Okay guys, here's my report on week 2 of my Cultural Awareness class.
The class required for anyone pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
The class required for anyone pursuing a degree in criminal justice.
Before I begin, if you missed my thread from last week to provide context, you can find that here:
So, before class even began I saw my professor sitting outside in the hallway. I approached her & very delicately asked her why she chose Crash as a film to watch in a class about cultural awareness.
She said it wasn't her choice, that it was mandated as part of the curriculum.
She said it wasn't her choice, that it was mandated as part of the curriculum.
Then she told me she had never seen the film before. Apparently this is one of, if not, her first time teaching this course.
She's very young by the way, maybe in her late 20s, early 30s.
I told her about the controversial nature of the film and she asked for suggestions.
She's very young by the way, maybe in her late 20s, early 30s.
I told her about the controversial nature of the film and she asked for suggestions.
I recommended Fruitvale Station and she seemed receptive to it, and said if I had any others to let her know. So just drop any recommendations you have in the comments below and I'll pass them along.
Anyway, we both walked into class and she began by going over the assignment she gave over the weekend, which was to look up a YouTube video on multiculturalism and write a synopsis of it.
That lead into a direct discussion on race and that's when things flew completely off the rails.
Dude sitting next to me raised his hand and started ranting about immigrants and how they supposedly get all these tremendous welfare benefits.
He's 18, btw. Fresh out of high school.
He's 18, btw. Fresh out of high school.
The professor tried to drag the discussion to a broad discussion and started asking questions of these law enforcement officials-to-be.
She was, I'm guessing, trying to gage biases and stereotypes students in the class might hold.
She was, I'm guessing, trying to gage biases and stereotypes students in the class might hold.
"If I asked you who makes cars, what group of people would you say?"
"Chinese!" A woman in the back of the class shouts. "My mother works at Subaru and she says all the higher ups there are Chinese."
[Note- Lafayette IN has a huge Subaru plant]
"Chinese!" A woman in the back of the class shouts. "My mother works at Subaru and she says all the higher ups there are Chinese."
[Note- Lafayette IN has a huge Subaru plant]
"Who eats fried chicken?" the professor asked.
"Black people," a few kids in the class seemed to shout in unison, to much laughter from the rest of the room.
"Black people," a few kids in the class seemed to shout in unison, to much laughter from the rest of the room.
"If I say Asian food, what's the first thing that comes to your mind?"
"Chinese!" said a guy off to the side of the class.
"Chinese!" said a guy off to the side of the class.
This went on for about 10 minutes. I can't even remember all the questions she posed, except for the last one, which was much more specific and ominous, considering what the students were taking the class for....
"Say you're a cop and you're on the highway and you see a car with four black guys, a car with four Latinos, a car with four Asians and a car with four white people. Who are you stopping and why?"
That was it, no other information.
That was it, no other information.
"The black guys," a woman shouted, not even raising her hand.
"Why?" the professor asked.
"Because blacks commit more crimes," she said.
Another girl raised her hand.
"Why?" the professor asked.
"Because blacks commit more crimes," she said.
Another girl raised her hand.
"I'd stop the Hispanics," the other girl said. "They might be illegal."
It's at this point where I'm literally holding my face in my hands. I'm scared to look up & make eye contact w the professor because I was so boiling with rage I didn't want to get called on and go off on these kids bc I want to see if this class actually does anything to them.
Then the professor asked if a black person or a Hispanic person were to commit a crime against them, would it be normal to become prejudiced against all black or Hispanic people.
Almost everyone in the class said yes.
Almost everyone in the class said yes.
It would have kept going like this, but the professor had scheduled a guest speaker to come in. A volunteer at a local homeless services shelter who went over what her organization does.
We never went back to the discussion of race after that.
We never went back to the discussion of race after that.
I'm almost at the point where I'm both anticipating and dreading this class at the same time.
Part if me cringes at what is going to happen on Wednesday, but in a warped way I'm almost eager to see how much worse it can get.
Part if me cringes at what is going to happen on Wednesday, but in a warped way I'm almost eager to see how much worse it can get.
These are future police officers, or at least some of them are.
It's both depressing and maddening and fascinating to get a peek inside their minds.
I don't think this class is going to do much to help a majority of them, but we've only had three in-person classes so far.
It's both depressing and maddening and fascinating to get a peek inside their minds.
I don't think this class is going to do much to help a majority of them, but we've only had three in-person classes so far.
I'm curious as we get more in depth as the semester rolls along, how many of these kids, if any, modify or evolve their views.
I'll keep you guys updated, but man, this is going to be a slog.
I'll keep you guys updated, but man, this is going to be a slog.
