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