While waiting, please review Joel Charon's "Should We Generalize About People?"
Action Item for next class: Joel Best, "The Truth about Damned Lies and Statistics."
A few announcements before the lesson begins:
First, Looking for a kind student to help me out? Willing to negotiate! Hear me out...
Next, we will meet in class on Friday. It will be the last lesson of the unit followed by a brief explanation about what to study. The testing window will be open over the weekend.
Finally, regarding the lesson on Monday (and today) I want to be clear that the lesson is not about the politics of the Middle East, but instead it is about how to react mindfully when you see someone that is different than you. You can disagree but avoid the pitfalls that come with outgroups (Monday's lesson) and stereotyping(today's lesson).
After reading Joel Charon's "Should We Generalize About People?"
After reading Joel Charon's "Should We Generalize..." hopefully, you realize that yes we must generalize because it is what makes us intelligent human beings. But our great strength as humans can also be a horrible flaw. If we do not generalize and categorize accurately then we run the risk of stereotyping. We must realize that although individuals can be categorized into certain groups, it doesn't mean that all individuals fit that group's generalization. Toward the end of the reading, Charon says,
"If we are open-minded and reflective, we can even evaluate how good or how poor our generalizations are, and we can alter what we know as we move from situation to situation."This is both the task and the promise of sociology. Sociology challenges us to think about our generalizations and assumptions about what we know and it promises us that with proper thought and care we can understand people better.
Apply the idea of ingroups/outgroups and categories/generalizations to the research that you found:
Remember that without careful consideration, it is easy to stereotype entire categories - especially outgroups. The reality is that there are very nuanced opinions about both sides of the issues:
- Not in Our Name; American Jewish Activists Lead March to White House over Isarael's 'Genocide'
- Not in Our Name; Jewish New Yorkers Speaking Out against 'Dehumanization' of Palestinians
- Letters to my Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi, 2019
- Many Palestinians in Gaza Hate Hamas, October 2023
- Before the War Gaza's Leaders Were Deeply Unpopular, October 2023
- Palestinian protests of Hamas, August 2023
- Palestinians protest against Hamas in online event, January 2022
- Palestinian Protests against Hamas in streets of Gaza, March 2019
- How it Feels to Be Muslim in America
- How Does it Feel to be Jewish [in North America]
Be mindful of the way that you may perceive Jewish or Muslim Americans if they are an outgroup for you:
- Israeli policy does not reflect the feelings of all Jews and not even all Israelis
- Hamas’s terrorism does not represent all Muslims and not even all Palestinians
The video called I am an American that shows the dangerous power that extreme stereotypes can lead to.
Lesson: Don't give in to outgroup homogeneity. Even if you do not know the complex dynamics within an outgroup, be cognizant that those variations probably exist.
Brett Eastburn
Brett Eastburn was born with no arms or legs. Here is an article in the Daily Herald about Eastburn visiting a school in Mt. Prospect. We might categorize him as disabled, but we should be careful about the assumptions and stereotypes that go along with that category. Here is a Ted Talk by Eastburn and here is his book, I'm Not Missing Anything.
Nick Vujicic
Another powerful differently-abled speaker is Nick Vujicic. He is a motivational speaker who also has no limbs. Here is a video of him on youtube
Here is the latest update from Wheelz on the BBC.
I love how these "disabled" people see their opportunity to teach others. Their lessons seem to be similar: The world doesn't owe you anything. You owe yourself hard work and dedication to become what you want. Find a way to help others/teach others. Don't stereotype and keep an open mind.
Lessons from differently-abled individuals:
- Accept yourself as a part of creation; your existence is the universe's confirmation to you that you matter.
- Develop your talents/desires. Whatever you want takes hard work. It takes failure, discomfort and effort.
- Find ways to serve others. Whenever you don't know what to do or when your life feels directionless or meaningless, find a way to serve others. We all have talents that can help others.
What are the generalizations in your research article?
Are there stereotypes that your research article dispels?
Finally, when you feel like you have been stereotyped, how do you react? What do you do? Anis Mojgani suggests that you shake the dust. Checkout his slam poem. Here is a link to his poem in writing.
Lesson from Mojgani: When you have been stereotyped, shake the dust. Move on and don't let the dust settle on you. Don't let it define you.
There is a poem I like that illustrates Charon's point. The poem called "The Cookie Thief" by Valerie Cox. We are all cookie thieves sometimes in how we erroneously use the categories that Charon talks about.
Lesson:
We have all been both the victim of stereotyping and the perpetrator of it. Try not to be the cookie thief.
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