Blog Week 3: Prejudice and Bias Introduction

To imagine in the year 2021 hate speech is still loudly express throughout school districts around the country. As I watched the film The Laramie Project many scenes were hard to watch because they were so realistic to how people still react to homosexual relationships. One scene, in particular, was when a character from the movie is trying so hard to justify why the death of Matthew Shepard was not as bad as the media is making it out to be. In the movie, Matthew Shepard was a gay man who was shot and killed because of his sexuality. The character uses stereotypical claims as to why Matthew was a bad person solely based on his sexuality. This scene was particularly hard to watch because it reminded me of actions that are still used today by homophobic people. The character, who is trying to defend her homophobic tone, states that "what happened to Matthew was awful but..". This sole reason for that character to use the word "but" was because of her disapproval of Matthew's sexuality. It pains me to see that the world that was lived upon in the movie, and so many years ago, is the same world we live in today. My goal as a teacher is to use my voice to communicate to my students that it is vastly important for them to be able to express their true selves without fear of any type of harassment. 

Not only does our world still have a problem with different sexualities but people still have an issue with different races. In the article  "Hate in Schools: An In-depth Look" the author explains to the reader the harassment that Mexican students faced at Council Rock High post the 2016 election. Mexican students were verbally abused and bullied with awful racist statements such as "“the n-word,” various versions of “build the wall” and “go back to [insert foreign country name here, usually Mexico].”(Fransico Vara-Orta). Stories like these are similar to stories that were read during module 2 and prove how important it is for teachers to be student's best role models. It is so important for teachers to be the best role model for students because some students, as shown in the article, live with parents who view these harassments as nothing. The article further explains how there was an attempt at the school to address the situation about hateful comments circling around the school. Yet those adults within the community did not see the need to address the problem. It is so vastly important for teachers to properly educate their students in hopes of creating a more progressive community in the future.

Although educating students is important teachers must remember and respect to not push their own opinions upon their students. Yes, it is important for teachers to educate their students on facts, not the opinion of said teacher. In the article "These States Require Schools to Teach LGBT History" the author explaining how states in America are starting to pass laws that would allow teachers to teach LGBT history. As a future history teacher myself, I believe if proceeded correctly, this could be an amazing thing in all schools. The only problem with this, like I stated previously, is the importance of teachers only teaching facts and not opinions. The history of the LGBT community is very important for students to understand. Such as the outbreak of AIDS and the effects that it had on the community. As well as the achievement of the legalization of gay marriage in all of the 50 states. When students are taught the struggles that the LGBT community was faced with they begin to understand more on why people are so devoted to helping with the fight for equality within the community. 

Photo: (Love is Love Gay Pride Valentines Art Board Print): Red Bubble https://www.redbubble.com/i/art-board-print/Love-is-Love-Gay-Pride-Valentines-by-samuelcalkins/36606285.NVL2T