Archive for March, 2010
What About Multiracial People?
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010posted by Sam Richards
How Can We Ever “Win”?
Wednesday, March 31st, 2010posted by Sam Richards
These are great questions. Let me be clear about what I was trying to say so as to make sure that you respond to what is cool about the questions — because they’re great questions.
As to the LLBean photos, at issue is that if you’re in the Immersion Stage as a person of color, then those people of color in the LLBean catalog are “questionable” people of color. In other words, you’re going to feel some kind of way about the ways in which they’re blending into the “majority society” (i.e., white society). And you’re going to critique them by saying things like, “They’ve been whitewashed” or “They’re acting white,” etc. In essence, you’re going to laugh at THAT depiction of blackness or brownness. If you don’t think that when viewing these photos, then you’re likely not in the Immersion stage.
As to Jesse Jackson, returning to one’s roots is simply indicative of the “Pseudo Communitarian” stage. If you feel no special pull toward your own roots and instead choose to follow any path that is calling to you, then it’s an indication that perhaps you’ve moved on to the Humanitarian stage.
Nothing About the Census is Easy
Monday, March 29th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
Amazing how people are confused about racial and ethnic categories and don’t understand the meaning about certain categories and words. Everyone is offended. “I’m offended…dammit!” Enough already. Here’s the issue from the perspective of the Census people. There are lots of older black Americans who call themselves “negro” and will be confused if that term is not on the Census. People writing the Census are not idiots; they’ve done an incredible amount of preparation for these questions and no matter what they do, there will be confusion. They know this.
On the other hand, there are lots of people who understand that when the term was used as a descriptor for black Americans, it was when black Americans were disparaged and hated–and so the term is somewhat derogatory when used today.
But many older black people assume that they are “negroes” in the eyes of the government and will look for THAT term on the Census. If it’s not there, they’ll be confused and not mark anything. We know this; the Census people know this. Unfortunately, the people who are offended don’t realize this and assume that the Census people who wrote the question are idiots. Wait until they find out that millions of dollars went into testing that survey instrument…
The White Minorities
Sunday, March 28th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
So globalization is bringing about some profound changes as the United States makes the final turn onto the home stretch toward a truly multicultural society. We’ve long predicted that white people will become a minority group by mid century (around 2050), but this is the first real marker on that journey–their children are soon to be in minority status.
It doesn’t really matter, mind you, and I’m sure that most people reading this are wondering why it’s being reported on at all. So what is the big deal? Do you feel some sort of way about this? White people…do you feel even a twinge of concern, as though you’ll be forgotten and soon holding the short end of the stick? People of color…do you feel a tiny bit emboldened at the thought that one day people like you will be holding most of the levers of control? From within the dialogue about race and ethnic relations, this is a major issue and one that will surely reflect and change how we get on with one another down the road. Transformation happens…
Read the article: Births to Minorities Are Approaching Majority in U.S.
Those Dolls Say Alot About Who We Are
Friday, March 26th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
So I’m curious about what you all thought of that video about the dolls. What do you make of how people in class answered the question about how and why this happens? Here it is again. That segment begins around 3:20 if you want to watch it again.
Flip the Script for a Moment
Friday, March 26th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
So what if we flip the script on this gender issue and show how it plays out with race? Imagine that black and brown people sit on the back of buses and use separate drinking fountains and so on…and we just don’t discuss it. “I’m not comfortable discussing that because it’s just the way it is. THERE ARE JUST SOME THINGS THAT WE SHOULD NOT DISCUSS.” Of course, this is exactly what people said for decades…upon decades…
Imagine how you’d feel if you saw it differently and thought that we really should discuss that race issue. And then anyone who brought it up was considered to be butting his or her head into places where it didn’t belong…or worse yet, complaining about something that isn’t going to change. “Why do you have to discuss that. It’s not polite. Everything is fine.”
This is one way that this “28 day cycle issue” fits with the race issue, by the way.
AND, it’s a perfect example of ethnocentrism — of our inability to step outside of our own shoes and see the world in a different way, through someone else’s experience. Remember, ETHNOCENTRISM = THAT’S JUST THE WAY IT IS. So when that’s your argument, you are in questionable territory.
Why do I say this? Because if it wasn’t that way, then the class would’ve been bored stiff when I brought up the issue. However, most of you weren’t bored at all but, rather, opinionated and emotionally charged.
And it seems to me that when we’re truly resistant to thinking about something, that is the very moment that we ought to really consider it. Maybe the Tea Party people are right and we really do need some sort of a major upheaval in the United States. And maybe abortion is murder. And then, maybe life does not begin at conception.
Remember that I “woke up” when I was twenty years old after enough people pointed out contradictions about things that I faced every day but did not see — because I was a fish in the water that was my own culture. Crazy how that is. And once I woke up I could not stop asking questions…and I still cannot stop. That’s why I teach. I’m just trying to answer those damn questions.
In Her Own Words
Thursday, March 25th, 2010posted by Sam Richards
Coincidentally, Laurie was in a play tonight where SHE talked about bleeding. By the way, that’s her word, not mine.
What are all of you thinking about Asians?
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
If men could menstruate…
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
What’s the big deal with periods?
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Native Hawaiians. Ever think of them?
Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Here’s one of those issues that we rarely ever heard discussed in this part of the United States. In fact, I’m not even sure how would it might come about that anyone would ever consider reading about the history of Hawaii and the people who lived there long before some guy named “Dole” was given the power to make decisions about their fate. In the event that you end up one day visiting those islands to walk their “pristine” beaches, this might be worth having in the back of your mind.
Read the article: “Native Hawaiian Government May Become Reality”
Is this just a few bad apples?
Sunday, March 21st, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
I don’t know how many people have been paying attention to the so-called “Tea Party” protests, but some of these folks are really off the hook. Signs portraying Obama as a Nazi are within the boundaries of “acceptable protest” over the past twenty years — as both Clinton and Bush were regularly depicted as Hitler with the little mustache below the nose. This doesn’t make those protesting appear level-headed, but people on both the right and the left use the image when they think that it serves their cause. But the racism and anti gay bigotry are unique to some folks in the Tea Party movement. I say “some” because I am certain that most people who support the movement condemn calling Rep. John Lewis the n-bomb and Rep. Barney Frank the f-bomb. That’s raw.
And how about the message in the above photo. The people holding these signs are threatening violence against elected officials. At what point is THAT a crime? These are some crazy times.
Check out this article. It’s from the Huffington Post, a well known left-leaning news source/blog. However, I’ve searched around on the web and the stories noted here are validated by a wide range of sources. I’m using this Huffington Post version of the story because it’s actually the most comprehensive. Read the article: “Tea Party Protestors Shout at Members of Congress”
What to do about “white guilt”
Thursday, March 18th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
This question is getting at the issue of white guilt. If past history of discussing this issue offers any clues about how people will respond, most white people will say that they don’t feel guilty, that it’s silly to feel guilty. And I respond to that by saying that most of these white people are missing the point of white guilt, that a deeply rooted shame for past history exists in most white people. Remember the example of walking through a Native American reservation…and not take this example and walk through other communities with a full understanding of their history. What I’ve experienced is that white people have an inner sense that things went really wrong in the past, and that there are lingering affects of those wrongs still with us today–although they cannot readily articulate what those are. Anyway, this is an interesting questions about how we might move beyond white guilt if we just talking about things more openly…
Does this rudeness thing cut both ways?
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
What happens to multiracial people?
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Is anyone else getting this stuff?
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
I’m not sure if people realize that Laurie wrote this book while sitting through hundreds of SOC 119 discussion groups each year a while back. Because she was the supervisor for the TAs she couldn’t speak and respond to different things that people would say–both white students and students of color. So I encouraged her to put her thoughts down in writing so that I could use them in class. The book very much focuses on “race relations” and not inequality and social justice and the like.
I Reckon She Can Hit
Saturday, March 13th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
You’ll have a great many thoughts about this woman that will likely start to shift right around the 2:30 minute point in the video. Clearly this woman can not be easily characterized by the demeanor that mostly comes off throughout this interview — shy, sweet, bookish, friendly, and a little bit self-deprecating. There’s another side to her that probably only emerges when she puts on the pads. I’m curious about what others think about her new job and who she is and what she can (most certainly) do — which is probably dish out some pain.
Prom or No Prom: Just Don’t Let the Queer Students Dance Together
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Michael McMillen, Constance McMillen's father, expresses his support of his daughter
Imagine canceling a prom so that a lesbian couple won’t attend. That’s so 1990s. And now this is the 21st century and life is quickly passing by the adults who stand looking backward to a time when things were so easy–before someone opened the closet doors. And yes, we’re living in a new world with new rules and new couplings…and young people who will show us once and for all that love knows no boundaries.
Read the article: Lesbian Teen in Prom Flap
The World is Full of Surprises
Thursday, March 11th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
So it seems as though history has many strange twists and turns that remain to be discovered and challenged. This is the story of a very curious process of a culture retaining its sociological structure over the course of many, many centuries. How this happened is as close to an ongoing miracle as anything that I could imagine.
Read the article: Lost Jewish Tribe Found in Zimbabwe
This Is Getting to Be Too Much
Friday, March 5th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Really, this is getting out of hand and needs to stop. Not sure how or why so many people have taken it upon themselves to be such rat heads. But silly actions seem to build upon other silly actions and soon enough there is a mess to clean up. And then when the black and brown people jump into the mix, it really get’s complicated. I love how one or two people become the spokespeople for an entire group, as you’ll see in the video below. That’s very much a dead end to any conversation and dialogue.
Here’s an article that pretty well sums up what has been happening out in California: “California Campus Sees Uneasy Race Relations”
Fired for a Scarf
Friday, March 5th, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
This is rather troubling story and all the worse because this young woman was hired with the agreement that she would be wearing her head scarf while at work. While we haven’t heard from the company spokespeople, aside from the letter from which they quoted in the story, it doesn’t seem as though this fired employee was not doing her job. Hmm…
Are Whites the Only People Willing to Humiliate Themselves?
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010Posted by Sam Richards
Frankly, it’s odd that in this world where most of us want to be more multicultural than we are that we don’t see lots of race/culture mixing on a show such as this. Maybe it happens on other shows…I certainly don’t know. But that it doesn’t happen on this one is odd. I wonder if this particular show caters to an slightly older (read: set in their ethnocentric ways) crowd of viewers.
