On the first episode of the 8th fire we are introduced to many strangers whom are asked what they think of Aboriginal people. All of the individuals had similar answers which were in a negative connotation, offensive towards Natives. It is understandable that there are stereotypes of Aboriginals and their culture because there are stereotypes for merely all cultures. However, there problem with the stereotypes against Aboriginals, because everyone believes them and it affects the Aboriginals greatly. It causes them to feel segregated from the rest of society. From being children to adults it affects them all. In school the children and teenagers feel left out and this causes many of them to drop out and resort to gang affiliation. Older Aboriginals also feel left out because they feel heavily targeted in the workforce just due to their origin. Many of these Aboriginal workers try to leave out the fact that they are Natives so they aren't treated any differently from anyone else.
I was really interested in finding out if there are any really successful Aboriginals, not only from Canada but also from around the world, so I had to search it up. We were only told a very minimum amount in the video. From my research I found out there are many other huge Aboriginal success stories and here are some that I really liked; Cathy Freeman (Australian) - She competed in the Olympics and became the first Aboriginal person to win a gold medal in an individual event. In her case she competed in the 400 m sprint. She is an inspiration to her people and especially the children Adam Goodes - He is a championship winning football player in the AFL. He has won 2 titles and holds 2 mvps. Not only does he represent his people on the pitch but he is actively involved in the community working with Aboriginal sport and community programs. He does everything in his ability to fight against racism.
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In class we watched "Bowling for Columbine", which is basically a documentary on the events behind Columbine. It was a really interesting video because Columbine a very tragic event that happened to teenagers about my age. During the video all I could imagine was it happening at the school I go to. Thinking of this got me very disturbed and made me question why firearms are still purchase-able in the United States. These horrid events mainly occur in America but why do they happen? In 2018 alone there have been 21 school shooting in the United States. There averages to be 1 school shooting every week. Students and teachers now worry about their safety because of these shootings. There is only 1 explanation to these events and how the government can counter them. Change the gun laws! The government tends to provide a faulty explanation saying the people who do the shootings have mental illness, but people in all countries have mental illnesses and the same actions do not occur. This is because in the United States if you have a license and no criminal record, you can head to your nearest Walmart and purchase a firearm. Since Columbine many activists have been trying to protest and influence the government to change the laws over firearms, but they still haven't changed. Shootings after shootings have occurred but the laws still haven't changed.
The documentary went over this briefly but explained to the viewer that the reason the government isn't changing the gun laws is because the NRA (National Rifle Association) pays elected officials to rule in favour of letting guns be sold. Understanding this is what happens, made me want to research about the people the NRA have payed in the past and still pay now. One of the most payed senators by the NRA is John McCain. He was payed 7.74 millions dollars to rule in favour of pro-gun laws. That is absolutely absurd. This man was payed so much money to let another school shooting occur and let innocent people die. This website I found shows many other officials who have benefited from the NRA: http://fortune.com/2018/02/15/nra-contributions-politicians-senators/ Now, students have come together to try and stop the school shootings by protesting change in the amendment. There have been many protests held where young teenagers speak their beliefs and get the message out to others in the country of what is happening. So far these protests have received a lot of recognition from other citizens but have not been successful in terms of changing the amendment. Hopefully, the government will being to realize that the gun laws need to be changed. How many more people have to die before the United States's government understands there needs to be a change. |
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June 2018
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