P2+How+does+the+impact+of+racism+affect+Odessa?

6. The racism that is in Odessa is drastic and has been shown through out the history of the cities existence. In B.G Hissinger’s book Friday night lights he stats that “integration has torn down barriers, he said. There is not as much taboo in whites’ attitudes towards blacks. But I think is all it has done” (98). It is saying that there has been some integration that has done some bad in the town to other races such as the blacks and the Hispanics in the town. The racism towards the whites though was no were near as bad and that is what the last principle of Ector high school Jim Moore who was white wanted to make sure was evened out. He want to make it so that there were equal rights through out the town and no one was treated badly and that is what was accruing at the high school. The racism has gone down and has evened out so that everyone has started to respect each other more but there are still those few that disrespect other races and characteristics. The population of the different races and more of the black and Hispanic population has risen in the past couple of years and that has been a reason of the racism lowering. The quote is saying that the racism is still there but for the whites it has almost completely disappeared from Odessa.

Ryan M. Schmidt

6. Racism has a huge impact on Odessa. Although the town was just recently desegregated, the people are still not intergrading with each other. For the most part, the whites stick with other whites and blacks stick with blacks. So with the people still separating themselves from each other, it allows for racism and stereotypes to continue to exist. The impact it then has on Odessa is that the town cannot function very well as a whole. What didn’t help the was that all the top positions in the town (like the mayor, police chief, etc) were held by whites. Blacks held no power in the town. According to Bissinger, they were thought as “…the loud ones, the lazy ones, the ones who stole or lived off welfare or spent their wholes trying to by without a lick of work…” (90). The blacks are always thought to be people who were not going to go anywhere with their lives. And anyone who was black and was able to make it to college, only got there because of sports. They were exploited and treated unfairly.

- Josh Wilson

6. The impact of racism within Odessa is eminent. The amount of white people in the town took over the reign of power and education within the city, against the population of hispanics and blacks. The people of the hispanic and black races are forced to live within the south part of the city and receive a less than average education. Until the white race discovered the other races' talent of football, they despised the part of town from which they lived. They used the other races' talent to their advantage in winning football games, and besides that the white people had no other use for the people of the hispanic and black race. Racism takes a heavy toll on the people of Odessa in many ways than one. Even though the town was desegregated, the white race of Odessa continued to treat the other races with disrespect and hatred. "Dumb ol' nigger. Cocky nigger. New Jersey nigger. Smart-aleck nigger. Talk nigger. Blame it on the niggers. Afraid of the niggers. Nigger lady. Let the nigger girl do it. Nigger ball. Run, you nigger." (Bissinger 89). In Odessa the desegregation of colored people wasn't unusual. -Alyx Adams

6. Racism in Odessa plays a huge part in the daily society. As Bissinger states “There is desegregation. There is no integration in this community, the same as any community in America” (98). This states that Odessa in no different than the rest of the United States during this time period. In Odessa specifically Permian High School, the whites made up the majority of the population in the school. They made of 99 percent of the school. The other schools such as in the Southside were consisted of 90 percent minorities. It was these huge differences in schools that made it difficult. What made it hard for them was the fact that the white people owned all the positions of power in their town. Racism was as big as football in Odessa. -Alejandro Munoz

6. In Odessa, Racism plays a huge part in the society on a daily basis. Bissinger discusses all the Pros and cons about living in the society of Odessa. Odessa is a town where racism is high, it doesn't make it any easier for the blacks of the town, since every high authority person is white, such as the police chief, the mayor etc, Blacks in Odessa had no power in the town. According to Bissinger, "there were the loud one's, the lazy ones, the one's who stole or lived off welfare or spent their whole lives trying to get a long without a lick of work, who every time they were challenged to do something claimed they were the helpless victims of racism"(90) In Odessa the only thing blacks were good for was playing sports, and the only way they would could ever even think of getting into college was by sports. It is clear to say that blacks in Odessa were treated unfairly. -Janene Files

6. Racism impacts the lives of citizens in the town of Odessa. Dwaine Cox, a father of a Permian High student, said, “ You take these kids out of their schools and put them with blacks from the Southside and Mexicans… They dragged the whole school down” (Bissinger 93). The whites that live in Odessa believe that blacks have a very negative effect on the schools in the town. Blacks and Mexicans are considered to be poorly educated and not qualified enough to win football games. Even though desegregation exists now, the minorities are not treated with open arms by the parents and some students. Many of the white students are afraid to be at school with blacks. The parents of those students believe minorities are just taking over their expensive side of town. Many whites in Odessa also believe that blacks cannot win football because Permian has in the past before desegregation. The whites in Odessa do not accept the idea of racism and desegregation. -Jessica McKenzie

6. Jessica did a good job introducing the quote and then explaining it. I liked the quote she used, it was a good example of racism. The people of Odessa, as Jessica stated were very much against desegregation. They thought that the blacks and hispanics would drag the school system down and put their children at risk. They felt threatened by a different way of life, by a different culture. Jessica brought up the fact that the people of Odessa felt the blacks and hispanics were taking over their expensive side of town. This is true, the people were so used to having the blacks and hispanics live on the south side of town and the idea of integration made no sense to them. They do not view the blacks and hispanics as equal and do not believe they should be treated in anyway equal. Racism is a huge problem in Odessa that is prominent throughout the whole book. -Bridget McFadden (response to Jessica)

6. Racism impacts the lives of citizens in Odessa, especially the blacks. The discrimination and racist attitude towards blacks is widely accepted and practiced. Almost every citizen in Odessa refers to blacks in a derogatory way. In the beginning of chapter 5, Bissinger says "Like household cleanser, the term had a dozen different uses in Odessa" (89). The term Bissinger is talking about is "nigger". He says it is "like [a] household cleanser," which means it is used all around. Therefore blacks are looked down upon all over the town and get mistreated. This makes it harder for them to succeed in ways such as education, having a nice home, and their social status. The only way citizens of Odessa accept the blacks, is if they are helping the Permian Panthers win football games. -David Balich

6. Racism has an enormous impact on Odessa. It affects every aspect of the town. Bissinger says it best when he states, “There is desegregation. There is no integration in this community, the same as any community in America” (98). It seems like noone in Odessa truly accepts one another for their thoughts, and their hearts. A large majority of the population of Odessa judges people merely based on skin color. I don't think that Odessa will be able to progress or evolve in many different aspects, due to the barrier racism has set on the town. The horrific past of rasicm haunts Odessa. It seems to devour away the hopes and dreams of the town's residents. It is obvious how much of an impact racism has on Odessa, and how serious of an impact it is.

-Patrick Schulte

6. In the town of Odessa, Texas Racism is sorta a thing of myth. Where the behavior that outside people would see as racist or insensitive to other races is as common as going to the football games. A good example can be found in the beginning of the fifth chapter. The way it went was "An elderly man making a complaint to the city council one day in September said he had given documents to a city employee to copy for presentation to the council. He didn't remember the name of the person. But he did recall what she looked like. "The nigger lady," he said at the podium" (Bissinger 89). This shows that the word has a common place and is even a norm is place such as the town hall. Another sentence that emphasizes racism is "Like household cleanser, the term had a dozen different uses in Odessa. People said it in casual conversation. They also said it publicly, as just another descriptive adjective" (Bissinger 89). This reemphasizes the point that racism is alive and well in Odessa. No amount of change in the government will change the way in which these people think, as is illustrated in the desegregation part of the book. the people although have learned to live with each other and do things with each other, like go to football. So it's not a huge deal with these people.

-Alexander Barbee