Most people have heard of the Battle of Little Bighorn, a.k.a “Custer’s Last Stand.” What they don’t know is how that battle happened as a result of yet another broken treaty between the U.S. government and Native Americans – and how the aftermath of the conflict is still very much alive today.
Each week, the White Privilege Conference and the Matrix Center for the Advancement of Social Equity and Inclusion, housed at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (UCCS), hosts a half hour radio show called Intersections Radio that features an interview with a different author, scholar, and/or speaker.
Whether it is our thoughts about black teens wearing hoodies or baggie pants, or white kids wearing punk hairstyles and mystic tattoos; whether it is rich kids driving BMWs and Corvettes to high schools; or Hispanics kids driving decorated low-riders. We all use stereotypes that wield a lot of persuasive power, intentionally, or unintentionally in our daily lives.
The influence they have on our perceptions and actions toward each other is too often not very good, and does little to improve our understanding of and relations with one another.
Summertime is a time for many things. For teens all over the nation, it is often seen as a break from school — a time to hang with friends, earn a little money with a summer job. At least this is what summer might mean for the lucky ones. But, for too many minority teens, it is simply not the case.
