"Asking people about their own sh__ so I can figure out what to do with mine."

11/13/2020

In today's listening assignment, the host, Nadia Bolz-Weber, opens the show talking about how her own perspective, as a white, middle-class woman, to seeing a cop car on the street is probably pretty different from the Black woman whose house the cop was sitting outside of.

Her point is to say that when we learn the perspectives of others, we have to rethink our own ideas, our own perspectives. Her interview with Wilhelm Verwoerd, the grandson of a chief architect of the policy of Apartheid (read more about that here), is a further exploration of that idea.

For this discussion board post, you have two jobs. First: give a summary and analysis of the podcast assigned for homework. We will have worked on this in class in our google doc/group format. Second: Respond to the prompt above: What did talking to your alum make you think about your own self? Did it make you think about how you are approaching college? Did it make you think about your own student habits or personality traits and what that might mean for a future? Did it make you think about the time we are living in (going to school during 9/11 or going to school during a pandemic or election year)?

By answering the second part of this, you will potentially have a thesis and a way to shape and organize the information that your alums have given you.

9 Comments

Wicahpi Chaddlesone-Yankton

11/13/2020 09:20:57 am

The podcast started out with a story about racism and the fear of the cop from a african black women and how the white women felt. After that story, Nadia Bolz-Weber is interviewing Wilhelm Verowerd who has been achieving anti-racism work and working against his own country's racism. The podcast starts off with Verowerd talking about religion and how it affects his own point of view about his childhood. He started talking about how the church was foucing the different african people into this type of religion to suppress their own religion. He started talking about how the white and black neighborhoods were different by housing,schooling,and income. The black communities and neighborhoods were always lacking in different areas such has not even having running water or not proper electricity. So the church used this as an opportunity for missionaries. Next, they move forward towards the idea of the South Africa ideological system and the effects of having such a system. They basically force the people to live separately and never talk to each other or be involved with each other. Verowerd learned that growing up in such a system was wrong and his own family ideology. He started talking about his grandpa who was the Prime Minister Hendrik Verowerd who supported white supremacy and how he needed to betray his own family to prove that this system is wrong.Towards the end of the podcast, Bolz-Weber started to think more and more about her own understanding of her racism and religion and how it benefit her in ways. Racism and religion will always be thrown together to overrule a certain race just like the situation in South Africa.

I guess, How he did use the different resources at BSU to benefit himself such as the ATP Program for Undergraduate Research was tremendously valuable for gaining skills related to independent research, getting me into an excellent grad program, and helping him thrive at BSU (which was maybe runned by Dr. Torda back then). Also different classes and professors, he started talking about Dr. Barkalow(BSU Professor of Political Science), who will kick your butt in a big way, but he had helped him for preparation for grad school and challenged him, and gained writing skills. He started to think more and more about how to become successful in college by just asking for help. I haven’t fully read his email yet about his studying habits or personality traits yet. Also He attended BSU during 2009, so he witnessed Obama becoming president for the first time.

Colm McDonough

11/13/2020 09:46:04 am

In the beginning, there was a white woman who was scared to walk up to a house alone. She asked for cops ' help. Which she later realized was a bad idea because the woman who opened the door was a black woman who looked really scared of the cop. She was able to feel completely safe with the cop but did not think twice about what others would think of the cop. So, she wanted to meet with someone and discuss how they deal with their stuff so she can deal with hers. She meets with a white south african who has been a part of the problem for sometime but ralis he should be the change. He gave her stories of how people back in the day accepted white supremacy. “Can’t argue with the bible.” Religion was a main point of how people allowed racism and white dominance for years, as it seemed to justify one's actions. This man was going to be a minister. At first doing bible studies with younger kids. He spent some time in Holland and his roommate(I think) gave him the other side of the story. Then becoming a political figure of sorts. He stopped being a minister. Would send letters home to his family, asking for more information about Nelson Mendela and he eventually changed his views.

Talking to my alumni made me think about myself at BSU. It made me think of what I can do here for myself and in my own interests. It did make me think about how I am approaching college. Because I am online so all my meetings and classes are really different. It made me think that it could be worse but if i get through this I will be fine. I thought about how sometimes I think too much about some assignments and my bad habits that definitely aren’t helping the online portion.

Alexis Maldonado

11/13/2020 10:07:34 am

The podcast started out with a story about racism and the fear of the cop from a african black women and how the white women felt. After that story, Nadia Bolz-Weber is interviewing Wilhelm Verowerd who has been achieving anti-racism work and working against his own country's racism. The podcast starts off with Verowerd talking about religion and how it affects his own point of view about his childhood. He started talking about how the church was focusing the different african people into this type of religion to suppress their own religion. He started talking about how the white and black neighborhoods were different by housing,schooling,and income. The black communities and neighborhoods were always lacking in different areas such has not even having running water or not proper electricity. So the church used this as an opportunity for missionaries. Next, they move forward towards the idea of the South Africa ideological system and the effects of having such a system. They basically force the people to live separately and never talk to each other or be involved with each other. Verowerd learned that growing up in such a system was wrong and his own family ideology. He started talking about his grandpa who was the Prime Minister Hendrik Verowerd who supported white supremacy and how he needed to betray his own family to prove that this system is wrong.Towards the end of the podcast, Bolz-Weber started to think more and more about her own understanding of her racism and religion and how it benefit her in ways. Racism and religion will always be thrown together to overrule a certain race just like the situation in South Africa.

Talking to my alum made me think about what I'm doing right now and got me thinking about what the future could hold. My alum was also unsure of his major and also changed his major. I have goals right now for my future but just like my alum they could also change depending in the situation I am in and what happens these next years. We also share the fact we that while he was in school he was going through 9/11 while we are going through COVID which can make things relatable.

Emily Bachman

11/13/2020 11:10:54 am

In the beginning, there was a white woman who was scared to walk up to a house alone. She asked for cops ' help. Which she later realized was a bad idea because the woman who opened the door was a black woman who looked really scared of the cop. She was able to feel completely safe with the cop but did not think twice about what others would think of the cop. So, she wanted to meet with someone and discuss how they deal with their stuff so she can deal with hers. She meets with a white south african who has been a part of the problem for sometime but ralis he should be the change. He gave her stories of how people back in the day accepted white supremacy. “Can’t argue with the bible.” Religion was a main point of how people allowed racism and white dominance for years, as it seemed to justify one's actions. This man was going to be a minister. At first doing bible studies with younger kids. He spent some time in Holland and his roommate gave him the other side of the story. Then becoming a political figure of sorts. He stopped being a minister. Would send letters home to his family, asking for more information about Nelson Mendela and he eventually changed his views.

Talking to Laine has made me think about myself in the aspect of being social. Thats a common theme of things we have talked about in the interview on zoom. I have learned that I need to get out of my comfort zone and be more social. I am a very shy, introverted person like she described her self as when she was in freshman year. Laine has told me so many things about what has changed her as a person with college and I think I will definitely change as a person in the next four years of my life. Even with the pandemic going on right now, I am trying to make an effort to meet new people and become friends with them, since I will be going here for the next four years and want to get to know some of my colleagues.

Laura Schnitzer

11/13/2020 03:08:36 pm

The podcast starts off with a white woman returning the chihuahua to the owner who was African American. The woman who opened the door was dismissive and just said “OK”. There was no gratitude or appreciation. We still today are going through racism and white supremacy. This issue is far from over and is getting worse. We learn in this podcast about Nadia Bolz Weber who was interviewing a South American man named Wilhelm Verwoerd who opens up about how he grew up in church. He was a very religious man and wanted to educate others. “We would also be very conscious of preaching anti-communism because people were saying that the African National Congress, you know, former President Mandela political party they were really not libertarian fighters,they were terrorists.” Overall the podcast teaches us how racism affected Nadia Bolz and Wilhelm Verwoerd.

After meeting with my alum Chelsea I learned a lot more about myself. We both have a lot in common such as we both are into science. She still is in school and this teaches me to push myself even harder. I love getting to know her and grateful that she is willing to take time out her day to meet with me. Every week may vary because I am busy with Honors Meeting and we both have a lot going on outside of school. We both agree that this year is very different and strange due to the pandemic. The pandemic changed the way we learn, it’s weird to have everything online. The face to face classroom learning is not possible which is definitely not what I expected.

Omayra Saez

11/13/2020 09:01:25 pm

Kyle McCrea

11/15/2020 09:30:59 am

In this Podcast it starts off talking about how a woman (NBW) found a dog. The women felt unsafe in the neighborhood so she asked a police officer to look after her as she returned the dog. This woman felt safe with the cop. The owner of the dog was a young black woman and when she noticed the cop car she felt unsafe. When NBW noticed how the woman was feeling she came to a realization of what was happening. The podcast then shifts to Nadia Bolz-Weber interviewing Wilhelm Verowerd. Wilhelm talks about growing up in a white neighborhood in South Africa.

Talking to my alumni made me think that even though he is so much older than me, we are same people in a way. Matt was always interested in Biology but didn't exactly know what he wanted to do when he cam to Bridgewater. I am in the same boat he is in. I came here knowing I want to major in Biology but I'm still not sure where i would like to focus my studies. Matt also really emphasized how much time management is important, he kept explaining that you want to make a schedule in a way to stay on top of your school work but also make sure you have an active social life. During the time Matt was arriving campus at Bridgewater, The United States invaded Iraq 3 months prior to the start of the school year. Also, the United States just finished cleaning Ground Zero in New York after the attacks of 9/11.

Essiah Marcial

11/18/2020 08:47:30 am

The podcast started out with a story about racism and the fear of the cop from a african black women and how the white women felt. After that story, Nadia Bolz-Weber is interviewing Wilhelm Verowerd who has been achieving anti-racism work and working against his own country's racism. The podcast starts off with Verowerd talking about religion and how it affects his own point of view about his childhood. He started talking about how the church was focusing the different african people into this type of religion to suppress their own religion. He started talking about how the white and black neighborhoods were different by housing,schooling,and income. The black communities and neighborhoods were always lacking in different areas such has not even having running water or not proper electricity. So the church used this as an opportunity for missionaries. he meets with a white south african who has been a part of the problem for sometime but ralis he should be the change. He gave her stories of how people back in the day accepted white supremacy. “Can’t argue with the bible.” Religion was a main point of how people allowed racism and white dominance for years, as it seemed to justify one's actions. This man was going to be a minister. At first doing bible studies with younger kids. He spent some time in Holland and his roommate gave him the other side of the story. Then becoming a political figure of sorts. He stopped being a minister. Would send letters home to his family, asking for more information about Nelson Mendela and he eventually changed his views.

After speaking with Casner although we have different goals his life was almost the same as mine. He had one dream and once he got to college it changed almost instantly he stuck to it and really made me feel like if he can change his mind to better himself than so can I. I am very thankful for being paired with him I feel like I can really connect to him In a way I can't with most.

kaia souza

11/30/2020 12:43:01 am

this podcast starts with the story of a white woman asking a cop for help returning a lost dog to it owner and she mentions how she feels safe with the cop they then talk about the owner of the dog a black woman and when she had looked outside of her house and saw a police car she was uncomfortable. Nadia Bolz weber then interviews Wilhelm Verowerd who work on anti racism and the racism in his country . He talks about his child hood growing up and how religion and racism affected him he tells us about how churches would force their religion upon them and how the white and black neighborhoods would be vastly different and black neighborhoods were lacking clean water and things. Verowerd also talks about his grandfather who was a prime minister and supported white supremacy and with this he would betray his family to show them the faults in the system. At the end of the pods cast Nadia tells us about her views and what she experienced with religion and racism
After talking to my alum it has really made me think about how much of an opportunity BSU or college in general can really be if I take the right advantages. my alum really expressed her appreciation for studying abroad and it being her biggest regret from college that she didn't take those opportunities. My alum and I are experiencing BSU at very different times in the world as we are living in Covid right now but despite that there is still opportunities that can be taken.

"Asking people about their own sh__ so I can figure out what to do with mine."

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