The Miseducation of Hip-Hop, Discrimination in Education

Jason Hinmon was a college student, who did not dress according to older professors’ expectations of scholarly students.  He was young, black and had dreadlocks which made it easy for him to stand out.  Jason believed most of his white professors looked at him like a hip-hop hoodlum.  This implied he didn’t belong in college, but would stand a better chance writing lyrics and performing in front of young people that shared his taste.  Jason was a victim of stereotype just like many young black college student who spend a lot of their spare time listening to hip-hop music.

Every institution has rules, rules in that people are expected to follow.  Some colleges have dress code while others allow their students to wear whatever they wish.  The college that has a dress code expects their entire student body to abide by these rules.  Sometimes different majors have different colors or styles; this is used to identify the particular major.  Colleges that allow their students to be free in their choice of clothing don’t have much control over what their students wear.  Jason had every right to wear what he wished without been stereotype.  It’s clear his school didn’t have a dress code.

Dr. Midgette believed that students lingering on school campuses reciting rap lyrics should be reciting something they’ll need to know on their next test.  This is indeed a valid point studying for a test is more important than studying the lyrics of a song. Dr. Midgette also believed that those same students will be college drop outs.  That may not be necessarily valid because every student is different and those students may spend a few minutes of their time reciting lyrics but does very well studying their lesson when they get home.  They are students that don’t seem to be paying much attention in school but when they are tested, they do very well.

College does prepare students for the working world, and dress code does say a lot about a person. However, one should dress to their own comfort.  One should dress in a way that they won’t feel like they are not themselves. One may not be comfortable in a jacket and tie suit, but that person may be comfortable wearing nice dickies pants and a long-sleeved shirt.  The one wearing the jacket suite may not even be as qualified as the person wearing the dickeys pants and long sleeved shirt.

College students should not be looked down upon based on what they look like; they should be treated equally. An instructor’s responsibility is to teach and not to pass judgment onto their students.


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"The Bias of Language, The Bias of Pictures"

 Postman and Powers wrote that there are different levels of language.  In the article, they described the purpose of three levels of language-one to describe an event, two to evaluate an event and three to infer.  When one describes, he or she states facts mostly based on what he or she sees without judging.  To evaluate, one may describe but often times with judgments.  Inference is based on the observation of the speaker; it is a statement about something unknown.  Words should be used with caution has they may be interpreted in many different ways.  It depends on the tone and the event at hand.

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words, but what’s a picture without a meaning?  It would be an empty object that tells nothing.  Two types of pictures are moving pictures and stationary pictures.  Moving pictures are a kind of language, one that is different from oral or written language.  Postman and Powers said that this difference is crucial for understanding the news on television and that their vocabulary is limited to concrete representation.  Moving pictures can be found on television.  They are used in movies, commercials, the news and so much more.  Moving pictures favor images that change.  One can understand these pictures because of the words and sounds that follow them.  Think of a moving picture as a series of events that sticks in one’s mind.

Stationary pictures are another form of language.  Just like moving pictures they, differ from oral or written language.  Stationary pictures can be found printed on magazines, books, and newspapers.  They are used to enhance the written language.  Take the newspaper; they use small clips of stationary pictures to show an event.  The newspaper will provide details has to what happened during and after the flooding, but adding a clip of the flooding makes the news more effective.  Stationary pictures are not as effective as moving pictures because a moving picture reveals a lot more detail and has a lot more components.

Viewers rely on the news to inform them of what’s happening around the world.  How this news is presented to the viewers may be misleading.  It may not be untrue, but the news reporter or journalist may describe it in a way that the viewers may misunderstand.  “Almost all words have connotative meanings.”  Postman and Powers believe that this statement suggests that even when attempting to use purely descriptive language, a journalist cannot avoid expressing an attitude about what he or she is saying.  Here is the opening sentence of an anchor’s report about national examinations: “For the first time in the nation’s history, high-level education policymakers have designed the elements for a national examination system similar to the one advocated by President Bush.”  Now this statement is very descriptive but it is filled with pure ambiguities.  The news may exaggerate on a topic to make it seems more than what it is or the news may not place enough emphasis on the topic.  The reporter may give a detailed report on an event that occurred, but a fraction of the report may be fictional.  The viewer will not know which part of the report is fictional.  An option for the viewer would be to know that while there is some truth in the report, they shouldn’t believe it in its entirety. 



Postman.N & Powers. S
Pop perspective ch 8; pg481-489

 

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The volks Wagon Commercial

The Star Wars Boy

        This is a commercial without words, that caught the attention of many. As seen on the YouTube page where fans has posted their comments.  The gender representations in this commercial are of a kid playing the role of Darth Vander, a character from  STAR WARS, his mother, his father and, of course, a dog.  The family's interaction is one in which the mom is home with the child and the family's pet (the dog), while the father goes off to work.  One may say that this is a traditional family where mom is a stay-at-home parent, and dad the bread winner.  In the video, one may also see that the young child believes he has super powers and is trying to put his powers to use.
          At the beginning of the video the child seemed very confident of him self because he was dressed in his STARS WARS outfit, he started using his powers on objects in the house- the doll sitting on a bed, the washer and dryer that remained still, and he even tried his powers on the dog, but the dog just looked at him with what looked like a look of confusion.  After failing to use his super powers through out the day; he started to lose his confidence, his face was behind a mask but one may say his body language showed a sense of lost hope.  Suddenly, his dad's car pulled up, the horn honked, the dog barked, and the child dashed through the door with enthusiasm.  Avoiding his dad, he went straight to the car and started to use his super powers.  Amazingly, the car started and the child was in disbelief his powers finally worked.  He didn't know his father was the one who started the car from inside the house with the  "car's" remote .
      Viewers may say the role the child's parents played is an adequate representation of the twenty-first century family.  This childhood vignette revealed that parents of the twenty-first century try to make their children's dreams come true, they want their children to believe they can do and be anything they put their minds to, as was seen in this video.  Although the Darth Vander character was from thirty years ago, people of the twenty-first century still know about him because Hollywood has a way of keeping a record of older movies.   That way they can recreate them and bring new life to the characters and present them to a newer audience at a later date.

WC 415