Professional Hopes and Goals

One hope that I have when I work with children and families who come from diverse backgrounds is that they are going through a non-stressful transition. I say this because I understand how hard it can be to live in a different country that is not your native home and conforming to the dominant culture can be difficult. I grew up in Okinawa Japan and I remember what life was like for my family when I was younger trying to adjust to the Japanese culture.

One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field in regards to the issue of diversity is that we continue to educate children and families issues of diversity, equity, and social justice and ways we can make a difference.

To my colleagues of EDUC-6164 I enjoyed working with you and I know that you will excel in the field of ECE!!

Welcoming Families From Around the World

In this week's blog assignment I will discuss a family that is moving to my community and they are not familiar with the culture in the community and they will have children attending the preschool I currently direct.

The family is from Poland.

Ways I will prepare myself to be culturally responsive includes:
Researching the Polish Culture
Gaining knowledge on the greeting style and customs
I would find out about their proficiency on the English language and make accommodations if needed.
Find resources that can accommodate their values and needs.
I would research their educational practices.

I hope that these preparations would benefit the family because I want to make sure that the transition is less stressful and comforting. I want to make sure these preparations benefit me because it will show the family that I am culturally diverse and non bias of people who are different from me, as well as show that I am an effective leader and I am passionate about making a difference in the lives of others.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

The Trayvon Martin case in Sanford Florida was an uproar when it came to getting justice for the murder and a fair trial against George Zimmerman.  Travyon Martin is a 17 year old African American male that was walking home from the store after buying candy and because he had on a black hoodie he was racially profiled as if he was going to be a threat since he was walking in a suburb neighborhood.  George Zimmerman who is in his mid 30's who is Caucasian and Hispanic. He is also the leader in the neighborhood watch in the area he lives in.  He spotted Trayvon walking home and he called 911 to let them know he was suspect of an African American wearing a black hoodie because it looked like he didn't belong in that area.  While Zimmerman was on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, he said he was going to follow him and the dispatcher told him not to follow him. Because Zimmerman didn't listen to the 911 dispatcher he did follow Trayvon and it turned for the worst.  Zimmerman and Martin ended up in a fight which left Martin dead, and Zimmerman claiming it was self defense.

To make a very long story short Trayvon Martin's family didn't feel like justice was served when Zimmerman was not charged for Trayvon Martin's murder. The jury were 5 white women and 1 hispanic woman and no African American women which made the jury selection seem unfair. The social media comments, and opinions went viral because of the injustice. There were a lot of people who supported Zimmerman because of the "Stand your ground Law" in Florida. There were lots of negative and racial comments made about Trayvon Martin, and basically saying that he deserved to die. Many African American people felt that racism was very alive and still existing because if it were a black person killing anyone they would be in prison for life and if it's a white person possibly the death penalty, whereas if a white person killed a black  person or a person of a different race the penalty is not that crucial. This case proved that there isn't any racial equality here in the U.S. for example Troy Davis and african american man who was on death row and falsely accused of killing a white police officer was still sentenced to death in 2011 after the jury said they don't believe he killed the police officer.  On July 20, 2012, James Holmes (white male) open fire and kills many people in a movie theatre and instead of him getting a life sentence in prison, he is trying to plead insanity.

Referring back to the Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman case I felt that justice wasn't served. I believe that whether or not George Zimmerman was convicted life for him inside a prison or outside would not be a great experience for him and everyday of his life he will constantly be reminded of the bad decision he made. However, the comments that were made on social media sites made me wonder about the world we live in and the example we are supposed to be setting for our children who will be our leaders of tomorrow.

I feel that in order for greater equity amongst the different races in our society I believe that not only just educating our children about right and wrong and focus on the whole child. I believe that our government and justice system could do a better job when it comes to providing justice for deserving people no matter their race.