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From the day we are born till the day we die, we are put into categories based on our parents and our race. Latinos don’t finish high school and they become gardeners, janitors, and waitresses; white people become politicians and lawyers; Asians become doctors or scientists who discover new cures for diseases; African Americans, they become the next gang member, or just another life lost to gang violence. Many people have come up to my parents and asked if my siblings and I are good at sports. They just automatically assume that because we are of darker skin that the only thing we are good at is sports. Just recently I watched ‘Southside With You’ the movie on how former President Obama met his wife Michelle. In that movie, Michelle said something
One of Beverly Tatum's major topics of discussion is racial identity. Racial identity is the meaning each of us has constructed or is constructing about what it means to be a white person or a person of color in a race-conscious society. (Tatum, pp Xvii) She talks about how many parents hesitate to talk to their children about racism because of embarrassment and the awkwardness of the subject. I agree with her when she says that parents don't want to talk about racism when they don't see a problem. They don't want to create fear or racism where none may exist. It is touchy subject because if not gone about right, you can perhaps steer someone the wrong way. Another theory she has on racial identity is that other people are the mirror in which we see ourselves. (tatum pp18) 'The parts of our identity that do capture our attention are those that other people notice, and that reflects back to us.'; (Tatum pp21) What she means by this is that what other people tell us we are like is what we believe. If you are told you are stupid enough you might start to question your intelligence. When people are searching for their identity normally the questions 'who am I now?'; 'Who was I before?'; and 'who will I become'; are the first that come to mind. When a person starts to answer these questions their answers will influence their beliefs, type of work, where they may live, partners, as well as morals. She also mentions an experiment where she asked her students to describe themselves in sixty seconds. Most used descriptive words like friendly, shy, intelligent, but students of color usually state there racial or ethnic group, while white students rarely, if ever mention that they are white. Women usually mention that they are female while males usually don't think to say that they are males. The same situation appeared to take place when the topic of religious beliefs came up. The Jewish students mentioned being Je...
Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless knapsack of special provisions, assurances, tools, maps, guides, codebooks, passports, visas, clothes, compass, emergency gear, and blank checks” (71). All these objects listed by McIntosh are things I have access to and certainly take for granted. Due to a history of non-white racial oppression, which transformed into decades of racial discrimination that still lingers today, the white race has dominated our society in terms of resources and prosperity. The ideas of wealth, higher-level education and ambition to succeed are all traits commonly linked to people of the white race that collectively define privilege. The aspect of privilege can also produce disadvantages for people of the white race as well. In the book Promoting Diversity and Justice, the author D. Goodman notes that people of advantage groups develop a sense of superiority, which will sometimes lead them to wonder if, “their achievements were based on privilege or merit” (107). Along with a diminished sense of accomplishment, the cost ...
Migration is becoming a very important subject for the big cities’ life. Educational, social, cultural and financial opportunities of big cities pull large numbers of people to big cities. Los Angeles is home to representatives from more than 140 countries speaking at least 224 different languages. Lots of people move there for a better quality of life and job. The city is the second in the U.S. after Miami's share of the population born outside the country. So, there can be some advantages and disadvantages during immigration to LA.
In this world we are constantly being categorized by our race and ethnicity, and for many people it’s hard to look beyond that. Even though in the past many stood up for equality and to stop racism and discrimination, it still occurs. In this nation of freedom and equality, there are still many people who believe that their race is superior to others. These beliefs are the ones that destroy our nation and affect the lives of many. The people affected are not limited by their age group, sex, social status, or by their education level.
Living in a world where African Americans are judged because of their skin color, while whites are passed by with no other thought is confusing. What do people think when they see me? I am biracial, and because of this, I’ve faced the struggle of having to explain my races to those who can’t tell, or just make an incorrect assumption. It’s not a bad thing, having two races and two cultures, because I’ve been open to multiple traditions my entire life, but sometimes it’s hard not being considered a whole person because I’m not considered one race or the other. Being biracial has shaped my life experience and the way I see the world in countless ways.
Latinos have struggled to discover their place inside of a white America for too many years. Past stereotypes and across racism they have fought to belong. Still America is unwilling to open her arms to them. Instead she demands assimilation. With her pot full of stew she asks, "What flavor will you add to this brew?" Some question, some rebel, and others climb in. I argue that it is not the Latino who willingly agreed to partake in this stew. It is America who forced her ideals upon them through mass media and stale history. However her effort has failed, for they have refused to melt.
It has always been thought that racism is a taught and learned behavior, however this chapter provided evidence otherwise. White parents often try to make their child “color-blind” by not discussing race. They do this in hopes that if it is not made into a big deal, children will not focus on it. However, just because parents do not talk about it does not mean children do not recognize different races. When a parent does not discuss race, the child is left to their own observations to make assumptions about race. Developmentally, children use a single characteristic to categorize things around them into groups. This aids children in understanding and learning about the world around them. For parents who avoid the topic of race, this innate tendency to group people becomes problematic because differences in race are
I have always been taught that just because someone has a different skin color does not mean that they are different, they can do just about anything and everything anyone else can. The society that I grew up in helped me make that social aspect. For example, Du Bois was not allowed to eat or room with white sociologists and yet the only difference between him and other sociologist was the skin color. (Henslin 2015)
Many people were forced to immigrate to safer places fleeing war or conflict to save their lives in their countries. For instance, the events in Ivory Coast where the conflict forced more than one million people to flee to different nations. Some immigrants were brought to the new land against their will whereby they were shipped to America as slaves to work on the farms. Moreover, some people fled their countries because of poor governance. Those governments that were not ruling to the interest of the people or treated them in groups as a result of ethnicity, political opinion or religion made them immigrate to U.S. For instance, more than one million people fled Burma because of poor governance from the military that treated them differently
I was raised in the suburbs of Atlanta. My father was a black foreign man living in the south. The issue of race was always hovering. My mother, on the other hand, is extremely pale, but is of mixed descent. I can recall countless conversations with strangers when I was young and out with one parent, laughing and saying “Oh, your mom must be white,” or “You’re dad is black, right?” I’d just smile and nod, not thinking much of it.
While being a minority there is one mantra one must come to know: “be twice as good”. Most parents teach their kids to be their best but, when you are a minority this is not the case. You are taught to be twice as good; twice as smart, twice as dependable, twice as talented. As a minority in America, one must work twice as hard just to get half as far as our caucasian peers because the playing field is in this country is still not equal. Michelle Obama said, “The road ahead is not going to be easy. It never is, especially for folks like you and me. Because while we’ve come so far, the truth is that those age-old problems are stubborn and they haven’t fully gone away.”
By the year 2044, white Americans are expected to become a minority. Nevertheless, many Americans treat the current minorities in the U.S. like they are such a little part of our population. Even though civil rights are a large part of America, racism is still a major issue in the U.S.A., though chances are, you don’t see it in children. Children are not born disliking specific people or skin colors or thinking they are smarter than someone with a different hair color, but rather, are taught that certain people are less intelligent or friendly than others. After watching “Brown Eyes Blue Eyes” this idea is supported even more.
There is no denying that there are different skin colors and physical characteristics of people around the globe and common phenotypes among groups of similar descent. But unlike elements of nature and biology, race cannot exist without people, collectively, establishing and accepting it as a reality. Contrary to popular thinking, race isn’t defined by one’s skin color or phenotypes, but rather how society ranks and categorize people with particular skin colors or phenotypes. Ashley Crossman stipulates that “race and racial categories are social constructs that are unstable and shifting, and [that] can be seen to have changed over time in relation to historical and political events... and defined in large part by context.” The views of a particular “race” can vary by time period and location. Race is in no way objective - the fact that Crossman states that the term “Black” means one thing in the United States, another in India, and has an entirely different connotation in Brazil amplifies the notion that race has no concrete premise, but is subjective to the culture and dominant group of any given society. [In addition, there is a common misconception that all people of a given race share a culture; but it isn’t the biological aspects like skin color or physical features that determines said culture, rather it is the common history and region of descent that contributes to a lifestyle and its
Even in our preschool years, we are exposed to misinformation about people different from ourselves.” From an early age, we start to pick up certain stereotypes of different races other than our own. We over hear these stereotypes from everywhere. Being in such a diverse environment and having attended very diverse school’s I am aware of all the different stereotypes but I learned to not judge anyone based on what is said about them. People who do not live in a culturally diverse area may be ethnocentric. Tatum also suggests that “the unexamined prejudices of the parents are passed on to the children. It is not our fault, but it Is our responsibility to interrupt this cycle.” Prejudices of other races based on what your family believes is something that should not be carried on because it is ignorant to assume certain things about someone’s race that you may in reality know nothing about. I agree with this quote because every race in some way will almost always feel superior to another race. Instead of feeling this sense of ethnocentrism and agreeing with the prejudices that were told from our generations we should be more open to learning about other races. What drew my attention reading Tatum’s first chapter was the fact that she addressed stereotype and
I believe that everyone is it individual but because of the society we are in we have to fill that we have to promote the stereotypes but for us to keep his ideas of who we are supposed to be in their eyes. It's something because I was tall for my age for example and I was black I had to be able to play basketball at volleyball. Sometimes I would feel uncomfortable saying yes that's what I play because I know that they probably assume this because they assume that all tall people play sports or if you because you're black you have to play a sport because if you don't does that make me any less black? Or for the fact that I was raised around mostly white people and went to the predominately white schools people assume that's the only reason why am able to speak as clearly and intelligently as possible and highly doubt that I am able to speak Ebonics. or whatever slang that is popular in American dialect. But things like that shape the way in which I conduct myself because the color of my skin tone the way in which I carry myself whether I'm in academic environment , professional environment in front of friends are family. With each of these groups there is a seemingly seamless changing hats to match the area.