Talking Point #9

Bernard Lefkowitz, Our Guys

Premise:

Stereotypes
privilege
power
silence
grief
shame
blame
poverty
teenagers
parents
acceptance
differences
tragedy
character
decisions

Argument:
Lefkowitz argues that because a certain group of people were given privilege and had power in a community, they were excused of their negative behavior.

Evidence:
1. "I began to frame Glen Ridge as a story of power and powerlessness: the power of young males and the community that venerated them, and the powerlessness of one marginalized young woman-" (2)
-This shows that the boys felt that they had power because of the community that they live in and used that power against a young girl that they felt was inferior to them - just because she was different.

2. "If she was as vulnerable as the boys were powerful, it wasn't only because she was intellectually impaired, It was because she received and accepted the message sent out by the kids and adults who lived in the "normal" world. " (6)
-THe people of Glen Ridge were sending out a message of who should be valued. The jocks were to be praised because of who there parents were, and where they ranked in the society. Leslie believed that what the boys told her to do was important, not because of her mental disability, but because their community put the boys so high up on a pedistol.


Comments:
When reading this article, I felt disgusted. Those boys committed an inhumane act and should be punished severely. Just because of where they live, and who their parents are, nobody is making them feel sorry for what they did. No one wants to admit that there could be something wrong in the perfect world of Glen Ridge so they are just pretending it didn't happen. Although this is an extreme case, it proves what we have been learning all semester. White privilege and power control everything. I believe that if a person of color or someone with little money committed the same crime they would be disowned completely from a community. It would not be a situation where the people in the neighborhood pretended it didn't happen. Also, it shows an example of male privilege. The jocks are usually the most praised students in a school and are usually the ones getting in the most trouble. I remember in my high school almost all of the well known athletes were able to get away with murder, barely pass, and still received full scholarships into colleges. I also attended a predominantly white school. Although I guess I would be considered a person of privilege, I do not think it is right to put certain people up on a pedistol that do not deserve to be there. The events that happened at Glen Ridge prove why it needs to stop.