Humanities 1100
Journal 5 - Issues of Race
Question:
What have you learned this week that you didn’t know before? (Be sure to be specific and reflective in your answer. Remember, part of the purpose for these journals is for me to see how well you have understood the materials of the course.)
Answer:
There were many important facts I learned this week and there were a few that really stood out to me. I too had thought and/or considered race to be biological. I was quite surprised to find out that race has no genetic basis, “skin color is only skin deep”. It was shocking to learn about the study—that the individual Korean and individual Italian chosen for the study had a closer genetic match than the one Korean had to another Korean. If there aren't any genetic differences involving race, then why is it so important to mark your race on certain forms? For instance, on new hire paperwork after being hired? I understand that companies want to show how diverse they are with hiring, but it all just seems unnecessary.
Power and Privilege—one is born with privilege, it cannot be earned. Privilege refers to a group of people that are among the majority and that hold social, economic, and political power. They would have the ability to change certain laws or other functions for personal gain while impacting the minority. The Indivisibility Thesis refers to those in the majority who often are oblivious to racism since they suffer less from it. They also do not see the suffering of the minorities that is caused by their actions.
At the end of the slide presentation it is mentioned that racial categories appear biological, but their significance is often social. That is very true, in fact, I would also include that race refers to one’s culture. You don’t necessarily have to be born into a culture to be a part of it. That would give you the choice to be identified how you want to be.
Question:
This week you've seen how much your reaction to different races/ethnicities is conditioned in you by your society. That is, that racism is a "learned" condition. Given that knowledge, in what ways would you say you have been impacted by the things you've learned. What impacted you, and why?
Answer:
I was stunned by the story of Serry and her family after September 11th. How could this have happened? How could the neighbors, friends, and school sit by and let this unfold? Should Serry have remained silent throughout the beginning of incidents (broken windshield and note)? Her reason for not wanting to be perceived as the victim is sound, but she should have at least reported it to the police. The note that accompanied the crime was proof enough that it was a hate crime. Even if the police couldn’t or wouldn’t do anything, I still don’t think that these occurrences should have gone unreported. Later on, she could have used that as an example when discussing to the principal the hateful remarks and threats being said by the students to her daughter during school. Personally, I blame the parents. It is completely idiotic not being able to realize the good in people. Just because one radical group in the Middle East attacks and devastates a major city in the United States does not automatically deem all Muslims bad people.
Prejudice is not spawned overnight. It is created during the course of one’s life. Unfortunately, parents always think that what they believe is right. In the case of the children at the school, I don’t think that the kids really believed what they were saying. They didn’t have any problem with Chloe before the anniversary of September 11th. I think that after seeing the booklet, that said “Muslims hate Christians” and that the “Qur’an teaches war and hate”; the children went home bothered by it and discussed it with their parents. Instead of being comforted, told that everything was alright, and informed that not all Muslims are like this, they were most likely told that the booklet is right, and that they should be cautious of all Muslims. They probably overheard their parents calling Muslims losers, and saying that they all were related to Osama. When discussing sensitive information like this, one has to be extremely careful since it is very easy to influence children who look up to you.
This unfortunate and horrific story about Serry and her family is what impacted my most this week.
Question:
Why do you think it is important to learn about the realities of racism and discrimination?
Answer:
It is extremely important to learn and to teach about the impact of racism and discrimination since it is a “learned condition”. Ignorance, bigotry, hate, and intolerance are all passed down from one uneducated generation to another. Some would argue this, but in many religions members are taught what to think, what to wear, what to eat, and how to treat people who are different from them. This has impacted my childhood due to the fact that my mother would not let me associate with other kids who were not of the same religion. The majority of the children in the area were of the same religion; however, I ended up always befriending those who were not of my religion. They were always nicer to me and actually wanted to be friendly. The children my mother wanted me to hang around would rather spit on me, pull my hair, shove me on the ground, call me a ‘faggot’, put gum in my hair, put notes on my back that said “kick me”, than treat me with respect.
I would spend hours upon hours thinking about how we were different (the kids I wasn't allowed to associate with). My mother explained that we were superior and had different morals and values, which didn't add up because the kids always agreed to my same values. A close friend I had from 3rd-5th grade was apparently (according to my mother) going to teach me all about immorality, take me to get tattoos, and sell me drugs. When I was in my last few years of high school I was asked to befriend a new member of our ward. I refused. He was extremely rude and there was nothing nice about him when others weren't present. After high school, I caught up with this elementary school friend on Facebook and found that he was doing very well. He was attending college and almost finished due to graduating high school early. More recently, I found out that this ‘new member’ I was supposed to befriend was in drug rehab for two years and is finally out and hopefully cleaning up his life. It seems a little ironic to me. This example doesn’t touch on race, but it does touch on discrimination. My mother wanted all of us to judge and discriminate against people because of their religious beliefs.
Now getting back to the original question, yes it is important to teach about race and discrimination so that future generations do not go uninformed about what has happened in our past. Racism has had an enormous impact on our history and teaching about it should start early in school. Students, along with parents need to know and recognize the harm that has come from racism and how it has affected our society for hundreds of thousands of years. If we start with teaching young children, one could hope that negative stereotypes would no longer be an issue. Unfortunately, sometimes children value what their parents, or religious leaders, say over what has been presented to them in the classroom.
My Reflection
I have chosen “Journal 5 – Issues of Race” to include on my ePortfolio for this Humanities 1100 class. There were many things that I learned in this class but there was one thing in particular that dumbfounded me in the ‘Marginalized Voices’ section. I had no idea that race has no genetic basis and that “skin color is only skin deep”. It has never been a major deal to me and something I have never really thought about. However, had I been asked before this I would have said that I thought race was mostly genetic. I had to ask myself why I thought that way. The reason I came up with was simple. I just didn’t know.
Ignorance also goes hand in hand with not noticing the discrimination that is going on around you. As I learned in this class, the term for this is called ‘The Invisibility Thesis’. In this other Journal entry being included below, “Journal 6 – Minority Opportunity”, I reflect back and think about my own privileges I have had in life. I recall the way my teachers would treat the minority students over the others. Sometimes they would automatically treat them like little criminals before the realizing they were safe to like. I never had that problem. My teachers always gave me the benefit of the doubt and treated me with respect. I never had to prove myself to gain their respect. It never actually dawned on me until I was asked to think about how I have been privileged in my own life. Every day since, it has crossed my mind repeatedly.
Journal 6 - Minority Opportunity
Question:
Discuss at least 6 consequences that minority status has on one’s opportunities, using supporting quotations and page references from at least 3 of the texts assigned for readings in this theme.
Answer:
“There was a huge library near the riverfront, but I knew that Negroes were not allowed to patronize its shelves any more than they were the parks and playgrounds of the city.” Black Boy, pg. 597, right side and second paragraph.
In order to gain access to the library he would need help from a white fellow outsider, Mr. Falk, who was also hated by the white Southerners. He was referred to as a “Pope Lover”. Richard was familiar with the kind of books Mr. Falk read because he used to run errands for him to the library. So he asked Mr. Falk for help. Richard is given a Library card from Mr. Falk but in return he must report back and tell him what he is getting out of reading the books.
Another reason it was hard for Richard to access education outside of school is because he always had to worry about what other people would ask.
“What makes you want to read Mencken? … Go ahead. Let me see what you get.” Mr. Falk pg. 598
“You’re not using these books, are you?” librarian asks on pg. 598
“Boy, what are you reading these books for?...That’s deep stuff you’re reading…You’ll addle your brains if you don’t watch out.” Coworker pg. 600
“Son, what is this you keep reading?...What you get out of ‘em? I hope you know your own mind.” Land lady pg. 600-601
2. Richard, in Black Boy, dreamed of relocating north with his family and having a wonderful life writing books and novels. (Ref. pg. 596 – right side of page, second to last paragraph) The actual planning to move north was difficult to plan because of the fear of what the white people he worked with would do if they found out. He had to keep it a secret. He was worried that they might see it as him challenging them since they conditioned his way of life.
“I told none of the white men on the job that I was planning to go north; I knew that the moment they felt I was think of the North they would change toward me. It would have made them feel that I did not like the life I was living.” Pg. 601, paragraph 3, left side
3. Both Maya Angelou, Graduation, and Richard, Black Boy, felt that by being a minority their life and career paths were set for them. That if they decided to go to college the chances of getting in were slim and they would have few jobs to pick from. If they wanted to be successful they had to allow for society to determine their future.
“Only a small percentage would be continuing on to college—one of the South’s A & M schools, which trained Negro youths to be carpenters, farmers; handymen, masons, maids, cooks, and baby nurses.” This is Angelou explaining the options and limit of those who go to college. Pg. 612, left side of page, second paragraph.
“Anything higher [than those jobs mentioned in the above quote] that we aspired to was farcical and presumptuous.” Pg. 616 bottom of left side of page
“It was awful to be a Negro and have no control over my life. It was brutal to be young and already trained to sit quietly and listen to charges brought against my color with no chance of defense.” Pg. 616, 2nd paragraph on the right side of page
“I was beginning to dream the dreams that the state had said were wrong, that the schools had said were taboo.” Richard realizing that his dreams were most likely not going to happen. Pg. 597, left side of page, first paragraph
4. Tato Laviera in Latero Story describes the horrible job that one would have to do to make a living. In this poem the narrator is a can recycle-r hoping to sacrifice oneself to make it big someday.
“[Being a latero] is the only opportunity I have to make it big in America, someday I might become experienced enough to offer technical assistance to other lateros.” Pg. 646, left side of page, last paragraph
5. Immigrants come to America on a promise that things will be better, that they will have a chance to live their dream. Will all of their education and skills they are ready to work with the promise of going to school and learning an ‘extra good trade’. When they arrive they are not given the chance to use their skills. Instead, they become dishwashers and filed workers working for hardly any pay. They feel as though they have been lied to. Promises are not kept.
“We came here to get away from false promises, from dictators in our neighborhoods, who…broke our doors down when they wanted, arrested us when they felt like… but it’s no different here… our lives don’t get better, we go down quick.” Pg. 651, 652
6. In, Tony Went to the Bedega but he Didn’t Buy Anything, Tony leaves his town to go to law school in Boston. He is surrounded by a large city where no one speaks his language, he doesn’t know his way around, the ‘whitefaces’ (people of Boston) seem dark to him.
“Tony walked without a map, a landscape of hostile condominiums, darkness of white faces, sidewalk-searcher lost, till he discovered the projects.” This is Tony describing what it was like to arrive as a minority in Boston. Pg. 656, right side of page, second paragraph
Question:
Examine carefully the linocut illustration, The Sharecropper, by Elizabeth Catlett. First, look up the definition of “sharecropper” in a dictionary if you don’t know what it is. What do you think the work’s main thesis might be? What do you think this illustration tells you about this woman (what is Catlett’s “argument” or “point” that she’s making)? Upon what are you basing this assessment? (In other words, what about the work leads you to this conclusion? How does the image tell her story? What elements of the picture make its argument?) [Again, focus your answer on probable rather than merely possible answers the image is giving]
Answer:
This piece of art is very detailed. I think that Catlett is trying to portray in this illustration a determined, bold, and hardworking African-American woman. This woman looks to be elderly by the thick indents in her cheeks and by the whiteness of her hair under her bent straw weaved hat. She also looks either fatigued by the look in her eyes, or it could be a look of determination. I would go with determined because the detail the artist put in her neck and face makes this woman look very strong and independent. This woman also seems to struggle financially due to using a safety pin to fasten her shirt instead of using a button. However, maybe she is just modest and the safety pin could be an act of humility. I wonder if she might be standing on a hill looking out onto a field at her workers (employees), satisfied with the work that has been done. Being an older woman, I would assume that she has survived a great deal of hardship in her life.
Question:
After watching the slideshow that discusses the checks on minority opportunity and the converse of white privilege and the materials on inequities, I want you to discuss:
(if you are white) in what ways you can see that have benefited from white privilege or received opportunities often denied to minorities.
(if you are not white) in what ways you have been negatively affected by white privilege or denied opportunity
[Be sure to be specific. Remember, I am not looking for diatribes or mere opinions here, but considered self-reflection using the materials and ideas of the course as your base.]
Answer:
I do have tanner skin than most. However, I am unaware of my father’s heritage. So I am going to write about the “if you are white” option, since I feel that I have had a great deal of privilege in my life.
Being a citizen of the United States and part of the majority, when it comes to ethnicity, I feel to have been extremely privileged with not being discriminated against based on my ethnicity. I believe that while in public school I was treated with more respect from classmates and school faculty due to being white. From my point of view, teachers always originally had trust in the white students—that they would behave decently in class. It was interesting to see the teachers move a minority student’s desk closer to the front of the room or closer to their own desk on the first day of school, after desks had already been assigned. I saw this quite a bit in elementary school but no one ever fussed about it so it wasn’t ever a problem. I am not sure the reason they did this, but I speculate they either were worried the student would be disruptive or that the student was not as smart as the others and would need more frequent help.
In jr. high and high school, being of the majority helped greatly when trying to get into extracurricular activities and classes, such as yearbook. Jr. High’s yearbook staff was a little more diverse, but there would have been a slimmer chance of getting into the high school yearbook staff if I would have been of another ethnicity. I recall junior year doing interviews and that being an issue someone posed when I suggested selecting a certain candidate who was African-American.
I think the greatest privilege of all is the automatic trust someone from the majority receives from other people when walking into a room, a store, etc. People of the minority often times do not get this privilege. Sometimes they are followed, stared down, or harassed about what they are doing.
