Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 10 February 2011 — Page 6

Page 6 • The Muncie Times • February 10, 2011

continued from page 5 was NOT the ideal student, and he received the same punishment as anyone else at his grade level for disobeying the rules or for being disrespectful. The principal would send the misbehaving student to the basement with a copy of the United States Constitution! Thurgood (or any other student) could NOT return to class until a whole section of the Constitution had been memorized! By the age of

twelve, Thurgood Marshall had memorized the whole Constitution! Thurgood began at an early age to argue because his parents taught him that he had to prove any statements he made. They, also, “...challenged every point he made.” Little did anyone know they were helping to create an “American Hero”! Thurgood Marshall stood up against segregation! People did not real-

ize that by allowing certain groups to be segregated from each other, they were, not only, discriminating against those groups, but (by today’s definition) they were bullying them in the process! Supreme Court Judge Thurgood Marshall stood for each Americans’ rights as stated in the United State Constitution, no matter who they were - black, white, women, children, prisoners or the

homeless! Bullying is a big problem in our country today. If I were in charge of stopping the bullying at my school, I would place “Bullying Boxes” around my school, so anyone who was being bullied (or witnessed any bullying acts) could report it right away without the risk of getting hurt! I would also have people come into our schools who were the victims of

bullying. These people would talk to all the students about how it feels to be bullied, and why we should not do it to anyone! I would have these individuals come at least a twice a month. Each time they came to school, they would talk with different students, individually! This would help everyone see how wrong bullying is, and thatwe were serious about not allowing it to happen in our schools!

The Death of Emmett Till: An Account of Bullying

By: Shaya Crabtree Grade: 10 Muncie Southside High School Mrs. Marcus

The death of Emmett Till was nothing more than a couple of grown men lynching, maiming, and murdering a fourteen-year-old boy because they wanted to teach him a lesson. An act such as this is gruesome and unethical by anyone’s standards today, but back in 1955 it was a common practice inflicted upon African Americans. Would Emmett have been murdered if he were white? Would the town of Money, Mississippi, have made such a big deal if a young, Caucasian boy had attempt-

ed to romance a married white woman? One thing is for certain, the murderers, J.W. Milam and Roy Bryant, would not have gotten away with it and deemed innocent in a court of law. This is just one example of the many acts of bullying that African Americans have faced in the history of the segregated United States of America. For centuries people of color were used as slaves, abused, and considered useless. They had no rights, privileges, or luxuries, not even the ones instilled upon every citizen of the U.S. at the time. They couldn’t vote, get a good education, or share public restrooms or drinking fountains. With the 3/5 compromise of the Constitution put

Shaya Crabtree into effect in 1787, they were not even deemed a whole person. Unfortunately, there was not much that could have been done to help Emmett. Back then racism was passed down like a family heirloom. White children were taught to be fearful and hateful of blacks, taught that they were better, higher up in the game of life. The

only way to reverse these ideas is to un-teach them. Ignorance is the number one cause of prejudice, which is a very big factor in bullying. If children are taught to believe half-formed, unrealistic ideas, then their whole generation is doomed to be prejudiced. Fortunately, these ideas are slowly fading. With each generation prejudice is becoming a regret of the past, but by no means is it gone in today’s society. Bullying is seen everywhere today, especially in schools across America. There are anti-bullying programs for victims in need of support, but the only true way to stop bullying is education. Most bullies are products of bullies themselves and don’t even know why they bully

people. If everyone is taught that everyone is the same no matter their skin color, race, religion, or sexual orientation, there will be hope for the future. Hope that we will one day live in a better world without a severe act of bullying being a frontpage news story every week. Hope that the world will be a safe place where everyone is free to be who they are. Sources: www.watson.org chriscrowe.com www.pbs.org Mississippi Trial by Chris Crowe A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson Getting Away with Murder: The True Story of the Emmett Till Case.

Bullying: A

By Peter Jett The term bullying is defined as a form of abuse that comprises repeated acts of physical, emotional, and verbal attacks over time. Bullying can happen in a number of ways such

as gossip, exclusion from group activities, and intimidation. This behavior doesn’t just come from one individual, but sometimes comes from a group of individuals targeting one person or certain groups of people.

Problem for Many

Perhaps the most infamous example of bullying is the persecution of African Americans by the Ku Klux Klan, especially in Indiana. The Klan often used intimidation tactics, as well as political pressures to strengthen segre-

gation of Caucasians and African Americans. Intimidation tactics consisted of rallies, segregation practices, and cross burnings in front of African American homes. In extreme cases hangings of African Americans,

called lynching, occurred in the Deep South. A person who experienced the Klan’s bullying influence in Indiana is a man named Hale Woodruff. Woodruff was an aspiring artist who made political cartoons continued on page 8