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Michelle Pfeiffer – African American Summary

From Giddy Multitudes and Thomas Jefferson to Somalian hatred in St.Cloud, MN: Black or White? That is still the question.

From Giddy Multitudes: “Freckled, dark in complexion, a ‘thing of darkness,’…..” In the English mind, the color black was freighted with an array of negative images: ‘deeply stained with dirt,’ ‘foul,’ ‘dark or deadly’ in purpose, ‘malignant,’ ‘sinister,’ ‘wicked.’ The color white, on the other hand, signified purity, innocence, and goodness” (Takaki, p. 51-52).

And a more modern-day take:

“I Am Tired Of This Devil
I Am Tired Of This Stuff
I Am Tired Of This Business
So When The
Going Gets Rough
I Ain't Scared Of
Your Brother
I Ain't Scared Of No Sheets
I Ain't Scare Of Nobody
Girl When The
Goin' Gets Mean

Protection
For Gangs, Clubs
And Nations
Causing Grief In
Human Relations
It's A Turf War
On A Global Scale
I'd Rather Hear Both Sides
Of The Tale
See, It's Not About Races
Just Places
Faces
Where Your Blood
Comes From
Is Where Your Space Is
I've Seen The Bright
Get Duller
I'm Not Going To Spend
My Life Being A Color”

-Michael Jackson, from “Black or White”

Perhaps the most powerful voices for me this week were the young children in Kiri Davis’ video “A Girl Like Me”. Kiri re-conducted Dr. Kenneth Clark’s ‘doll test’ of the 1950’s. Over and over again, these young children made a choice: they chose white over black. They called the white doll ‘nice’, ‘good’, ‘pretty’. The black doll was chosen as the ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ doll. When asked which doll they would like to play with, 15 out of the 21 children preferred the white doll.

Another powerful image for me this week was the ‘estate inventories’ shown in Giddy Multitudes. The way human lives were catalogued and given a value as a piece of property on an inventory list is heartbreaking and dehumanizing. The history of slavery has always been something I have been interested in. It is difficult to look at, yet such a raw and important piece of our history.

Then we come to John Law and his "non-Jewish people of wholly European descent. No exceptions," ridiculousness. To read that and glance up to see that it was from 2006 made me shudder. I wish to see progress in this ‘black or white’ world. The day I read ‘Who’s White’ I had to walk away from this material for 24 hours. I couldn’t quite take that in as a 2006 reality.

So what to do in our classrooms? Let’s look at this great divide. Let’s ask some hard questions. Let’s put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

Lesson Plan: Invite Someone to ‘Tea’ – 5th grade

Objectives: Students will…

consider what it means to hold a bias through videos and class discussion/reflection.
collect new understandings about African American people through historical research.
contribute to a class black / white time-line of American History.
deconstruct today’s black and white struggle through small group discussion.
identify a personal bias from within, through journal reflection.
take an action to get to know someone different from him/herself.

Vocabulary: African, African American, Somalian, stereotype, bias, change-maker

Snappy Launch: Today we are going to watch a short video. I would like you to watch it with one question in your mind. The question is: “Black or White?” Kiri's Doll Test (1:39)

Procedure:

Ask students to think about what they saw in the video with the children choosing which doll they would like to play with. Next, ask them to think about what they know about history. Finally: What have you learned about this human struggle of black and white? Why do you think most of the children chose the white doll? Did that surprise you? Discuss as a class.
Activate prior knowledge: Has anyone ever heard the term ‘bias’? How about stereotype? Discuss thoughts/ideas/experiences.
Explain that we are going to conduct a web quest on this black/white struggle in American History. As a class, we will be compiling a timeline of events. Each student will need to add 5 events to the timeline and be prepared to describe them.
As a class, conduct research in the computer lab, students take notes & collect images.
Return to classroom to assemble timeline. As students add an item, they should describe it in 1-2 sentences.
Next, small groups will meet to discuss today’s current race struggles. Is black/white still an issue? Why or why not? What things could you do to help improve race relations?
Students will individually consider: what bias do I have? Through reflective journal writing:

How do you feel about black/white?
Have you ever felt someone may have stereotyped you?
Have you ever caught yourself making a stereotype about someone else?
Is there a group of people that you have a bias against?
Why do you feel that way?

Short discussion…thoughts so far? What are you discovering?
Synthesis: today you are digging deep. I have asked you to consider your own biases. In the next week, you need to find someone different from you that you can sit down with and have a conversation. We will call it inviting someone to ‘tea’. You probably won’t be drinking ‘tea,’ but you could offer them a soda or a cookie! The point is, you are to sit down and have a ‘real’ conversation with someone who is different from you. Ask some thoughtful questions about their life. Maybe find out if they have ever experienced stereotype or been the target of someone’s bias. Ask them how this felt. Dig deep. Take a risk and ask a question you might feel nervous about. If you are respectful and let them know you truly want to learn from them, they will be willing to talk with you. You will be doing some writing in your journal after your conversation, but please don’t feel you need to take notes while talking. I want this to be a heart-to-heart conversation between you and the other person. In your mind, I’d like you to think about how you might be able to become a change-maker: that is, someone who helps bring about change. Unless someone steps up and is willing to make change, we are going to continue to see the world in black and white. Let’s be brave leaders. Let’s make change.
Post-conversation Reflection: Journal entry re:
1. The person I sat down with…
2. One thing that surprised me …
3. Something new I took away from our conversation…
4. I can be a change-maker by…

Collect journal entries
Bring group together for discussion / wrap: Today we considered our own biases and how we might be able to make change. It is important to identify stereotypes and biases so that we can be change-makers. Ask a few students to share bits and pieces of their meaningful conversations with 'other'.

Assessment:

25 points – Participation in class discussions & timeline activity.

50 points – conversation & journal reflection

25 points – innovative change-maker idea

Resources:

Doll videos based on Dr.Clark’s experiment from the 1950’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOHbtM9463c

Anderson Cooper 360: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYCz1ppTjiM

and another doll test from CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfpo-gUDSuE

An interesting updated test from 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i20d11fGz-0&list=PL43D9C89B6A0A3A61

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG7U1QsUd1g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Xmm57_gls

News report on Kiri Davis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqSFqnUFOns

Giddy Summary
Thomas Gerard

“Giddy Multitude” by Ronald Takaki was an eye opener for me. I didn’t know the story behind indentured servants in the American Colonies as the first slaves. From further research I found that "Many of the spirits [people who recruited indentured servants] haunted the London slums, over a dinner and much liquor, would sign anything before them. Children were valuable and could be enticed with candy to come along with a spirit.” It seems like we could draw some parallels to what is going on today in America with our finances. Did we not follow blindly into investments that seemed to good to be true, re-mortgage our homes and run off with the free money? I think it important to highlight to our students this bit of history.

From our discussions, “perceptions about intelligence” was most interesting. Do we treat minority students differently? I personnel work hard at controlling my body language when communicating with minority students. I also tried to find ways to communicate that are non-combative. I will be thinking more about how I can improve my approach as a result of our discussions.

Takaki states , “The planters had not carefully thought through what they were doing to black people as well as to American society and future generations. They created an enslaved giddy multitude that constantly threatens social order.”

I wonder if Wall Street has not created a present Giddy Multitude. It feels like we are indentured servants ready to rally behind Obama in an uprising of our unstable class.
Takaki also talked about Thomas Jefferson’s struggles with the issue of slavery for our country and for him personally, morally and financially. I felt Jefferson took some unfair hits in our discussions. We are still a fear driven nation and must continue to work on tolerance and understand with our students.

Indentured Servants

Grade Levels: 8 - 12
Objectives

    * Students will compare and contrast European American indentured servitude to African American servitude.
    * Students will write an opinion essay about whether European American indentured servitude was the same as or different from African American servitude.
    * Students will Finish this lesson with an on-line chat and respond to “Who are the indentured servants of today? Quote two sources.

Materials

    * http://www.teachervision.fen.com/slavery-us/resource/3848.html?detoured=1

Procedures

   1. Start a discuss with: "If you are an American of European descent and your ancestors came to this continent during the 1600s or 1700s, there is a 50 percent chance they came as indentured servants. It is estimated that one out of every two European colonists came to America under this condition. Think about the two words "indentured" and ''servants.'' What do you associate with these two terms? Write whatever words come to your mind around the two terms.

   2. Discuss the definition of "indentured". Are there indentured servants today?

   3. What was it like to be a European American indentured servant in colonial America? Assign students to read the Background Information on web site provided. Find one more source and site it.

   4.Some historians argue that the life for European American indentured servants in America was very similar to that of African American slaves. Other historians disagree, arguing that there were significant differences. Based on the information given about indentured servants and prior knowledge of slavery, have students create a Venn diagram that visually shows the similarities and differences of the lives of indentured servants and slaves in early America.

   5. Assign students to write a short essay (post it to our class e-classroom board), based on the information outlined in the Venn diagram, stating their opinion--whether they agree with (I) the historians who believe the lives of African American slaves and European American indentured servants were more similar than different, or (2) the historians who believe the lives of African American slaves and European American indentured servants were more different than similar.

6. Finish this lesson with an on-line chat and have students respond to “Who are the indentured servants of today? Quote two sources.

<<< Replied to message below >>>
Authored by: Thomas Gilgenbach
Authored on: Jul 5, 2011 5:45 PM
Subject: Gilgenbach Giddy Summary

The reading on the Giddy Multitudes was very long and included a lot of content. I learned about slavery and class distinction and how the structures of power are as important at the bottom of the structure (slaves), as they are at the top (masters). I was also reminded money and power is generally the root of all problems. But here is what really got me, the aha moment I will remember for the rest of my life; German and Irish slavery completely changed my perspective on slavery. I did a little more research about the history of Irish slavery and I was less amazed at what I found than how I reacted; “you wouldn’t believe what they did to those poor white Irish!” (my quotes). I told my wife, my daughter, friends, and classmates, and you, but I just couldn’t seem to imprint the same feeling I had on anyone else. They seemed to gloss over it. It was a gut-wrenching feeling to project the terror of slavery onto people of my skin color, perhaps distant relatives. I realized I did my own glossing over because I hadn’t felt nearly the same when I first learned about the history of African slavery; and that feeling was equally gut wrenching and I felt great shame.

So when I’m asked to discuss, “why can’t they just get over it and get on with their lives”, I have to ask back, “do you have any idea what these people went through?, what my own people went through?” This is dangerous territory because people may think I’m tracking a parallel course with African-Americans, giving me the right to stand in solidarity. In a way I can and should because it’s about treating people with dignity and respect. But I realize less than a million Irish slaves does not equate 10,000,000 African slaves and the hatred that stuck with them for so many years

As I reflect on that epiphany, I can’t help but wonder how other white men in the era of slavery such as Thomas Jefferson didn’t share my experience. How was I able to read about something that happened to “my people” over 400 years ago and transfer those feelings of sadness and outrage to people of another color and culture, yet so many people in those days were able to let slavery flourish?

Ogbu posed a great question as to why so many non-whites are split to a degree in grasping the value of education. Do immigrants who come to the US voluntarily have more invested in their future as US citizens, than immigrants who are forced to resettle in the US? As an educator I will reminded to teach those students that while they may not view the US as “their country”, it’s still “their future” and they will reap what they sow in regards to their education and personal lives.

And then there is “A Girl Like Me”. This content continues to reveal so many underlying messages provided by the media, our cultures, and our mouths. It is saddening. After that video, I watched another video called “A Boy Like Me” that was hosted by Bill Cosby. This video included a study about the drawings of black children and the self-loathing they contain. It is very much like the doll study in the “Girl” video. Also very saddening and a reminder that as an educator, it is my responsibility to help children find a “reset” button in their psyche that helps them ignore negative outside influences in order to find their true self worth.

Reference:

http://www.raceandhistory.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl/noframes/read/1638

http://www.scoilgaeilge.org/academics/slaves.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EGLkvPfCbU&NR=1&feature=fvwp

LESSON PLAN: 9-12 English/Creative Writing

Objectives:

Students will recall significant historical data about Olaudah Equiano, and the motives of slavery by completing a 20-question quiz with 80% accuracy.
Students will contrast the economics of slavery with perceived values of family members or friends.
Students will read “Desiree’s Baby” by Kate Chopin and understand the motives behind the character’s actions and what role race had in those motives.
Students will summarize what they have learned and their thoughts on slavery by writing a 125-word essay.

Snappy Launch:

Read the following childhood observance of Levi Coffin (father of the Underground Railroad):

“As a youngster growing up in North Carolina in the early 1800s, Levi Coffin came face-to-face with the institution of slavery. One day while he was out with his father chopping wood by the side of a road, a group of slaves, handcuffed and chained together, passed by on their way to be sold in Georgia, Alabama, and Louisiana. Questioned by the young boy's father about why they were chained, one of the men sadly replied: ‘They have taken us away from our wives and children, and they chain us lest we should make our escape and go back to them.’ After the dejected company had left the scene, the youth wondered how he would feel if his father were taken away from him.

Then I will ask students, “How would you feel if members of your family or friends were stolen and sold into slavery?”

Procedure

Students will be assigned to read about Olaudah Equiano, a former slave and leading abolitionist.
Resources for this assignment may include:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part1/1p276.html

http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/Sequiano.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano

2. Take turns reading the short story, “Desiree’s Baby” from the following website: http://www.pbs.org/katechopin/library/desireesbaby.html

3. Students will create a family tree (in word) consisting of their immediate family, or whomever that may be, and as many previous generations as they can recall. Each person in the tree will be assigned positive and negative attributes that would be considered if they were to be sold as a slave. Using information they find here: http://eh.net/encyclopedia/article/wahl.slavery.us

They will also attribute a price to each slave.

4. Students will be given a 20 question quiz about Olaudah Equiano.

5. Students will write a 125-word essay contrasting how Equiano’s life changed when he became a slave with what they believe happened to Desiree and her baby.

Vocabulary

Abolition, The Middle Passage, Quadroon Boy, Slave trade, Slave Trade Act of 1807, Igbo Village, Nigeria, Peculium

Student Assessment

1. Equiano quiz (50%)

2. 125-word essay (50%), graded as follows:

Correct grammar and sentence structure: (Less than 3 errors = 3 points; 3-4 errors = 2 points; 5-6 errors = 1 point)

Identified three or more reasons slaves were taken from Africa and other places in the world (Foundations of slavery); Identified three or more ways Equiano’s life changed when he became a slave (Evils of Slavery); identified two or more central themes on race present in “Desiree’s Baby” (Desiree’s Baby); determined a plausible explanation for where Desiree may have gone and why at the end of the story (Race shame); included correct usage of 6 or more vocabulary words (Vocabulary); has an organized beginning, middle, and end, with effective transitions, and a summary paragraph (Organization):35 points.

Foundations of slavery: two reasons.

Evils of slavery: two ways.

Desiree’s Baby: one theme.

Race shame: one explanation.

Vocabulary: 3-5 words with proper usage.

Organization: organized beginning, middle, and end, no summary paragraph. 25 points.

Foundations of slavery: one or fewer reasons.

Evils of slavery: one way.

Desiree’s Baby: no themes.

Race shame: no explanation.

Vocabulary: 1 word with proper usage.

Organization: unable to distinguish beginning, middle, or end, no summary paragraph. 10 points.

Created by Natasha Hart on Jul 15, 2014 2:41 AM The AA struggle and history is a story I thought I learned quite a bit about over the years in my schooling. Not true, there was a lot more to be learned. In the Giddy Multitude I was shocked at the descriptions of the color black associated with “deeply stained with dirt”, “malignant”, and the Africans described as “people of beastly living, without a God, law and religion”. I knew the blatant racism existed, it just hit home to see the language that was used at that time. It makes me uncomfortable to think of the Africans treated as property. Interesting to think that everyone was part of the slave trade even if they were just consumers. In a Girl Like Me I hadn’t realized the stereotypes that were so prevalent by AA girls about their own race. It made me sick to think of a girl as young as six trying to bleach her skin. What a sad bias to teach a young girl-that there is something wrong with her skin. The choosing of the dolls by the children was surprising as well, I guess I just assumed they would pick the doll that looked like them. In my mind, I also thought it was pretty clearly defined as who is white, but I now realize this is very debatable. Lesson Activity: African American Stereotyping in Cartoons Grade Level: 6^th Grade Objectives: The student will identify African American stereotyping in cartoons by researching and finding two examples. The student will explain the implications of this stereotyping and how it has the potential to hurt African Americans. Snappy Launch: Show the students this picture of the Smurfs. Is this African American stereotyping or just a cartoon? Explain in the cartoon a Smurf gets stung by a black fly that turns his skin jet black, drives him insane, and deprives him of speech. Have students debate and take a class vote. Procedure: Explain that this episode of the Smurfs aired in 1981. Show these videos of obvious African American stereotyping from older cartoons and from more recent cartoons. Ask students: does racial stereotyping still exist in cartoons? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8D93Awa434 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IPVMcu7PwI Explain to students they will be looking for African American stereotyping in cartoons or comics both from years ago and recent productions. Give the students time to research on the internet and find two solid examples of African American stereotyping. Students will fill out a handout with these questions: What are the links to the stereotyping cartoons you have found? Explain exactly what the stereotype is. Why is this stereotyping harmful to African Americans? 3. Pick several examples the students found to share with the class and have the students explain the stereotyping they found. Did anything surprise them? Will they view media in a different way from now on? Assessment: 50% Solid examples found of African American stereotyping in cartoons 45% Thoughtful analysis and reflection on the examples found 5% Willingness to share with the class what the student’s findings were smurf_1912467c.jpg(42.07 KB)

Michelle Pfeiffer – African American Summary From Giddy Multitudes and Thomas Jefferson to Somalian hatred in St.Cloud, MN: Black or White? That is still the question. From Giddy Multitudes: “Freckled, dark in complexion, a ‘thing of darkness,’…..” In the English mind, the color black was freighted with an array of negative images: ‘deeply stained with dirt,’ ‘foul,’ ‘dark or deadly’ in purpose, ‘malignant,’ ‘sinister,’ ‘wicked.’ The color white, on the other hand, signified purity, innocence, and goodness” (Takaki, p. 51-52). And a more modern-day take: “I Am Tired Of This Devil I Am Tired Of This Stuff I Am Tired Of This Business So When The Going Gets Rough I Ain't Scared Of Your Brother I Ain't Scared Of No Sheets I Ain't Scare Of Nobody Girl When The Goin' Gets Mean Protection For Gangs, Clubs And Nations Causing Grief In Human Relations It's A Turf War On A Global Scale I'd Rather Hear Both Sides Of The Tale See, It's Not About Races Just Places Faces Where Your Blood Comes From Is Where Your Space Is I've Seen The Bright Get Duller I'm Not Going To Spend My Life Being A Color” -Michael Jackson, from “Black or White” Perhaps the most powerful voices for me this week were the young children in Kiri Davis’ video “A Girl Like Me”. Kiri re-conducted Dr. Kenneth Clark’s ‘doll test’ of the 1950’s. Over and over again, these young children made a choice: they chose white over black. They called the white doll ‘nice’, ‘good’, ‘pretty’. The black doll was chosen as the ‘bad’ or ‘ugly’ doll. When asked which doll they would like to play with, 15 out of the 21 children preferred the white doll. Another powerful image for me this week was the ‘estate inventories’ shown in Giddy Multitudes. The way human lives were catalogued and given a value as a piece of property on an inventory list is heartbreaking and dehumanizing. The history of slavery has always been something I have been interested in. It is difficult to look at, yet such a raw and important piece of our history. Then we come to John Law and his "non-Jewish people of wholly European descent. No exceptions," ridiculousness. To read that and glance up to see that it was from 2006 made me shudder. I wish to see progress in this ‘black or white’ world. The day I read ‘Who’s White’ I had to walk away from this material for 24 hours. I couldn’t quite take that in as a 2006 reality. So what to do in our classrooms? Let’s look at this great divide. Let’s ask some hard questions. Let’s put ourselves in someone else’s shoes. Lesson Plan: Invite Someone to ‘Tea’ – 5th grade Objectives: Students will… consider what it means to hold a bias through videos and class discussion/reflection. collect new understandings about African American people through historical research. contribute to a class black / white time-line of American History. deconstruct today’s black and white struggle through small group discussion. identify a personal bias from within, through journal reflection. take an action to get to know someone different from him/herself. Vocabulary: African, African American, Somalian, stereotype, bias, change-maker Snappy Launch: Today we are going to watch a short video. I would like you to watch it with one question in your mind. The question is: “Black or White?” Kiri's Doll Test (1:39) Procedure: Ask students to think about what they saw in the video with the children choosing which doll they would like to play with. Next, ask them to think about what they know about history. Finally: What have you learned about this human struggle of black and white? Why do you think most of the children chose the white doll? Did that surprise you? Discuss as a class. Activate prior knowledge: Has anyone ever heard the term ‘bias’? How about stereotype? Discuss thoughts/ideas/experiences. Explain that we are going to conduct a web quest on this black/white struggle in American History. As a class, we will be compiling a timeline of events. Each student will need to add 5 events to the timeline and be prepared to describe them. As a class, conduct research in the computer lab, students take notes & collect images. Return to classroom to assemble timeline. As students add an item, they should describe it in 1-2 sentences. Next, small groups will meet to discuss today’s current race struggles. Is black/white still an issue? Why or why not? What things could you do to help improve race relations? Students will individually consider: what bias do I have? Through reflective journal writing: How do you feel about black/white? Have you ever felt someone may have stereotyped you? Have you ever caught yourself making a stereotype about someone else? Is there a group of people that you have a bias against? Why do you feel that way? Short discussion…thoughts so far? What are you discovering? Synthesis: today you are digging deep. I have asked you to consider your own biases. In the next week, you need to find someone different from you that you can sit down with and have a conversation. We will call it inviting someone to ‘tea’. You probably won’t be drinking ‘tea,’ but you could offer them a soda or a cookie! The point is, you are to sit down and have a ‘real’ conversation with someone who is different from you. Ask some thoughtful questions about their life. Maybe find out if they have ever experienced stereotype or been the target of someone’s bias. Ask them how this felt. Dig deep. Take a risk and ask a question you might feel nervous about. If you are respectful and let them know you truly want to learn from them, they will be willing to talk with you. You will be doing some writing in your journal after your conversation, but please don’t feel you need to take notes while talking. I want this to be a heart-to-heart conversation between you and the other person. In your mind, I’d like you to think about how you might be able to become a change-maker: that is, someone who helps bring about change. Unless someone steps up and is willing to make change, we are going to continue to see the world in black and white. Let’s be brave leaders. Let’s make change. Post-conversation Reflection: Journal entry re: The person I sat down with… One thing that surprised me … Something new I took away from our conversation… I can be a change-maker by… Collect journal entries Bring group together for discussion / wrap: Today we considered our own biases and how we might be able to make change. It is important to identify stereotypes and biases so that we can be change-makers. Ask a few students to share bits and pieces of their meaningful conversations with 'other'. Assessment: 25 points – Participation in class discussions & timeline activity. 50 points – conversation & journal reflection 25 points – innovative change-maker idea Resources: Doll videos based on Dr.Clark’s experiment from the 1950’s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOHbtM9463c Anderson Cooper 360: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYCz1ppTjiM and another doll test from CNN: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rfpo-gUDSuE An interesting updated test from 2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i20d11fGz-0&list=PL43D9C89B6A0A3A61 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG7U1QsUd1g http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6Xmm57_gls News report on Kiri Davis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MqSFqnUFOns

AA Summary and LP - Keding Sara Keding Nov 6, 2013 6:27 PM

I cannot believe the historic events of intolerance and downright bigotry that encompasses our country's past. How on earth could Thomas Jefferson be so arrogant and single-minded in regards to whites and blacks? "One of the reasons why colonization would have to be a condition for emancipation was clear to Jefferson: blacks and whites could never coexist in America because of "the real distinctions" which "nature" had made between the two races." (Takaki, p. 71) RIDICULOUS! This week has brought back many memories of the sometimes ignorant society in which we live in. I grew up around black (mixed) cousins and I never once thought about them being any different than me but I can remember neighbors and strangers thinking the opposite. I was shocked to read in The Giddy Multitude by Ronald Takaki how white mothers were treated if they were to give birth to a multiracial child. "The assembly took special aim at white women; the law specified that a free white mother of a racially mixed illegitimate child would be fined fifteen pounds and that the child would be required to be in servitude for thirty years. (Takaki, p. 67) This concept of being unequal is so frustrating! I remember one of my grandmother's neighbors asking my dad why he “let his little white girl play with that little black girl” and that arrogant statement has stuck with me all these years later. My dad was so moved by this rude statement, he never talked or even acknowledged this woman ever again. When my cousin told me when we were younger she just wanted “to be white” like me, I realized at a young age the divided society in which we live in. During the Girl Like Me video, it literally brought me to tears. Seeing young black children pointing out the ‘ugly’ or ‘bad’ black doll was so sad. I know from experience, this video is an accurate depiction of how my cousins viewed the world as young children. In the white/black doll experiment, over 70% of the children went against their own skin color to describe beauty, this is heartbreaking! My cousins still struggle with this feeling of never being good enough. All four of them have moved out of Minnesota because they view Minnesota as racist and unaccepting. When they told us they were moving, everyone in the family was upset with them and ‘didn’t understand’ but in reality, we had no idea what it is like being them. We have never lived in their world and to dispel their thoughts simply because ‘Minnesota is not racist’ is so arrogant because there is no way a ‘white’ person will ever understand their feelings. If we honestly looked at the world through their eyes, I think many of my family members would have understood why they decided to leave.