Post Read Week 14

The first reading, “Critical Resistance and INCITE! Women of Color Against Violence. Gender Violence and the Prison Industrial Complex” discusses the idea of the PIC movement needs to include more than just the role of prisoners, but also including the roles of people, genders, and sexuality. It addresses state violence towards societies and goes far enough to divide state violence into two categories: state and intrapersonal.

The second reading, “Abolitionist Alternatives,” discusses the idea of abolishing the PIC. It has a problem with the relationship shared between corporations, businesses, and other industries or sources of income tied to prisons. Davis feels that by eliminating these industries and corporations or the many issues like the war on drugs, criminalizing immigration, and the lack of support for youth, you can also eliminate that PIC. Davis would like to increase and improve the use of rehabs and schools as alternatives to prisons.

In the “Future for Hope: Mothers and Prisoners in the Post-Keynesian California Landscape,” Gilmore gives the history of the Mothers ROC and what they have been able to accomplish.  It emphasizes that they are a support group that provides legal advice, workshops, and friendship to those who know someone who has been arrested. Members of the ROC use publicity and observing court hearings as a way to bring awareness to the PIC and the people who enforce it.

The last reading, “Re-Think: Accountable Communities,” utilizes the idea that the community should take on responsibility to dealing with problems because they can’t trust the intentions or actions of the authority. Community members would hold others accountable for their actions when dealing with problematic situations.

The first reading deals a lot with the state in relation to different genders, sexualities, and classes. Where as the second one about abolishing the PIC deals more with state and the things, the war on drugs, education, mental health resources, immigration, and money, that lead up to someone ending up in prison. Mothers ROC addresses the issue of how people end up being arrested and the hidden agenda behind the arrests. They educate and advocate for prisoners and the families while also create awareness about the racial discrimination that occurs throughout the PIC. The last reading addresses issues that they have with local, state, and federal authority by keeping issues contained to their community. Their solutions deal directly with racial discrimination and their lack of faith in the corrupt authority.

The first thing and individual can do to challenge the PIC is being aware of what’s wrong with the prison systems and becoming familiar with the PIC. Just by being aware they’re helping. People could also pay more attention to the news and the crimes being committed, paying attention to the details of the case and how they may have been distorted or mishandled. People would also join organizations that fight, support, or advocate for prisoners. There are many things available for people to do but they have to want to make a difference.

This article relates to what we’re discussing about the PIC because ICE was mostly going after non-violent, minor offenders and arresting them, instead of the more violent criminals. Harris informed police departments that the detainments were not binding requests or orders and that they were had the option to release the people arrested. This deals with the race discrimination and criminalizing of immigrants, targeting them as people who should be imprisoned. I think that Harris did participate when she informed the police departments of their ability to release people they felt didn’t need to be detained any longer and to focus on criminals with violent criminal records. She may have decided not to participate any further after that, but she was the catalyst for creating awareness among officers; however it’s now left up to them to make smart decisions.

WC- 636

Post Read Week 13

The Prison-Industrial Complex is a way to describe the rapid increase in inmates and the process of how it became so populated. People, particularly minorities are being imprisoned at increased rate and private prisons are profiting at the amount of inmates that they accumulate. They can pay them at ridiculously low rates and treat them with little respect.

If the motivation for incarcerating people isn’t to stop crime than other possible reasons for their incarceration might have to do with the prisons ability to profit for their incarceration rate or that people are being arrested at an increased rate because police are looking for crimes. This isn’t to say that police offers aren’t doing their jobs, but that maybe the areas that are having higher crime rates are the areas where cops look for crime. These areas happen to be the more poor areas, which are more likely to have suspicious activity because when your poor the things that you’ll do to survive or provide for you family, or the effects that the economy can have on you make you actions cross that legal line. It’s harder to prosecute people who have money and can afford better lawyers or provide bail money.

The incarceration system creates a “racial caste system” in ways like isolating certain areas of crime. Like I said before, the areas that police find them selves in is where they are going to find crime and if they are only in the poor neighborhoods where more minorities are likely to live, because of the way the economic or educational system has affected them, they are likely to find it. The wealthier neighborhoods are assumed to have less crime the police aren’t going to look for it in those neighborhoods. There’s also the fact that once a person is convicted or arrested for a crime that follows them and makes it difficult for them obtain a job, so they stay are stuck in this vicious cycle of being stuck in an environment where circumstances have left them fighting to survive and sometimes these fights get them in trouble.

The industrial part of PIC is the exchange and profit of money that prisons, particularly private prisons make off of the inmates. The prisoners are put to work where they are provided little compensation.

I think PIC is related to colorblind racism because of the fact that people are unaware of the patterns that surround the incarcerations. Even Michelle Alexander admits to not being aware of them for a while until it was brought to her attention. People can be naïve to their own prejudices until someone points them out or they are put into a situation where they have to face their prejudices.

Word Count 454 

Pre-Read Week 13

For me I see a connection between race in crime in terms of location. What I mean is that in low-income neighborhoods there is a higher rate in crime. The reasons for the higher rates of crime can be tied to delinquency, criminals, or it can be traced all the way back to history and oppressing certain races so much, that even when they are given certain rights they are still being restricted in ways.  For instance, there is a larger population of people of color in low-income compared to white people, which may be explained by their restricted ability to move out of these neighborhoods into better school districts or better job opportunities.

Prisons serve as an institution that hold criminals responsible for their crimes. They’re supposed to be “correctional facilities” where they “correct” the wrongs or the people that committed wrongs. They also isolate criminals into a given area away from innocent citizens. The problem is that some prisons fail to uphold standards.

The “industrial” part of the Prison Industrial Complex is that inmates/prisoners are put to work during their sentence. It reminds me of the Industrial Period where people were extensions of machines, they worked in industrial jobs that were bleak and demanding.

I think that crime is defined to impact people of color more in the way that there’s a larger portion of people of color that are criminals compared to whites. I also believe that because people of color are targeted as being criminals or living in a neighborhood with high rates of crime there is less focus on reasons behind their actions. More attention is spent on criminals that are people of color than there are on white criminals. People of color are considered to be more criminal.

I think that there are a few reasons why people of color are over-represented in prisons. One reason is because living in low-income neighborhoods, where crime rates are high cops catch more criminals. The system also works against them in the way they go after people of color more often than they do whites. It may also be because certain criminals have a more difficult time being rehabilitated. 

Prisons can be used as a form of social control because they segregate criminals from innocent citizens, but they fact is that more criminals being convicted are people of color; which may remind us c of racial segregation during and before the civil rights movement. Prisons remove the bad from the good, but the bad is starting to look more like a certain color.

I’m not clear on what ‘life being criminalized’ means. Maybe it means that life is criminalized when people are forced into committing crimes or feeling like some of their choices are either or.

Word count 459 

Post Reading Week 12

Lupe Fiasco’s “Bitch Bad” is an attempt to be more conscious, but it’s only a start and there are ways that it could have been better executed. He brings attention to the issues regarding women in hip-hop.

Rap’s Long History or ‘Conscious’ Condescension to Women was the article that I felt gave the most complete analysis of Lupe Fiasco’s song. The article brought attention to the lack of responsibility that men take in their part of the portrayal of women in hip-hop. Where it references other rappers is where it held the analysis; looking at male rappers attempts to be conscious fail because they rarely if ever hold males responsible for their contributions.

Jamila’s quote connects to the way Lupe Fiasco’s video in the way that women watching the videos are influenced by what they see and in the way that women are portrayed in the videos. Women watching the video don’t see the paid actress they only see the girl in the video being put into sexual images. Jamila would say that these women in the videos should understand the impact the have on viewers and to take some responsibility for that. She would also point out the fact that it’s not completely their responsibility because it’s the lyrics and stories in the songs that they are being paid to be a part of. Rappers and hip-hop artists need to take responsibility for the lyrics they are putting out in the world. I think Jamila would have a problem with the bitch/woman/lady hierarchy that Lupe presents in his song because it doesn’t account for all the things a female can be. It limits them to these three undefined terms that don’t have any basis of support.

I don’t know if I would say that hip-hop holds the most responsibility because I don’t know if world wide it’s the most popular out of all genres. In the case that it was the most listened to genre of music than yes, I would say it holds the responsibility o being socially responsible, but I do have to argue that people in society have to take on the responsibility of making morally conscious decisions. It can’t be put on the music industry to completely responsible for social constructs or what’s happening in society. That being said, all forms of media, music, television, radio, and movies all have to take part in being responsible for what is being put out into the world.

Youth believes that hip-hop is a tool; “besides employing hip-hop to organize others in their community, youth use hip-hop culture to sustain and motivate their own activism” (189). People feel comfortable with hip-hop, which most people can relate to hip-hop or some of the stories that they sing about.  When people feel a connection it’s easier for them to use it in their everyday or relate their own stories through hip-hop. I think that for my generation it’s a little different than it was five even ten years ago, but it’s slowly, very slowly, looping back around to being more conscious.

Word Count - 511 

Post Read Week 11

It was interesting to hear how aware the artists were of the control the industry has over their music. They release music that they know consumer will buy and are aware that they don’t have a lot of control over their creative rights once they sign with a major label.

I agree with argument one that the hyper-masculinity and violence present in hip-hop is part of the larger American culture that values and promotes violence. It’s not primarily caused by the American culture but it’s a huge contributing factor. American culture promotes the idea that men are supposed to be tough, stern, show little weakness or emotion, and that’s what these artists are trying to present in their music.

Argument two is also a good argument if you examine lyrical content and some of the ways they’re seen in videos and in pictures there’s definitely a presence of homoeroticism and homophobia. In their songs they boast about their bodies and how good they are, they make things very sexual and they are appealing to both sexes when they do this. Their lyrics also show homophobia when they either blatantly protest homosexuality or use feminine words to put down other rappers.

For the most part I agree with argument three, that the music corporations run by wealthy white men are responsible for the messages promoted in hip-hop, but I to have to say that I feel the artists that sign deal with major record companies have to take some responsibility. Now, given that these artists weren’t aware of the kind of deal the signed than it becomes hard for them to be held responsible. However, people are naïve. If people know they are only putting out music that will attract consumers not what they actually want than they should have to take some responsibility for promoting certain messages.

The genre of hip-hop is definitely denigrating to women, it puts them in hyper-sexualized positions and presents them as sexual objects.

I don’t know about argument five. It’s difficult for me to tell if stereotypes are used to sell records to primarily white audiences. I don’t know if they are selling to primarily white audiences or if that’s the type of music that they listen to. Maybe they are trying to sell to a variety of audiences.

When other artists call another artist a finmine word like bitch or when they use feminine words to describe a fellow artist they are perpetuating homoeroticism and homophobia. Whenever they boast about the amount of guns they have they’re promoting violence. You can see examples of domestic violence in Eminem’s song “Puke,” where he talks about his relationship with his on and off wife. David Banner’s song, “Play” is denigrating to women by talking sexualizing women.

When black men were represented during slavery and during Jim Crow white men controlled the images and ideas that were being presented, which is very similar to the control that is being held over artists by their labels. They don’t have much creative control.  The artists are only being represented in the way that the people in power feel is right and this is contributing to the worlds and consumers ideas of who these artists are.

Like I said when I agreed with one of the arguments earlier, hip-hop is homoerotic in that the lyrics and videos; it entices both sexes.

When major labels started to represent the hip-hop artists they changed the type of music that they wanted to be released. They wanted to sell music not make music and so they sold to the consumers. They made a product that they thought they could turn a profit on, which didn’t include music that talked about real issues.

Hip-hop can be problematic because it has such a large consumer population and these consumers listen to songs on repeat. When they hear certain lyrics and watch videos that portray certain stereotypes it becomes easier for them to see them as normal because they are everywhere. It also glamorizes certain lifestyles so people aren’t given a realistic idea of what life is like.

All music has a responsibility to be social responsibility because music has the largest consumer population that listen to it all the time. When this is the majority of information that they hear it’s the music industries responsibility to release at least some music that is socially conscious.

Word Count- 730 

Pre Read Week 11

Through the lyrics of song hip-hop translates what it can mean or feel like to be a certain race. Songs will talk about politics, life experiences, love, and other things, which all tie in to what their race, class, gender, and sexuality. This also works for when artists talk about social justice and how it affects them on the daily.

In the beginning of its genre hip-hop played an important role in telling stories of the artists past experiences, their lives, what they have had to go through to get to where they are now. I think a lot of people entered the hip-hop world to express what they were feeling, but now I think it’s different. I think a lot of people in the hip-hop industry now desire the fame and fortune that often comes hand in hand with being famous. Hip-hop has evolved to where a majority of it is I about sex and killing and a few here and there will be deep and talk about politics or how hard it was to make it in the industry and out of wherever they came from. I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t really listen to hip-hip and the only hip-hop I do hear are the songs that are put on the radio or MTV so there may in fact be a lit of good hip-hop out there that is more than just the superficial stuff put on the air.

Many of the rappers that are in the industry are African American or Latino. Most white rappers out there have a difficult time being accepted, with the exceptions of Eminem and I would even go as far to say Macklemore who is becoming more and more popular. As for the consumers of hip-hop, they range from every race and ethnicity; everyone can find some sort of connection to hip-hop and pretty much any genre of music.

Hip-hop can be problematic in the way it portrays certain lifestyles; it gives people false illusions of what it’s like to be rich. The way it portrays women can excuse in the sexist treatment of women and place them in the category of objects. This is done by male rappers with their lyrics and music video girls, and it’s also done be the female rappers in the industry.

I personally don’t know of one rapper that in one song or more hasn’t said something that demeans the opposite sex or boasts about doing drugs. However, there are several artists who have made songs that don’t employ the problematic aspects o hip-hop. For example “Wings” and “Same Love” and couple other songs from Macklemore are pretty deep. Tupac has a deep message in song with “changes” and “The Message,” by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.  I think almost every rapper and sever hip-hop artists will have a really good song that connects deeply with what’s going on in the world and to the people.

Chris Rock says he can’t defend rap music anymore because he can’t “break it down intellectually,” the rap that’s available now just don’t have any meaning behind, they’re hyper sexualized and very explicit. The songs on the radio now are dirty and women will enjoy the songs that degrade them.

Hip-hop is great because it gives a voice to people who may not be heard in any other way. It also gives a new soundboard for people to hear certain ideas. When people hear their favorite artist say something profound about life, politics, or love they may be more likely to take a moment and consider what they’re saying. I mentioned before that some of the things that these songs or music videos portray could be problematic because people might take them to serious or they reinforce stereotypes.

When rap and hip-hop first started there were a lot more women in the game, and they were good too. Women like Da Brat, Eve, Roxanne Shante, Salt n’ Peppa, Queen Latifah, and Lauren Hill were very popular and many of them were respected in their music. Yes, some of their songs were hyper sexualized, but they were women in what was and still is considered mostly a man’s world. Hip-hop is definitely misogynistic, there are several songs that put women especially in positions where they are mistreated, abused, or equated to objects. It’s more common for women to be mistreated in music than men. Women more often than not play the role of a sex conquest instead of an equal, that’s pretty rare, and the women in hop-hop play into some of these stereotypes.

Women and race in hip-hop intersect in the way that it’s more women of color that have a role in hip-hop instead of white women, we rarely see white women in the music videos or making the songs. It’s also these same women of color that are often objectified within the music.

Jay Smooth states that we have to look at both sides of to understand the other. We have to look at personal responsibility and the larger picture for it to be healthy again. He mentions that we have to address the larger issues to get to all issues.

He finds flaws in both arguments in that they need to work together and we have to acknowledge both sides if we want progress in the hip-hop industry.

Word Count- 893 

Post Read Week 8

Students may be misdiagnosed with a learning disability because their teachers believe their behavior or academic success can only be explained by having a learning disability; behavior like not participating, disrupting the class by being loud or not being able to stay still.  Their academic success might be judged on whether how much homework they turn in, how much they participate, and how well they do on tests, but their lack of success might have deeper roots than just a learning disability. Their home environment might not allow the student the time or quietness they need to study. Their parents may not be around to help them with their homework or there might be a language barrier either between the student and teacher or the parent. All of these factors might add to the difficulty the student has in completing work, or the teacher is right and they have a learning disability, but their needs to be an extensive look into the other possibilities, instead of just jumping to conclusions.

People are always being compared to what is normal, whether its appearance, intelligence, or wealth, and on top of that we’re also told that we’re all unique in our own way. Well, what is it? It has to be one or the other. What is considered to be normal in terms of economic status and intelligence is that students will be middle class or higher and average or above average in academics. If students fail to meet these “normal” standards it’s assumed there is something wrong with them.

A student’s race might be influencing a teacher’s decision to place the student in special education because the teacher starts with a preconceived notion about a certain race. Like we talked about in class, a teacher who has an African American male student might be judge him to be loud, rude, illiterate, or even criminal-like. Students who are lower class may have a more difficult time completing their homework for reasons I listed in the first paragraph, which may make them appear to not be learning at the same level as other students. Just by general observation boys tend to be more on the rambunctious side, it’s more difficult for them to sit still, so when they exhibit these behaviors in class teachers can attribute of to them having a learning disability.

 Race as a social construct in relation to disability as a social construct share commonalties along the lines of them using what white men see as normal as the base line. If it’s not white or upper/middle class it’s abnormal. They differentiate in how they affect people. People are even more segregated for the population once they’re labeled with a disability.

If a disability is viewed as “in-child” it’s like saying that it’s a problem within the child that has not outside factors contributing to it. It’s a problem unique to this child that may or may not be “fixable”.  This kind of diagnosis hides that outside factors that might influence the behavior or success of the student.

The prime example of how all of these hierarchies of race, class, gender, and ability are upheld can be seen in the history of the disease HIV Aids. When the disease was first diagnosed as a “black” disease and then it was a “gay disease;” showing how race, gender, sexuality, and class intertwine. The doctors that were diagnosing it refused to look at the facts and data they we’re given because it would taint the stereotypes of the straight white community. Because the medical community has the power to understand medical terminology and medical issues it can manipulate it to favor certain people or outcomes, not to diminish all the great things that comes out of the medical community.

From the definition I used in my earlier blog post it defined learning disability as a person presenting systems of the imperfect ability to listen, speak, think, read, write, spell, or to do math calculations, all of which can be connected with a language barrier. Language barriers can directly correlate with economic status and race because lower economic status may be influenced by a person’s lack of ability to obtain a higher paying job. It’s really a cycle, if a parent doesn’t speak English well or isn’t well educated they rely on their children and then the pressure is on the child to succeed, but if they are diagnosed with a learning disability they are faced with something else holding them back from succeeding, when in fact they may just need extra attention or help with the language or understanding the material. People learn in different ways and some people just need more time.

Word Count- 781

Pre Reading Week 8

Learning Disability: The general definition for a learning disability mean a person falls into on or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or using language (spoken or written) that may cause the imperfect ability to listen, speak, think, read, write, spell, or to do math calculations. Some conditions include, perceptual disabilities, brain injuries, dyslexia, developmental aphasia, and minima brain injury. 

Mental Retardation: A less than average intellectual ability equal to or less than an IQ of 70 usually sub average intellectual ability equivalent to or less than an IQ of 70 that is followed with lack of abilities necessary for independent daily functioning. It’s present from birth or infancy and is manifested by delayed or abnormal development, learning difficulties, and by problems in social adjustment.

Emotionally Disturbed: a person exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a person’s educational performance:

     1. An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.

     2. An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.

     3. Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.

     4. A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.

     5. A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school

I believe these categories define certain disabilities that exist in the world. People or more specifically children diagnosed with disabilities require special education classes because of their learning ability. They sometimes need the extra attention and more guidance from teachers.

I can’t give a clear opinion as to why students of color are over over-represented in special education classes, because to be honest, in my experience throughout schooling I noticed a larger ration of Caucasian students compared to students of color. Now, the type of community grew up in might explain this or some other factors may have had an impact. However, if I did have to give a reason for why students of color are over-represented in statistics it would be along the lines of the people running the statistics to create a certain outcome, like these disabilities being race related or gender related. It’s hard for me to discuss statistics without knowing, who created the statistics, how were they taken and analyzed, who were the people that make-up the statistics, and what factor were taken into consideration; because all of these questions and their answers can be easily manipulated to present a certain outcome.

I think more people are will find their race and class intersect more with how it’s difficult to have a disability, but I presume that men see them as weaknesses and I think women do to, however the pressure put on the male species in certain cultures pushes them to be and behave a certain way, where women might be more nurturing or nurtured. Where race and class start to intersect an play a role is how being part of a certain class limits what is available to you. It may be more difficult to provide that extra time needed for the person with a disability, or the money that’s needed to provide extra care or medicine for the person with a disability. These things require money and if someone is part of the lower class they’re likely to face a hard time trying to get what they need compared to someone who can readily afford it. Race place a role in a few aspects because race can contribute to class status, in the fact that there’s a large proportion of people of color who are not part of the wealthy class who can easily afford things they need and want. It also has a hand in stigmas that are sometimes attached to people with disabilities that it’s something racial that made them that way, which is absolutely untrue.

Someone who doesn’t speak the language of the test being given or doesn’t have a proper interpreter is likely to face trouble answering the questions to the best of their knowledge. They may misinterpret a question or not understand it and answer the question wrong. Race and class play in to this because people who are lower class are probably less educated which continues to connect with race because people of color are probably part of those in the middle or lower class more often than they are the wealthy class.

Post Reading Week 5

-   -    Eduardo Bonilla-Silva refers to CBR as ‘racism-lite’ because CBR isn’t a blunt form of racism. It’s more people walking around the subject of racism or being outright racist. People have evolved into more tolerable people but they still believe in some stereotypes and when they exhibit those beliefs or make certain statements they’re alluding to racism. It’s a way for people to hide behind their racist beliefs and disguise what they actually mean when they say certain things.

-    -   Well, technically the video can’t be racist because the woman behind the video is African American, and racism is a combination of power and prejudice and African Americans don’t have structural power behind them. However this video is pretty prejudice. It groups a lot of things some but not all white girls say to their African American girl friends. In this film she’s trying to prove, and does a pretty good job, at exemplifying the fact that things white girls say can be racist but aren’t so blunt or are sugar coated that they either don’t notice or disregard the fact what their saying is based off of stereotypes.

-     -  White people gain to stand by using CBR because for so long they were able to be frank about their racist opinions and after the civil rights they had to suppress some of their beliefs. CBR allows them to still express their racism without necessarily having to deal with the consequences of saying something so blatantly racist.  They get to manipulate there words so that they are still racist but some people don’t catch the racism in what their saying.

-    -   Some common rebuttal to CBR might be that people can’t help the fact that certain stereotypes of races are true. That it’s just the way the world is and they can’t change it, whether they’re talking about one person or a whole group changing it. However, it’s not true that it’s just the way the world is. There are certain laws and people that reinforce stereotypes and don’t look any further than what they see. People are often grouped in to a large majority or statistic when there’s the obvious fact that not all people should be. There are so many important figures in America and so many people who don’t follow stereotypes and it’s those people that don’t get considered and are often grouped in with these stereotypes because it fits their race. Certain stereotypes might be true for some but not all and for those who it may be true for think of how it is they got there in the first place. They were never given the chance for true equality and fairness.

-      - Numbers 4, 5, and 18-21 were the most expressive of racism. They sounded condescending and just were obviously supported by beliefs that stemmed from racism or stereotypes. The one question that really y struck me as ambiguous was number 17, the one about Gingrich referring to Obama as “the food stamp president.” I need more context for what Gingrich was saying and trying to prove when he said that because referring to Obama as “the food stamp president” could be talking about his stance on welfare or his race, or something else.

-      - What’s left out when people talk about diversity they don’t talk about all the inequalities that are still present between races and white privilege that feeds these inequalities. It’s a problem because if people continue to not recognize or ignore the fact that there is still unfairness among races then society can never move forward and make a change.

-     -  We study colorblind racism in Ethnic Studies so that we are all aware of it, so that we can no longer continue thinking that there is complete equality. It’s important for people to realize that if they don’t understand how CBR applies to them than they can never fully move past it. Without knowing and understanding CBR it would be incredibly difficult to fully pursue social justice because we wouldn’t understand a huge social injustice that’s present.

-   -    CBR is super important for understanding the U.S.. It allows people to see how some races are still restricted by laws through CBR and how officials use CBR to get certain results. It’s also very pertinent currently with the presidential election going on, it allows people to have a deeper insight to what the candidates represent.

-     -  I think I have always been a little aware of CBR but had never been able to define it and now that I have, I can feel a little reassured that it’s pretty common and that I can move toward not being so color-blind racist.

Word Count- 781

Pre-Reading Post Week 3

-When people lump others into an ethnicity based on what they think their race is they’re clumping together people who may actually be incredibly different ethnicities. Ethnicity is defined as being about people with a shared or common descent, history, and symbols of personhood. Where as, race is based off of physical appearance. So, just because some people share the same skin color doesn’t mean they share the same ethnicity. When you lump together people of the same color, not taking into consideration their ethnicity you’re stripping them of their history, their personhood. You’re reducing them to a color. How is it possible to know who a person really is if you don’t talk to them to find out their history and beliefs. Race implies that everyone of the same color is of the same ethnicity but that can’t be true, we hail from different ancestry and that doesn’t mean that skin color ties us together.

-My idea of what major ethnicities are- Italian, French, Russian, Mexican, Latin, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, English, British, Irish, Scottish, German, Arab, Armenian, I mean the list goes on. Everyone can’t be defined by a single ethnicity. If we want a general idea of what the ethnicity of people are we should just give them a list of countries to choose from. Everyone has ancestors from different regions of the world, and it’s likely that those places they know of are how they define their ethnicity. And even then, they might want to take it a step further and say their ethnicity is Lucian Italian, or Sicilian Italian, instead of Italian.

I don’t know what my list for “races” would be because I no longer understand what “race” is.  We group races together based on physical differences mainly focusing on skin color and sometimes using eye shape, eye color, or hair color and texture to define their race.  I mean the first two options they give are just colors, white or black, and then they just delve into regions of the world. What makes a person white? Because if it’s their skin color couldn’t someone who is Chinese say they’re white? On a color wheel their skin color might be closer white than black, right? Their list for what race is closely resembles my list for what ethnicity might be, so I guess I would either eliminate “white” from the list or not have a race question on the census. Because people are so mix cultured now I find it very hard to define a person’s race.

-If I were answering these questions I would mark as following:

            8. No, not of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin.

That was a fairly easy question for me. Knowing what I do of my ancestral background, there’s nothing to show I have any Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish background.

            9. I guess if I’m being honest and going off of the options they give it would be white.

I had a difficult time answering this question because I find that there isn’t another option for me to check, I guess I could not answer the question at all or check “some other race,” but then I’m still wondering what my race is.

-I think that what the Census definitely has an effect on what racial and ethnic categories we use everyday. They give us options and we choose from those, we don’t see any other options and are therefore, are limited to what we know about different races or ethnicities people believe they are.  

-If I were to ‘re-do’ the Census categories I would pose the questions as fill in the blanks, i.e.:

What ethnicity do you believe you are?

And I would just eliminate the race question all together.

-I think the biggest example of a time when the census may have changed, though I’m not sure it did, is after 9/11. I think that after that major catastrophe people started to group people who were Islamic or Arabic into a racial category. Where they once were able to check the “white” race I think a lot of people became very racist and didn’t approve of that. People are naïve in the fact that they think that just because one person of a certain race or ethnicity did something that that therefore means other people or sometimes all people who might fall into that category of race or ethnicity also follow that stigma. 

Word Count- 735

Post Read Week 1

-What students were faced with in 1968 is very different from what they face today. The amount of racism that students of different color faced back then was incredibly higher than what people face today. While racism hasn’t been completely erased from society, what students face current is “classism”. It’s not that students aren’t being accepted based on their ethnicity but students can’t afford to attend the colleges that accept them. Students in 1968 and students in 2012 face similar setbacks but not at the same intensity level.

-I suppose the strikers in 1968 wanted Ethnic Studies to provide ample opportunity to students of different ethnicities to attend what was then called, San Francisco State College. They fought for the right of all applications sent to San Francisco State College be accepted and reviewed. The Third World Libertarian Front also wanted a School of Ethnic Studies set up for the ethnic groups involved in the Third World and that the power to hire/retain any faculty member, director or administrator was in the hands of the School of Ethnic Studies.

-I think that the strikers would find it offensive that the idea of informing students on the different races and ethnicities of the world would promote the hatred or resentment toward other races. The legislators might defend themselves by imposing the idea that some teachers might include some of their biases towards other races influencing the students to lean towards certain beliefs. In which strikers would respond that that kind of statement as being “bullhockey,” it’s completely ridiculous to think that having an ethnic studies program would do anything other inform students on the different people that also live on this earth.

-In high school I was required to take a year of World History and one of U.S. History. In my World History class we spent a long time going over the Holocaust, a long time. If I’m comparing my class to what the four criteria I would say that it bordered on the line of crossing Rule Two: Promote resentment toward a race or class of people. I only say this because when you hear about the Holocaust, genocide, and the civil rights movement, some people can’t help but resent the actions of their ancestors. But, I think this has to do more with being disappointed the close-mindedness of some people, not a particular resentment or hatred towards a particular race or class of people. It more so made me feel sorry and empathetic to what people had to endure during such a terrible time in the world. If they were to omit what they had taught me in high school I would not be as informed as I am on the history of certain races, including white Americans.

-Horne argues that by offering Ethnic Studies students are being separated based on their race and he believes that by doing that students are being segregated.

-Dyson argues that that’s ridiculous. White Americans should take the courses as well as the other students of different ethnicities. Students should take courses that inform them on the history of other races as well as their own. They should be informed on the good and bad of what’s happened in history to races.

-Students would benefit from taking an ethnic studies class different from their own heritage because it would enlighten them on what other people had to endure during certain time periods. People might learn how to be more open-minded if they took classes that focused on other cultures. People would see different views on worldwide issues and maybe learn something that would change their view on the world.

-I would say that this shouldn’t even be an issue. People should be allowed the opportunity to learn about other cultures, and see our history in a 360 view. They should learn all the angles and parts of events that took place in our history that shaped the world as it today. 

Word Count- 659

Pre Read Week 2

-I would define race as a persons’ physical appearance and their geographical background.

-Some racial classifications used in the United States are Asians, Asian Americans, Mexicans, Mexican-American, African American, white American, and others. I would say that when any person characterizes someone else based on what their appearance is or where their ancestors are from they are classifying a race.

-I think that in recent years people have tried to stray away from grouping people into “race” categories, but what is still used to separate people into different races is based off of a few common characteristics that a group of people will share. These characteristics are among the likes of what color a persons skin is, what country they are originally from and if they’re from the U.S., they might be characterized based on what country some of their ancestors are from. Some people may even use the primary language that a person speaks to group them into a race. I think that the way people define race or group people into races is continually changing.

-I think that there’s always some kind of underlying racial categorization occurring in societies, no matter the geographical location. I think that over the years it’s become difficult to stray away from characterizing a person on their appearance no matter how evolved the world has become. I do believe however, that there are some places that don’t act out or let what their initial reaction to a new face might provoke.

-I haven’t done much traveling but there are two places that I can remember that I feel did have different systems of classifications. The places I’m referencing are Italy and Canada, where I felt people weren’t so much characterized by their appearance but their accent. I

-Race and ethnicity are similar in certain respects, but I think where there’s a major difference is how people are defined by their skin color (race) and by their religion, belief system, or ancestral origination (ethnicity).

-I can’t say how I would characterize my ethnicity because I don’t follow a specific religion or cultural tradition. I do celebrate Christmas, but I think now of days it’s more difficult to characterize someone based on certain holidays they celebrates, especially since some holidays have become so commercialized. If I had to define my race I guess it would be white. I don’t’ strongly associate myself with being more Irish, Scottish, English, or Italian so; I can’t say that any one of those are more my race than another, when they are simply just a part of my ethnicity.

-I have been commonly mistaken for someone of Mexican or Latin decent, based upon my hair and eye color because, both my hair and eyes are brown and that’s a common physical characteristic of someone who is of Mexican and or Latin decent. I also have a cousin who is half Mexican who bares a closer resemblance to me than my own sisters, who are blonde and blue eyed. It’s become common for people to use physical characteristics to claim someone is a certain race, I suppose since the Mexican American may be more common than the Italian American both cultures having plenty brown hair and brown eyed women, you get lumped into one, that one being the what people see most. 

Word Count-552

Pre-Reading Week 1

-Ethnic studies focuses on a group’s heritage and cultural beliefs. It’s purpose is to inform others on the wide range of heritages’ and cultural traditions that the many different people of this world believe and practice. It differs from other disciplines like Sociology, where the main focus is on how people function. Anthropology is the most similar to Ethnic Studies, especially cultural Anthropology, because it focuses on the “why’s, who’s, and how’s” of culture. Why people believe and practice what they do, how it first began, and who they are. Political science deals with forms of governments within societies, which relates to Ethnic Studies, because most of them have some form of government and it allows people to see how it effects their culture and practices, and how it has effected their lifestyles over time.

-Ethnic Studies developed it’s own discipline because for people to get the best understanding of other cultures that inhabit the world they need to not broaden what they’re learning but narrow it down, so they’re focusing on certain things. It’s unique because it shows how people interact in society in relation to their ethnicity.

-I think anyone who opens up to learning about other cultures and people benefit from Ethnic Studies. Learning how people interact with others and how they’re affected by the word in different ways allows others to broaden their horizon, and maybe not be so close-minded to what they don’t know.

-Some of their reasons may stem from the idea that if students feel that their race or culture was made to feel inferior by the U.S. and the government that there would be an increase in people rebelling. When people obtain certain knowledge, like what’s really happening around the world they want to take a stand. When people take a stand the government becomes very protective and people get shut down.

-People who believe that the government is great and right, people who believe Americans are the greatest might be the ones resisting the growth of Ethnic Studies. Presumably people of white skin who believe they are inferior to other races and ethnicities, those who don’t want to accept the religions and traditions of people different from them also might be the ones resisting. The people in the world who accept others not matter their religion, sex, sexual orientation, or skin color, are likely the ones who want to increase amount of classes on Ethnic Studies. They like believe that a larger knowledge of the different and unique people living on this Earth will allow people to make more conscious decisions and be more accepting and respectful to those that surround them 

Word Count- 441