College Education Survey

Total
Race     Total HS Grads      Total College Grads

W:        23                          15

AA:       2                            0

A:          5                            4

H:         13                           9

NA:       0                            0

PI:         0                            0

O:          0                            0

None of the participants identified themselves as Native American, Pacific Islander, or Other, so they were not represented in the results. Among all races, most of the participants' parents graduated from high school. During college is where a shift is seen between races. The White category has the most amount of college graduates out of all the races, with the Hispanic group coming in second. Almost all of the Asian parents that graduated from high school went on to college. Though, no one in the African American group graduated from college. Statistically, whites are the racial group that makes the most money, so college might have been more financially reasonable for them. The parents of whites were more likely to go to college than parents belonging to other races, so their children were expected to go to college as well. Minorities are more likely to come from lower income families and in lower communities higher education may not be valued or thought to be  financially practical. Some groups may have decided to get their college degrees once they came to the States and saw all the opportunity that higher education provided.

Jena Incident

To make this clear, I don't condone beating up anyone no matter what race he or she is. Whether those students actually beat the white student or not, they shouldn't be charged with attempted murder when no one knows their motives for hurting the other student. Most schools wouldn't take something a simple as a school fight and blow it out of proportion to make it into an attempted murder.There might have been some hidden motives for the prosecutor that changed the Jena Six. I imagine that the prosecutor was white, may have been racist,  and wanted to see these boys go to jail. This reminds me of the Little Rock Nine incident during the Civil Rights Movement. In Little Rock, the nine students that were to attend Central High School to segregate the school were taunted and harassed by whites in the school and community. In Jena, the same thing is happened. Some people in the mostly white community were looking for an easy scapegoat to put the blame on. Though this time, the accused have a large group backing them up, unlike what happened with the Little Rock Nine. It is great to see that a new generation is taking a stand for what is right.

Meritocracy

I do believe that meritocracy is true. When people in society are taught that they are low class and uneducated, they tend to accept that because that's how everyone treats them. People in these categories might  think that they are at a lower advantage for success because that's how they perceive themselves to be based on what they have been told. If that person is shown that there is a world beyond a poor, impoverished life, the person may work hard to achieve a better life. Of course, encouragement from family, friends, and school helps people to achieve their goals.  It really all depends on the work a person puts in. A lower class person may think, "Hey, I don't want to be a statistic. I'm going to prove everyone wrong and make a better, happier life for myself." Many immigrants came to the United States with nothing, started businesses, and did very well for themselves. They were able to make that change because they saw what they wanted and went for it. Today, there are a lot more opportunities for minorities to go to college and get good jobs than there were in the past decades. In the end, hard work is rewarded.

Sexist Ads

This ad shows that women only took care of the home and cooked because the woman in this ad is opening a bottle of ketchup. The ad is supposed to gear toward women who aren't strong enough to open a normal bottle of ketchup. The lady says, "You mean a woman can open it?", which implies that women were thought of by men to not be as strong as a man since the woman in the ad couldn't open the bottle before. I certainly know women that can open a tight ketchup bottle just as well as any man can and I know women who are quite strong, as well. Since the men were the ones that worked outside of the home in the 1950s and had the majority of the jobs in the workforce, they were the ones who came up with this advertisement. It was their idea that women were't as strong as men and by advertising a ketchup that is easier to open, their "little wives" can struggle less to make meatloaf and have it waiting for their husbands when they return home from work.

TV's Impact On Society

      TV has had a huge impact on society, affecting the shoes we buy and the gum we chew to which news interpretation we hear and how the country is doing in the President's State of the Union speech. TV can be used for many positive implications such as asking for donations to help earthquake victims in Japan, but can help twist family values and what is acceptable in society. Media, such as music and TV, definitely affect the actions of teenagers. Commercials particularly focus on this age group because they are a large group of consumers in the United States. If a commercial shows a guy wearing the latest pair of Nikes and gets all the girls, teen boys would see that and think "maybe I'll be cooler if I get those shoes." Some teens watch "Jersey Shore" and begin to think that the behavior of the people on the show is acceptable, when truly a person wouldn't be able to keep a job if all he or she did was party. On the lighter side, TV can also show other teens that are volunteering to help others after a natural disaster hits.  Seeing someone their age making a difference in his or her community, could prompt other teens to do the same. All in all, the messages advertisers and producers send to the public through TV can absolutely affect the opinions, actions, purchases of teens and other Americans.

Norman Rockwell Story

The town has come for a meeting about an important topic. Everyone in the town hall has agreed on a common decision. Then, one man, who felt he needed to stand up for what he thought was right, decided to make his voice heard. Most people would be afraid to go against the tide, but he wasn't. This painting embraces the American Spirit of Freedom of Speech. The American people are very blessed to be able to voice their opinions and speak their minds without the risk of persecution. In the end, the man was able to convince everyone with his thoughts and opinions. Sometimes it only takes one voice to make a difference.

Topic 10 Concept Guide

McCarthyism Impact on Society: Causes the US government to review its own employees, the 2nd Red Scare, paranoia that everyone is communist

Communist "Witch Hunt" and impact on those accused: People that were accused were put in jail, lost their careers, Hollywood became more conscious of what made it to the big screen

Space Race Impact on government policies: US put money into the education system to create better scientists, mathematicians, and engineers, money was put into the space program in the race to the moon

Cold War mind set for the United States Government and public: People were afraid of Communism coming to the US, money was put into the education system to focus on science to aid in the competition of the Space Race, money was put into the creation of a space program in the United States

Relationship of suburbs, automobiles, and roads: Roads and cars allowed people to be able to commute to the cities for work and live in the safer suburbs, this relationship encouraged more people to move from the cities to the suburbs, the wide use of cars influenced the creation of highways all over the country

Baby Boom: Soldiers came home from WWII and had families, the removal of social and economic restraints and the departure of 20 years of "tough times" were important conditions for the Baby Boom to happen, kids and teens became a target market in marketing as a result of the Bay Boom

Urban-Suburban Pattern: The city center is were the business district is and where low income families live, the next layer after the inner city is the middle income suburbs, and the farthest layer form the city center is where the high income suburbs are

GI Bill: Government aid for returning WWII vets that included college financial aid, loans to buy homes and businesses, and one year of unemployment pay

Expansion of the Middle Class (Why were things "affordable"): Soldiers returned and had families, moved to Suburbia, goods were made in the US, an economic boom occurred after WWII, cars were affordable and readily available, homes were made one way in the suburbs which made homes affordable