Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch

In Dwight McBride’s article, “Why I Hate Abercrombie & Fitch” the idea behind racial advertising is discussed. McBride claims that Abercrombie clothes are not geared towards black people, although they claim their clothes are for Americans. McBride says that he noticed specifically among the gay white community. He claims every gay hot spot he went, Abercrombie would follow. At the time of McBride’s article, Abercrombie was facing discrimination charges on the way they hire. This is because they claim the Abercrombie look was a white person with few piercings and certain hairstyles. McBride also discusses how Abercrombie used to be a sporting goods store which shows that people who enjoy sports will enjoy these clothes, although they are not athletic apparel.

Why would someone complain about advertising to certain groups? There is always going to be advertisements based to certain people. It is obvious for advertising personnel to direct the advertisements to certain stereotypes because in a lot of circumstances, they are close. It is this kind of naivety that makes people so skeptical about racism and sexism and whatnot.

Overall, I found this article to be very disturbing because I think that Abercrombie clothes are stylish. I do not wear them because of store location but I do like what they sell. I do not change my opinion of Abercrombie because of how they present themselves because I do not buy the name, I buy the clothes. Most people claim that individuals buy Abercrombie for the name, but it is not true for everyone. Different people buy clothes for different reasons, whether it is the style, durability, or whatever the reason. When looking back at this article I can see that some circumstances need to be addressed and some do not. I realize that some things happen that need to be called out for racism or sexism but there are some that are not directed to be racist and are not racist. They are just misinterpreted.

Cybertypes

In Lisa Nakaruma’s article, “Cybertypes: Race, Ethnicity, and Identity on the Internet,” racism is shown to exist everywhere, even when you don’t know. She makes this claim by saying that whenever anyone is online in a conversation, they assume they are talking to someone who is white. There are also many images on the internet that portray stereotypes. One example given by Lisa is a picture of an Arab with a camel. Not all Arabs have camels so the picture is falsely stereotyping a group. The article also claims how African tribe members are shown as little people in the social pyramid. The internet can do a lot of crazy things and has allowed for crazy things to be done through it. These crazy things include racism, sexism, or any other –ism’s. Through the internet anything can be accomplished and if there was no internet, there would still be the –ism’s, the internet is just a mass production of media and allows for easy transfers of information.

Why do people blame problems on the media. The problem doesn’t have to do with media, it has to do with the things portrayed through media. So why blame the internet when it should be blaming people who post inappropriate things on the internet. Or why blame television when you should be blaming the millions of people who pay for television in order to see what they want. The media only gives people what they want so the blame might go to someone a little closer than you may think.

I think that this article was a little high tech for me. I was unable to comprehend some of the technical terms and think that if they were explained, I would have gotten more from the reading. The reading was beneficial though in some instances, such as the part describing how when race is erased, they privileged lose power. I was able to relate to this because I was thinking about the subject and I figured that people who once had power, would not have this power. They would not get jobs merely on color but on qualifications and even though I would lose privilege, I would think that this would be a better society to live in with my family in order to raise them how I feel, stereotype free. This will be a great opportunity for me to socialize America starting small and working big.

How Jews Became White Folks

How Jews Became White

In Karen Brodkin’s chapter 4 entitled “How Jews Became White Folks” the process of Jews earning power in America. Brodkin claims that Jews became white because of the GI bill. Brodkin mentions that most people think that Jews became white because of ability. People think that Jews are smart and save money and that that is the only reason they were to overcome their oppression. Brodkin says that some Jews are smart, however, “the removal of powerful social barriers “ is the reason why. Jews became white in America after WWII because of economy. This is one claim made by people. Back to the GI Bill. The GI bill was made to help soldiers get back on their feet after the war. It provided money for housing and school. The reason this helped Jews and not blacks is because most blacks were given dishonorable discharge from the army so did not receive the money.

So why do white people take power of other white people based on religion and ethnicity. I do not know the answer to this question. That is why I took ethnic studies. I wanted to learn why people can think they are better than a group of people based on race. I think that if someone is better than you, he or she is better than you. Simple.

I felt that this chapter was very boring. I do not know any Jewish people so I can not relate to the topic. When I do not know the topic, it will be hard for me to understand. I think that there were too many statistics in the chapter for it to be an easy read. I do not like to read through statistics looking for interesting material. I would rather have the statistics explained with words. If there was a topic about how people who wrestle are oppressed, I would be very familiar with the subject, although there isn’t that much oppression but there is a little.

takaki chapter 6

Takaki 6

In Takaki’s 6th chapter, entitled “Emigrants from Erin,” the lives of Irish Americans is discussed. At first, Irish people were treated like trash. They were forced to do heavy labor and were considered not white, similar to the blacks. They were considered bad because they were un-American. The Irish people had to cram together on immigration boats and were forced to live in harsh conditions. Takaki even mentions that 20% die during or slightly after the trip. That number is high for people looking for a better life. That means that so many Irish people were let down. Not only did 20% die but they did not receive good lives in America. The women were maids and servants while the men did hard labor in fields or whatnot. Later on however, Irish people began to pick on the non-white people to try to get higher status and more power. They would claim that since their skin is white, they should be treated white. And that came to be when most of the Irish began to adapt the American religions.

So how can one race go from being not white to white in a short time, when skin color does not change. This is because whiteness is not a physical characteristic. It is purely an image set by the media that you can be non-white while being white skinned. This can be seen today with Rednecks the rednecks are separated by class and can be considered white. As someone once said, there’s white, and then there’s white trash.

I felt that this chapter was very beneficial to me because I could finally relate myself to the subject. I was finally reading about how someone can be oppressed for being Irish. I have some Irish in my bloodline and I would like to know that at one time, my ancestors were able to overcome diversity and I was able to develop enough to be attending a University and live in a middle upper class home. I thank the Lord for all of that but it was a nice read to be able to see that my family was not in the same situation that I am right now and also that they were able to become sweet overtime

Takaki chapter 12

Takaki 12

In Takaki’s chapter, entitled “El Norte,” the life of Chicano Americans is defined. The chapter discusses how Mexicans moved from one area to another looking for work and then they came across the Norte. The Mexicans moved from place to place because of starvation on job opportunities. The problem was, however, that they were not treated with respect because the Americans did not feel that they deserved any respect. This was because the Americans didn’t feel that the Mexicans should earn respect because of their heritage. They were forced to work for low wages and live in small rundown houses or on the street. The jobs that the Mexicans did were very rigorous field labor and it was very discriminatory. They were forced to work long hours doing very tedious work, such as picking fruit, laying railroads, working in mines or whatever. They are still looked at in this manner today.

So what does this all mean? What effect does this have on me, a white male? What effect is there on me that Mexicans had hard lives when they first immigrated. When I look back at everything can I understand that the reason that white males have more power over people of color all deal with the lives of the ancestors. This does not sound right. The reason that colored people have less opportunities in life is because of how people feel now. It has no relevance to history, only present, to develop future. When someone gets a low level job instead of one higher that they may be qualified for, it is not because of what happened one hundred years ago, but what happened that day or in either of the people’s lives.

I felt that this article was very intriguing. It allowed me to rethink how society was set up with immigration of Mexicans to America. I appreciated that I was able to see history from a different perspective for once. I was able to see how life was really like for those people and realize the reason that they are underrepresented in American government and high-end jobs. I once thought it was because they are foreign, but its not. It is because they are not white. Whiteness is key in a pathway headed for success. If people eliminated this thought process, the world would be an equal place. Dogs don’t discriminate other dogs because of color, or gender or breed, why should humans. Dogs get along just fine and when they interbreed, the puppies are considered mutts and do not sell for as much money. This is terrible that people had to bring racism into the animal kingdom.

takaki ch 7

Takaki ch 7

In Takaki’s seventh chapter, “Foreigners in Their Native Land,” the beginning of Mexican-American racism is shown. Takaki claims that the main reason that Mexican racism began was that Mexico owned land that America wanted. This land was Texas as well as California. The Mexican-American War was fought to obtain these lands and through the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, the United States was able to buy California, New Mexico, Nevada, and parts of Colorado, Arizona and Utah. The Mexicans who previously lived in those states were allowed to stay in them and become American citizens. Although they became American citizens, they were not treated the same as white Americans. They were paid less than white workers and also given suffrage that didn’t matter. Many Mexican landowners were stripped of their land by the courts. Only about 2,000,000 acres of land remained with the Mexican landowners while over 33,000,000 was taken away. These properties were taken away either by forcing them landowner into debt or simply denying them the property that was once theirs. Some Mexicans were forced to sell land because they could not get necessary bank loans to pay for irrigation systems like the whites were able to. After the land was stripped away from the farming Mexicans, they were forced to work in mines and on railroads. The railroad work was migratory while the mine work was very physical.

A question that I would like to propose would be, “Why did white America think that everything on the North American continent belonged to them at this time period?” I think that white America’s dream for manifest destiny was too strong of an influence on the way that they thought about other people. They fought too hard for a landmass that reached from ocean to ocean, and they did not care what they did to other people in order to get there.

Although background information is helpful in most circumstances, I felt that this chapter went into too much depth about the Mexican American War because I do not feel that that is the main cause behind the racism towards Mexican workers at that time period. I feel that racism towards the Mexicans at this time period was based more on white supremacy than on American supremacy. The Mexican American War was based on expanding America while the racism shown towards Mexicans and Mexican-Americans was based on creating privilege for the white male in society. I think that when the Mexicans joined with the Japanese they made a wise decision because they were able to show that they were not racist towards other people, like the white men were.

facebook post

In the facebook activity I completed where I was supposed to look at a facebook page for ethnic studies material. I chose to use the group page, Man Law Nation. In this group a list of laws are put up that are sometimes degrading to women and also say that you should be manly. An example from this page is Man Law Is NEVER Wrong...If An Argument Is Present We Agree To Disagee. This shows that men should be stubborn and don’t admit fault. You can find the rest of the examples on http://bgsu.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2205103589. There are also comments to the laws, most of which are complementing the list or saying random things or promotional things.

Erasing @ race

In Erasing race, by Beth E. Kolko, the correlation between race and technology is made. Kolko claims that technology allows people to decide explicitly who you are. This means that a person can say that he or she is white, black, or anything. This is because there is not face to face interaction between people when communicating with a computer. Kolko wonders if gender is constructed everytime someone looks at someone else, and mood is seen when everyone enters a room, should race be? When a person communicates online, she says, the racial identity could be displayed. She describes a program that has a person define the online character’s gender race and other things. Some cultures do not know the term race and can not work with that. The program uses the gender to give pronouns that are gender specific and inserts when race is not defined.

A question I would ask myself about this is what does this all mean? When reading through this article, it was difficult to understand the program Kolko was describing because of my unfamiliarity with technology. I am frequently confused with technology and I am not familiar with the racism that occurs through it. In a purely technological world, one can think that race will disappear through the internet because there will be no need to have race.

I'll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net

In Tara McPherson's article, "I'll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net," Tara describes how she came across a website for the Confederate Embassy in Washington D.C. She is in shock at how this is an actual place because the Confederate states no longer exist. She then finds other sites dedicated to the Confederate ideals of racism and sexism. These sites all contain links to other sites and umbrella sites. McPherson finds this to be terrible. This article says that the Confederate states think of a virtual secession at precisely the time when more black people are moving to the South than leaving for the first time since the Civil War.

I don't know how anyone can make the claims that McPherson makes. She assumes that simply because there are people who know how to make websites and are racist that the whole southern area is racist. These claims can not be true. She is simply looking for a reason to say that everyone is racist and she thinks the whole world is out to get the black population. Her assumptions show that she has not fully researched her information before making a claim about the information. She assumes the whole South is like what the Confederate states were like. Women should be housekeepers who don't think about sex at all and that black people are rapists and murderers. These are the ideals that she claims all southerners have simply because of a few racist individuals who made a few websites dealing with the topic. She is just as bad as the racists when she claims all southerners are racists and confederates. This is just basing beliefs on where a person is from instead of where the person's ancestors are from.

How can someone generalize that an area is racist based on a few racist individuals. I think this is absurd and is just as bad as being racist. Claiming someone is something based on location of where that person lives can be harmful to the people someone generalizes about. People who are associated with racism and the south are sometimes considered "white trash." this term can be as emotionally harmful as any racist term directed towards blacks, Mexicans, Asians, or any other racial identity given to foreigners in America. People just need to relax and stop assuming the world is out to get them and try to get the world. The world would be a better place if people stopped assuming everyone was out to get them. People should realize that not everyone is out to get them and if they work hard then less people will be out to bring them down.

takaki ch 10

Takaki ch 10

Takaki’s tenth chapter, “Pacific Crossings: Seeking the Land of Money Trees,” describes life for Japanese and Japanese-Americans during the early 1900’s. Takaki shows that the Japanese migrant workers were treated very poorly and were paid about four dollars less per day than the Portuguese workers doing the same job. This angered the Japanese laborers so they went on strike on the main Hawaiian island. The Japanese workers from other islands sent funds to the strikers so they could survive. The landowners then hired other Asian groups to work creating social classes within the different ethnic groups. They wanted to keep the ethnic groups separate so they would not join up and revolt, much like the Eastern Americans, with indentured servants and slaves. The chapter then explains how the Japanese people joined with the Filipino people to make the Hawaii Laborers’ Association, which allowed for more power to go to the Asians; however, they were still not allowed to become naturalized citizens. The chapter then goes on to describe that life in California was much more intense. They had to deal with hot weather in the desert and cold weather in the mountains. Even the American-born children were not treated as equals, even though they completed more school than the average American, two years of college.

One question that I think would lead to a good discussion is why did the Filipino accept the smaller, dirtier shacks than the Japanese when they were from similar backgrounds, and almost similar numbers? I would say that they did this because of the way the white men ordered them. Since the Filipino people came to Hawaii later than the Japanese, the white men forced them to act as an inferior race to the Japanese. This was to control the workers more by making the Japanese feel superior over the Filipinos so they would not socialize.

I think it is interesting that the workers were able to form a common language, called Pidgin English so they could communicate with plantation owners, and other workers. This common language was very useful for the uprising of the Asians to get equal wages with the European workers. Since they had the language other than the home language they did not only view themselves as a Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or Filipino, but also as a migrant worker trying to be equal with everyone around them. One other thing that shocked me about this chapter was that even in a society where women were welcomed to have jobs, they were still forced to do all housework and were not allowed to go to sleep before the husband. I was shocked when I heard that women did equal amounts of fieldwork on top of the housework such as cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. I was also feel bad that the plantation owners did not even refer to the laborers by name, but instead a number. This would be very hurtful to me if I were only looked at as a number and not an individual. This is similar to the social security number or the Bowling Green ID number, although they are used for different reasons.

ethnic notions

Ethnic Notions

In the movie Ethnic Notions, black stereotypes were shown from both pre civil war and post civil war. The stereotypes were explained to the extent of how they began and what time they originated. The movie showed how slaves were portrayed to be happy servants who would do anything for their master. Images such as Uncle Ben’s rice and Aunt Jemima cluttered grocery stores. After the civil war; however, black people were shown to be violent people who needed to be put back into slavery. Also in this movie, films were shown that represented the black characters. The characters were made by having white men or women putting soot on his or her face. Even if a black person were to play a black person in film, he would have to darken his face and place white marks around the lips to look like the mouth is enlarged. In one skit during the movie, a bunch of black people are shown shooting craps in an alleyway.

One discussion question that I would propose to a class would be Why did the white society feel so threatened that they developed rude stereotypes towards black people. Personally, I think it was because the white people knew that there isn’t much difference between white people and black people, merely looks. At that time, the black people were less educated, because they were forced to be. They had the same capacity to learn but were simply forced not to.

Overall, I thought that this movie portrayed some very mean things. It stated how harmful these stereotypes were, but they were bad to see. I felt uncomfortable watching these coming from an area where there were few to no black families. I was very familiar with the stereotypes, although I didn’t know where they came from. I can not believe that stereotypes would be created how they were just so people could further the privilege that they had.

takaki ch 3

In Takaki’s third chapter, “The ‘Giddy Multitude’: The Hidden Origins of Slavery,” the origins of slavery are once again explained to the readers. The chapter is titled this because in it, the word “giddy multiture” is defined, and some hidden origins are shown. A giddy multitude is “an unhappy social class built from indentured servants, slaves, and landless freemen, both white and black.” Takaki says that the hidden origin of slavery is the transition from white to black workers that worked merely due to timing. The growth of black population combined with the increasing rebellion by the white workers. This chapter is very similar to Zinn’s in the sense that it shows that Africans were better slavery candidates at the time period in which they were enslaved because the Native Americans knew too much about the nation. It is stated that Negro slaves produced more tobacco than the indentured servants by significant amounts. It also explains how the slave owners feared for a revolt from the whites grouped with the African slaves. One important example taken from this chapter was when Takaki mentions Thomas Jefferson’s viewpoint on slavery. He says that the only way for conflicts to be eliminated in white society would be to have more whites own land than work for another white man.

This chapter is merely a review for me although it includes different examples than I have previously known. I was shocked to hear that everyone thought that if whites did not have to work so hard than our society would be better. They did not even think that the African slaves would feel anything towards the work that they had to endure. I would also like to know how the white people were able to get slaves from African when they did not use force. This would be hard to imagine that the African kings would sell people to white Americans to use as slaves. It was redundant to read the same basic idea that was assigned for the last reading although it sticks in my head more when it is reiterated by multiple assignments dealing with the same topic. Origins of slavery is a sad thing to read about although if taking a proper historian view, one needs to take themselves back to the viewpoints of the people in that time period. Africans were thought of as animals then. Whipping race horses is still not considered harsh in today’s society, so back then it would not be considered harsh to whip an animal.

Zinn ch 2

In Zinn’s second chapter, “Drawing the Color Line,” the beginnings of slavery are shown and Zinn states that American slavery is the basis for racism today. The reason racism in America and racism in Africa are different, Zinn states, is that the Americans treated the black slaves cruel and when Africans had slaves it was comparable to servants in Europe because they were treated like people who had to work, instead of animals. Zinn also says that there isn’t a country where racism has been so important for so long. Zinn says that the reason Americans enslaved Africans instead of Native Americans is that when we first began slavery, the natives gave a much higher resistance due to their numbers. When the rich whites began to think that the poor whites were going to side with the slaves to help with a revolt, the rich whites started giving white indentured servants benefits after the time served was up. This helped to prevent the uprising because the poor whites no longer disliked rich whites due to jealousy. The poor whites were also given reduced sentences compared to what they received before to halt a revolution effort.

I was shocked to hear that racism here is more than in other countries. I did not realize that America was the highest racist country. It sort of puts me into place realizing that all other countries have gotten over the difference of looks while as a whole, America hasn’t. It shows me that I have to step up to help other races get over the glass ceiling they experience in the working world. I think to myself, how can one country who has a high influence on other nations set an example to smaller, less powerful nations that racism is okay. Racism is not okay and we, as a nation, need to show other nations that looking at someone, not by their skin color, but by their actions. If one person everyday was changed to think this way, it would be beneficial, but more people to need change their mindframes than that.

extra credit post on johnson ch 3

In chapter three of Privilege, Power, and Difference, by Allan Johnson, it is explained how capitalism has defined racism. He says that “white racism” did not exist until capitalism began. In capitalism, there is a large sum of money that can only be distributed to a small amount of people; therefore, a large sum of people will be earning small amounts of money. One fact listed by Johnson is that 60% of the people in the United States fight over 25% of the total income, which isn’t enough to make a fair living. Johnson also says that it isn’t very likely that someone will change their social class, and because of this people tend to marry within his or her class. Near the end of the chapter, Johnson says that whiteness was made up by white people to make themselves higher up in the class system in order to make more money. Johnson also gives an example of how all of the different classifications are intertwined. He says that each dominant characteristic is a point, while the recessive characteristic is a negative point, so that a white, heterosexual male with no disabilities would be positive 4 while a colored disabled lesbian would be a negative 4. In the middle of these would be disabled, black, straight men (0) or a white lesbian with no disabilities (0).
I feel that this chapter would be good for the bonus post because it has its good qualities and its bad ones. The part I disagree with is that each category should not be given a single point. There should be differences for the characteristics that are more dominant than the others. I do not have facts on which is looked down on more, being colored, or being female. Once an expert figures this out, the point system would be more realistic. Also, there are differences in the individual characteristics. For example, there are many different races and some may be looked down on more than others. White may not even be at the top since Asians are considered to be smarter, they might get the job before a white person. The job being interviewed for also needs to be taken into consideration. Stereotypically, one would think that a woman would have an advantage for a secretary position over a man because that is stereotypically a female job.

chapter 9 johnson

The last chapter of Johnson’s book Privilege, Power and Difference concludes by providing ways to end the power battle between white, heterosexual, nondisabled, men and people who do not fit one or more of these criteria. He offers the readers a challenge to "To change patterns of exclusion, rejection, privilege, harassment, discrimination, and violence that are everywhere in this society and have existed for hundreds (or in the case of gender, thousands) of years.” He offers myths about power struggles and disproves them. He then gives ways to end this power struggle. These things you can do are to speak out at work; promote awareness and training around privilege issues; support equal pay; oppose the devaluing of omen, people of color, people of disabilities, and the work they do; don’t support businesses that are inaccessible to people with disabilities, and tell them why you don’t; become aware of how class divisions operate in social systems; and he goes on to list more that deal with violence and unions. Johnson then goes on to talk about Paul Kivel, who speaks about how to be a good ally to someone who is in a group that has less power than you. Kivel says that people should try to help the less privileged by respecting them, learning about them, not making assumptions, speaking up, and other things along the same lines.
I chose to write about this chapter because I realize that most people probably did not finish the book and in books like this one, the ending is where the main points are brought together and it is the most important part of the book. I wanted the other members of the group to notice the main point of this book so they can take the challenge offered by Johnson and help level the playing field for all people, whether they are white males, or black female lesbians with a wooden leg. This chapter helped me to rethink how I was going to help for equality. At first I thought I would just stop doing things wrongly, but after reading it, I now know that I can not take a passive approach; I have to step out and do the right thing in order to fix the problem of inequality and racism. I will offer a hand to someone in need and help and elderly woman if she needs it and not wonder why she is still living a normal life outside of a nursing home, but the real question is, will you?

chapter 8 johnson

Chapter 8 of Johnson’s book, Privilege, Power, and Difference mainly discusses why a privileged group refuses to change. He says they refuse to change because they deny the fact that there is something to change. Either they feel that they are not taking advantage of power or that there is no difference between groups in a society. This leaves the struggle for power to the powerless groups, which would be difficult to master since they have little power. This power struggle is currently unbreakable because very few people step up offer a solution that can possibly be taken into effect. These people make excuses to why they haven’t done anything to solve the problem of power struggles. In this chapter, Johnson lists several of these common excuses or ways of denying that there exists a difference. People of power often blame the victim. An example of this would be if a white man says that black men don’t get the same job he got is because they didn’t try hard enough. Another way people of power deny the inequalities is by calling the situation something else. He provides the example of the power struggle between men and women a “battle of the sexes.” A third excuse listed in this chapter is that it is better this way. He says that people prefer a power pyramid. The fourth excuse people use is that it doesn’t count if you don’t mean it, referring to diminishing comments. That leaves the final excuse mentioned as “I’m one of the good ones,” which is another way people take themselves off the hook of being abusive of the power given to the group they are included in.
I chose to post on this chapter because I felt that it was important to discuss the common excuses of people in power. This is important to me because I tend to make excuses such as saying, “I have a gay friend,” or, “I would pick a girl for my intramural team, but I couldn’t find one that wanted to play.” I also make excuses such asking my black friend if he wants to eat some fried chicken because I know he likes it. I say it jokingly but he could take offense and I didn’t think about that. It was nice to see that my excuses were wrong and it helps me to rethink the things that I say or do before they happen and eventually I can eliminate the thought of saying or doing those things so I can help end the power struggle. I am now going to call my friends out when they say or do something degrading to someone of a different power group than him or her.

chapter 2 johnson

In chapter two of Privilege, Power, and Difference, Johnson talks about the trouble that Americans are in. He boldly claims that “DIFFERENCE IS NOT THE PROBLEM.” He says that people are troubled, and are always looking to find something to help them prove his or her self worth. They look for reassurance from peers and they long for acceptance, which causes the problem of power struggles. Racism is caused when people hold their own social group higher than another group. So this is why people get privilege. The privileged group doesn’t accept that they have privilege or that it causes problems, so racial privileges cannot be solved. Johnson says that in order to end privilege, both sides need to admit that it exists, whether it is based on race, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and disability status.
He says that the two best examples that prove people are not different are children and Native Americans. Those two groups notice a difference but they are curious about it rather than think they are better because they do not posses those features. The two groups finally recognized the differences once they were socially constructed to do so. Also in this chapter, Johnson list some things that are a result of privilege of white compared to colored, male compared to females, straight compared to gay, and nondisabled compared to disabled. The list shows that white, male, heterosexual, nondisabled people are more likely to be able to go out in public and assume they won’t be hassled, or can assume that they will be more likely to get a good price on new cars. He lists more examples and most of the examples coincide with every other group of power.
This chapter really surprised me. I used to think groups would have more power than others and was completely in the minds of the people who feel they are at the bad end of the power battle. He completely calls me out on it and says that is how most people are. They deny that it exists and because of that, the problem can never be solved. I was shocked to hear that there are so many differences between the white, heterosexual, nondisabled, males and other groups. I am glad that I chose to write a post about this chapter because I really took interest because it directly said my views were wrong and that they are the same as everyone else’s views. I only need to change my views and the power struggle will be one step closer to ending.
I somewhat defend my views of the lack of privilege in situations such as disabled people being segregated from certain jobs in the way that some jobs can not be completed by someone who has a speech impediment like sales or public speaking because the person may be hard to understand. Or how women get less business jobs but some business jobs may require the employee to move a box of heavy paper and if the man is more capable of doing that job than he deserves it.

ch 2 takaki

In chapter two of A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki, it is shown how groups other than Native Americans faced early racism. This group was the Irish. The were viewed as savages to the English people. In battle, the English would kill “man, woman, and child.” The English would burn crops and villages when they would battle the Irish people. Irish were also not allowed to wear English clothes. Irish people were considered savages because they lacked manners and did not have any prior knowledge of God. This was considered naïve of them too not believe in such a thing as God. Takaki states that the main difference between the Natives and the Irish was their skin color and cultural. After Takaki relates Natives to Irish he goes on to talk about how the Natives were treated. He gives examples of the brutality of the English towards the Natives. He says in one instance Natives were killed by poisonous wine when they were trying to have a peace talk with the English. The thing that removed these actions from the conscience of the English was that they thought of the Natives as a different species. One other difference between the Irish and Natives is that the English believed that the Irish could become socialized while the Natives were a lost cause. There was no use in trying to change the native people to act like the English. Takaki says one of the reasons behind this was the skin color. The skin color prevented the English from seeing Natives as real people.

This is terrible to me. I can see how early people would prejudice people when they look different, but the Irish resembled the English and that would leave them no reasons to dislike the Irish. I am really against prejudice and can not see how these people felt so much; however, they did not think like people think in this time period. The history in the book by Takaki is taken out of context. The people who settled in the Americas had to deal with fear of getting killed by the Natives. They were merely trying to protect themselves. When they weren’t trying to protect themselves they were trying to further develop this barren country and trying to find new ground, which would make them more powerful than neighboring nations such as France and Germany.

Essay post 1/17/7

In the Rosenblum and Travis essay they say that people are discriminated against because of race and culture. This is very bad because why should people be based on a group. Just because some people in a certain race act a certain way, that doesn't mean that all people of that same race act as the group does. It is very uncommon to find someone who is completly unracist and when you find someone like this it is a good thing. Somewhere in the back fo every person's mind there is a feeling to treat a person differently or think differently about that person. When a person can eliminate that subliminal feeling they have achieved a lot.
The same thing goes for gender. The authors say that a masculine female is more acceptable than a feminine male. It makes me wonder why. I think that they are like this is because society's views on males is more strong than its views on females. Females can have many different roles and males are seen to have only one, to make the money for the family. Women on the otherhand can be seen as a homemaker or to bring in money or even other things.
People in stigmatized groups are said to have five charactoristics according to this essay. They are lack of values, likely seen as a problem, lack of self control, too much or too little intelligence, and childlike and savagely. These are simply stereotypes but they show very little understanding of people as an individual instead of people as a whole. People should start to view individuals instead of assuming based on the whole.

post #1 Zinn reading

In Zinn’s article, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress,” he says that Christopher Columbus is over-glorified. Almost every class that teaches about Columbus presents him as a hero, instead of the murderer that he was. Most classes either omitted or lied about the brutality that he had for the native, Arawak Indians. It was not until Samuel Eliot Morrison, a Harvard historian, wrote his biography on Columbus that the world was showed both sides of the story. Morrison wrote the normal biography about Columbus, which includes defining him as a hero to the New World, but then on one page he describes the torture, murder, and capturing of the native people. This passage is buried inside of many pages describing Columbus as the hero he was, but Morrison doesn’t omit the part of the torture in order to make a realistic biography. I think that the way Columbus treated the natives, as described in “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress” is very bad. I think there could have been a way for both groups to live together. There was no need for Columbus and his crew to kill so many people. I was shocked by how quickly the natives went from a great population to being almost nonexistent.
The article then moves on to describe the other cultures that have conquered natives in order to further themselves and their home country. It mentions Cortes, Pizarro, and the Puritans, who captured and killed the Aztecs, Incas, and Powhatans, respectively. The article then goes on to provide a question intended for the reader to ponder. If sacrifices are necessary to human progress, shouldn’t the people who are sacrificed get to decide whether they are sacrificed or not? It is a tough thought to ponder. Should people who are less advanced have a choice to live in the dark ages or should they be helped to be brought up to speed?

Introduction

My name is Matt Tyrrell. I like to chill. I like to hng out and stuff. There isn't really that much about me that I would post on this because it isn't that cool. I am not a fan of writing things about myself because I don't like to sound conceited but I like how I am because I'm sweet.