Monday, January 17, is Martin Luther Day

Do we Honor the Man? Or do we Honor his Ideals? Or Both.
Honoring the Man only seems a great Effort for very little Benefit.
Logic says we do Martin Luther King more honor by Remembering his Ideals!!!
 

Surely Dr. King was not merely talking Merely about Racism.  Certainly Dr. King would not be content if there was No Racism, but there was still Bigotry against Nationalities, Religion, Gender or any other group.

Dr. King has stated as much!

Therefore, on Martin Luther King Day, we should Dedicate ourselves to personally expunging all tendencies to be Intolerant, and Rededicating ourselves to Protecting those closest to us, especially our children and grandchildren from the poisonous effects of the toxins of Negative Stereotyping on your Italian Ancestry and Heritage.

If you don't, Who will ?? And your children and grandchildren suffer from the "branding" that you have allowed by your inaction.

Television. for young people is the root of all evil. It is where even pre schoolers start to soak up stereotypes like a sponge. — television is full of Negative Stereotypes.

The average American child spends more time in front of the television set than in the classroom — racking up more than 18,000 hours of TV by high school graduation and 13,000 hours in a classroom. That's 5,000 more hours soaking up stereotypes and misinformation than hours reading, discussing and learning about the real people and cultures But, according to the Media Awareness Network, there are ways parents can tame the television — and the stereotypes.

But just turning of your television set, is not going to protect your child, if all the other kids parents are allowing the Television to be their kid's baby-sitter.

If limiting children's exposure to stereotypes, cultural misinformation and other "TV side effects" is not the answer, then perhaps teaching them in school the impropriety of those Negative Stereotypes is.

In fact, that is exactly what the Jewish, and all designated minority communities do.

And it is what Every Italian American should be involved in doing, through their Local Italian American Organizations, and convince the schools that teaching Tolerance toward only certain preferred communities is Morally reprehensible.

There are a variety of Studies available to present to School Districts that show that
Italian Americans not only suffer from Intolerance, but are becoming the worst Target.

"Adults too often assume what we see on TV is the world, and kids to even a higher degree." said Frank Vespe, executive director of  an organization that encourages responsible TV.

He goes on to say, that "Until then, I'll keep doing my part to help the schools deconstruct stereotypes by talking about what's on television, and what part of it is hurtful.

The NIAF states that: Stereotyping often results from, and leads to, prejudice and bigotry. That Unchecked prejudice and bigotry leads to discrimination, and bullying.

TV and Movies are responsible for the greatest share of that Negative Stereotyping,
and we must be constantly on guard against it, and ready to correct the distortions.

Martin Luther King was aware that many Black children develop a sense of "less-than-ness" after years of school lessons and reading textbooks that mention very little about African American contributions, and usually features the same 5 or 6 Black people every year.

When combined with the negative stereotypes of Black people that they see daily on TV, thousands of Black children feel inferior and write themselves off before they begin.

According to leading clinical psychologists, African American children need to be taught the value of their heritage. Knowing the significant contributions made by Africans and African Americans throughout history can reverse the effects of negative media images and stereotypes that cause low self-esteem and poor self-image.

The Adopt-A-School program developed by 21st Century Educational Services, a non-profit organization, to help inspire and motivate thousands of disadvantaged Black children across the country. 21st Century Educational Services is adopting schools, one school at a time, so that every child in that school gets a set of the Just Like Me Series. Using the series in a classroom setting has proven to improve self-esteem, self-image and destroy stereotypes for at-risk African American youth.

The series has worked wonders in several schools by teaching children the many contributions made by Black people dating back to 6000 BC.

Italian American children have Similar Problems, BUT NONE of the Support Systems.

And many of those Italian American Kids are desperately trying to "escape" a Heritage that is so reviled on TV and in the Movies, and by their "peers", and they are well on their way to Turning their back on their Heritage, Denying their "connection" and running toward Assimilation.

Those who are "standing and fighting" have a lonely battle, in which they are ill equipped to fight, because we have not given them the necessary knowledge, and are terribly outnumbered, (unless they are in an Italian "enclave", which means their problem is only deferred, Not solved).

For me, Priority One is providing your kids and grand kids with a Nurturing environment, and protecting them from a Hostile environment.

So what group of friends and associates are you going to start to recruit so that can start on this ever so important Project, and what will be your Plan?

Richard A. Annotico