Pre-Reading Week 4

It is generally acknowledged that people who are White have some advantages in U.S. society.  This is due to the fact that throughout history, society and all that exists within it has been constructed by and through the mindset of White elites throughout history.  The Constitution of the United States itself was formed by white elites and for their own advancement.  Likewise, this has been the same for most if not all aspects of our nation’s history.  This all links back to the idea of manifest destiny, or the idea that, in the nineteenth century, we as (white) Americans had the privilege and divine right to westward expansion and development of society.  Continuing off of this, there is also the idea of the White Man’s Burden that has formed out of this mode of thinking.  To the white man, it is his burden, as the superior race, to act as the authority figure because the other less civilized and inferior races are incompetent and incapable of governing themselves.  Ultimately, all of this white privilege goes back to the fact that this nation was created by white individuals for the betterment of their own (white) agendas.

"Racism changes over time, taking on different forms and serving different social purposes 

in different eras" (Lipsitz, 88)  

From various readings that I have been assigned, I have been introduced to the idea that social and political structures are largely based on the form of economy at the time, and how exploitation comes in forms that readily and easily permeate them.  In times of slavery in the United States, the economy was based heavily on agrarian means of production.  Land was of utmost priority, and much profit could be made from utilizing this land as a means of agricultural production.  Of course, with the tending of land comes the need for laborers to accomplish these tasks.  For the American plantation owner, this came in the form of slave labor from the African Slave Trade.  Racism was rampant and created a negative identity for all of the Africans that were forced here.  Over time, the nation started to become more and more industrialized; more mechanized and less dependent on any one individual worker’s skills.  It was in this period that exploitation for the laborer came in the form of lack of sufficient pay, working conditions, and hours.  All of this still relating to the idea of generating a surplus of wealth for the few while furthering the oppression of the masses. As we venture towards the society that exists today, we have done a great job of hiding these oppressive and exploitative aspects, but unfortunately allow them to remain in place.  Today we might not see the blatant racist acts that would have occurred during the period of slavery in the United States, but there still exists individual, institutional, and cultural racism in our society.  You only have to look at the assigned reading in this class to see a few of the exploitative measures that still exist in this nation today.   

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Post Reading Week 2

If i were to create my own definition of both race and ethnicity, I believe it would differ greatly from what we come to expect as one’s “race” in today’s society.  Throughout our whole lives we have been conditioned to think in certain ways and to adhere to a specific Western and Americanized perspective that is conveyed through the media.  Included in this is our perspective with regard to what race actually is.  As a whole, we come to identify race through physical characteristics and outward appearance.  This is where we get racial categories such as Hispanic, White, Asian, etc.  By adhering to such a standpoint, we create the idea that each one of these “races” is intrinsically different and separate from one another.  This is where the “biology of race” idea comes into place.  As human beings we feel compelled to categorize ourselves in order to create distinctions of similarity and dissimilarity within the general population.  What is inherently flawed with this view is that race is in fact not biological and that we as humans are essentially the same in nature.  We are all human beings composed of the same fundamental biological structures.  
With this, all human beings are considered to be of the same “race”.  We are all human, we all function in the same way, and all that separates us is physical appearance.  Of course one would find variety in physical appearances, so espousing race with humanity comes at no difficulty.  By seeing each other as human and intrinsically the same, we can then see each other as being this one universal Human race.  So my definition of race would be globalized and unifying in that it sees Humanity as “race”.  

So then, my definition of ethnicity would be one’s specific and cultural tendencies that arise in their character.  This definition allows for all of these concepts of being Asian, or African, or whatever label that you want to associate yourself with, but all under the notion that ultimately we are all intrinsically the same, that we are all human and equal.  

The biggest problem with the way that we see race today is the fact that associated with it are stereotypes, preconceived notions, and biases that skew the true nature of the beings that are being identified.  Alone, our conceptions of race are just classifications or categories for groups of people that exist.  Pure classification does no harm.  However, with classification we have associated  ideas of separation and superiority- inferiority complexes within the classification structure.  This is where elements of racism and oppression stem from.  If we are ever to break this oppressive structure of relation, we must begin to identify each other as equals.  Unfortunately, this is not the case.  
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Pre Reading Week 2

Branching off of my post reading post for week 1, I will continue discussing the influence of my High School history teacher.  A significant lesson that i remember from this teacher is the idea that race, in the way that we know it, is a socially manufactured construct.  What this means is that we, as human beings, have created a belief system that separates humans on the basis of looks, as in skin color.  As human beings are all equal and intrinsically the same, any classification of race is simply distinction that is based away from the principle that we are all human.  

By creating this idea of race, we create this idea that humans in general differ.  But what separates say an Asian person from a White person, other than their looks?  Science shows us that, other than the actual physical characteristics, there is nothing that separates one “race” from another.

The simple idea of racial distinction itself is not fundamentally bad; it is simply a system of classification based on the looks of a particular individual.  It isn’t until these distinctions give rise to the idea that one race is superior to another that the idea of race becomes problematic.  Such distinctions are what create racism and then lead to other forms of discrimination.  

Since we know that all races and groups of people are all human and in fact intrinsically the same, why does racism itself exist?  Why treat someone of another “race” any differently from how you would like to be treated?  I think that this problem is an example of how people still cannot comprehend that we as human beings are all the same and that we should work towards a society that is designed to benefit all that live within it.  

If you would ask me if people have ever gotten my race wrong then i would have to reply yes.  Since I look predominantly Asian, people often identify me as another Asian student among the rest of the crowd.  However, what people don’t often expect is that not only am I half Filipino, but that I’m also half Mexican.  I think this idea alone shows how race is a debased form of distinction with regard to human beings; judging someone based solely on their looks doesn’t always amount to the truth of the matter.

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Post Reading Week 1

The students and faculty who protested against their own administration in 1968 were fighting for an end to racial discrimination and bias in academics.  In a white dominated society, students who belonged to various “minority” groups felt that they were not learning things in school that pertained to their own cultures and lives.  Upset by this lack of academic equality, students challenged their administration to offer courses and programs that would allow for greater equality in education with regard to non-whites.  They achieved a great step towards their end goal when, after holding one of the longest student strikes in United States history, the protesters managed to get the university to create a College of Ethnic studies.  

Monteiro argues that traditional history classes would actually be outlawed under HB 2281 because they 'primarily teach the history of white people and white studies'.  I would agree with this statement based on the kind of education that I have received throughout my academic career.  

Schools have always had various standards with regard to what should be taught in schools, standards that base themselves on ideals of a white dominated society.  The result is an education system that better adheres to a white perspective.  In turn, this education creates students that see history from the same perspective, perpetuating white influence and dominance in society.   

Before a high school teacher of mine taught us about all of these problems and how they still affect many Americans today, I unquestionably learned the historical perspective that we have all been designed to adhere to.  From this High School teacher I learned that, quite often, the truth to histories taught in schools is either skewed or even outright dismissed.  As I have said in class, what is often represented is a “glorified” version of the past that hides certain truths to uphold a more positive image of white history.  An example that exemplifies this idea is the topic of slavery in the United States.  Most often, the typical high school history class will go over the topic of slavery, discuss the idea that yes, whites once owned slaves and that this segment of history is negative, but hardly is this history done justice with regard to conveying how brutally oppressive this time period was.  What we end up learning is the version of history that represents the actions of whites in as positive a way as can be.  Since this is the type of history that is always represented to us, then, under HB2281, these classes would also be outlawed for their focus on a single ethnic group’s perspective.  
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