#fixthesystem

I have seen many posts all over social media talking about, “I never thought Minnesota would be the voice of the ‘revolution’” and things similar to this mostly from people out of state but some from Minnesota citizens. They also refer to us as a ‘silent’ state and I think people forget their Minnesota history. Here are some things I would like to highlight:

Minnesota was the first state to volunteer our services to President Lincoln for the Union for the Civil War. We also were important for the famous battle of Gettysburg. The 1st Minnesota had approximately 335 men in their regiment, and by the end of the battle, only 20 survived without casualties. They held their ground against better armed Confederate soldiers and helped the Union receive its victory. 

Minnesota was also the first state to fire rounds in WWII, the USS Ward which gun is placed outside the state capital was the first to fire on a Japanese ship and sink it. The gun was manned by St. Paul reservists. Many Minnesotans lost their lives in WWI and WWII and the wars since then. 

We have a huge history with the Minnesota National Guard. Who protected U.S. citizens in the aftermath of 9/11 with 148th Fighter Wing. They have also been called to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and so much more. 

During the tragic I-35W bridge collapse it took Minnesotans 81 minutes to get those injured and dying to the Hennepin County Medical Center. They took action immediately.Minnesotans rallied together to save our hurt people. 

Minnesota is ranked #5 in the nation with voter turnout. We are also ranked as the #2 state in volunteer service. We vote; we are active. 

We might seem silent to the rest of the country, but we are not silent. Our stereotype of ‘Minnesota Nice’ makes us seem silent, but in reality–we help. 

A man tragically lost his life to a terrible human being, and three others stood by and watched when it was their duty to step in. Historically, too many innocent Black men and women have lost their lives at the hands of corrupt police officers. It just so happened that it occurred in our state, in our ‘silent’ but very active state. 

Now all this being said this is not the first or last tragedy that will happen in our state because of wicked people, again I suggest you review our history, but as a state, as a nation, we should not let it happen anymore. No, we are not often the focus of national news like New York or L.A. but we matter, #BlackLivesMatter. We need to stand together and fix the broken system.

Some of you may dislike that I have put this out there, but I am sick and tired of watching innocent people die for the color of their skin, for their religion, for their sexuality, or for their gender. This is my opinion. Don't like it? Click off, unfollow me, I don't want to be associated with people who think that the killing of innocent men and women is justified because of their skin color, gender, religion, or sexuality.

References for educational purposes (Yes, there are Wikipedia links, but the references from their articles are legit so check them for yourself):

https://www.mnmilitarymuseum.org/files/9314/7508/3526/34th_ID_history_1917-2015.pdf

https://mn.gov/mdva/memorials/memorials/usswardgun.jsp

https://www.minnesotagoodage.com/voices/mn-history/2018/03/sacrifice-and-the-civil-war/

https://www.nationalservice.gov/vcla/state-rankings-volunteer-rate

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/slideshows/states-with-the-highest-voter-turnout-in-presidential-and-congressional-elections?slide=7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Ward https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I-35W_Mississippi_River_bridge#Rescue

Equal rights mean equal fights. No matter what gender. if someone is fucking with you, guy or girl. You stand up against repeated poor treatment.

slap a bitch, smack a bastard, fist fight the stars.

When looking into scientific journals or peer reviewed articles it is clear that many of them do not directly address the problem as socialization. However, many do touch on the point of the struggle that minority children take on when they are facing the public education system. The primary article that I looked at was from Scientific American, “Educating Poor Minority Children” by James P. Comer. In this article he goes into detail on the disparity that the minority children have faced for a very long time, specifically pointing towards Thomas Jefforsons presidency and advocacy of poor children receiving education. In this article Mr. Comer claims that the discrepancy of education of minority children sets them behind the national average by two years. Two years can do a lot of damage and keeping up with classmates is hard enough as it is. “In large cities as much as 50% of minority children drop out of school”. This statistic shows how there is a continuation of socialization because without schooling it is difficult to succeed financially or socially. Without the care and attention that schools need to provide for their minority students and their poor students they are bound to continue the cycle. 

My second article is “Multiple Marginality and Urban Education: Community and School Socialization Among Low-Income Mexican-Descent Youth” by Gilberto Q. Conchas. This article primarily focuses on the socialization of Mexican youth and the impact it has on the community and vice versa. From a young age the youth have to be faced with challenges that they should not have to handle yet. They are forced to confront environmental, cultural, and economic conflicts that can have a negative impact. When the outside environment is negative it is hard to have a positive school life. By not having the comfort and security guaranteed at home students often fail to have motivation in their education. This article focuses more on how a negative community can further push youth into socialization even if the school is trying hard to put them on the right path.

When comparing the article it is obvious that both of them are correct and can correlate with each other. Socialization often has to be impacted by how the system handles minorities and people in poverty and how the outside world can corrupt it more. Youth need to have a school that can drive them academically and provide programs to keep the kids involved and out of trouble. The community needs to also not drag each other down into the darkness, not all minorities live in bad communities, but many are not supported by those around them. This applies to organizations such as law enforcement, government aid, jobs, etc. To end socialization the organizations put in place to help the people of the United States, need to work together to create a supportive and successful system that will push students to graduate, go to college, create economic advancements and job opportunities. Just because some groups need more help than others does not mean the system should give up on them.

Citations:

Comer, James P. “Educating Poor Minority Children.” Scientific American, vol. 259, no. 5, 1988, pp. 42–48., https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican1188-42.