Reverse Racism

I have enjoyed reading White Privilege the past week because it has opened up my eyes to all the privileges I have, without even realizing it. I think the part where it listed out all the privileges white people have was extremely eye opening...because it was so true. Many of the things on the list I have never even thought about before, which goes to show the ignorance many of us have in the United States. This also it part of what I think invisible racism means. It's invisible because it has become so institutionalized and part of our every day lives and our societal norms, that we don't even realise it's there. Now I feel like I have a whole new perspective on what invisible racism is, and it is something that exists everywhere in our society whether we chose to see it or not. Another point I wanted to make was about reverse racism, when it comes to affirmative action, and the civil service exam, and things such as this. While I do think in some instances affirmative action and quota systems are not fair, I think it takes something like this to reverse the damage that has been done for centuries in our past. While we were discussing about reverse racism, something that popped into my head was reverse racism in the media. When you flip through the channels, you can see stations like BET (Black Entertainment Television), and then other things like African American Awards shows, and the Latin Music Awards etc. and I remember that I used to think to myself, what would happen if someone tried to make the "White Music Awards" or the "White Entertainment Television"? I think this is something to think about. Is is because people would be mad? Would this be seen as racist? Or is it because so much of our media is already centered around white people as it is? Brigit May, Post 16

White Privilege and Affirmative Action

While in class on Thursday, we discussed affirmative action. While I understand the ideals behind this action, I agreed with Pete's opinion, that it has not created the best outcome possible. As a woman, I would rather learn that I received a job, not based on the fact that I am a woman, but on merit. I do think that it is important to encourage equality among the sexes. I think that the focus should be on the economic status. I just read an article that said that with the recession, male salaries are continuing to increase over women, African Americans, Hispanics, and other minorities. I think that this should be the main concern.

Of course, as a white woman, I have the ability to say that I will only be discriminated against because of my sex. When looking up white privilege, I found a video from comedian C.K. Louis. While I am not particularly fond of this comedian, he really is honest when discussing white privilege. Here is the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG4f9zR5yzY

Staci Becker Post #16

Thoughts on this week... Post #16

I've had a lot of things going through my head this week regarding everything from Affirmative Action to White Privilege to the lists that Jeff mentioned in class. I can honestly say i've never thought of myself as being privilege, I've just been thankful for what I have no matter the color of my skin. I guess the thing that I don't like about the book is that it blatantly calls out white people for thinking that we're so above everyone else. Isn't that the problem with racism itself? One race constantly drawing attention to itself? I mentioned that I really liked Josh's post that everyone just needs to "get over it" and get on with their lives and stop pointing fingers for someone doing it better than the other. I think if we start with that at the basic root of things it will help solve the whole problem. We're not kids and this isn't the 2nd grade.

Using Race to Classify

This post is going off of the discussion we had the other day about categorizing people by their race, usually in conversation. We discussed how people feel the need to say "my black friend" or "the new Hispanic director" or things like that, when they talk about certain minorities. I know that some people said how they didn't think this was as big of an issue anymore, and it made me think whether or not I have heard this lately. Well last night I was watching an episode of 20/20, and I cannot tell you how many times this one "big black guy" was referred to as"the big black guy". There were other times throughout the show that the detective or the investigator referred to other black people they were talking about as the "black man" and two other men as the "Hispanic men". I understand that when identifying people as a detective or police officer would, they might refer to the person's race more often than someone else would in a normal conversation. However I made a point to pay attention and see if they ever referred to other people in the show as the "white person" and they never did once. This is what I found interesting. I think that if people think it is necessary to use someones race to identify them, then it should be universal in identifying all people of all races across the board, even white people. Brigit May, Post 15

White Privilege in Court?

I went to traffic court in West Seneca on Friday, and after I left I got thinking. When I had been in the Court room, I realized that no one asked me for identification (I thought for sure they would). I even asked if they wanted to see some, but they said “No, we trust you.” Would this have played out the same if I had been a non-white person? It makes me wonder after reading about white privilege and discussing it in class, if I am privileged at times, and don’t even know it.

-Josh Steffen

Civil Service: Protection and Titles

We talked about the Civil Service this week in class so it got me thinking about my mom. She has been working for BOCES for 28 years and she is under Civil Service protection, which means her employer would have to jump through some major hoops if they ever wanted to terminate her position. I also remember when I was younger, and my mom went before the Civil Service to get her title as “Junior Accountant” since she was doing that kind of work, but did not have that distinction. My mom did receive the title she wanted, but I was just thinking, would this have happened if she was not “white?” Would the Civil Service have found some way to avoid giving her that title? She also told me that if you go to take a Civil Service exam, you must provide identification because people were going in and taking tests for other people – I just thought this would be interesting to share.

-Josh Steffen

Priviliege in Education

In all honesty I’m not sure how I feel about affirmative action, I do not know enough about it to make a judgment. I agree that there should be an equal playing field, but does affirmative action do that? Also I think to help even the playing field that people should not just look at colleges and jobs when doing it. I think more attention should be given to our elementary and secondary schools. In another one of my classes we have been discussing Americans education system. It made me realize that the most privilege that I have had in my life is I was able to go to a decent school. By most rates it was not a great school, it ranked low in comparison to other schools in the area. But it was so much better, compared to what many kids in poorer areas are subjected to. I was safe, I had a good education, I knew I would go onto college. I knew that just about everyone I started out with would graduate with me. When I was young my parents did not have to stay up worrying about the education I would be going through or if I would go to college. I have a good shot at doing better then my parents did. I did not have surroundings that prohibited me from reaching my potential. I did not have to go through a lottery to get a good education. I did not have to go to a “dropout factory” (where at least 40% of students will not graduate) Compared to other kids I was lucky. Some schools in areas have a higher dropout rate then graduation rate. How when looking at a class, you can know that around half will not graduate, and even less will be likely to go to college. How many of the students you are looking at will probably end up unemployed or in jail. Many parents of these children will be kept up at night worrying that their kid may not graduate. That their kid will not be able to make a better life than what they are living. It makes me wonder how can we even the playing field in colleges or jobs, when many people will not even get there.

Below there is a picture of dropout factories. These are schools were at least 40% will not graduate. There are almost 2,000 dropout factories across America.


Below are some statistics that i found that have to do with dropout factories

• Seventy-two percent of all black dropouts in America left dropout factories.
• Nearly 60 percent of all Hispanic dropouts left dropout factories.
• Thirty-five percent of all black high school students and 29 percent of all Hispanic students attend dropout factories, while only seven percent of White students do.
• Eighty-one percent of dropout factories are considered to be high-poverty schools, where 40 percent or more of their students are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. http://www.marketstreetservices.com/default.aspx?p=28303&beid=107415
  

There is also a documentary about our education system called "Waiting for Superman". I think everyone should watch this documentary. This alone can make a person realize how lucky they are. Here is hopefully a trailer for it. And if that does not work, here is a link to youtube to watch it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUAo2oecE6g




#16

Generalization and Privilege

Until class and the reading, I honestly never gave much thought to white privilege. I know that is one of the problems, is that most people do not think about it. I’m not trying to disagree with this fact, cause white Americans do have more privileges then other groups. But there are many discussion topics that I do not necessarily agree with.

One thing I do not agree with though is about generalizing. Earlier posts have mentioned it, and I think that many problems could arise from generalizing. We may be a self absorbed nation, but I do not necessarily think someone should say all of us are. I know that I have a good life, and have a better life than many groups of people. I know that my worst day is better than many peoples best days. It breaks my heart that we are such a rich country when so many are poor. I realize that our nation is concerned about little petty things, while other nations are starving. But I do not think our whole nation is self absorbed, there are many groups of people out there trying to change and help groups.

Another problem I have is that when talking about white privilege, it seems like its only black vs. white. In class someone brought this up and I just felt like we should talk about it more. Whites have more privileges than blacks, but what about other groups. Could it be argued that blacks have more privileges then say native Americans? How many native Americans are in politics compared to whites or even blacks? What about Arab Americans? I’m not trying to undermine the privileges that whites do have, but when talking about minorities, the class seems to a lot of times center around black vs. white.


Post # 15

Female Privileges

Though I realize that there are many privileges that males have over women, I couldn't stop thinking about what privileges females have. I'm sure the list could never be nearly as long as it is for the males, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

1. We've been taught it's okay to cry.
2. Even if I don't have a job, it is acceptable to marry me still. (Housewives)
3. We usually don't work in very dangerous jobs, so our chances of getting hurt or killed at our workplace is significantly less.
4. I don't have to prove my womanliness on a daily basis.
5. I can hug people of the same sex without being looked at differently. (In U.S.)
6. I can walk away from a fight or other violence without being looked at as inferior to the other person.
7. In custody battles, I am usually thought of as the better parent for the child to live with.
8. Women can change their appearance drastically with the use of cosmetics to trick men into thinking that they are better looking than they actually are.

I have come to figure out that it is a lot harder to think of the privileges females hold over males.  I thought it might be a bit easier because I'm a female, but I feel as though it made it even harder.  I guess I could see it as the invisibility of my privileges because I'm the one that benefits from them, but when forced to think of them I thought it would be much easier.

Male Privelege

Our discussion in class really got me thinking about privileges, specifically the ones that males have in today's society and I decided to make my own list.
1. Males are more likely to receive a job over a female applying for the same position.
2. They are not subject to jokes about how inferior their gender is.
3. Less likely to experience sexual harassment.
4. They are less likely to be scared to walk alone in sketchy places.
5. More apt to talking about/and or flaunting their sexual genitalia. It is more socially accepted for a male to be confident and speak about his genitalia, but if a woman was to speak of hers she would be considered a slut or someone who has loose morals.
6. If they chose not to have children or don't want to get married the validity of their sexuality will not be called into question.
7. When looking for the boss or "person in charge" that person will most likely the same sex.
8. If they are a terrible driver, it won't be because of their sex.
9. When they get married, they are not expected to change their last name.
10. There is not as much pressure on males to have the "perfect body."
11. Males are not expected to look their best at all times.
12. Males can walk around with their shirts off in public settings such as beaches.

I've come to realize that I've experienced many of the counterparts to the male privilege.  I've never actually thought about this before, but after sitting down and listing out some of the privileges males hold over females I'm starting to see that it is a man's world after all.

'It's because he's a man'

I liked our discussion about male privileged in Thursday's class. Although I do not remember all of the details, there was one instance that came into mind that I recalled from a few years ago. I remember my mom getting all frustrated on the phone - I think she was trying to cancel a credit card, or get a fee waved or something of that nature. Then I remember her telling my dad to call the company, and the company complied no problem, and my dad got the job done. I also remember my mom saying 'It's because he's a man'. That was something that definitely stuck with me. I feel that there is still a stigma in our society that men have the authority, and women still struggle to be taken seriously. This must stem from traditional gender roles that have been prevalent throughout history: the man is the protector and provider; and the woman is the nurturer - the soft-spoken angel of the house. While there is this stigma out in the world, I feel as though the home itself is a different story. For me, and most people I know, the mom is the stricter more authoritarian parent, not the father. It seems funny how a female can have so much control in the house, even over their husbands, and they still can't be taken completely seriously in every day situations outside of the home. I wonder why this happens.

Meredith Cotter, Post #16

Is it Always Bad to Categorize?

On Tuesday we talked a lot about how we as a society use categorizing in just about everything that we deal with. Pertaining to this class, we talked a ton about how we categorize people when referring to them. As we talked about the negative views on this subject I looked at it in a different way. I asked myself..does it always have to be a bad thing when you categorize a person by their race? I feel the most common case in which this happens is when you are describing a story that involves people that the audience may not be 100% familiar with. In these cases people are forced to describe the person they are talking about so that the people listening to the story know who it is about. This situation is where many people tend to describe a person by their race. Now is when I ask..is this always a bad thing? Just because I may say, "yes, my spanish friend" or "yeah my, black friend". Not every time a person uses this way to describe a person is categorizing them by what the story is about. I'm not using their race when I describe them to automatically mean that the story is depicting a stereotype. When we were talking about it in class on Tuesday I was getting the feeling that was what we were heading towards..always viewing this action as negative. And that is where I end this blog, is it always a negative thing to describe someone by their race? -Mary

Post 15

Our discussion in class regarding affirmative action,-- here's my suggestion on how to make it more fair....i don't know if it would ever work because i don't know how that type of stuff works exactly, but wouldn't it be better if the question of race and sex wasn't even brought into question--everyone was looked upon as a number. that way  everyone is placed at an equal opportunity. that way when taking the civil service test it would be oh person 12753 scored higher then 578532 he/she is picked first, same with school, like why does race and gender have to matter, you are a number, if you -being only know as a number has scored higher then a different number then you're picked first. I understand that location could play into effect but i think it sounds a bit more fair then letting your race play a -even though it's small, a part into your admission.

Steph Timchack post 14

1. Men can take their shirt off in more public places
2.Women can't sexually be active without getting a negative name thrown upon her ( whore, slut, etc) while a men would be applauded for it.
3.men aren't given demeaning nicknames such as "sweetie, hunny,etc"
4. men can be moody, but when a female is  she must have her period/ PMSing
5.Men don't have the fear of being raped or drugged like girls do ( not saying they don't get raped/ drugged but it's not something they FEAR--unless in jail)
6. men can stand up for themselves but when a female does she's a bitch.
7.men can walk away from a unborn child at any time during a pregnancy, where the female has it living inside her.
8 ( this is from personal experience) Since I'm a female playing football, I was ALWAYS told " oh it can't be tackle, it must be flag or the (it was shown on tv ) the females that play in lingerie. No it's tackle.

Everything I should have said in class...

The first week of blogs I actually wrote a post about affirmative action and my thoughts about it, and I am glad we got a chance to talk about it in class to gather others' opinions. This legislation was really put into practice in the mid seventies. This was obviously controversial then, as it is now. The main justification for this legislation was to 'level the playing field' as an attempt to make up for years of oppression of minorities by white privileged males. This was especially needed when it was passed. I get that. It is important. But there are a lot of issues and points brought out in class today that I would like to address.

This legislation is a band-aid. The only real way to end inequality on the playing field is to change peoples' minds, their beliefs, and how they view ethnicity and race. Like I said on Tuesday, there really isn’t a full proof way to go about this. If I introduce a friend and mention their race, that is not good because it is drawing attention to their 'otherness' or inferring their belonging to a certain race means they are not the norm. However, if you do not mention their race, you are ignoring their individual culture, and personal struggle, or the fact that they identify with that group. Hiring someone because of affirmative action is essentially the same thing as introducing someone as your Asian friend, or your black friend, except it is your Asian employee or black employee. I realize that color blinding is not an answer but I see nothing wrong with seeing all colors as human beings. Not blinding myself to cultural difference, but not seeing anyone – black, white, yellow, red, green, purple, whatever – as anything above or below me. I also liked Jeff’s point that our main goal as a society should be to level the players not the playing field. Like Pete, my family is very involved with law enforcement and my family has been directly effected by quota legislation. I don’t see how a more qualified individual can lawfully loose a job to a less qualified individual and call it justice. I don’t see how more discrimination can serve as an end to discrimination. All we are doing is shifting the target group. Leveling the playing field is a process that needs to be addressed from the bottom up. Heavy legislation requiring people to hire this many black people and that many women, do not prove anything. As a woman, this legislation affects me, and to be honest, I would take it as an insult to be given a job over a more qualified male. Maybe it is my pride, but I would take it as a handout saying good job, you couldn’t do it on your own, but the government will help you out anyway. I realize I am from an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood and have been given a lot of opportunities. I cannot complain. But maybe that is an indication that more stress should be put on economic status, rather than racial/gender differences.

Meredith Cotter, Post #15

Blind or Untold?

Today as we talked about privileges that the white race has and I began to think more about them in everyday life. Then the list of privileges that were in the book were brought up and I thought to myself of personal privileges I may have experienced throughout life. Then it hit me, I at least in that moment couldn't think of any real examples from my life. I don't doubt that I have had privileges in my life, what it comes down to is that I don't realize it. I then wonder why that is. Why is it that I can't come up with examples from my life that have deemed me "privileged". Then I look back to my life, I certainly can say that I have had a good life. I haven't been through anything out of the ordinary that makes me different or had things that put me at such a high advantage over others. My life if was described in one word would be average or ordinary, in the sense that my family wasn't rich but money wasn't a problem. I was never held back from the things that I wanted for the most part and had many beneficials things throughout my life. I have never looked at it because I came from a while middle class family but some may view this as a reason. I wonder why it is that I have never really looked at this situation? Is it because there really is this invisibility of "whiteness" and the privileges that come along with being white causing some to be blind to this topic? Did I choose not to look at it this way? Or is it just because my family has done what they could and can thrived from hard work? This could be a question that many could ask themselves. As well as question it, I am sure that this could be given a good debate. -Mary

White Privelage: Attack on White People

Today in class as well in many times this semester people have mentioned that the book/books have been discriminatory or attacking towards white people. Many have said that it paints white people as bad and all racist or that it generalizes too much. My response to these views are that we need to get over it. If you look throughout history white people have done many great things, created great nations and laws, created great technology and many many more things that we constantly recognize in history. Along with these thngs white people have been the most racist and dominating people as well. If we are so ready to accept the good we most also accept the bad. Are class is about ethnicity and race and we talk a great deal about racism. In talking about this there needs to be an understanding that the book will expose the racist ways of the white majority throughout history and many times the advantages that whites now have. If we cant recognize these things then we havent gained anything from this class. Today we talked about affirmitive action and many people said that it was reverse discrimination and that everyone should be on a level playing field. Yes everyone should be on a level playing field, and minorities are not. I am a firm believer that in America and most of the world white people have more oppurtunity to be succesful. This is engrained in our everyday reality. So i accept the reverse discrimination that affirmitave action puts into place. I think it does a ton more good than it does bad. I also dont think that most white people are denied jobs or college scholarships or anything, those cases are few and far between. I could go on for days but i just think that people need to stop worrying about if the book is racist against white people and actually see what it is saying= that white people benifit from white privelage. THIS IS FACT, i know cuz i have no doubt benifitted from it and im biracial! -end of long rant-

Your View of the World

While thinking about our discussion in class today about (dis) advantages to tests for different people, I thought about something I had heard my mom say about the students in her classroom. She told me that one year when she was teaching in a rural school, she was teaching the kids the “wheels on the bus” song. She then had to explain to the students why there would be babies, a mother and a father on a bus because the kids didn’t understand. The only buses they knew of were school buses, not city buses like the one in the song. Since they had never seen or heard of people riding a bus to get around, they couldn’t connect to the song, or really understand its meaning. I thought this connected to our discussion because these kids were from perfectly good families, but were in rural surroundings compared to city kids. The same goes for city kids who have never been to or seen a farm (or another setting besides a city). These children get two totally different views of the world, which could affect them later on. When they get older and have to take these standardized tests, life experiences and situations can play a huge role in how well somebody does on a test, as we had mentioned in class.

Laura Kalinowski Post #16

My Privileges

Jeff asked us to think about making a list of my own white privileges. Here are mine:

• I can be reasonably assured that whatever college I decide to go to close to my home that I will be in the majority.
• At SUNY Fredonia I can be fairly sure that my roommate will have the same skin color as me.
• I can choose to have children and not be questioned.
• I am seen as competent (less competent than men, but that's another issue).
• I have aisles full of makeup and haircare product choices rather than just a pitiful section.
• I can own a gun without people second guessing me.
• I can buy cold medicine without being accused of making meth.
• I don't have to worry about being put on the no-fly list because I'm from a different country or have a similar name to a terrorist.
• I can easily find food that appeals to my ethnicity in most restaurants and grocery stores.
• If my credit card is declined it's because of a bank error, not because I'm a deadbeat.

These are, of course, just a few, but the first ones that came off the top of my head.

Victoria Rader Post 15

"Generalizations"

Why does this word keep getting thrown into conversation? Of course I'm generalizing, this entire class is about studying the generalizations people MADE UP over time to explain our visual and cultural differences. Because of this there will ALWAYS be exceptions to every race or ethnicity classification, ranging from factors like socioeconomic status to geographic location. I suppose if I said middle-class or higher it would have seemed less offensive, but it is really much deeper than that. What I was trying to make apparant is that our problems are NOTHING compared to the problems some humans deal with on daily basis. When's the last time someone you know starved to death? Died of malnutrition? Probably never. In other parts of the world, it is a harsh reality that affects them every time they wake up. And we throw out our food when we're TOO full. Americans worry about Akon's new single, while others worry about the radiation leaking into their soil and poisening their water. Samuel Roux Post #2

bell hooks

"All black people in the United States, irrespective of their class status or politics, live with the possibility that they will be terrorized by whiteness."

This statement caused a lot of controversy on Tuesday and I feel the need to come to hooks' defense. One of the essays we read in my Feminist Theory class, Beside My Sister, Facing the Enemy: Legal Theory Out of Coalition by Mari. J. Mastuda, has something to say on the use of language.

Mastuda says

There is a politics of anger: who is allowed to get angry, whose anger goes unseen, and who seems angry when they are not.
Once, when I intended to compliment an African-American woman on a powerful speech she had made, I said: 'I admire your ability to express anger.' She looked at me coolly and replied 'I was not angry. If I were angry I would not be speaking here.' Another African American friend of mine jumped into the conversation. 'I'm disappointed in you,' she said 'This is what always happens to us when a Black woman speaks her mind. Someone calls us angry.'
I remember this exchange because it was an uncomfortable one for me, and because it was a moment of learning. Talking across differences, my colleague told me that if she were hatefully angry, beyond hope of coalition, she would not talk...
...On the simple, communicative level, failure to express the pain created by this legacy obscures the depth of one's feelings and discounts the subordination experienced by one's community. More significantly, the use of polite, rational tones when one is feeling violation is a betrayal of the self.

I think this excerpt is incredibly relevant for the discussion we were having on hooks. She uses the word terrorize because that's how she feels. That's how many (all?) black people feel in relation to whites/whiteness. Of course I don't think that hooks was referring simply to physical dangers, but to institutional racism/discrimination as well. It goes back to what I said in class today: look at who is in power, specifically in politics and corporations
. The corporations are mainly run by rich (hetero, cis, protestant) white men. Guess who has the politicians by the *ahem*? The corporations. So of course the politicians (who are also the same demographic as those in the highest corporate echelons) are going to make policies based on their own personal interests. These policies then serve to keep blacks and other minorities in lower socioeconomic positions, furthering their inability to gain access to better education, day cares, health insurance, health care, jobs, transportation, etc. So yeah, I would definitely say hooks and other minorities have every right to feel terrorized, even if that word tends to make you a bit uncomfortable.

One last word from Mastuda:

Discomfort brings with it an opportunity for learning...the comfort we feel when we avoid hard conversations is a dangerous comfort, one that seduces us into ignorance about the experience of others and about the full meaning of our own lives.

Victoria Rader Post 14

Re:White People Problems

In response the the blog posted by Samuel Roux...
I understand where you are coming from in saying that most people in America don't even understand what hardship is, but by generalizing it to be an attitude of all, and or only "white" Americans seems like a stretch. As we talked about in class today, one person of a specific race can not be the voice of all the people of that race. By saying that all white Americans have no understanding of hardship and are only concerned with the problems they "make up" is placing a huge generalization on white Americans. Every individuals situation is different from one another and you can't just assume that because someone is white, that they have no understanding of hardship. You also can not assume that because a person is not white, that they do have an understanding of hardship. I am in no way denying the fact that there are white Americans with this attitude you described, but there are also non-white Americans with the same attitude and generalizing either group to all possess or not posses these views on the world is not accurate. I think Americans as a whole more than just white Americans in particular, have a tendency to care about only themselves and not the "real" problems in the world.
-Ryan Fleming blog post# 14

White People Problems

The conversation we had about white privilege today really got me thinking about how selfish we as White Americans are. Most of us don't even understand what hardship is and how hard life could be, so we have to MAKE UP problems. For example, "MY PHONE ISN'T SENDING THIS MESSAGE, WORST DAY EVERRRRR" Oh really? Someone a few thousand miles away hasn't had clean water in 10 years...but I totally understand your struggles. How about you give that portable communication device a second huh? IT'S GOING TO SPACE AND BACK YOU IDIOTS! Most of America is so wrapped up in themselves and their own glamorized version of what our world is, we don't even consider other's lives, and what problems really are. All of these ammenities we take for granted daily have turned us into a pathetic, whiney, impatient and self-absorbed nation. If we took a tenth of the energy we waste on ourselves to help others we could make a huge difference...but Jersey Shore is about to come on, so maybe some other time. Samuel Roux Post #1

Survey - Post #15

Did anyone else take the NSSE National Survey of Student Engagement survey that we got in our FredMail? I took it and noticed that it had some different options for racial/ethnic identification that we have discussed in class. The biggest one was the "multiracial" classification that I know we have brought up.

• What is your racial or ethnic identification? (Select only one.)

  • American Indian or other Native American
  • Asian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander
  • Black or African American
  • White (non-Hispanic)
  • Mexican or Mexican American
  • Puerto Rican
  • Other Hispanic or Latino
  • Multiracial
  • Other
  • I prefer not to respond

The multiracial is very broad and doesn't seem to offer much of a classification for any race/ethnic background and I just wanted to put it out there to see what everyone thought about it.

Whites as racist?

Due to our debate on Tuesday over the wording of bell hook’s “Representations of Whiteness in the Black Imagination,” I was wondering how the class perceived the quote “The perpetuation of white supremacy is racist. All whites are racist in this use of the term, because we benefit from systematic white privilege” (Wildman 115). The idea that racism is involuntary; thus, all whites are racist is a hard pill to swallow. While I understand the point Wildman and Davis are trying to make, I am not sure “racist” is the right term. Wildman and Davis are trying to convey the idea that by being privileged whites are thus racist? I am not sure. There has definitely been a tradition of racism and discrimination towards minorities among whites but I do not think the lingering effects of such discrimination which has resulted in privileged makes whites today (as a whole) racist. This book definitely makes some uncomfortable statements, and I think it is important that while we are reading that we keep in mind the tradition of racism in the United States that led to such inequality and then the formation of this book. Unfortunately, I do not think all the ideas of this novel are portrayed as effectively as they can be. I think that more facts and less bold statements would convey a better message; however, the language is attention grabbing…which could be the point. Either way, this novel makes some good points, yet it should definitely be taken with a grain of salt.

Additional Questions on White Privilege, Part 1

Hi everyone,

Below are some additional questions on Part 1 of White Privilege that we did not have time to discuss in class. You may consider responding to/discussing some of these questions on the blog.

1. Dalton says that most white people tend not to think of themselves in racial terms. What does he mean by this? Do we agree?

2. What is "rugged individualism" and how does it relate to white privilege?

3. Dyer, Dalton, and hooks all state that whiteness is in many ways "invisible," yet it is also the norm and it is everywhere. Explain this seeming contradiction. How can something be everywhere and nowhere (invisible) at the same time?

4. Do all white people possess the same amount of white privilege? Discuss. Give a few specific examples to support your opinions.

5. Can people of color ever have white privilege? (Consider multiracial identities). List a few examples to support your opinions.

reaction to pete's post

I agree 100% that the class would be much more interesting if more people would talk. It is always the same 5 people who talk in class. Most of the time i talk becuase nobody else is, and i feel that the other talkers in class do this as well. Everyone in class has different views and experiences that would make a huge impact on the class and i think that it would be much more interesting if more people would express these views. I think the whole point of the class is to be able to talk about these types of issues and it would be so much better if more people would be active in class.

"Black Friend"

In class when we discussed how we introduce people i think that some people were offended when they were told that most people identify people with their race if they are a minority. I dont think if someone does this that it means that they are racist. I feel that the majority of the environment always describes people who are the minority with thier race. For example, Katt Williams, an African American comedian describes some of his people as "white people" and says u got to get yourself some white friends. He is speaking to a majority black crowd and therefore the crowd assumes that the people he talks about are black. He sates that they are white becuase it is a feature that is not simaliar to the black majority crowd. My main point is that when someone describes someone for the first time with thier race as a feature they are accounting for the persons different features fromt he minority and as long as they dont box them in to a stereotype according to that race it is not racist in my opinion

White Privilege

While reading White Privilege, I was left with mixed emotions. Like others, I realized what the authors were attempting to say. I was also offended and turned off by language such as terrorize, and other key phrases. I agree with what is being said that by using such language, it may prevent the authors from reaching a mass audience, as few will read something that they are offended by. I think that maybe the authors were trying to do this. By antagonizing readers, they at least made you think about their topics. Unfortunately, I don't believe that the end result will be what they want. I was confused while reading this book and in class about what we should do about these issues. The authors were all trying to encourage people to recognize their own whiteness, and that it was the idea of whiteness that scared people of other races. One author suggested overthrowing "whiteness". When people in class suggested that this was attacking white people, others responded by saying that it wasn't white people, it was whiteness. But isn't that exactly what whiteness is? Without white people you would not get whiteness. So therefore, I could not help but feel personally attacked by the book. It did not help that every author provided generalized statements. The language used was "us", "them", "all". This did not help separate white people from "Whiteness." At the end of class, Angela said what had been on my mind since the beginning of reading the book: What are we supposed to do about it? How are we supposed to fix the problem? What do the authors want from us? All of the authors told us the issues, and what was wrong with race relation. I don't recall them saying definitively what should be done about it. Perhaps reading the rest of the book will provide me with some answers.

Staci Becker Post #15

Self Defense

I feel as if class yesterday was great to see much more people reacting and talking rather than the same that usually speak out. During class there was disagreements on what certain things meant and how certain people viewed things. Isn't that the point of the course? To see other peoples opinions, and express your own? That is how I take the course and is why I tend to speak out every class. Yesterday I may of took the wrong approach and addressed a girl in class in the wrong way when I disagreed with her but I felt that others in the class agreed with me and so I stated how we were feeling in a powerful way, but that does not mean I was trying to attack anybody in anyway. The class discussions are to get people talking and see different view points and growing up in the inner city experiencing a lot of this I have a strong view about things. My dad being the senior investigator for the NYSP(the arrest and cases he deals with) and my mom being a doctor(the patients cases for being in there) they have told me many stories and I have come to see both sides of the world. I do not have the perfect picture of the world, it is a dangerous place filled with hatred in every corner and yes things are getting better but the U.S. has been said to be the country to live the American Dream, yet we have discriminated against every person that has been different than the "norm" since day 1. So I feel like the discussion went well yesterday and I wish more people in class would state their opinion and speak out to make class much more interesting!

Pete Ferguson

Feeling attacked

I think that todays discussion about White Privilege was very interesting because we started out in class discussing why this topic can be uncomfortable for many people. The class discussion started out slow, but began to get more argumentative as it went along because of people's strong feelings on this subject. I feel that it got a little bit heated because it is such a sensitive subject for many people, especially when it involves a book such as "White Privilege." When we were discussing the language used in the book (such as the word "terrorizing") I could see how some people would feel attacked, and feel the need to defend themselves. I agree that the language in this book was somewhat hurtful at times, which would cause people to disagree with her points just because they didn't like the way she was conveying her message. I feel that if she had used language that seemed less like an attack, people might have been more receptive to her message.

Laura Kalinowski Post #15

Something To Consider Blog #17 Frank DiMaria

Another thing I was thinking about was the idea of the word terror. In the book it used as verb that whiteness supposedly implores on ethnic groups. Now, I understand how whiteness represents an institutional set of beliefs, but I was trying to consider the other side of the picture. Let me play devils advocate for a second here. I am trying to understand the idea that blacks use the imagery of slavery as a point, which carries an underlining identity to the juxtaposed position in society today. I understand the connection from past to present that could be made, but on the transverse, what does this mean for whites. My point is that, should I base how I look at myself being white within the same institution confines based on early colonists who started bringing slavery as part of a the new world so long ago? What is there for whites to look back onto as a point of respect for themselves? If every time a white person tries to recollect a past and is only reminded of how bad early whites in this country were, what reason is there at all for whites to feel good about any sort of heritage? There is a definite negative connotation with “being proud of being white.” It feels strange just to even type it haha. But, nevertheless that same negative connotation may be the exact reason why whites feel a disconnection from a cultural background. Every time I look to the past I am reminded of how terrible my forefathers were across the board. I am just not sure what to make of this idea.

Class Conversation BLog #16 Frank DiMaria

After the class discussion today I thought a lot about what everyone said. And, I think it’s really good that we have an opportunity to talk about such touchy subjects within an academic setting. I guess what I just wanted to comment on was the idea of how people spoke about these issues. I am well aware of the concept of White privilege and I understand that it exists. But, with that said, what’s the best way to talk about it? Yeah, the conversation at times today did get a little intense but at least we all respected each other. I understand that the book is highlighting specific issues, but I feel that the way we in our class talked about the issue was much more conducive to talking about the issues than the way the book was presented. By the is I mean I feel as though the essays in the book were written with a big bias talking about a “us” vs. “them” concept that I feel is counter productive to talking about a touchy subject. The book seemed to make an argument that spoke in very general terms, and while reading I was more put off by the language than willing to really think about the message it was saying. I am very open to new ideas, and to talking about touchy subjects, I have to be especially considering I want to be a teacher someday, but I feel that there are many better ways to address the issues we talked about today different that the way the book laid out the points.

Learning about white privelage

I feel that learning about this will be very difficult for the whole class becuase we must recognize that there are injustices in society and that all white people benifit from them. I myself benifit from white privelage. The way that i dress and express myself was never questioned until some of my friends and coaches found out that my father was what they thought was black. My teamates on the swim team then refernced me as the black kid on the team when before i was just Justin. There are many other examples that are hard to explain but overall i think that it is difficult to see the ways that i myself have benifitted and other ways when i was denied white privelage.

Bike Lanes

So in class hearing about the big lanes and how much controversy there was over it, I decided to look up what rights the Hasidic Jews had to tell the Hipsters that they were not allowed to bike through there neighborhood due to the way they dressed. After reading it over again and seeing everything that had been done, the Hasidic Jews had absolutely no right to say anything at all nor should they have the power to remove any bike lanes or public property. The bike lanes are their for the public to use and just because there is a high population of Jews in that area and they feel as if something is wrong, they have to live with that or move to a new area. The bike lanes have been in the city of New York since before people could remember and they are not going to be moved because one religion believes that certain people dress to provocatively through the area. If you look at pictures online these people aren't riding through in inappropriate clothing either to standards we see in our area, they are wearing tight biker shorts and tight workout shirts. So from my point of view the people in this area have no right to say anything and as long as they are not on their property the issue should be dropped and they should have to live with it or move to a new area.

Pete Ferguson. Late Post.

A New Look

One thing that I have constantly enjoyed about this class is my fellow classmates opening my eyes to things I would have never realized. For example, when we talked about the show The Nanny I never would have thought to think that the main character was portraying a "typical" Jewish woman. I guess this has made me think about the world in ways that I had not before. Something as little as this has made me open my eyes to much more. I definitely enjoy when people use the media in their presentations because it makes for an interesting discussion afterwards. Seeing all the different examples in the media of the Jewish stereotype makes me think that there maybe other stereotypes in everyday life that I experience that I don't even realize. Which makes me think what is going on around me that I don't even know about? It keeps this intriguing feeling in me to find out new things as we go on.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2vqKUX/funny.jdonuts.com/2011/03/asian-aging.html

I know this might be a little late, but I found this picture the other day and I remembered that we were talking about this exact thing when we were watching Margaret Cho.  Since she was still young, Margaret was expected to be the typical skinny Asian woman.  She was going to be on T.V. and this was already a controversial issue because this would be the first all American Asian family that would be on television, but if she didn't fit the stereotypical Asian female then this would bring even more controversy, or so the network thought.  However, I find that allowing Cho to be herself, no matter how much she weighed, would be the best choice for the network.  This way she can prove to all the other Asian Americans her show reached that they do not need to fit what people think they should look like and it is good to prove that.  This cartoon that I found focused more on the grandmother that we were speaking about. It shows that it is okay for the older Asian Americans to be larger in weight because they are older and have more respect because they are wiser.  I just find this view to be skewed.   Nobody should be told what they should look like by a network, by the portrayal of their own ethnicity or by anyone else.

RE: Hipsters & the Bike Lanes

   I also found this topic rather interesting and I have mixed feelings about it.  Though I believe that everyone should be able to wear whatever they want, it's their own prerogative, I also feel that people should not go out of their way to offend another group of people with what they wear.  It's easy to say that the men could have just looked away, but as said in class the more you know you shouldn't look the more you are going to look.  In NYC there are so many different religions and ethnicities that follow certain practices in one small space that one can't go anywhere without offending someone in some way. Another thing that I was thinking about is that we, Americans, go to other countries and dress just as we would here in our country and that could be very offensive to others, but they don't say we can't come to their countries.  I feel that even though someone may be offended by the way someone dresses and then tries to ban them from their community by taking away bike lanes then they are discriminating against someone just because of what they wear.   With the removing of the the bike lanes I feel that this was a bit extreme.  Like we said in class this is not going to stop people from walking down the sidewalk in a skimpy outfit.  I guess I may be biased because I am one of those people who isn't offended by anything anyone wears and my religion doesn't say I can't look at certain people.\
     Making the statement they did on a religious holiday in that community is completely uncalled for.  It is one thing to go and repaint a line on a road during the night, but hearing that they did a protest during a religious service is completely disrespectful and it shows that these type of people have no regard for others.  There are so many other ways that statements could be made.