After I read the tumblr for this assignment I was a little shocked to see some of the comments other students at UNL are making. I don’t have a twitter account so I haven’t been too informed on the UNL problems twitter activity or the tumblr site exposing the tweets of students. I was shocked for a variety of reasons. First of all, I recognized a few of the names on the site. This really struck out to me because I wouldn’t expect some of their comments coming from a few of these individuals. The tumblr was also shocking because it really showed there is an underlying dislike of Asian students at UNL that I was otherwise unaware of. This site makes me wonder why and how these opinions were formulated. What I truly want to know about these people is if they were intentionally being racist in their comments or whether they were simply trying to entertain others in the twitter community. I am by no means making excuses for their comments, but it would be interesting to find out what these authors really meant.
I would respond to the linguistic hate that is happening on our campus by explaining that there needs to be more education involved in various cultures. I believe students have to learn to accept others that are different than themselves. Whether it is requiring a cultural diversity class in order to graduate or to simply integrate more cultural awareness into classes already taken at UNL, I think there needs to be some sort of focus brought to light from these comments. The movie Remember the Titans comes to mind after reading these student’s comments. I think the film comes to mind because there is a clash of cultural differences which is similar to the tumblr postings. Coach Boone says in the movie “I'm not gonna talk to you tonight about winnin' and losin'. You're already winners 'cause you didn't kill each other up at camp” (Remember the Titans, 2000). Whether it is out differences or similarities that keeps us together or apart, it shouldn’t hamper out ability to jointly get along.
This concept of the tumblr gives insight to real life experiences because the quotes on the site are from UNL students. These are people who we share the classroom with who have very wide and varying opinions of various types of people at UNL. Reading these opinions has opened my eyes because before reading this I wasn’t aware of the attitudes of some students here on campus. I think it has changed my mind in how to be more inclusive of cultures whenever possible. Finally, I have learned that whatever your opinion is on any topic, culturally bound or not, be careful what you say because it could end up on a site such as tumblr.
References
Bruckheimer, J. (Producer), Yakin, B. (Director). September 29, 2000. Remember the Titans. [Motion Picture]. USA: Jerry Bruckheimer films.
W33zy753. (July 7, 2008). Remember the Titans Inspirational Moments. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWJs2Gof538
First off... I LOVE "Remember the Titans"! It is such a great movie, not just because it is about football (and has some pretty awesome music), but it makes us think about racial boundaries. I always thought that we don't have as much prejudice now as back in the days of "Remember the Titans", but after reading the UNL Hater's Tumbler, I am not so sure.
ReplyDeleteGood connection with blog response and pop culture. Certainly on the mark in terms of this current learning unit. I can relate to your comment about being shocked at recognizing a few of the names on the site. Some former Comm 211 students have appeared on the blog. It was really shocking to me and I too pondered your questions of why? What would cause this?
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