Saturday, September 29, 2012

Pre-Reading Questions Week 5

Racism is generally known as a bad thing to be, just as homophobia is.  At it's roots, it displays ignorance, and ignorance is a trait of a foolish person.  Nobody wants to admit to being a fool or even allow themselves the opportunity to do so.

The commentators are simply trying to spout news making headlines.  After all, news is a business, and the more drastic the statements are the more viewers they can bring in, more viewers equals more revenue.  This isn't to totally dismiss what they have had to say however, as a half black president is still quite a step forward in the name of equality.  However I fear that the commentators only brought up his race in the light that Barack Obama had won.  Had he lost, I can't help but think that no one would have brought light to the fact that part of the reason was that he was black.  Dr. Apollon is right in stating we are in fact not post racial.  If we truly were, no one would have mentioned Obama's skin color, simply his qualifications and history.

I'd ask them to explain then what they look for in a person.  I wouldn't dismiss it however, if that's truly what the person does, who am I to say otherwise?  Is that type of person not what we should strive to be as a society?  Although chances are they are simply saying that to avoid any negative connotations, they may actually have parents who tried very hard to instill these values into them.

Then those parents are simply pretending to be open minded about races.  Their true colors are certainly showing.  The free lunch program is designed to ensure children come and stay in school.  There will always be undocumented immigrants, it's impossible to stop completely.  However, we can facilitate them, educate them, incorporate them into society  and make them a functioning part that gives and participates all the same as a middle class white man.  However, we must get the ball rolling somewhere  if not at the lowest, most basic level, elementary school, then where?

The best way to teach kids to be tolerant is to be raised by parents who are tolerant themselves.  That's why I don't wish to challenge anyone who claims to be completely colorblind.  They may very well be, and have begun a transformation process that our country as a whole so desperately needs to go through.

Diversity doesn't in most cases doesn't mean an equal balance of portions, rather, it means the proud incorporation of other races in a mostly white community.  When people try and exemplify their indifference to others, they end up amplifying their division of society onto others.  I'd like to point out what Morgan Freeman has said about race, and the best way to deal with it.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3cGfrExozQ

Word count 475
  


Thursday, September 27, 2012

Post reading questions for week 4

Section 1:  Explain in laymen terms the concept of structural privilege.
Structural privilege is not unlike living in a first world country, in fact, it very much the same thing conceptually.  Those fortunate enough to be born and raised in the US for example cannot begin to fathom life in Liberia.  Just as someone like myself wouldn't really be able to fully grasp the personal effects and repercussions of being white.  Now, it's easy for me to dimiss behavior of those born in a third world country as barbaric or grisly, simply because I couldn't imagine the situations where they're actions would be justified.  Take again Liberia for example, something along the lines of 50% of the population ins some of the major communities have resorted to cannibalism at one point or another during their lives.  On the outside it's easy for me to dismiss these actions as disgusting because food is pretty much always within reach.  Even if I didn't have money I could find myself at a shelter with a cot and a warm meal thanks to our government.  This is the same that can be said about whites.  Some reasoning just can't be adapted because of how well privileged they inherently are.  A white mother may not understand why there is such a distate for law enforcement amongst minorities, if anything, the only reason you should fear the law is because you're breaking the law, or so she may presume.  In reality, a minority may avoid the police because of harassment by local law enforcement simply because of skin color.  The white woman simply has it easier because she's white,  and that is the gist of  structural privilege 

Section 2: The structural Privilege that I possess.
I have some privileges, such as the availability of scholarships.  There are quite a few scholarship funds set up for hispanics, especially for those who wish to attend school on the east coast, where there is a smaller presences of the hispanic community.  It does have downsides.  A few times when people have met me, they have remarked that I look different then they had imagined, as many times that person simply had nothing but my first and last name to run off of.  I've received a ticket nearly every time I've been pulled over.  My white friends on the other hand have been pulled over more than myself and have been let off nearly every time.  

Section 3: Accuracy of Black Girl Dangerous' view on Reverse Racism.
I do agree in some aspect about her viewpoints upon how silly reverse racism is.  She approches with a tongue in cheek tactic that drives the point home.  I like how she subtly points out all the things that would essentially need to happen for the reverse racism notion to ring true.  On the other hand, not all races of color have endured all that she has listed equally if at all, so it's a bit of a trade off.  In reality, I feel that white people simply won't understand what's like to be victims of racism to structural privilege.        
            


Saturday, September 22, 2012

Pre-Reading Questions for Week 4


Privileges can be gauged by how much a particular society takes for granted.  I can go to the kitchen, pull food out of the fridge, look up a recipe online, cook the food on stovetop and enjoy it to an episode of Blue Mountain State that I pirated of the Internet.

Someone in a third world country, except perhaps the pirating, could do hardly any of this but they'd do that with guns and not keystrokes.

Yet I myself have seen the other side, at least to me, and been left dumb founded by how streamlined those who are more privileged then I lead their lives.  No need to cook, there is a maid.  No need to pirate, just pop in one of the DVD’s from box set that was received last Christmas.

It's all relative, and sadly, only during situations where you can compare and contrast to your own life are you able to have made the foundation on which we judge one another shoddy, unethical.  How we stack up on a resume can be made or broken by our last name.  This is the cut corner of personal perception.  This can also play into an advantage; Smith may be favored to Martinez, Brown to Ng and so on.

Ultimately, racism is an attempt to oversimplify something that frankly has no common denominator.  Yet, everyone I've gotten to know well has displayed a bit of racism at one time or another.  I believe it to be human nature above all, we look for patterns wherever we can, even when it's not applicable. 

 I do believe that in the business world, being white is certainly a pro.  However, at least in my social experience, being white is almost boring, safe, normal, and a cop out.  I've had a few white friends that vie to be tan year round, have an ethnic background or culture, or simply wish to be more interesting.  

I believe this to be the shift in viewpoints of our time.  During early America and the reconstruction, to be white was to of the elite.  Now, it's too standard, at least from my viewpoint.  I truly believe that this is how racism will be muted, as cultures blend and mix.  Once the distinctions aren't so cut and dry, assumptions can't be as quickly, thus justly forcing a deeper analysis as to how or why someone would do something.  

Word Count 403

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Pre-Reading Questions for Week 3

The consequences of labeling select groups as a race and or ethnicity has the ability to subtly undermine or glorify types of people.  For example, white will always have a place on a Census ballot, but Latino is hardly ever present, this can promote mixed feelings of belonging.  In comparison to the races listed, the only addition I had was Latino.  With such a growing influence in America, It's hard to imagine it not being an option on the census.  Its absence brings up multiple questions about myself and race, are we to be rolled into the white category?  Should we even fill out the rest of the census?  Are we even to be counted? Having to fill in the "other race" box makes me feel less likely to be taken seriously.  As to why they would do this, perhaps to gauge what it is a Latino person would do during a situation like this?

Filling out the pamphlet has me check the Mexican box, but further on I'd have to write in Latino under the "other race" box.    It simply doesn't make sense, especially given the fact that Latinos have been on this landmass as long or longer than all of the other races on the Census!

The lack of, or presence, of races on the Census seems to promote an importance of majority, rather than the minority.  By separating the three races of white, black or Native American seems to elevate them above all others.  Almost to say that you're black, white, and/or other.  It also seems to say that if you're other and white or black, assume you are one of the two in the latter as the predominant trait.

If I could redo the categories, I'd group them all together with the addition of Latino.  I would also add in the option to state where it is you were born.  By grouping them together, there is less of an emphasis on certain races. 

Overtime the Census has no doubt changed.  In fact, the type of white you were must've played a larger part.  Irish were once discriminated upon during early America, usually put into a group unto themselves.  I'm also sure that black wasn't an option until after they could vote.  No doubt Latino will be an option in coming time, with the addition of others I'm sure.  Race is indeed a social construct, but as America blends more, eventually I doubt there even be a race option.  
   


Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Pre-Reading Questions for Week 2: What is Race?

Race is the genetic traits passed onto you by your ancestors who were a product of years and years of adaptation to their particular environment/geographical location.  It is simply the science of the human being, evolution at work, evident in our appearance.
In the U.S. we hear of blacks, whites, latinos, asians and pacific islanders.  All are generic and not nearly specified, but for the most part, the majority of people have some belonging into one or more of those categories
Personally, a race is defined by skin tone, facial structure, hair color, etc.  For the most part, race is something of physical attributes.  For example, the scientific theory of evolution dictates survival of the fittest.  Blacks for example, given the harsh exposure of the sun in Africa, has afforded them a generous amount of pigmentation in their skin,  a built in sun block so to speak.  Whites of the Netherlands or Russia, had no need for such copious amounts of pigmentation in their skin, and thus, over years, those born without it were able to live, reproduce, and effectively rinse the gene pool.
Yes, for example, in Mexico, the type of mexican you can be becomes incredibly specific.  Not unlike the different tribes of the Native American, there are different ares of mexico from which you claim.  of course, most areas will boast about their own dominance over others.  Perhaps the most easily distinguished are those of native heritage and those of spanish.  My family is of spanish, while the native, such as the Aztec or Incan have different facial features, almonds eyes, higher, more pronounced cheek bones.  In general, outsides tend to generalize, while citizens fracture further.
To me, that is what ethnicity is, the fracture that entails upon assimilation.  It is one level deeper and includes the culture, outlooks, beliefs of those who hail from it.
Race is the umbrella, although technically it wouldn't be incorrect for someone to label me as Latino,  calling someone who was a native american that wouldn't be that far off either.  Ethnicity is who or what you are as a person.  It can accurately identify your history, perhaps religious beliefs and customs, dishes, even last names.
I am of Mexican/Spanish descent, so I'm split.  My mother has fair skin, my father dark.  Our last name is Castillo, spanish for castle.  I would predominately charecterize myself as Mexican.  Every sunday we gather for dinner at my grandmas and have her dishes consisting of nothing but homemade mexican food.   

Word Count 416

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Post-Reading/Reflection Prompts for Week 1: History and Future of Ethnic Studies

There are some similarities in terms of trouble for students attending SFSU in 1968 and now.  Minorities in '68 fought for a greater sense of equality in  relation to their respective histories and stuggles.  Today, there is another threat, the rising cost of tuition.  Tuition is rising at an alarming rate for CSUs.  This can deter minorities of low income housing from attending, making the workplace all that much more tempting upon graduation from high school, maybe even sooner.  Once again, education has been set to the wayside due to it's lack of importance or prevalence.

Perhaps one of the largest problems that needed to be addressed was the establishment and solidarity of a school of ethics.  In order for such a program to take root and gain momentum, it had to be treated equal and fair, just as all the other schools were.  This was a large goal, but was ultimately achieved.  It not only go the ball rolling for ethic studies at SFSU, but has kept it going strong.  The program had just as large of an impact today as it did then.

A conversation may quickly get heated, but assuming both were level headed and open minded, it would be a fair exchange of ideas and viewpoints that would result in a similar conclusion.   The striker would argue that an emphasis on minorities past and history would allow deeper insight into one's own culture and history.  This in turn would culture a respective outlook on their ancestors, and thus deveolp a greater sense of being and overall justification of themselves in present culture. The legislator would argue that learning of any history other than American promotes distast and a bias toward whites.  Being Latino myself, I always wondered where my people played a role or what they were doing during the American Revolution.  Not until I got older did I realize that Mexico themselves had a revolution against Spain in order to become an independent nation.  Rather than alienate me from American culture, it further grounded me into it.  Revolution is a huge part of a country's heritage in general, a time of independence and change for the better.  It further emphasized the ideals of both countries, made me proud.

I've taken quite a few courses that easily cross the line and break the law that would be set forth by the HB 2281 act.  The Civil War itself was about the largest attempt to overthrow the United states government as we know it today, and yet it is a cornerstone of American history.  The bottom line is that the inclusion of racial minorities' past into education is not detrimental, but empowering.  It can give the self peace of mind and a sense of belonging.  This in turn allows for an easy assimilation into society.          

Word count 468