not the kind of attention you want

So I have been trying to decide what to make of the fact that the school where I am teaching right now is making headlines in all the wrong ways. Today we even had 15 minutes of CNN fame, including one of those shouting matches/mini discussions that never really lead anywhere.

There is racism everywhere. Nothing new there. It's not getting any better. But I am not sure if it's getting any worse either.

So what happened this time was that some white college students dressed up as janitors and pregnant teenagers for a Mexican theme party. Someone I talked to today said that his Mexican-American students, sons and daughters of migrant workers, were appalled by the disrespect and the stereotyping. But, when asked, they didn't think anything could be done to achieve change. They didn't think people can be educated, or that people can learn. That's very sad. Of course people can change. They only need a good reason. In this case they need to want to care about others.

Sometimes racism looks a lot like indifference. And sometimes indifference is really racism.