- Create a thoughtful question for Mr. Pereira that focuses on the issues that are facing Troy Maxson in Fences. The questions could be about the 1957 environment or today's. The questions should revolve around the issues of: racism, segregation, equal opportunity, METCO Program- purpose, goals and yearly evaluation, etc.
- Create a response to the 60 Minute Video. Did this video change your perspective on: race, individual and environment, segreagation in America? Did Monsta scare you, or change your perception of US cities?
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Fences- Questions and Comments
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22 comments:
1. Do you see any segregation between the students within the METCO program?
2. After watching "Monsta" I feel a little scared that this man grew up thinking that when he was committing murder, that he was "doing good". He thought that if he was killing bad men, then it was good. Murder is still Murder. Though I thought that Monsta was a victim of the bad world he grew up in. He grew up in a world without parents, thus very little authority. He sought "family" in another form, a gang. I found that understandable. But he life soon transformed and he became overwhelmed by this gang and became a criminal. That was the problem with Monsta. He seemed like a smart guy, but he was just overwhelmed by a authority deprived environment.
Rudi Dunlap
Question 1: Question for Mr. Pereira
Mr. Pereira,
Do you believe that the METCO program influences the students from Boston to act differently when they return home after school? In other words, would the children’s behavior vary any more than if they were not involved in the METCO program at all? How so?
Question 2: Response to 60 Minute Video with ‘Monsta’
After watching 60 Minutes with special guest Monsta, my opinion of segregation and rough US cities altered very little, if any. Also, he grew up to be a tough guy because he wanted respect from the people around him. His family was never home, so he had to obtain his respect by doing bad things on the streets. Prior to watching the movie, or video, I still believed that the environment around individuals shaped who they would become. Monsta was the victim of his environment, and ultimately, it landed him in jail. Lastly, I knew that US cities were tough places to live in from books and movies and TV shows like Law and Order that reflect what life in the city is like. What I heard in the interview about gang initiations and such was almost precisely what I expected to hear.
1.Has METCO influenced other states to provide a better education for blacks in suburban towns/cities?
2.The video on gangs and race did change my views on the perception in US cities. It has allowed me to notice how cities are affecting people to change and a good way or a bad way. In 60 minuets Cory wanted to be accepted and wanted to be the “tough” guy. He taught himself to be violent and this perspective made him accepted. On the other hand, he grew up in a poor environment and the majority was in gangs. This wasn’t a great start to his life, and it had changed him on how to act towards others. When he first spoke, I found him to be very pleasant, he even admits his stupid mistakes, but he always wanted respect. He changed my views, even though I thought that environment changes the life of a person. He has added even more reason to prove how the environment where people live in affects the person within them.
1. How is the social standards of METCO different from ours?
2. I think I started a book about this "monster" man last year. Also last year, my class read "This Boy's Life", about a boy with no father and a traveling mother. As a result of this loose family life, the main character seeks comfort with the wrong crowds. The same thing happens here with "monster". "Monsta's" choice was not a good one, but to him it was. Environments can shape people's judgement in various ways, however, some people can change themselves.
Mr. Pereira,
Do you choose to work with the METCO program because you believe that environment overpowers the individual? Do you think that taking the METCO students out of the city environment for such a short time will be able to affect their lives in the long run?
I was surprised at some of the things that Monsta said. He was saying that he would not longer kill...unless someone deserved to be killed. It also surprised me to see how advanced Monsta's thinking was. He seemed very smart. After seeing this videp of 60 Minutes, my view of the world has changed. Now, when I think of the cities, I will think about all of the bad things that happen. Monsta said that he has lost count of how many people he has killed. He also said that he has cut off the arms of a rival gang member. The truth is hard to handle, but all of the things that Monsta talked about, are inevidable acround the entire world. It is sad that these things can happen at such young ages too. Monsta's story just shows how cruel the world can really be.
Do you feel that the METCO program should be incorporated in or suburban schools in other states so that inner city students can get a better education?
The Mosta 60 minutes video did change my perspective about environment in the inner cities of the United States. Mosta felt no remorse for his murders that he committed and he felt he was right in killing others. It was chilling to hear him say that this was the daily lifestyle in South Central LA. His environment of South Central LA transformed him into a coldblooded killer that felt he got to play god in a sense he decided who lived and who died.
Blog
How has the Metco program improved opportunities for the kids involved with it?
The video did change my opinion on race. I believe environment has a huge influence on the choices a person makes. I also believe if a parent is absent then the child will make bad decisions. A person can overcome their environment if they have the will power and drive. Monsta did scare not because he did such horrible things but because he acted like it wasn’t a big deal. It made me think how normal a person can appear but really be a scary crazy person that’s capable of murdering and doing other bad things.
1. Do you think it is fair, that these kids are simply transferred to another school, when we could be using the resources on improving the school which they should be going to. Wouldn't it certainly make their life easier?
2. After watching the 60 minute special with Monsta my view of environment and segregation did not change. I still believe that the pressures and temptations in an environment. Monsta gave into the temptations of gangs and the promise of power it held. In addition the lack of authority in his life led him into a life of crime and killing. Although he had slaughtered many people he did not "scare" me, he more impressed me. He was confident and well spoken, and not at all what I think of when I think mass-murderer. Monsta did not scare me nor the my perception of cities in the US. There is still very unprivileged places ravaged with poverty and this is where the violence and gangs form. We need to intervene and help the people and the schools in the area become more inviting and safer.
1. What are your views on the strengthening of inner city schools, so that things like the METCO program is not necessary?
2. "Monsta" made me realize that there are people out there who do indeed love to kill. Monsta sort of scared me in the sense that he killed for no reason other than to spill rival gang members blood. Even though the people that Monsta was killing were gang members and monsters themselves murder is still murder. Sure I still believe that Monsta is a victim of his environment, his father wasn't there, his mother worked 3 jobs, so nobody was really at home for him. He sought a family in the Bloods. He follows the mentality of either being a gang member or a victim, and he went to the gang member side. He believes that being a normal person is being weak.
1. Question for Mr. Pereira:
What are the qualifications for becoming inrolled in this program. Do the kids have to take a test, or is it a random choice of who is accepted?
2. Response to 60 minute video:
The 60 minute video did not change my perspective on race, or individuals and their enviornment. I still believe that an enviornment shapes the individuals that inhabit it. "Monsta" did not scare me, Cory Scott shows the truth about the rough cities in our country. Cory was the victim of his enviornment and unlike some people who can overcome it, Monsta fell into the gang life and actually started to precive it as a sort of "job". Monsta grew up with no fatherfigure, and his mother worked three jobs. Monsta wanted to be accepting and feel apart of something. His gang satisfied those needs. Monsta's story gives all the more reason to improve our nation.
1. Do you think that implementing the Metco program during the 50s and 60s would have completely changed the views of race and segregation during that time.
2. After watching the 60 minute video depicting the life of "monsta" I was impressed at how articulate and well spoken this "monsta" really was. He didn't sound like a monster or look like one. this video didn't change my perspective of an individual and his environment it merely strengthened my belief that the environment that an individual is in shapes that individual. "Monsta" is a smart man and could have been a politician or theologian if he had grown up in the right environment such as a prep school in a rich suburban town. Instead he was a hardcore black gangster who shot, stole, killed, and raped. He did this because the environment he lived in ( South Central LA.) was accustomed to gangs and violence. LA shaped him to be this killer.
Some parts of LA are notorious for gang violence but you don't really here or see the gruesome things that go on. All you really hear on the news or in the paper is "last night there were 2 deaths in gang related violence." You don't hear that the victims of this gang violence were decapitated and thrown off a bridge. This video showed how seriously brutal these gangs in La can be and how dangerous they really are.
-Alex Worcester
Question for Mr. Pereira:
Reading through the history and mission of The Metropolitan Council for Education Opportunity (METCO) Program, it said that it is a mission to help students, from the inner city Boston area, learn in an integrated public school setting with students from racially isolated suburban schools. When this system was first started, was their a negative influence. How hard was it really for the students from the inner cities along with the students from the isolated schools. Also, if any negativity in the program was in play, is it still there today?
Response to 60 Minute Video - "Monsta" Cody Scott:
I have heard of stories of people such as Monsta many times earlier, so I had already had this mindset of race where it can be the only way you are differentiated in society, or how it can be your tool/weapon to a new understanding. I have seen and heard of many examples from my father, and different people. Monsta did not scare me, of course I would not want to grow up in the environment which he grew up in or become the individual he is. Some people in life, have a say in what they want to do, and some may just be persuaded because they have nothing in the future to look forward to. Being as articulate as he is, Cody could have achieved alot, but because of the environment around him, he decided to take a different path. I know that cities in the United States have been like this, and a bunch of influences come from foreign areas as well. These actions don't just happen in the United States, but they happen all over at different scales of intensity. Terrorists for example, may sometimes only be persuaded to participate in acts of terror, and this persuasion may also give benefits to their family after they die. So it is not the individual who is bad, but the environment that shapes the individual, to out go the deeds he/she does, no matter goo or bad.
1. Why was the METCO program created? If it made to diversify schools why is it that white students are never bussed to the city schools?
2. Watching this video of 60 minutes really opened me up to the reality that what all of those gang movies are really not far from the truth. As a kid Monsta's motto was to kill as many members of the opposite gang as possible. Even when he was changed and reestablished from staying in prison and writing his book he said that he will not kill anyone, unless they deserve to die. Taking this stand he was acting as god. This video didn't so much as scare me but it opened me up to the truth of the how wild and uncontrollable the mind can become. Monsta was introduced to this hate and violence when e was young and there was no one there to stop him from being engulfed and because of it he became a vicious gang banger and murderer.
1) Do you think that the METCO kids stick together because they feel closer because of their backgrounds?
2) The movie really opened my eyes to the mentality of gang members. This did show that not so much environment but your family life can effect a person's choices.
Blog #1
Question for Mr. Pereira
Does the kids in the METCO program feels they are still being less privileged compared to the kids that are already that live here? and if so why is that?
Blog #2
60 minute Video
After watching the 60 Minutes special on Cody Scott, aka "Monsta Cody" I had noticed and saw how environmental factors can make a person chose a wrong route to follow in. if only he had lived in a better environment where his mom didn't have to work as much and a father to be there to support him in anything he pursued in life; he would've i think grow up to be a whole different person then the person he had turn to and what people considered him to be a "killing machine". his only way of being respected and known was to join a gang at that time period, when you were with them or be known as "weak" he said in the video. i would not put the blame on him, mainly because his life would've been better off if only his absentee dad would've been there, as a father figure to look up to. not having him in his life; he wanted so much to find something or someone like that that could possible resembled the looked up statue to be and reached at. Monsta Cody did surely changed my perception of the United States on what is built on today.
1. Mr. Pereira, my understanding of METCO was that it was created to integrate children from inner-city places to suburban areas so that there would be a greater range of variety amongst schools and in the student population. However, my question is, why are programs like METCO even necessary, it seems to be a solution that can much be compared to putting a band-aid on a bleeding artery. It seems to only be a temporary solution for a problem that has haunted generations. Would the better solution not be simply to improve Boston Public Schools so that families would have a greater incentive to move there, and that would ultimately create better communities and more diversity as a result of more families moving there for the excellent education?
2. The video “monsta” did not change my perspective on race relations or segregation, but it made it clearer for me. When Cody Scott said that he was the end result of generations, it struck a chord in me. As an immigrant America had been viewed by myself and many other as the land of equal opportunity where you had as much chance to be a good lawyer, cook, or millionaire as the average Joe. So it was surprising to me when I learned of America’s tainted image over the issue of race. It began with the mind-set of people assuming that people were inferior based on their race, and went on to slavery and inequality, now ironically it is the mindset of people that continues to fuel the fire of hatred. Through slavery and segregation there is a generation of people both young and old that suffer from the racist scars of America. They live in slums and have desolate and dark futures. There are few that make it out into the light, but the numbers continue to be small. The video “monsta” did change my perspective on America as a whole. Even though I am no longer as naive as I had previously been about the “land of the free and the home of the brave” it continues to shock me that there are second rate citizens living in America, the shining beacon of hope for so many countries and people. It is a glorious symbol of freedom and equality, yet it still continues to ignore an entire population of its people who are in a crisis. There is no help or aid coming for these people, America is oversees fighting terrorism while it continues to have terrorism within its own borders. “Monsta” also raised in me an interesting question about race. The neighborhood that Cody Scott grew in was a black neighborhood, and most gangs in the US are composed of blacks or Latinos. It raised in me the question of if it had been the other way around, if white teenagers everywhere suddenly started joining gangs, would there be more done about it? Would the government listen to the cries of its voiceless people then? There is a lot more to say about this subject, but I am glad that we got to watch this video in class.
1. What was the most difficult part of your life while growing up in America when black people were seen as inferior?
2. After viewing "Monsta" I was not very surprised but it did change my views a little. There are countless of cases of a boy or girl growing up with no father - and the majority do not yield good results. For the most part, "Monsta" grew up with no family. By joining a gang he found people he could trust, and earn their respect. Unfortunately, to earn the respect of these savages, he had to murder innocent people. Although some were gang members as well, I am sure he has murdered innocent people. "Monsta" does not deserve to live, he is the definition of the word scum. Taking the life of an innocent person is the most selfish and disgusting deed a person can commit. This opens my eyes to the chaos that is South Central LA.
1. How many other school districts participate in the MetCo program and how do their experiences compare to ours?
2. The 60 minutes Monsta special dint really affect my views on race or segregation. I
I still believe that ones environment can have a strong influence on the success and failure off a person. It takes an individual with a strong character to overcome the adversity of a negative environment. Monsta in the video was a person of strong character so he was eventually able to rise up against his surrounding to be become an overall better person.
1. If METCO students tend to hang out more with each other than with kids from Arlington, would you attribute this to discrimination and segregation, or would you attribute it to the fact that METCO kids are more familiar with each other than with the students from Arlington?
2. It was kind of hard to believe that the Monsta that they interviewed was the same guy who had committed all those crimes. He didn’t look or song overly intimidating or violent. He just sounded like a guy who had had a tough life and was trying to improve it. It is also ironic that by joining a gang and committing acts of violence he did indeed gain some respect. I was also surprised how easily and carelessly admitted to committing murder. It shows how a harsh and unforgiving environment has shaped him into such a hard and seemingly emotionless killer. In terms of race, Monsta was black. Through him, it is displayed that even though there isn’t really any formal discrimination against African Americans, past discrimination has left many of today’s African Americans in situations where the only way up is in gangs. This seemed to be the case with Monsta.
1. How has the METCO helped segregation in our town? How much more integrated are schools now compared to years ago, as in do you see more races intergrating?
2. Monsta was a very decieving person, he tried to make everything he did look nessecary which was not true. Living his life the way he does is a very risky and dangerous task. Although he did find comfort, he still went against what is right and did what is wrong
1. I understand that Massachusetts is the only state that hosts the METCO program,but is it government funded or the the parents of the participants pay some money for their kids to attend? If so, does the money come from our parents paying taxes or is there a special fund? Lastly, how much on average does the program cost per school year?
2. After watching the 60 minutes show with prison guest "Monsta" Cody Scott, my opinion of segregation and environment. I understand that Cody did grow up lacking a supportive authority figure, but he still lived in a well off neighborhood where his mother certainly did work very hard so that she could give Cody the life he should have deserved. By turning to a life of gang violence and hate, Cody threw away everything that his mother had worked hard for and disrespected her high hopes for him. It is true that environment shapes a person, but by watching the interview we could conclude that Cody was in fact an intelligent man and could have possibly made his life into something good. But instead of using his multiple oppotunities to become a better person, he resolved to his gang 'family' thus turning into the monster he has been dubbed as.
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