SAY NO TO RACISM, SAY NO TO DISCRIMINATION

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So back to our blog folks!  We haven’t worked on it for quite a while. 

We sailed through the deep seas of discrimination, we read poetry, fiction dealing with this appalling but still contemporary issue.  We read passages from Mandela, Martin Luther King and Gandhi.  We tried to learn the keys to a peaceful world through the words, eyes and experience of great men who sacrificed their lives in the name of a world dominated by equality.  You are going to watch some challenging and to some extent anguishing films and you are going to do some creative writing that we are going to share by posting your “works” on the blog.  Let’s try to warm-up your “creative muscles” by looking at some videos.  The first one is a video by an Asian girl, famous for her make-up tutorials, who speaks about a painful past experience of hers, an anecdote obviously and unfortunately linked to racism.  Then there are some social ads aimed at sensitizing people towards the problem of wide-spread discrimination in our world. 


discrimination-ducks

Regardless of the great steps forward and the great achievements in human rights, we still need to fight against racism and discrimination of any kind.  We have started with racial discrimination, but we will proceed with other forms of ghettosising and marginalising people. 


Discrimination

It seems that if on the one hand we have managed (as human beings) to put an end to slavery or discrimination towards women (though not in all countries, unfortunately ) just to mention a few achievements in the field of human rights; on the other hand we can still witness discrimination towards homosexuals

homophobia hurtsdifferently-abled people

Disabledjpg
elderly people (mainly in western countries)
age-discriminationchildren (think of child labour in certain countries or think of child soldiers).

child soldiers
Watch the first racist account and think how you would react if somebody threw racial slurs at you for being white.

Watch the following social ads.  Which one did you like the most? Why?  As you can see some were made by students themselves.  What would your anti-racist ad be like? 

Write your first acrostic poem, obviously addressed at freedom.

Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
Really. Sure about it? I still see pain, anguish, anger around me.
Everlasting chains.  Wish our century could see the disapperance of them.
Energy, positive thinking and hope will make those shackles melt away
During my lifetime I have something to say
Ordeal, human ordeal, lift your eyes of dissent
Make all see your wrath, make all tremble with shame till peace has its last say
!

33 Replies to “SAY NO TO RACISM, SAY NO TO DISCRIMINATION”

  1. I think the second video is more impacting than the others because nowadays people only think of how to look, everything must be Beautiful: how to dress, how to speak and even the body must be perfect as that we see on TV. RACISM IS UGLY, do not forget it.

    Veronica S.

  2. The video that I like most is the last one.
    I was struck by the fact that, in the video you can see many different faces.Different not only in the color, but because each face, each of us is different from the others; we are all different in the sense that we are all unique, but we are all the same, in the sense that we are all human beings!
    Irene

  3. I like the most the second video, it has a strong impact and it makes you think. How can a person walking down the street, judge another only by the skin? The man seems completely mad, just because the black boy has touched him. Then, when the man is in hospital, is a black doctor who is treating him. And is a problem if the doctor is black? NO! The main thing is that he treat you; the skin is the least important thing, indeed the problem of the skin should not even be.
    Silvia F.

  4. In my opinion, the video that has the biggest impact is the second one. I was struck by the resemblance of this anti-racist advert to cosmetic ads. We believe that beauty comes from the use of a particular product that makes us more like the prototype of beauty that has been imposed. This model of beauty is marred by racism in the sense that a racist person becomes uglier because of prejudice and discrimination towards different people. Even a beautiful person that uses different treatments just for the color of the skin, becomes ugly even if his “shell” remains nice!
    Alessia

  5. The video I like the most is the last one because in my opinion It has a stronger impact to the human eye. The way It's created is very powerful. The message which the adv want to send is delivered directly by people who usually white man discriminates. And It creates the really powerful message that everbody should capture and bear in mind in order to understand the very human qualities. Because all men are equal..the skin is just a way to say to you that "I have a different culture, a different background..sit next to me and listen my story".
    When I will see this, I can say that whites men are growing up!

  6. The video i like the most and that in my opinion has the strongest impact is the last one. I like the fact that in it you can see people of different skin, culture and nationality and, despite all these differences, they are all there together, joined to fight racism. There’s a message they gave that particularly struck me, and it is: “turn off the light on racism, because we’re all the same colour when we are in the dark”. I believe we should all realize this, that we are all the same and that the only race that exists is the human race. If we managed to do that, to stop having all these prejudices, this would be surely become a better world.
    Valentina

  7. I think that the  strongest video is the second one. racism is an ugly scar, it gnaws you day by day, ruining what of really beautiful and meaningful you have in life: friendship, understanding, social intercourses. the video is formidable in giving evidence of the devastating power of racism: discrimination deforms you and impoverish your humanity, no matter how beautiful your features are. as matter of fact, the strenght of the video is mostly to found in its being repugnant. in a society obsessed by beauty only the extremely physical ugliness represented in the film makes you fully understand the kind of inhuman  attitude our countries are bended by.
    silvia m.

  8. F ree at last. you won't understand my
    R evival when I say:
    E mersion! and a new hope
    E nhances  my way.
    D ogged by the sun, you won't
    O utline that single light-beam
    M isleading my jail. no chains.
    silvia m.

  9. The video that struck me the most was the third one. It had a strong impact on me because, in a few images, I could recognise the aura of prejudice that burdens on people from different races than ours. I found the tags of the young Asian boy as a “math nerd”, of the young black guy as a “bike thief” and of the Korean salesman as an “illegal immigrant” extremely superficial, yet very frequent nowadays. Too many people stick this kind of labels to others who are just different from them, without even trying to escape the commonplaces, so this video shows the shallowness that too often reigns between us.
     
    I think that the most striking messages comes from very simple elements, so my ad would not be complicated, for example something like the last video: I would show a series of people coming from a different nation, in order to make people understand what a stupid behaviour is discriminating, since world is populated from thousands of races.
     
    My acrostic:
    Famish the instinct of feeling a nobody but
    Remit you anger towards those who made you feel this way.
    Enchase your values deep in your soul and
    Enrich your personality with the spur of curiosity.
    Dare to affirm yourself through your behaviour in every situation,
    Outrunning the barriers of “impossibility” and “incapability”.
    Marry the idea of toiling for a world suitable to your expectations.
     
    Erika

  10. The video that impressed me most was the first one. First of all because you did not expect it to end like that and I think the last sentence “How far does your prejudice go?” is very significant. In fact it is true that everybody can seem powerful or superior when you are in your own country, where you  feel at home and you think you can do everything you want; but when you are dying, when you feel you are going to lose everything, then are you still superior? Are you still discriminating the man who is helping you?
    So how far does your prejudice go?
     
    My acrostic poem:
    Future. What’s in the future? What will we see?
    Raise your voices, raise your hands. React. Put an
    End to this. Put an end  to racialism. You can
    Ease this pain. You can do something. We can do something.
    Don’t close your eyes. Don’t pretend not to see what is happening.
    Odd. No, that’s not odd. That’s beautiful, because it’s different.
    Magnificent. All different and all so beautiful.
     
    Sara Perin
      

  11. My acrostic poem:
     
    F ear for those who want to hinder me, no more guy, no more
    R acism will no longer exist for us, no more guy, no more
    E very single human being will live free, and no one can obstacle him, no more guy, no more
    E very eye on you, that make you understand that you are not welcome here, will no longer exist, no more guy, no more
    D do not allow that this discrimination still can happen, no more guy, no more
    O pen our doors to the world, our eyes to people that is not free like us, our hearts to those who need love, our minds to understand that we are all equal, and a better world can exist, must exist!
    M ind you, we are all equal, all brothers and sisters
         And nothing can hinder us! 
    Irene Pellegrini


  12.  
    I think, my add against racism can be described by these two images. The best way to convey the message that we are all the same It is.. show, that, in the end even if we do not have all the same color and the same facial expressions, we may, however appear very well in photos all together!
    So I think, that is necessary that, not only the adults show that we are all equal, but is necessary that also children will be educated according to this idea.
    Stop looking at the differences, we have to open our doors to the world of equality, and our hearts to give love to all, and our eyes to help those who suffer and our arms to embrace all the world! 
    Irene Pellegrini

  13. Farewell, frightful foe of friendly feelings ! You
    Reflected the ruins of a drowning world, putting an 
    End to the boundless shadow of a human smile.
    Egoist, you will be seen as the son of a
    Dark heart, who cannot love nothing but himself.
    Only the greatness of a mind free from evil, it can be called
    Man.

    Silvia F.

  14. In my opinion the best ad here is the second one because it shows that racism hurts you as well! Everything you do has ripercussions on your daily life and if you are racist, this hate towards different people will hurt you as you hurt them. And in the end, as shown here, if you are close to death and who has the possibility to heal you is black or chinese or indian, you will not look at his or her skin's colour!

    Martina.

  15.  

     

    We are all part of the same chess match.
    We are all colour of the same paint.
    We are all sweet even if I am white and you are black.

    Martina.

  16. My poem:

    Friends? ..yes, we are.
    Race?..no, we do not pigeonhole.
    Equality?..yes, we deserve it.
    Emargination?..no, this does not mean anything to us.
    Do you really care about the colour of my skin?
    Oh man!..R u narrow minded?
    Mind you! My heart beats as well as yours.

    Martina.

  17. The video I like most is the fourth one. I like it because there are different people, with different features, but all of them are there to say the same thing: TURN OFF THE LIGHT ON RACISM. Whereas the video that struk me the most is the second one. It really shocked me because it uses a cosmetic product as a metaphor of racism; as if to say: "Hey you, you're not beautiful, and you will never be as we want you to be. You are different".

    My anti-racist AD would have these images:

    I chose the first one because in my opinion it contains the meaning of being different, and it explains that different means unique.
    The second one reminded me of the poem "Half-Caste", written by John Agard. It said:
    "[…] sit down at dah piano
    an mix a black key
    wid a white key […]".
    In the picture there are white key, black key, but also white fingers and black fingers. A beautiful mix.
    Finally in the AD I would put this music, because I think it fits, and because when I hear it, I fell stronger, and it makes me think that I can succeed in what I want:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFIBFd3gKHE

    In the end my acrostic poem:
    Far away. I would be a better person today.
    Returnable life in my hands. And in the
    End I am free. Forever.
    Essence of fear that finally disappears.
    Drawer of beautiful dreams. This I am.
    Overjoyed. After so much time.
    My being is beautiful now.

    Nicoletta Pagura

  18. I think children are the best in advertising against racism and discrimination. they usually don't care about racial differences and different cultural backgrounds: they simply stay together, play together, enjoy their time together, no matter the colour of the skin of any of them. they manage to do that, they manage not to label people, and they're really free and cheerful. i think my advert would be based on children from all over the world staying together. the message wolud be: we can all do that, we can all go beyond prejudice and racial antagonism. welcome and open-mindedness have not age!

    silvia m.

  19. I think my adv should be created according to the theme of freedom and cohabitation because, as I mentioned in the other comment, only when I will see the black one sitting next to white one while he is telling his story, then I can consider the white man mature and adult. I don't want to put in it too violent images or sentences because It wouldn't be powerful and nobody would bear it in mind. But on the contrary the white man could react negatively. I would use images and sentences like these:

    masterlife 

    Animals don't discriminate the "differents", why should human being do it?

    I would use also this song to advocate the struggle against discrimination.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6XcDNys_vo

    My acrostic poem:

    Fly towards the liberty
    Raise your hands to the sky
    Enhance your pride because your
    Enemies will be your Friends.
    Don't kicked your past because
    Our future need it. So don't shame.
    Make your dreams alive and smile at the world.

    Giada E.

  20. Fight against that narrow-minded crowd
    React because you must live our beautiful life
    Exteriorize your will to speak your view
    Escape hands that try to hold you down
    Do you feel like black or white?
    Or do you feel more like a human been as I do?
    Make the difference, start join people today, start freedom today!

    I think my anti-racist ad would be simple but impressive. There would be a white girl and a black girl facing each other and saying in chorus the same santence that would be something like:
    "The only race I know is the human"  Than the two girls would hug each other.

  21.  Fighting dogs
    Running away
    Empires trying to
    Emerge in
    Different ways
    Or, simply.
    Men, fighting anyway.
     
     
     
    Flying as free as a butterfly
    Reading book as did I
    Every day as I walk by
    Enjoy I your sight
    Do you really like my eyes
    Or do you think I’m poor guy?
    Madam, please tell me I’m right.

    Veronica

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