Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together?, Sports Taboo, Censoring Myself

Why are all the Black Kids Sitting Together?

This reading is one that almost everyone that ever went to school can easily relate to. The author was basically saying that when you look at a cafeteria it's noticeable that black kids are sitting separate from white kids. Anytime I entered the cafeteria in my high school it was obvious that there were tables where only blacks, whites, Indians, or Asians were sitting. However at the same time there were tables that were diverse and had people of all races sitting together. Now in my mind I don't believe it has any connection to students being racist against one another, I believe that it is easier to connect to someone if they have the same traits as you and this is why the same race is always sitting together. In high school I was part of the Diversity Club and for one of our missions was to get the cafeteria to be more diverse. So what we did was we offered free ice cream to anyone that would move to another table so they can interact with other people. The upside was that it worked, mainly because of the free ice cream but the next day the cafeteria was back to the same arrangements.

Sports Taboo

This section talks about how certain races are better in certain sports. It associates certain races with sports such as whites are the better quarterbacks where as blacks are better runners. It also goes to talk about how African-Americans are better suited for sports because of the higher testosterone, muscle mass and wider shoulders and longer legs. No matter how we want to look at it there are differences between all races, some races will have an advantage over others. Or as the author referred to maybe some races just care more about certain things. If you dissect it, more African-Americans play basketball than baseball because they are just not that interested in baseball however more Dominicans play baseball than basketball and many people will say the reason why Asians don’t play many sports is because they care more about their studies.

Censoring Myself

Betty Shamieh is an Arab-American Christian that is scared to single herself out because of the stage we are in, in American History. She starts off by saying that a significant amount of Arabs are Christians which comes to a surprise to many because Arabs are usually associated to Islam in the minds of most people. She then goes to talk about how even in the wake of 9/11 and with her background as a Palestinian she still believes that she doesn’t have to censor herself because it wouldn’t help improve the way Arabs are viewed. She also believes that her Palestinian experiences deserve to be heard and if she can’t write about her experiences then she can’t write at all.