Students Say Racial Hostilities Simmered at Historic Boston Latin School

Students, Meggie Noel and Kylie Webster-Cazeau from Boston Latin School went to the school districts governing body to discuss a racial issue that has been occurring on their campus. The school which used to be made up of 90 percent of white students began admitting more minorities. However recently these students brought up a few comments that they were told by other students that told them "Oh, you’ll get into college because you’re black" or racial slurs like “go back to Africa” during online debates. “It just felt like what we go through every day was completely disregarded,” Ms. Noel said. 

What I found more interesting was what the article said that according to state data, 32 percent of the students in the Boston Public Schools are black, 42 percent are Hispanic and 14 percent are white. But at the Boston Latin School, about 9 percent of students are black, about 12 percent are Hispanic and nearly half are white. 

I think its crazy how nearly half of the students are white and only 9 percent are made of black students and 12 of Hispanics! I understand that this is one of the first and oldest public schools in America but the fact that they don't admit a lot of minorities into the school says a lot about the school. It's an issue that needs to be fixed. I don't think there's an issue with the state, its this school in particular that isn't doing much to represent the minorities. 
Along with that, the minorities that are let in are treated badly and the school doesn't even do anything about it. Ms.Webster-Cazeau said "The fact that our administration failed to publicly denounce this behavior, or even say something to the students making the comments that was effective, has created an unsafe and racially hostile learning environment for students of color at B.L.S." If the faculty doesn't do anything about the hate speech that students are saying then no one will because they are the ones who have the power to say whats wrong and whats right. If they don't say anything to stop these students then who will? I wonder how long it will take the school to realize that there is a big racial problem going on. I'm glad these girls are speaking up because its sad to say that we let these things slide without paying a lot of attention.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/31/education/students-say-racial-hostilities-simmered-at-historic-boston-latin-school.html?_r=0 

These Women Want the Pope to Join U.S. Immigration Debate

On February 16, women gathered in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico to go on a day long pilgrimage to El Paso, Texas where Pope Francis will be visiting the following day in order to draw attention on a issue that has been occurring in the U.S. recently. President Obama authorized the deportation of 100,000 immigrant families back to Central America just a few months ago causing man families to undergo fear and persecution.

 In his last papal address he said to lawmakers "We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners." The leader of the catholic church disagrees with this authorization because he believes that everyone was once an immigrant to this country.

"In a time when refugee families and children are being ripped from their homes, locked up in prisons and deported to life-threatening violence, we will walk with the hope that each step we take will bring us one step closer to Pope Francis' vision of a nation that truly welcomes the stranger," said Juana Flores, co-director of Mujeres Unidas y Activas in San Francisco.

In my opinion I think what these women are doing is great because I feel like a lot of immigrant families need someone to give them hope and shine light on this topic and who better to do it then the Pope. If they are able to bring attention to the pope about this it would be great so that he can see that its something that is affecting many families.

Source: http://womensenews.org/2016/02/these-women-want-the-pope-to-join-u-s-immigration-debate/
Papal Address: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/2015/09/26/8e1faa4c-6488-11e5-b38e-06883aacba64_story.html 

We Belong Together: http://www.webelongtogether.org/100women#block-views-walkers-block 

What Stacey Dash gets very wrong when she calls for ending BET and Black History Month

Hollywood Actress, Stacy Dash, spoke last week on Fox News saying that BET and Black history month should be abolished in order to end segregation.

Film maker Spike Lee and actress Jada Pinkett Smith said they will not be attending the Oscars next month because there was only a white list of nominees announced for the major roles. When they asked Stacey what she thinks about this she said "We have to make up our minds. Either we want to have segregation or integration. And if we don't want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the Image Awards where you're only awarded if you're black. If it were the other way around, we would be up in arms. It's a double standard."

This became a very controversial topic people felt offended that she would say such non-sense. In my opinion I think everyone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is that she is crazy! I think Black History Month is part of the american culture and very important. Its a time when we recognize and remember important people in our history. For example Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and more. Along with that its an important time because on February third the 15th amendment was passed which granted blacks the right to vote. 

I think Black History Month is a reminder for America to recognize what black people have contributed to this country and what they achieved. If we got rid of Black History Month then how will our future youth know about Martin Luther King Jr or Malcolm X? 

Now on BET I think its great that they have a show where they award black artists. However not all the time is just black people who get awarded on BET there is also other artists who get awarded like Eminem, Sam Smith and more. I think BET is a great show that shouldn't be taken down. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/01/21/what-stacey-dash-neglects-when-she-calls-for-ending-bet-and-black-history-month/ 

U.S. Placed Immigrant Children With Traffickers

In this article we learn that "The Department of Health and Human Services placed more than a dozen immigrant children in the custody of human traffickers" after they had failed to get background checks on the caregivers. Law enforcement had discovered in Ohio that there was six children at the age of 14 years old working in egg farms. Then they discovered another 13 who were being trafficked. Their main job is to give immigrant children who arrive at the border without parents to a caregiver who can keep them for a while. What the DHHS failed to do was to follow up on the caregivers and getting background checks which ended with children being abused and used to traffic. 

In my opinion I think this is horrible and shows how irresponsible the Department of Health and Human Services are. The fact that they couldn't do a background check for caregivers they were putting these children into is so stupid. It makes me questions whether if they did it just because they are immigrant children and thought that they weren't that important to get the caregivers checked. It also makes me question how reliable this department is. Their job is to make sure these kids are being put into families that can help them and keep them safe. Their motto says "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America" however just because these children aren't American makes it seem like they didn't take the time to research because they are immigrants. 

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/29/us/politics/us-placed-immigrant-children-with-traffickers-report-says.html?_r=0
DHHS: http://www.hhs.gov/about/strategic-plan/introduction/index.html#mission