Journal Prompt #1---Injustice (Finish entry by the mid-point of the film)
In Diary 94, a Freedom Writer argues that people should "rock the boat" and "speak out" when they witness an injustice. When have you observed an unjust action or behavior? What did you do? If you could go back in time and revisit that moment, would you handle it differently? Why, do you believe, is it sometimes difficult for people to speak out or act against wrongdoing?
I have seen some one steal before, I didn’t say anything. I just kind of stood there. I knew it was wrong, but why I couldn’t bring myself to tell them to stop.. I don’t know. I would go back and change every moment that I have just stood there and not did a single thing. I would grab them by the arm, and say put it back. I’m a spineless jelly fish, I don’t know when to stand up to people, all I do is stand there in fear. I wish that time travel would be possible, so that I could correct the many mistakes that I’ve made. I don’t think I could change them though, because it’s just who I am. I never seem to change the way I say I want to. The reason for me not speaking out is that I fear that my friends will accuse me of being so.. soft, and I let people walk all over me all the time. I don’t see how it could have come to that, but it did.
ReplyDeleteI've actually never witnessed an unjust behavior or at least not that I can remember. But I if I did see one I would probably tell a store clerk secretly; or I would talk to the person if I knew them and try to talk them out doing the wrong thing. It's difficult for people to speak out against wrongdoing because they are simply scared of the person being mad at them if it's there friend or they don't want to get hurt if it's something big that the other person steals.
ReplyDeleteI can’t remember an unjust action that I have observed right off the top of my head, but I do know I have observed one. I feel like when I see someone do something wrong I want to tell them to stop, but something inside me always tells me not to. I believe that everything happens for a reason so sometimes I will let them do the unjust action so that way they have learn from their mistakes and become a stronger person. I think it depends on the action that they are doing if I would go back and change it. Like if someone shot someone then I would want to go back and try to get them to not shoot them. I think it is one of the hardest things to do in life, to stand up to your friends. I think it is harder to stand up to your friends then it is to stand up to your enemies. Your friends judge you so much more than your enemies. If your friends don’t agree with you or your decisions then that could ruin your relationship with them.
ReplyDeleteI don't think i have seen an unjust action our anything but if i would i would probably talk to the person and tell them that its not something you should be doing and hope that they stop and if they don't them they well probably get caught in the future. I think that it is a very difficult for people to speak up and tell the truth sometimes and or speak there mind but there has to be a time when you should no when you should speak up or night
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ReplyDeleteI have witnessed injustice when i went to court for my biological father beating me half to death. He broke two of my ribs and i had welt marks on my back that were six inches deep. The police station of Waterloo took pictures of the bruises and made a court date. I was only ten so I was scared like crazy. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember the jury's verdict before the trial, but then it suddenly changed after they saw the color of his skin. He was black. So the jury changed their verdict because they didn't want to send another black man to jail. It wasn't the best memory of my life, but it did make me a stronger person, and better yet it made me the person that i am today, but this shouldn't of have happened because it was child abuse, and its against the law and we had all the proof in the world.They found the belt that he beat me with and it had blood on it. That blood belonged to me. now i am scared he's gonna do the same thing to someone else but i know the only thing i can do now is pray.
ReplyDeleteI’ve actually done an injustice action before. I remember when I was very little my dad, little sister and I went to the store to buy groceries. When we were checking out I saw a clip heart that said 1# mom on it. I liked it a lot so I thought I would take it and give it to my mom. I put it in my pocket without my dad knowing and walked out to the car with my dad. Once my dad found out I had it he took it out of my hand and took it back into the store. I was upset I couldn’t keep it but understood that we didn’t pay for it so I couldn’t have it. It was injustice but I think when you your so little you don’t understand what your doing until someone tells you. I have experienced some other injustice incidents. I haven’t seen this but I have heard that my friends have stolen things from stores while I was around. I didn’t do anything about it because I knew if I would of told them to stop they wouldn’t listen.
ReplyDeleteI have witnessed injustice when I was younger and wasn’t the skinniest kid in our class. I used to be teased when I was fat and when my hair was a lot more red. It bothered me then but now it really doesn’t bother me anymore. If you think it is cool to make fun of people you are pretty lame i guess. If I could go back in time I would have been more stronger and stood up for myself instead of letting it get to me. I think it is hard for people to speak out sometimes because they are scared they will get made fun of for saying something. I think that people just need to build self confidence at a young age so they are never afraid to stand up for themselves. I think that self confidence will help everyone in the long run. While in your life you are going to see people make fun of you. They may just do it to think they are cool and try and make friends doing it. I think that everyone should build up confidence and not be injustice.
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ReplyDeleteI think that it is a lot easier to say you can speak out then to actually speak out against injustice. I can’t remember a time where I witnessed an unjust behavior but I bet I didn’t do the right thing. I probably just sat there and watched it happen, I probably felt bad about it out too; I just can’t think of an example. If I could go back in time and change one of those times I most definitely would. I think it is sometimes hard to speak out because people are afraid that things would happen to them; They could also be afraid that their friends wont like them anymore. I guess real friends wouldn’t do that though, or get mad at you when you speak out for what you believe in. Another reason for them not speaking out is that they don’t want to get the crap for it next time, even though its wrong not to stand up for other people.
ReplyDeleteI maybe have witnessed an injustice type of act. But I’m not sure if it was so unjust so I really haven’t witnessed one. I think that they are wrong but I am not sure on what I would do if I had witnessed and injustice act. I probably would not do anything but of course I would feel bad for that person or those people. Some people just don’t want to get into that sort of thing. They are more worried about keeping them selves safe and out of the way. I wouldn’t do anything unless it was something closely related to me. Which most things that happen that are close to me are just about drama and fights or arguments. I get that people do have their own opinion about certain things but that does not mean that they have to really voice it. Even if they do make it known that, that is what they think about it it doesn’t have to become such a big deal and I don’t get why some people think that it does.
ReplyDeleteI never say injustice act unless it was on t.v. I think rock the boat means tell how you feel and don't hold back.If I saw someone doing something injustice I would turn them in I think it is hard because people don't want to be made fun of by others. I think people do those things because they don't have anything else to do. Think bout injustice act. I remember a kid that stole a bunch of stuff form a store in town. I was kind of the kid friend, but sometimes I'm not. I was wondering what did he steal and where then i found out. I was riding my bike around and people asked me if I saw him. That is one injustice thing i remember in my life. I think rocking the boat means to speak up for your self and express how you feel. If you don't people will take avenge of you. It might be hard for people to speak out because if they say something they could die, get made fun of, and get beat up on.That is all i got
ReplyDeleteI don’t really know how much of an injustice this is, but sometimes I see parents being really strict with their kids, yelling at them and not letting them do anything. Especially in stores like Wal-mart. I’d like to be able to tell them to go easy on the kids, but I’m terrible at just talking to people I don’t know, let alone reprimanding them. Even if I had the ability to go back and change things I’d done, I think I’d just do the same thing. What’s done is done, and my life wouldn’t be any better for having done things differently. I think mainly the reason people don’t speak out against injustice is out of fear for the people they’re speaking out against or their friends criticizing them. Everyone wants to keep up the appearance of being cool. Although, speaking out can make people look up to you, and people who would criticize you for doing so probably aren’t real friends anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think people should stand up for injustice acts because its wrong. People should standup for what they think is right and not let people harass them or other for what they look like, or what color their skin is, or for whatever else. I saw one girl in our grade being called a beaner by a couple of my friends back in like 5th or 6th grade. I did not standup for her because I thought it was funny and I called her names too. Now that I look back on it I probably would have told my friends to knock it off and, not called her names myself. If my friend is involved in it then I try to standup for them. I really think it is hard for people to stand up for because they don’t know what will happen to them. It depends on the situation too because if its something small or something big. Really I just think people are scared or people just don’t want to get involved with the situation.
ReplyDeleteI don’t remember any times I’ve observed an unjust action or behavior but I know I’ve seen one before. I usually don’t speak out when I witness an unjust situation. I’m afraid to put my own opinion in case it’s wrong or someone doesn’t like it. It might also get me in trouble if I put in my opinion, depending on the situation. That’s probably why a lot of people don’t speak out in that situation. I might say something to that person if I know them but If I’ve never seen them before I don’t know what they would do to me if I accidentally got them in trouble. They could threaten to kill me or something worse. I just don’t like taking chances in putting in my own opinion.
ReplyDeleteI have seen a lot of injustice in my life. I guess that happens when you have a little brother. When he did something bad it always used to be me getting the punishment when I know that he is trying to just make me mad. I admit there were times when I did that to. However, that was a long time ago. If I chose to go back to that time I don’t think I would want to change anything, If I have I would have never learned the lesson that once you do something bad by yourself its best that you admit your mistake instead of hide it. If you hide it; it will only make things worse. On the other hand, if you see someone doing something bad, or you know they did it. You should tell them what I learned. Then if they won’t stop or confess then it’s time to defend yourself. If they get away with it, well, its just another case of injustice that you have to deal with. The lesson I told you applies for every level of wrong doing.
ReplyDeleteI know I have witnessed a "wrongdoing", but they are very hard to think of on the spot. I usually just ignore something like that. It's not my business what someone does. I am not going to rat on someone. I probably wouldn't have done anything different- no one's perfect. They'll learn someday it was wrong. Won't we all? I believe it is sometimes hard to speak out on a wrongdoing because the other person doesn't want to get involved. Sometimes people are just to shy to say what they really want.
ReplyDeleteA little over a year ago I was caught shoplifting. I don't really know why I did it, but my friend and I figured it'd be fine. It wasn't my first time, or hers so we were pretty confident until we saw people waiting for us at the door. I was with another girl that refused to steal or be apart of what we were doing. She was really smart in the situation and I wish I wouldn't have stolen anything. She didn't get in trouble and got to go home on her own while my friend and I had to wait for our parents. When I think about it, the more people steal the higher prices will be anyway. I should have spoke up and recommend we not steal, but I didn't. Another unjust thing about that was that she blamed me for it all. I let her put the stuff she wanted in my bag, and when she tried to say that stuff wasn't hers I called her out on it. It was both of our choice to do it, so we both needed to take the fall.. I wish I would have had sense enough to not even do it.
ReplyDeleteWhen people observe a injustice; normally, they are too afraid to say anything, or stand up to that person.. Especially when it's a stranger. It intimidates them, because they don't want to be the next victim on the list, although they may very well be saving someone's life. Maybe you've seen, or heard of the t.v. show 'What Would You Do?' This is a perfect example. There are actors and actresses performing injustices in public places, and the main goal is to observe the reactions around them. Sometimes it's teenagers, picking on a classmate, or sometimes it's a mother leaving her children on the side of the streets. If a woman or man is of a different race, it seems that it's less often that they actually are helped out of their situation. While it's true that no one in this world is truly the same; we are all very similar. We all feel the pain when someone calls us a name, or when we're left outside just to watch from the window.
ReplyDeleteI'v stolen candy a long time ago from a store in my childhood. Thats the only think I can think of. I would change the moment because stores don't need people stealing stuff from them so you can have it for free.
ReplyDeleteI've seen an injustice before. But i was didn't want to say anything to the person doing it because i didn't want them to be mad at me or think I was a tattle tale. I think that happens to a lot of people. You want to tell on people sometimes for doing the wrong thing, but you don't want that person to be mad at you either. It's a hard decision to make sometimes.. Tell the truth and let the person be mad at you, or don't and know that that person did the wrong thing, you did the wrong thing from not telling, and that the person might expect you to do this for them all the time.
ReplyDeleteMy current observation of an unjust action that I can think right off hand is the ban of gay marriage. Right now, that's at the top of my list. What with me being in a homosexual relationship, it's hit me pretty hard to hear that Iowa is considering on taking back the right to marry gay couples. Especially since I've lately had thoughts on asking my significant other on what her view is at the moment. But now, I'm not sure how I'll be able to make sure that it won't be banned again. Maybe I can sign a petition someone has started.
ReplyDeleteOr like Mrs. Strand has suggested, maybe Central City could start off a Gay-Straight Alliance group of some sort.
I think its hard for people especially shy people to speak out against wrong doers. When I was younger I didn't have very good confidence and wouldn't speak up if someone was harassing someone that didn't deserve it. But now I stick up for everyone even if I don't completely like them or agree with them. But it is hard for a lot of people to stick up for themselves let alone others. I think we need to figure a way out to give confidence to people so then the bullies have nothing to say when someone they never figured would stick up for others.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall seeing something that injustice that i can recall. Im sure it happens a lot all around me and its either not big enough for me to notice or i just ignore it and forget about it. When I do see something unjust I usually will speak up and say something but it also does depend on the situation. I think about it as if its just me and the person thats doing the unjust thing then I will speak up but if its me and a group of people doing something unjust then i might refrain from doing it but won't stop them. I think people have a hard time speaking out because they are scared of what the other person might think. Sometimes I'm confronted by people older then me making fun of me or someone else and I don't want to say anything cause i dont want to lose their friendship and or their respect. People are scared of confrentation too. I'm not as scared of it but I know a lot of people can't stand to be face to face with someone and talk to them about how they feel on a situation.
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ReplyDeleteInjustices.. Hmm. A main one I'd like to bring up involves my ex-best friend. Back in South Carolina, I had this friend I hung out with ALL the time. I'd spend the night at her house almost every single weekend, and during the Summer almost everyday. I would see her yelling at her parents, grandparents to be exact, and they would do ANYTHING for her. I'd see her yelling at them, calling them stupid, and numerous other hurtful names. I could see the hurt in their eyes, and thinking about it now, who I am now, I KNOW I would have said something. Back then, I was the type of girl who wouldn't even raise my hand to answer a question in class. Keep in mind, this was around 6th grade. I was also way tinier than I am now, I was practically a four foot tall stick figure. I realize now I should have said something.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason I'm thinking about sports when the ref makes an unfair call. People can't really do much about it, but they all throw a fit. I think it's just human nature. When something doesn't go your way, you're going to throw a little bit of a fit.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of an unjust doing right now, but I know I have witnessed some. I think the person that it happens to should stand up for themselves. It will make them stronger as a person. And you can't let other people fight your own battles for you because or else you'll end up going into the real world and not knowing what to do when something like this happens to them.
ReplyDeleteI've seen people doing bad things before, nothing specific that I can remember though. Most of it's nothing horribly serious, like murder or anything, but people still shouldn't be doing it. I think a lot of people that see people doing unjust things and don't do anything about it really just don't care enough to tell someone or they don't want to get involved and spend their time doing something that in the end might not be worth it.Going back in time and changing your regrets is really a vague subject to talk about, so I'm not even going to say anything about that. Another reason someone might not want to tell somebody about it is because they're scared how others will react to it. There's a lot of things going on in my head about this, but the things I've mentioned already are probably the most prominent reasons for not speaking out against unjust behavior.
ReplyDeleteI have witnessed my brother to things. I really couldn't do anything. I would have yelled at him and told him that the person he was fight with that this was dumb and nothing was ever going to change no matter what went down. Because they don't want to get into a fist fight with that person. Or doesn't want anyone to hate them just because of it. Or don't want them mad at you because your suppose to be "there friend".
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