In our
society, the average person would believe that we are past the era of
racism, sexism, ageism and other types of prejudice and for the most part
we are. But there are still many occasions where certain individuals are
feeling uncomfortable, left out or singled out everyday. Whether it be
in any public area, in television or in our case schools and the classroom.
One very good example of this would be the banning of the very popular
novel "To Kill A Mockingbird". This novel was banned because
of the use of derogatory words against a certain race, which does make
sense and is a very good reason, but what does not make sense to me is
if we are passed all of the racism and hate towards each other, why it
would still make some students uncomfortable? I guess I wouldn't really
be the person to say why but if we are so against hate against individuals
because of their background than why do people still feel a disadvantage?
It seems peculiar to me that hateful words, obviously for example the
"N" word can be used in movies and television or even popular
comedies that can be viewed on basic cable, but the history and its meaning
cannot be taught in the classroom. What really amazes me is the music
industry especially if the parents of these students heard half of the
things their kids had in their mp3 players I really don't think they would
be to worried about the "N" word being used in a novel. The
meaning of multiculturalism is the belief that every being is equal, I
personally believe this is true but when things have to be banned in schools
because of certain people that does not make them seem very equal. There
are also many examples that could also show us that we are passed all
of this and there shouldn't be any confusion about it, for example the
new survivor series coming out where teams of different ethnicities battle
for winning the ?survivor? tittle. So, are we passed all of the negative
downfalls of our prejudiced past? Is it safe to say we are no longer a
hateful society, the response 95% of this world would like to say yes,
but that's only what we want, maybe not what we have.
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