Dharun Ravi is found guilty of invasion of privacy, bias intimidation and other charges for secretly filming his gay roommate, Tyler Clementi, who went on to commit suicide. - via L.A. Times.

Clementi’s father, Joseph, read a brief statement urging young people to “make the world a better place” by being tolerant of others.

“You’re going to meet a lot of people in your lifetime,” he said. “Some of these people you may not like, but just because you may not like them doesn’t mean you have to work against them. You can make the world a better place.”

Then the U.S. military was tasked with this idea of nation-building, which has to be one of the most offensive terms they could use. To build a nation implies that you have to create a nation. Iraq was a nation. To turn around and call it rebuilding the Iraqi nation, it rubs people the wrong way.

I’m not blaming the military. They were handed a task that they were utterly unprepared for. They’re not out there to be shaking hands and kissing babies.  They’ve of course had to do it, because they don’t get to say no.

Some issues to think about regarding having a bi-cultural background and/or internationally educated. These are the stories I often hear and discuss with friends who have lived in more than 2 countries and seen things from outsider’s point of view. 

One of the reasons why fewer students are going abroad, apparently, is because domestic companies do not like hiring them. When they come back, they are too Westernized and cannot be molded into the Japanese young-graduate fix. They have an opinion, think for themselves, come with ideas to improve long-standing practices and, most appallingly, want work-life balance!

Clearly, these are not the kind of people that the domestic Japanese business world is looking for. They want people who conform, execute orders without questioning them and, most importantly, sit in the office until the boss has left. True commitment to the job is working long hours!

That reminds me of a question. Why is it that, in Japan, it is harder to find a job if you are fresh out of college with no previous career experience? In the U.S., it is totally opposite. Fresh graduates often complain, “How do they expect us to have a job experience, when no body is letting us find a first one?” 

The reason? Japanese companies wants young ones with no imprint of previous experience and habit of questioning. American companies want to hire ones with skills that needs no training. A big difference.

If Japanese schools are such a great option, why do kids need to cram?

Agreed. Some people believe Japanese schools are the best, but I doubt it. How can the people taught not to argue or critically question teach their students to do otherwise? Cramming seems what all Japanese children do nowadays, but think how uncompetitive they are in the world! Japanese universities don’t even count as the world’s top 10, sadly!

Also, life for most of the “halfs” (ridiculous name, by the way) isn’t easy. Japanese still regards them as gaijin. If you live in a small town, having a Japanese boyfriend or girlfriend as a “half” is almost mission impossible. I have met a lot of halfs that have decided to be Japanese, and most of them complain about discrimination, difficulties in finding work (not all of them become celebrities), relationships, marriages. My question is, why should they choose to stay here and be discriminated against and lose their second citizenship?

(“Whiteness Studies,” an interdisciplinary course that has been taught at some colleges and universities in USA now) argues that white privilege still exists, thanks largely to structural and institutional racism, and that the playing field isn’t level, and whites benefit from it. 

In the past, detractors have said the field itself demonizes people who identify as white.

Other academics who study what they see as America’s racial hierarchy say they struggle to teach that racial inequality remains a problem, and that it must be addressed. 

“For many people, it’s hard to raise these questions, because it’s like ancient history. But Obama did not run on a racial justice platform. Had he, he would not have been elected.”

As President Obama is about to announce the first 10 states that have qualified for exemption from basic elements of No Child Left Behind education law, the concerns still remain for those ”advocates for minority and special education students” who are concerned that such students will be ignored.

学力が学年相当より低くても進学させなくてはいけない、というのがNo Child Left Behindという法律。（日本語では「落ちこぼれゼロ法」？）ブッシュ政権の時に制定され、それから何年も物議をかもしだしていた。だって、それってつまり移民の子供達とか、英語が理解できない事が理由で授業に付いていけないのにそれでも無理矢理進級させられて、どんどん遅れを取っていくんではないかという心配があったから。

確かに、実際、教員が超不足しているからそれぞれに個別指導をするのはとても困難。そういう子供達は「Title I」と呼ばれて政府から助成金を受け、補習講座などでTAやチューターの指導を受けて学力向上を目指す形になる。でも、それで大きな改善が見られるのはラッキーなケース。皆が皆、学力向上に最適な条件で補習を受けれるわけでない。

特に、母国語がスペイン語ならバイリンガルの助手を確保するのは簡単だから、英語が駄目だとしてもその間算数をスペイン語で勉強すればいい訳。でもそれ以外の言語なら結局全てチンプンカンプン。結局、英語で指導される訳だから、必ずしもスペイン語のそれと比べて効率的に指導出来ないのでは無いかと感じた。それと、指導者側が保護者と意思疎通を蜜にして連携して行くためにも、やっぱりスペイン語の子達が有利だと感じた。

どうだろう。もしもこの法律がなくなってしまったら、どんなに基礎学力がある子供でも、英語レベルが低くて点数が低かったら低学年に入れられたり、進級するのが難しくなるって事だよね。

例えば私が指導していた、幼稚園レベルの英語力の４年生、４年生レベルの中学校２年生も、No Child Left Behindがあったからこそ同年齢の他の生徒と机を並べる事が出来た。そこで周囲に追いつきたいという気持ちが学習意欲に繋がっていたとも思う。だから、どうなるんだろう、この法律。どう影響を与えて行くのか本当に気になる。

Segregation of African-Americans in cities and towns across the United States has dropped to its lowest level in more than a century, according to a recent study.

“Its clearly diminished and nobody would argue that,” said Jonathan Rothwell, senior research analyst at the Washington-based Brookings Institution. “But to suggest that its ended is ridiculous.”

The Great Migration : The movement of 6 million blacks out of the Southern United States to the Northeast, Midwest, and West from 1910 to 1970.

The Fair Housing Act : Prohibited discrimination by direct providers of housing (landlords and real estate companies) as well as other entities (such as municipalities, banks and other lending institutions, and homeowners insurance companies). 

米国の「人種隔離度」過去最低水準に　都市周辺で融合進む (CNN Japan)

The help to the illegal immigrant families to gain the legal status and more secure future is highlighted by the studies, and that deportation only raise risks to make more underclass families because it provides them with no pathways to the children’s hopeful future. 

Other studies found that legalizing the status of parents rose their children’s educational levels substantially; the mother’s educational background had the larger influence than that of the father in children’s academic achievements; such children both boys and girls are forced with higher level of stress coming from lack of money for academic success and pressures to work (especially for boys) — that leads to a higher drop-out rates for children born to such families.