but that was about it. I can relate to the fact that most of the Asian and white kids did succeed alot more academically than the other races. In most inner city or urban schools there can be alot of distractions. I was one of the few who did not the distractions get the best of me. I do feel that the black kids definintely stuck together when it came to fights and things of that nature. It may have been a plus that 50% of our teachers were also black.

Segregation in schools is very common. It is just not linked to races, but also when it comes to sports or clubs. I did notice that the "pretty girls" had their cliques and that football players hung out together and so on. People tend to draw near whoever is closely related to them, or who they feel is interested in the same things that they are interested in.

Race And Ethnicity

Before I read this essay I was unaware that some stereotypes can be positive. I am not a racist or a prejudice person, but I can say that I am now aware of some perceptions that I have in regards to people. Like that text says, some people stereotype without even knowing it. If I would hear someone saying that a kid took a bomb to school and wrote a suicide note at home before he/she left for school, I would assume that the kid was a white boy and that he was a loner. Maybe it is just profiling, I am not sure. The FBI does it all the time though. It is still wrong, but some of these practices have helped our nation in finding some serial killers and rapists.

Social Classes can be defined many different ways. Like that text says about someone making $20,000 vs $200,000. They both may classify themselves as middle class and I believe that this is based on their livestyles and enviornment in which they live in. For example, I consider myself as a low class citizen. I have no money saved and I live paycheck to paycheck. I don't live in city limits, but to someone who lives in subsidized housing with no job, they may consider that I am a middle class citizen. There is no real right or wrong answer for defining someones class.

"Black Bart" Simpson:

In my opinion, African Americans related to Bart Simpson and ran with it. With the disrespectful tendencies that he has towards is parents and lack of parental guidance, I can honestly see why the relation came to. The Bill Clinton incident with Monica Luwinsky paved the way for Clinton to be recognized by African Americans. Bill Clinton getting "head" became very popular with the urban community. I can remember hearing people say "I knew he was really Black". I hate to admit it but Black people relate to anyone or anything that they tend to see on a daily basis. They also tend to relate to people who normally appear differently than what they really are.

Life According to TV

Gerbner talks about how TV sends hidden messages about people in regards to race, class and sex, He also did a survey about prime time television and the results showed that the viewers who watched tv alot chose more tv influenced answers oppossed to viewers who watch less tv and they chose more realistic answers. I can imagine how this would be true, because if you are usually influenced by what you observe more of. He also made a note about what viewers prefer to watch on tv and do not agree with the networks idea on this. I believe that a change for example on who plays the victim would make better ratings. When I watch most movies, I can just about predict the outcome.

The World Is A Text 1-21

I now understand the concept of reading and writing and how they relate to each other. Like the book states"Only by reading well can you write well". As a high school student, I struggled with writing papers and putting my thoughts in writing. I would read the required material but I had no idea how to present it. It makes perfect sense to me now that understanding what you are reading can actually make your writing piece clear.

The world is really a text. Lettering style and font size really gives the audience an automatic perception of things. The advertisement and the product being sold is being targeted to a specific consumer and the style can help pull them in.

This chapter was excellent because it pointed out ideas for the start of writing a paper. This book focuses on how to become an ideal college level writer.

My name is Marquetta. There is not an interesting story behind my name. My mother told me that my aunt liked it and it stuck. I was unnamed for about 3 days. Piccola would have been my name if my aunt had not rescued me. I was never given a nickname. My mother always says, "your name is your name, and you don't need another version of it".