In the book “Another Kind of Public Education,” Patricia Hill Collins discusses a concept that black men and women’s bodies are commodities. First we need to understand why she coins the term commodity to describe this concept. Commodity, according to the Merriam Webster dictionary is, “something that is bought and sold; something or someone that is useful or valued.” Therefore, when Collins uses the term commodity, she was not just writing about them “being bought and sold on a global market”, she was talking about social blackness and how it ties in with capitalism, consumerism, the prison industry, the mass incarceration rate of black men, the “lockdown” of black youth in popular culture, black culture, hypersexualization of African Americans, …show more content…
These products, these commodities, are placed in places where a majority of African American youth would be/see, “the placement of the product in small stores in African American neighborhoods, the ways in which the can of Pimp Juice looks like a can of beer, and the introduction of sports energy drinks in general all reflect the need to expand consumer markets,” (Collins 2009). Another piece of evidence she provides is the prison system. She details on how black men 's commodified bodies are used as “raw materials” for this industry, “It is very simple- no prisoners, no jobs for all the ancillary industries that service this growth industry. Because prisons express little interest in rehabilitating prisoners, they need a steady supply of bodies,” (Collins 2009). She also writes about how black men who have citizenship rights cannot be be coerced into a low pay job, so they have a limited amount of jobs they could do, so most get trapped into the system that was set up to help fail …show more content…
But, what Collins failed to realize is Latinx/Mexican people are put into this massive group/commodity that is “bought and sold on a global market” as well, especially Latina/Mexican women and girls. This book was focused on another type of public education, hence the title. She did not stay specific with African Americans, in fact she went back and forth. Therefore, when she discussed this commodity, I fully expected her to to include Latinx/Mexican people, but she did not. Especially since when you see anything from the Latinx/Mexican culture in our media, you see sexualized men and especially women, for instance, Sofia Vergara in the tv series Modern
This is critical for the readers to know the show the bias, injustice, and premeditated ignorance of the United States educational system. It also demonstrates that Chicano Studies is not important regardless of the Hispanic population in this supposed “free” country. It seems as if the Chicano Studies was made only to fail by keeping it under funded and understaffed. By doing so, it has an affect on keeping away good scholars to maintain the historical development of Hispanics in the United States as well as its own history.
In Bettie’s analysis of Mexican-American and white girls, she finds that race, gender and class are extremely crucial in the outcomes and futures of these girls. The unmentioned and hidden effects of class, race, and gender provide the explanation for much of the inequality seen between the white middle-class girls and Mexican-American working-class girls. Much of this inequality is itself perpetuated within the school system, both by the faculty and students.
... the future of black business in America. Just from reading this book and seeing the future of business and the commodification of black culture since its first publishing, most of the areas that the book touches upon have given accurate insight to how others have cashed in on black culture and how black business has evolved. An example that is evident is of George Foreman and his promotion of the Lean Mean Fat-Reducing Grilling Machine. Here is a black heavyweight boxer that is using not only his name and his former athletic prowess to endorse a product, but, one can say, also stereotypical blackness, with his affinity to unhealthy foods such as hamburgers and hot dogs, to promote a promote a product for Salton, Inc., a Jewish-founded company. Foreman, like Jordan, amassed a large fortune from his promotion of the grills but at the price of selling black culture.
“Black Awakening in Capitalist America”, Robert Allen’s critical analysis of the structure of the U.S.’s capitalist system, and his views of the manner in which it exploits and feeds on the cultures, societies, and economies of less influential peoples to satiate its ever growing series of needs and base desires. From a rhetorical analysis perspective, Allen describes and supports the evidence he sees for the theory of neocolonialism, and what he sees as the black people’s place within an imperial society where the power of white influence reigns supreme. Placing the gains and losses of the black people under his magnifying glass, Allen describes how he sees the ongoing condition of black people as an inevitable occurrence in the spinning cogs of the capitalist machine.
Which was written to demand equal education for women and to emphasize the sexualizing race. The central theme of this book was that women were a crucial element to uplift the black community. I strongly agree with this theme because women make the black community. Women have the power to create a new generation, and with a new generation comes new change. Thus, with an equal education, women can pass on their knowledge to their children which can influence a positive effect on the black community. Cooper also acknowledges how black women are inferior victims to racism and sexism. She argues that black women are unacknowledged by other races, including blacks. In addition, she argues that black women are the one’s that have a true perspective on what oppression really is. As a Latina minority, I also agree with her statement because as women we are always overlooked. Our struggles being a women are never recognized, even within our own community. The men of our community oppress us while they are being oppressed themselves. As minorities we are struggling to survive because we’re at the bottom of society’s hierarchy, but as a woman, we are even more degraded. Cooper also notes the importance of contribution that a black woman can make to correct the oppressive system. I believe in this statement because since women have the true experience of what oppression really is, they know what needs to be done in order to eliminate it. Another important central theme in this book incorporates the emphasis of respect within the contributions of each race. With this theme, I feel that respect among one another is an important factor to civilization because without it, there will always be conflict. I feel that the majority of the population should respect the hard labor that minorities face trying to survive. I believe we
Since the Reagan officials tried harder to stop the Drug Enforcement Administration from exposing the illegal activities that were taking place, the more violence was being caused in these inner city neighborhoods, which lead to more arrests for possession. Now, Michelle explains how the War on Drugs has the most impact on African Americans in these inner city neighborhoods. Within the past three decades, US incarceration increase has been due to drug convictions, mainly. She states that, “the US is unparalleled in the world in focusing enforcement of federal drug laws on racial and ethnic minorities.”(Alexander2016). The percentile of African American men with some sort of criminal record is about 80% in some of our major US cities(Paul Street, The Vicious Circle: Race, Prison, Jobs, and Community in Chicago, Illinois, and the Nation (Chicago Urban League, Department of Research and Planning, 2002). MIchelle referred to these becoming marginalized and calls them “ growing and permanent undercaste.” (Alexander2016, pp
Living in an environment where the crime rate is relatively low Dreamers do not worry about the daily protection of their bodies leaving room for their minds to be open to explore all life has to offer. Albert Einstein once wrote, “Education is not the learning of facts but the mind to think.” Being an educated black person is not always connected to background, many of the most success people living today have rags to riches story, yet what sets the black dreamers apart is their talk, their address and even at times their looks. Black dreamers’s protection lies in their voice, “You speak very eloquently to be black.” Or in plainer terms, “You talk like a white person.” A black dreamers’ protection lies in their state of dress, for who is going to gun down a man in a suit? When Coates describes his wife’s upbringing he says, “Perhaps it was because she was raised in the physical borders of such a place, because she lived in proximity with the Dreamers. Perhaps it was because the people who thought they were white told her she was smart and followed this up by telling her she was not really black, meaning it as a compliment.” (p.116) These are the people who become caught up in being black but not black enough to be subjected to police brutality. Bell Hooks writes in her essay Gangsta Culture, “On mass media screens today, whether
Michelle Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow, as well as Eugene Jarecki’s documentary, The House I Live In, both discuss the controversial issues surrounding the War on Drugs, mass incarceration, and drug laws. Ultimately, both Alexander and Jarecki concede that the court systems have systematically hindered growth and advancement in black communities by targeting young African Americans, primarily male, that have become entangled in drugs due to their socioeconomic status. There is a disturbing cycle seen in black underprivileged neighborhoods of poverty leading to drug use and distribution to make money that inevitably ends with the person in question landing in prison before likely repeating these actions upon their release. Both Jarecki and Alexander present their case, asserting that the effects of the War on Drugs acted as a catalyst for the asymmetric drug laws and
There are different context in which labeling has specifically been used in the readings; however, there is an overarching theme in that the labels serve to undermine and to subjugate Latinos, Asian Americans and African Americans. The readings primarily focused on the criminalization and the perceived deviance of Latinos and Latino youth.
For example, the essay discusses the problem of there not being enough eligible Black men attending college (Henry, West, & Jackson 245). The definition of eligible could be interpreted as attending college and on a path to some sort of success. Because there is a shortage of eligible young men “Black females believe that they must succumb to the whims and pleasures of men in order to find a mate” because this is the image being shown to them when young ladies in hip hop videos do seductive things in order to gain the attention of the a male (Henry, West, & Jackson 245). One of the most terrible effects is that the music destroys black women 's self perception making it hard for young Black women to “ exhibit personal pride” (Henry, West, & Jackson 245).
hooks provides five main premises to support her claim. Her first point is that Lemonade is a commodity, just as the black female body has been a commodity from slavery to present day; therefore, Lemonade was not solely produced for the black female audience (page 1-2). Her second point is that there is a commodification difference in Lemonade because its intent is to challenge the current devaluation and dehumanization of the black female body by way of positively exhibiting diverse images of black female bodies. This commodification
I can personally resonate with Anzaldua is trying to convey to her audience. Although I identify as heterosexual Latino male Anzaldua sums it perfectly, in the following quote. "If you're a person of color, those expectations take on more pronounced nuances due to the traumas of racism and colonization"(65
Impoverished people have long been exploited, but the ghettos of the United States have been transformed into hot spots in which people are manipulated, used, and treated for less than they are worth. Kendrick Lamar emphasizes this unfortunate truth, as well as the transitioning
Davis stated that racism draws strength from the ability to encourage sexual coercion. Black women, who were rape victims, receive little sympathy from law enforcement and judges. Not only because of racism that has grown over time against black men, but black women as well. Since black men were categorized as rapist, black women were suggested to be loose and promiscuous. Since black women were suggested to be whores and sexual immoral, their cries of rape went unheard because they lack legitimacy in a society that believed men were provoked to acted in a natural way. Davis believes that the creation of the black rapist was used as a scapegoat in order to veil the true problem of black women being sexually assaulted by white men. A historical feature of racism is that white men, especially those with money and authority, possess an indisputable right to access a Black woman’s body. Davis also stated that the institution of lynching complimented by the rape of Black women became and essential ingredient of postwar strategy of racism. Lynching and the labeling of black men being rapist and raping black women for being promiscuous, both black men and women were able to be kept in check. By following the mainstream population, people fell into the trap of blaming the victim. Unfortunately a consequence was that blacks has to endure the punishment of lynching and black women were blamed for being victims of sexual
“African Americans were bought and sold like merchandise. Families split, babies were ripped away from their mother’s chest, and children were sold to masters wit...