The article that I read by Alan Johnson reminded me of an episode of Riverdale that I had seen over the summer (Season 7, Episode 1). This episode takes place in the 50's, right after Emmett Till's brutal murder. As Alan Johnson pointed out they need to talk about the issues of discrimination to move past them.
In this episode the black students of Riverdale High have just come back from an unfair trial, facing the brutal murder of Emmett Till. At this time the black students had just integrated with the white students at Riverdale High (one of the first schools to welcome black and white students).
Toni Topaz (a bisexual, black student) (the best character in the series) wants to face the issues and discuss them with her peers. She writes a well-thought-out article about the events that took place during Emmit Till's murder. The school immediately rejects it, stating that she should be grateful that she was welcomed into the school at all.
Toni and Betty immediately try to find other sources, but they seem to be getting turned down, wherever they go. That is until they convince student body president, Cheryl Blossom to sneak them into the announcement room so that Toni could read a poem of the events that had occurred.
Cheryl, asks Toni about her plan and after hearing it agrees to do it. So following, the plan Tabitha Tate pretends to faint on the football team, leading the school's counselor to have to check on her. Cheryl then goes into the announcement office and sneaks Betty and Toni into the room. There Toni reads the poem into the intercom.
At the end of the episode, they have a discussion about what happened in class and Archie Andrews (I believe) comments how the problem will never be solved unless they talk about it. Jughead Jones (as the narrator) then comments that because Toni read the poem and started the discussion about the issue, they had made an advancement that wouldn't have occurred until years later if the poem had not been read.
Below find two Riverdale videos talking about Emmit Tilt. I couldn't decide which one was more important to add.
This is exactly how I hoped you would use the CONNECTIONS post! Perfect connection to a show that you care about. Just "say the words" -- that is exactly what the Riverdale characters did. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI love the connection you have made to Riverdale. "The problem will never be solved unless they talk about it". love how it relates back to how Delpit talks about the communication barriers and misunderstandings that can occur between individuals. The answer is to talk about them.
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