Author: Allie Hartman

Text Review Assignment- Allie Hartman

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The show Glee is full of different encounters of people with different cultures and identities. Every character represents a different part of society, and their interactions are both positive and negative. Specifically, the 6th episode of the 2nd season entitled “Never Been Kissed” provides a perfect example of people with different identities. One of the main characters, Kurt, is gay and is the only person that has “come out” at his school. Therefore, some students treat him differently than most of the other students. One character, Dave, specifically bullies him. Dave and his friends target Kurt, push him into lockers, make mean comments, and it makes Kurt very uncomfortable. Bullying should never be tolerated, but it escalates to the point where Dave threatens to kill Kurt. Clearly, the situation reaches a terrifying level, which is unacceptable. 

This episode provides an example of people with different sexual orientations interacting. Because Dave did not accept that Kurt was “different” than the other students, he was bullied. Dave should be more accepting but uses his biases to make Kurt feel like an “other”. Even further, he makes Kurt feel like a “subaltern” because he feels that he can’t step up and has no voice. Because of this, students at his school view Kurt as an “other” as well because of how segregated he is. 

By watching Glee, and specifically this episode, the audience may wonder why Dave treats Kurt this way, and how it can apply to society as a whole. More often than not, people react negatively when they are unfamiliar with a certain idea. In this case, Dave had never met someone who identified as gay, and he used that as an excuse to treat Kurt poorly. This does not mean Dave was in the right — bullying under any circumstance should never be tolerated. However, it does give insight into the way many people in our society, unfortunately, think and act. Dave feels superior as he is on the football team and fits in with most students at school. He uses this power to act superior towards Kurt, thus making Kurt feel alone and inferior. Being one of the only gay students at school is tough enough, as it is hard to find others to relate to, and not being accepted only makes the situation worse. Unfortunately, bullying and injustices like this occur regularly throughout society, and people should be more thoughtful and check their biases before acting on them.

 

 

(Here, Kurt is on the left, and Dave is on the right).

Diary of Systemic Injustices – Ben Gurion Airport in Israel

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The Ben Gurion airport in Israel is known to be the safest airport in the world, but with this title also comes controversy. I read an article entitled “What They Don’tTell You About Israel’s Famously Tight Airport Security”. It explains a man named Chris Weller’s experience in the airport, and it was shocking to read. In the airport, an employee places a sticker on one’s luggage with a ten-digit number. The first number on the sticker, “ranging from one to six, indicates your perceived threat level to whomever else you’re passed along” (Weller 2). Weller explained that he received a 5, and thought that it was because he is not Jewish. The airport intentionally makes some people feel powerless –  they are being judged when they just want to be treated and trusted like everyone else. Nobody should be seen as a “perceived threat” based on what they look like. Someone’s religion, race, ethnicity, gender, etc., should not be a tell-tale sign that someone is more dangerous than another. 

 

Weller further explained that “no flight leaving Ben Gurion has ever been hijacked, and the airline servicing Israel, El Al, hasn’t seen an attack in more than 30 years” (Weller 3). Although the statistics prove it is the safest airport in the world, it is important to consider the limits in order to ensure this safety. Physically it is safe, which is a great thing. However, people that pass through feel oppressed and judged for characteristics they cannot control. In a way, this is making Weller, and many people, an “other” because of the separation from others based on the numbers they receive. He felt less important than the people that were being treated more fairly in the airport. 

 

Moreover, there should be other ways to ensure safety in an airport without degrading others. Airport safety is a tricky situation because there are so many ways to go about it. However, the Ben Gurion airport should not be able to follow through with this discrimination. In reality, it is not realistic to tell someone’s morals or behaviors based on what they look like.  Categorizing someone and making them feel like a burden to society just because they seem less trustworthy should not be allowed – it is unfair to assume someone’s intentions, especially on a systemic level. 

 

 

 

Works Cited

“Tel Aviv Ben-Gurion International Airport Is a 3-Star Airport.” Skytrax, 22 June 2020, skytraxratings.com/airports/tel-aviv-ben-gurion-international-airport-rating.

 

Weller, Chris. “What They Don’t Tell You About Israel’s Famously Tight Airport Security” Insider, 11 June 2015, https://www.businessinsider.com/israels-ben-gurion-airport-security-uses-secret-sticker-system-2015-6.

Civil Rights Context Presentation- Week 4

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John Lewis was a statesman and Civil Rights activist who persevered during the troubling Civil Rights era. He wrote March to share his story in the Civil Rights Movement, which was “a struggle for social injustice” in the 1950s and 1960s, according to a History article (Onion, Sullivan, Mullen 1). Even after slavery was abolished in 1865, discrimination and racism were prominent, so Black Americans decided to fight for their rights and equality.  March will go into depth about moments during the Civil Rights Movement, but to fully understand the Civil Rights era, it is also important to understand the history of racism and the events that led up to it.

Even long before the Civil Rights Movement, racism was extremely prominent. Some important events to highlight are the transatlantic slave trade and Jim Crow Laws. Firstly, a Smithsonian Magazine article stated that “Between 1525 and 1866, 12.5 million people were kidnapped from Africa and sent to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade” (Solly 1). Throughout the two-month journey, only 10.7 million survived. Clearly, racism was a problem early on, and it persisted throughout history. Although Black Americans started to make some progress, in the late 1800s, Jim Crow Laws were formed. Society was upset that Black Americans were getting more rights, so laws were formed to restrict them more. In fact, “Black people couldn’t use the same public facilities as white people, live in many of the same towns, or go to the same schools. Interracial marriage was illegal, and most Black people couldn’t vote because they were unable to

 pass voter literacy tests” (Onion, Sullivan, Mullen 1).  Although it is devastating to read, learning about the severity of the discrimination is crucial to understanding what life was like for Black Americans, even before the Civil Rights era.

Although the Civil Rights Movement did not end racism completely, it fostered change in society. There is still room for improvement regarding racism in the United States, and understanding the history of racism not only helps better understand March but also gives context to the history of America and the events leading up to the Civil Rights era. 

 

References:

  Austin, Curtis J. “On Violence and Nonviolence: The Civil Rights Movement in

     Mississippi.” Mississippi History Now, Feb. 2002,

     www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/articles/62/

     The-civil-rights-movement-in-mississippi-on-violence-and-nonviolence. 

 

Onion, Amanda, et al. “Civil Rights Movement.” History, A&E Television Networks,

     27 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/black-history/civil-rights-movement.

     Accessed 17 May 2021.

 

Solly, Meilan. “158 Resources to Understand Racism in America.” Smithsonian

     Magazine, 4 June 2020, www.smithsonianmag.com/history/

     158-resources-understanding-systemic-racism-america-180975029/.

 

Urofsky, Melvin I. “Jim Crow Law.” Britannica, 20 July 1998, www.britannica.com/

     event/Jim-Crow-law.

 

Wallenfeldt, Jeff. “John Lewis.” Britannica, 27 Oct. 2010, www.britannica.com/

     biography/John-Lewis-American-civil-rights-leader-and-politician. Accessed

     13 July 2021.