Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression
When reading our assignment for this weeks blog I decided t use one of m favorite movies as and example of bias, prejudice and oppression. This movie was "Gifted Hands". In this movie I remembered a particular scene where Ben Carson (African-American male) got his test score back from his teacher (Caucasian female). He had made a D on his test. The teachers response was "Good job Ben". She was suggesting that this was acceptable effort for an African-American child. Since he always made bad grades in school he started to call his self dumb and stupid. After realizing his true potential ,from his dedicated mother, he became number on in his graduating class and then graduated from college as a surgeon. The main example of bias, prejudice, and oppression steamed form his race as an African-American. Some many times racial barriers are put up in class causing the children and teachers to hide their true potentials. The mindset of that teacher had a negative affect on Ben's growth in his true potential. As early childhood professionals we have to learn how to observe each child and pull out the gift that lies within them.
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McKenzie,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great example! I have never heard of this movie before, but I will have to look into seeing it. I am happy to hear that he ended up overcoming these barriers and accomplishing great things in his life. I enjoyed reading your post because it caught my attention. I wouldn’t have thought a D on an assignment would deserve a “good job”. Thanks for sharing.
Kathryn
McKenzie,
ReplyDeleteThought provoking example! Racial barriers automatically affects the personality of children, making them lose confidence in themselves, hence, this should be properly handled in order to bring out the best in the children. Every child needs personal attention because no two children are totally the same. Great post!
McKenzie,
ReplyDeleteI also watched that movie the other night. That whole scene upset me as well as when he scored really well on a test and his immediate response was "I didn't cheat." That movie showed many examples of prejudice, bias, and oppression including the 8th grade ceremony where the educator told the rest of the student body that they should have done better than Ben.
Hi McKenzie,
ReplyDeleteThe example you shared from the movie would have unbelieveable to me prior to taking this class; however, I have learned there are so many forms of prejudice, bias, and oppression. The example you shared demonstrates how educators can impact children for a lifetime- positively and negatively! Thank you for your post!