You may have heard of Lawrence King, the openly gay middle school student that was shot in the head twice by a classmate. A few months ago, an equally tragic event under different circumstances occured. An eleven year old boy named Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover commited suicide due to bullying at school. He didn’t actually identify as gay, but he was still tormented daily. It led him to hang himself. His birthday would have been on this year’s day of silence, an LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) action day. (For more information about the day of silence, visit www.dayofsilence.org) What shocks me about this story is the fact that it happened on April 9th, and I didn’t find out about it until last week (early June). The way the media picks and chooses what to publicize really angers me. I asked around, and most of my friends that are very interested in LGBT news had no idea.
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover
Jul 8th, 2009 by kellejus
Final Exam
Jun 11th, 2009 by kittekai
In the last three days it was sort of hard to get anything really accomplished. I had a couple of peace pictures that I came up with. Nothing else really had to be done except for the editing a few last minute posts. I also worked on getting all of my required posts done and done well. The last few days we were just tying up loose ends so it wasn’t such a mess for the future classes. Other than that we didn’t really do much.
Future classes,
This blog was a huge project we started in mid 2nd semester. We decided instead of just writing a paper we actually wanted to do something to make a difference. We wanted to somehow put it out there that there shouldn’t be all this hate in the world and that everyone can make a difference. It was very hard to start because there was so many things that we could do. In the end we decided on obviously doing a blog post. We had the idea of making t-shirts and then selling them and then donating some of the money to an anti-hate or stop genocide site. We also thought about making a CD, and selling those rubber bracelets. We didn’t have enough time to do all of these things. As it was we barley got this blog page out and organized nicely, but we did it.
I think for in the future you should go outside the genocide spectrum. There are so much more hate in the world to just focus on genocide. There is racial hate, and LGBT hate, and religion. Focus more on other units that you learn about not just genocide. Don’t get me wrong genocide is a huge problem but we should try putting information out there about the rest of the hate in this world.
I also encourage you to go outside the blogging. Push this idea of spreading tolerance further then just blogging. Make t-shirts have local bands write songs about not hatting and then make a cd and sell them. There is so much more you could do with this project and I encourge you to do so.
I look forward to looking at this blog next year and seeing what you have contributed.
Sincerly, Committed Minorities and prejudice former student. Spread Peace, Spread Love
In this class I think for this project I deserve in the C range. I didn’t really contribute that much besides the blog posts and the pictures. It was kind of hard to do much else, because I don’t have a whole lot of talent. I have to say honestly this was a huge challenge but I did try my hardest to do what I do best which is writing. I tried my hardest and did what I thought I could.
Genocide-Sudan
Jun 8th, 2009 by webermyr
Sudan
Sudan is a country in Africa and over half of the population is black and the other half is Arab. The country is underdeveloped and neglect from the central government. There was two loosely allied groups that began to rebel in Darfur, Sudan. They were rebelling about the redress of social order and wanting greater political power. The Sudanese authorities saw the rebellion as a threat to the whole country. They also feared more uproar around the country. The governments response was to carry out deliberately exterminating the African tribal people of Darfur, where the rebels where from. (United Human Rights Council)
The people that are committing the genocide are known as Janjaweed which is a large Arab militia. They are employed by the government to execute the genocide. They are sent into villages and kill civilians of all ages, burn houses, destroy crops and livestock, target important infrastructure, and commit wide scale rape. They have been known to chain people together and throw them into burning houses. They kidnap children and also rape people in front of their families. The Janjaweed has killed over 400,000 and about 2.5 million have been displaced. (United Human Rights Council)
The government firmly denies involvement with any crimes but the facts show that the high ranking officials are the ones coordinating the genocide. The government is known to be in close contact with the militias and air force planes conducting the bombing raids. There is proof that the government armed and coordinated these attacks. (United Human Rights Council)
The United States has labeled the killings in Darfur as genocide (United Human Rights Council). We have learned in class a lot of criteria for genocide. I personally believe that what is happening in Darfur is genocide. I also think that somebody should probably step in and do something before it’s too late. There are several awareness sites for Darfur and Charities to help with the situation but that’s about the extent. I think that countries like the U.S. need to step in and save these people.
Hate On the Internet
Jun 7th, 2009 by webermyr
On the Internet there is a lot of useful information, entertainment to fill time, a way to keep in contact with friends that are far away, and a lot more. One of the things that does nothing but spread lies and hatred around the world as the large amount of hate sites on the Internet. These hate sites are easily accessible to everyone even children who don’t really know the difference between a trustworthy site and a hate site that looks like a trustworthy site.
There are hate sites about just about everything, every race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, color, ancestry, creed, national origin, pregnancy, abortion, marital status, parental status, you name it someone is against it and willing to openly bash it. The Internet is the easiest and fastest way to get your point out to the entire world and many people take advantage of that.
In my class we discussed in detail about the different hate sites that are out there. There are a lot of hate sites that are against African Americans promoting the KKK and lynching and things like that. There is also one hate site in particular called God Hates Fags.com which is all about LGBT and how god hates gays and things like that. These sites poor out their own beliefs with very few true facts. They only talk about god and myths. If they knew the true facts and weren’t so closed minded there would be a lot less hate in the world.
People use the Internet with its colorful web pages and images to push propaganda attacking whatever their against (http://www.adl.org/hate-patrol/internet_hate.asp) People can meet on the Internet over their hate of others and they could live across the world from each other but their hate brings them together. Promotion of hate and promises to believe in something brings a lot of people together but most of them are out casts and feel the need to belong to something and leaders of hate groups are right there to take them in.
If there is anything that should be banned on the Internet is the spreading of hate. We have enough hate in the world without have to promote it across the world.
Hate On the Internet
Jun 7th, 2009 by kittekai
On the Internet there is a lot of useful information, entertainment to fill time, a way to keep in contact with friends that are far away, and a lot more. One of the things that does nothing but spread lies and hatred around the world as the large amount of hate sites on the Internet. These hate sites are easily accessible to everyone even children who don’t really know the difference between a trustworthy site and a hate site that looks like a trustworthy site.
There are hate sites about just about everything, every race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, color, ancestry, creed, national origin, pregnancy, abortion, marital status, parental status, you name it someone is against it and willing to openly bash it. The Internet is the easiest and fastest way to get your point out to the entire world and many people take advantage of that.
In my class we discussed in detail about the different hate sites that are out there. There are a lot of hate sites that are against African Americans promoting the KKK and lynching and things like that. There is also one hate site in particular called God Hates Fags.com which is all about LGBT and how god hates gays and things like that. These sites poor out their own beliefs with very few true facts. They only talk about god and myths. If they knew the true facts and weren’t so closed minded there would be a lot less hate in the world.
People use the Internet with its colorful web pages and images to push propaganda attacking whatever their against (http://www.adl.org/hate-patrol/internet_hate.asp) People can meet on the Internet over their hate of others and they could live across the world from each other but their hate brings them together. Promotion of hate and promises to believe in something brings a lot of people together but most of them are out casts and feel the need to belong to something and leaders of hate groups are right there to take them in.
If there is anything that should be banned on the Internet is the spreading of hate. We have enough hate in the world without have to promote it across the world.
Armenian Genocide
Jun 5th, 2009 by agnewdav
The beginning of the Armenian Genocide began in 1915 and lasted until 1923. Between this time, half a million Armenians were killed, either by starvation, deportation, torture, or plain murder. They were told to give up all their hunting weapons, supplies, and many other values, all for the “war effort”. It was actually used against them; the government said that all these weapons were proof that they were going to rebel. It was a cruel thing and why they committed these atrocities were just plain wrong. Armenian genocide is widely acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides as many Western sources point to the systematic, organized manner the killings were carried out to eliminate the Armenians.
Hate Crimes-LGBT
Jun 4th, 2009 by kittekai
(Collaborated with Myranda)
Crimes throughout the US have overall been declining but hate crimes against LGBT people keep rising(Hate Crimes) . They are targeted because they are looked at unnatural. Who decides what is natural or not? Who gets to decide who gets to get married? All kinds of crimes committed against LGBT have a huge impact on the psychological effect of the victims(Hate Crimes). How many people have to get killed or kill themselves because of society and the torture that they live through everyday because they want to be able to live THEIR life how ever they want. Especially when they’re not doing anything illegal.
Everyday LGBT people are faced with terms and hate speech everyday (Lambda Legal). People everyday are afraid to come out of the “Closet” because of what society thinks. It is also shown that LGBT youth are 7 times more likely to be threatened or injured with a weapon at school (Lambda Legal) Why is it any one’s business who people date, or marry? It’s their own business and have no right to make others feel like outcasts because their different that a lot of other people. So what has made society think that Gays, and lesbians aren’t “normal” and are “unnatural”?
There are so many myths out there about LGBT’s most of which aren’t true. This website has a lot of common myths associated with Lgbt’s (Myths). LGBT’s in my opinion have one of the biggest society problems to over come.
Many people believe that homosexuality can be cured but honestly it can’t. It isn’t a choice that people choose to make (PFLAG). Aside from the fact that “gay” therapy doesn’t work it is also very dangerous. It also makes LGBT more afraid to be who they really are. Everyone has the right to be themselves so why is society trying to make gays turn straight if society and especially schools stress the need to the right to be who you are? This world doesn’t make sense to me. Constantly contradicting itself.
There is so much hate out there today that it out weighs the good. Why does there need to be hate everywhere you look, especially on the Internet. There are many anti gay websites the worst I’ve come across is one called GOD HATES FAGS.com(Godhatesfags) I have never found anything as repulsive as this website but our constitutional rights protects things like that but we don’t allow gay marriage because of the bible and what the bible says. I thought there is supposed to be a separation between the church and the government? What happened to that?
Hopefully one day we can all live as one without all of the hate. Hopefully everyone will be treated equal like the United States supposedly does. Equality for all is the only way to make life joyous. If you would like to learn more about LGBT’s I strongly encourage you to look it up on Google. They have a lot of good sites.
Under the Rule of Stalin…
Jun 4th, 2009 by elsesjon
I believe that there has been so much attention directed towards the Holocaust, that people have forgotten about other mass genocides that have taken place in our history. What about Stalin’s reign of terror in the Soviet Union? Stalin set out to create a famine for the people in Ukraine that wanted to escape his rule.
An estimated 7,000,000 people died throughout the years of 1932-1933. Stalin’s forced famine left it up to the people to make their own food. The people were without any supplies, and had to make the best of the terrible growing conditions in the area. In mid 1932, Stalin had increased the amount of food items shipped to the Soviet Union, thus drastically diminishing the food supply for Ukrainians. By the end of 1932, there was absolutely no food available to the people in Ukraine.
Stalin often neglected other countries around him for the benefit of the Soviet Union. He had a “Five Year Plan,” in hopes of modernizing the Soviet Union. In order to fund his plan, Stalin used other countries as a stepping stool, and didn’t show any sympathy for them. His plan was even being funded by the West (Americas) because western countries like the U.S. didn’t want to interrupt their trade with the Soviet Union over the famine.
By the end of 1933, over 25% of the population of Ukraine had perished. That included over 3 million children. What bothers me is the fact that so many people overlook acts of genocide that are just as important as the Jewish Holocaust. Not to take anything away from how horrible of an event that was, but Stalin’s forced famine was a horrifying action that claimed the lives of many innocent civilians.
Hate in America
Jun 4th, 2009 by langerya
Hate is a strategy for domination. By use of this strategy, social, political, and economic agendas often generate hate. When an agenda is realized, discrimination and persecution subside in intensity and scope.
How do we overcome hate? How will a “Hate-Free” society ever be attained? Is it even possible?
In my opinion it is not possible to achieve a hate free America but it is possible to overcome it; to suppress it enough that it is no longer relevant and causes us to alter our thinking towards others. Money is not the answer to overcoming hate. So many people think that money will make the problem go away; that they did their part and now someone else can worry about it. We need more than just people giving money. We need people to understand what caused the hate; where all the bad feelings stemmed from. All this hate will not go away until people understand where it came from, how it was caused, and what needs to be done.
Throughout American history from the way beginning there have been examples of hate and domination over another group. The Protestants took advantage of the Native Americans. Slavery was introduced to America shortly after. Native Americans were pushed west so more “white” people could have their land. The sub humanization of a race for the economic benefit of another has plagued our country and has left us with a black eye forever. Manifest Destiny in itself was a symbol of hate to “non-whites”.
Manifest Destiny: the belief or doctrine, held chiefly in the middle and latter part of the 19th century, that it was the destiny of the U.S. to expand its territory over the whole of North America and to extend and enhance its political, social, and economic influences.
This belief was developed by a white journalist from New York and he believed that it was the right of his country to dominate North America. This belief affected everyone on the continent and only benefited the white people. Natives were pushed into reservations, Mexicans were pushed south, and more Africans were brought over to work as slaves. All this was done for the benefit of the white people.
The development of derogatory and horrific words to demoralize a group of people so another can show domination over them still remains in society today. This needs to stop but how?
The Anti-gay Crusade/SSM
Jun 4th, 2009 by lentzdon
The same-sex marriage (SSM) controversy is becoming one of the biggest in North America. And definitely not anywhere near a compromise (e.g. debate of Proposition 8). SSM has divided the US by age (younger generation generally for it), political affiliation (Democrats being in favor), religion, and geography (northeast and west coast typically for, not the rest). Most people are currently opposing it, but there is beginning to be a movement leaning toward acceptance.
Looking at both sides of this…argument for SSM include the dignity and respect of everyone (deserving of the same commitment as straight couples), equal rights (love is love), and emotional/financial consequences (security of couple and kids). Arguments against SSM are religion (gays are going against God) and the benefit of the children (believing it is healthy for a child to be raised in a home with a mother/father). Hopefully one day soon America will find a solution and realize how unfair and unjust banning gay/lesbian marriage it is in a democracy.
There are a total of 10 anti-gay/SSM groups in Wisconsin, including the Neo-Nazi, KKK, Christian Identity, and Black Separatist groups, among others.
Here at this website is a list with links to the biggest anti-gay hate groups today:
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=524
And a map, too:
http://www.splcenter.org/intel/map/hate.jsp
