I don't know how the rest of you feel, but when I got done watching the movie, I felt angry. They talk about how they don't know why they hurt certain minority groups that attend the school, but in the same sense it doesn't seem like there are many people of minority that go there. They should try to get more people of minority groups there, not only so they won't feel alone, but so the "rich white kids" can learn more and be more accepting of other cultures. The guy at the end that was talking to the hispanic girl about her art really doesn't know how she felt there. She had to adjust to a whole new world and he didn't. It is true that people do choose people as friends that have the same backgrounds and beliefs, but I feel that they need to go out of their realm and meet new people. When they get out in the real world, they will be faced with people of different races and backgrounds and beliefs, so the earlier they mix with people different than them, the easier it will be later on. They will also feel more comfortable with different types of people at the same time, so they wouldn't be hesistant on talking to them. I don't know if ya'll felt the same way I did, but basically I felt like they weren't interested in meeting and becoming friends with people that are different than them.

The part at the end of the Groton movie made me so mad. No matter how much a rich, white, male student does not understand where a lower-income Hispanic girl is coming from; it is no excuse for being as disrespectful as he was. I was shocked at how blind he was when it came from seeing her point of view. He was in his place of comfort with the type of people he had grown up in and at the type of place he had been around all his life. She was in a different culture with different people. He truly seemed to think that her difficulties were similar to his difficulties. I would have liked to have seen the situation switched, where he could be the minority and not a part of the crowd that fit in. That seems like one of the only ways to get across the fact that everyone is not dealing with the same things that he is.

No joke, that part did nothing short of piss me off, and I am not afraid to say it. Some art critic he was, what did he think? Artists are all warm and fuzzy and art is not a medium for speaking out on what you can not put into words. Interesting how he used a racial slur specifically and solitary on her; more than once. What a bigot. What truly angered me was he knew what he was doing. It was for publicity, not like the cameras in the room were hidden, he wanted his moment to shine and he put down her, her artwork and her culture for his own upward mobility.

That part of the movie also made me angry. But I have to question why it made me angry- was it only because I could see Jo's point of view?

How would we feel about her situation if we weren't exposed to the difficulties she was going through?

How often do we connect (not just interact with, but really get to know and value) people from different cultures? I think I am a very accepting person (regardless of culture, race, sexuality, social class, etc.) BUT I don't think I've ever really gotten close to anyone from a completely different cultural background.

Last night I went snowtubing. I noticed that everyone there- those there to go snowtubing- were white and most of the workers on the snow runs were Hispanic. I don't want to presume what people were thinking, but I don't think any of the white people were surprised that the workers were Hispanic. Would it have been odd if all of the "snowtubers" were Hispanic and the workers white?

Would you think it odd if all of the men working on our university's new buildings were white and our chancellor, and professors were Hispanic?
Then, if I were the only white student at ASU-a Hispanic University, then, I might be able to genuinely understand how Jo felt.

Well spoken. What made me angry was not necessarily the situation and cultural roles perhaps. What rubbed me wrong was the gentleman’s insensitivity to her art and feelings. He crushed her in front of a film crew and during her display, for what reason? He was a goober.

I have to agree with Deborah, I am as WASPy as they come, a real European mutt, and that is the only role I know. In Connecticut, for the better part of my elementary education, I was the minority in my particular school. But at that time, I did not know that, nor did I care. I was a kid, and my peers were as well. And what do most children know about oppression, silenced voices and cultural history. We were classmates, friends, and little more. As we have grown, we become aware of the world around us and all the social norms we are thrown in. True, what can any of us really understand about worlds that we don’t belong to? Speculation, sympathy, and consideration are the only things we have.

This movie also made me upset. I have seen people act like that. My mom is a teacher at a very promiant private school right outside of Winston-Salem (one sister just graduated, the other a senior, and my brother a freshman there). The only reason my siblings go there is because my mom teaches because the tuituion is over $12,000 a year. Anyways, the majority of their school is white, and, not to be racist, but most of the minority people who go there go on scholarship. I'm not exactly sure how well the different races get along, but from what my mom and siblings say, you can't really tell who's on scholarship and who's not because some of the white kids are too.

I'm just saying this because since that video was made, elite schools (of all ages) have changed. Some for bad and others for good. Harvard is now saying that if your parents make less than $40,000 a year, you can go there for free.