I think two better questions to ask on the US Census would be:
1)How do you ethnically identify? This section would be fill in the blank.
and
2) What is your ethnic background. This section would be have boxes that could be checked, such as Irish, Ethiopian, Russia, Chinese, ect. However, it would also have a fill in the blank section. It would also allow for more than one box to be checked, since most people do not have one single source of ethnic background.
Regardless, the Census we saw in class is not helpful. The fact that there were simply one box for Caucasian and one for African American, but multiple boxes for those of Asian and Hispanic descent shows bias. And the fact that they didn't even list anything for Middle East descent is another major error.
Side Note: Sorry if this post is a bit late. I'm home for the weekend and my internet was out for most of the day.
Class blog for SUNY Fredonia HIST/WOST 359, Meeting TR 3:30-4:50 p.m., Spring 2011. Taught by professor Jeffry J. Iovannone.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Vagina Monologues-Erin Goldberg Post 5
I was able to go to the Vagina Monologues last night and was really impressed with the show that this years cast put on. Not only are many of the monologues humorous, but more importantly, some make you stop and think about the serious aspects of being a woman. I've been to the show my past three years at Fredonia and every year there is something new to appreciate about the show. Not only do I think that it's fantastic that our school is able to put on a show like this, but I also think it is important to spread the message of stopping violence against women. Like we talked about in class, ethnicity and race make each person's life experience difference, and this also applies to gender as well. Women, regardless of race and ethnicity, however, can come together and tell their stories.
Salad Bowl Theory - Pilar Nelson Post#6
I think the salad bowl theory is a better way of explaining the diversity and differences in America. I can see why people may not like this because as a kid or even an individual we may not like certain things in our salad. For example, I may not like tomatoes or onions or salads period. But I agree that we need to tell the children something. Telling them the truth is way too much for them to handle at that age. Children should just be children and enjoy their life while they are young. I wish I can go back to when I was a kid. I would have done a lot of things differently, just because of the fact that I had to grow up fast. One of my deepest regrets, was growing up too early and discovering how cruel the world can be. Again, if I could go back I would do things differently. So maybe the salad bowl theory may not be the correct way of explaining ethnicity and race in America, but I rather say that until a better theory comes along.
Vagina Monologues - Pilar #5
I went to the show tonight, not just because our professor was giving us extra credit for going and writing a blog about the show, but because some of my friends was in it and I heard so much talk about it. So I had to go to show support and see for myself why the show was so popular. And trust me when I tell you, that the show was amazing. Our foellow classmate Kim did a wonderful job of hosting. At end, when she ask everyone who had been a vitcim of abuse, know somebody who has and/or was committed to stopping abuse especially among women, then busted out into tears it completely touch my heart. And if she is reading this, I want to tell her thank you to her and everyone else that was involve in the show for that. I truely discover that it was ok as women to express myself and talk about any issues of abuse that I experience in my past. It was an amazing show and I really will love to be apart of it next year!......It was worth every dollar and more!
Marger Chpt. 5
Marger, Chapter 5
The whole idea of racial and ethnic classification has always been of special interest to me in that I find it sadly comical. Supposedly, it was a means for the federal government to monitor and enforce civil rights legislation. Since then (977), every agency, corporation, and institution has adopted the listed categories.
The very existence and inaccuracy of the categories have done everything but support civil rights. It has done nothing more than pigeon hole people into groups based on how they look.
Marger does state the familiar racial-ethnic categories no longer make much sense (if they ever did) in classifying people, especially American society. The truest part of that sentence is the ‘if they ever did’ part. Well, no they didn’t, still don’t, and never will.
Although Marger points out that the categories have further confounded and added greater confusion….do they actually believe that coming up with an added classification (mixed race) will make for better relations? Give me a break! As he states that it does imply that there are pure races, I bet anything that our illustrious government will indeed add that category. Remember, it’s their way of controlling and tracking. The mix is way too mixed up. It’s become too much work. So, it will be the recognized five categories and everybody else will have to be dumped in the mixed race bucket! Gee, what flavors will our salad be then or will it change to stew?!
S. Ramos, Post #6
The whole idea of racial and ethnic classification has always been of special interest to me in that I find it sadly comical. Supposedly, it was a means for the federal government to monitor and enforce civil rights legislation. Since then (977), every agency, corporation, and institution has adopted the listed categories.
The very existence and inaccuracy of the categories have done everything but support civil rights. It has done nothing more than pigeon hole people into groups based on how they look.
Marger does state the familiar racial-ethnic categories no longer make much sense (if they ever did) in classifying people, especially American society. The truest part of that sentence is the ‘if they ever did’ part. Well, no they didn’t, still don’t, and never will.
Although Marger points out that the categories have further confounded and added greater confusion….do they actually believe that coming up with an added classification (mixed race) will make for better relations? Give me a break! As he states that it does imply that there are pure races, I bet anything that our illustrious government will indeed add that category. Remember, it’s their way of controlling and tracking. The mix is way too mixed up. It’s become too much work. So, it will be the recognized five categories and everybody else will have to be dumped in the mixed race bucket! Gee, what flavors will our salad be then or will it change to stew?!
S. Ramos, Post #6
Alaysia- Assignment 7 (VAGINAS)
VAGINA monologues were great. I didn't go because of the credit that I could get for this class. I went in support of VAGINAS and because a number of my friends were performing in it.
Other than feeling like I was at a feminist rally, I was so happy that they sold out each night and spread the word on VAGINAS and how important they really are. All of the stories spoken of tonight were all familiar to me in one way or another. I wish all of campus was able to experience the performances because they would touch everyone's lives and help people to understand what us girls go through. Through that, there would be more appreciation and respect for women and their VAGINAS.
Other than feeling like I was at a feminist rally, I was so happy that they sold out each night and spread the word on VAGINAS and how important they really are. All of the stories spoken of tonight were all familiar to me in one way or another. I wish all of campus was able to experience the performances because they would touch everyone's lives and help people to understand what us girls go through. Through that, there would be more appreciation and respect for women and their VAGINAS.
Assimilation/Pluralism
Assimilation/Pluralism
Melting pot, salad, tasty salad, big tossed salad, who cares? Better yet, why should we care? Those are only labels put into place by the dominant group to make it appear that we are one beautiful harmonious mosaic. Well, we are, minus the harmonious! Be careful though! The real message is to stress and maintain the differences. Not because they are interested in preserving the cultural heritages of the subordinates (cultural differences within society are valuable), but to maintain the dominant position. Think about it! Why do people need to be taught that they are different from one another? Can we not see each other? Are we incapable of relating to each other without first stressing how different we are? Then, there is always the question of which is better? Who comes first in terms of goods and services? Why do those positions become so important?
Supposedly, life in the big salad bowl is improving. Now, we are also taught tolerance. Ain’t that a hoot? In school, I was taught about the melting pot, just that it existed and to keep it in mind. The why and tolerance wasn’t mentioned. My childhood innocence naturally assumed it. As someone else in class stated, I grew up and got pissed off. I learned that we hate each other’s differences with an unbridled passion. In reality, the melting pot doesn’t represent a beautiful anything. And now that it’s been retitled ‘salad bowl’ to sound more accepting and even includes tolerance. Wow! Imagine how pissed off the next generations will be when they finally realize the lies they’ve been taught. Heck, they’re already rebelling! This dominant and subordinate thing will always stand in the way and mess up the mix.
S. Ramos, Post # 5
Melting pot, salad, tasty salad, big tossed salad, who cares? Better yet, why should we care? Those are only labels put into place by the dominant group to make it appear that we are one beautiful harmonious mosaic. Well, we are, minus the harmonious! Be careful though! The real message is to stress and maintain the differences. Not because they are interested in preserving the cultural heritages of the subordinates (cultural differences within society are valuable), but to maintain the dominant position. Think about it! Why do people need to be taught that they are different from one another? Can we not see each other? Are we incapable of relating to each other without first stressing how different we are? Then, there is always the question of which is better? Who comes first in terms of goods and services? Why do those positions become so important?
Supposedly, life in the big salad bowl is improving. Now, we are also taught tolerance. Ain’t that a hoot? In school, I was taught about the melting pot, just that it existed and to keep it in mind. The why and tolerance wasn’t mentioned. My childhood innocence naturally assumed it. As someone else in class stated, I grew up and got pissed off. I learned that we hate each other’s differences with an unbridled passion. In reality, the melting pot doesn’t represent a beautiful anything. And now that it’s been retitled ‘salad bowl’ to sound more accepting and even includes tolerance. Wow! Imagine how pissed off the next generations will be when they finally realize the lies they’ve been taught. Heck, they’re already rebelling! This dominant and subordinate thing will always stand in the way and mess up the mix.
S. Ramos, Post # 5
Kyle Stern Post 6
After class on Thursday, I sat down and looked at the 2010 Census, just trying to wrap my mind around the idea of how we have created this classification system. I mean for instance, ethnicity is not simply one or everything else. Ethnicities can be broken down to even more ethnicities. For example, members of the Jewish ethnicity can break down to additional ethnicities based on the origin whether it is Western Europe, Eastern Europe or Middle East. That is a fairly simple example though, as we recognized in class Asian's are able to be broken down into many differing ethnicities, which can then be broken down even further. After looking at this sheet of paper for probably more minutes than it was worth, I decided that the census needs to have questions 8 and 9 done away with, or revamped to either being a I am _________ for both ethnicity or race or a very large section of check boxes, which ever the government will be easier to handle, I am all for ease.
The Perfect Mixture
Andrea Burns post 6
In class we've discussing the ideas of which is a better model to teach to children: the melting pot or the salad bowl. The original thought of America being a melting pot is now seen to be an indication of our country's determination for everyone to assimilate to one way of life, everyone "melting" into one. However this model doesn't embrace the differences and uniqueness in people. It expects everyone to conform to one. Not really the best way to teach children about diversity. The newer model of the salad bowl works to try to correct some of these issues since every piece of a salad is different, yet works together to compose one good product. Because of this, it seems to be a better metaphor since it represents the uniqueness to each part. However, look a little closer at your own salad. What you like in a salad is not necessarily the same as what your friend's perfect salad would be. One piece is not necessarily needed in everyone's to complete the whole. This causes problems since it can lead to racism and exclusion since a salad allows you to leave out or pick around what you don't like. Canada seems to have the current best idea with their cultural mosaic model. A mosaic is a decoration made of colored pieces of glass all put together. The end product is beautiful. Without one piece, it wouldn't look right. It represents both assimilation and multiculturalism. The assimilation would be shown through the beauty of the mosaic as a whole, while the multiculturalism is shown through the each individual pieces each still containing their own individual features.
In class we've discussing the ideas of which is a better model to teach to children: the melting pot or the salad bowl. The original thought of America being a melting pot is now seen to be an indication of our country's determination for everyone to assimilate to one way of life, everyone "melting" into one. However this model doesn't embrace the differences and uniqueness in people. It expects everyone to conform to one. Not really the best way to teach children about diversity. The newer model of the salad bowl works to try to correct some of these issues since every piece of a salad is different, yet works together to compose one good product. Because of this, it seems to be a better metaphor since it represents the uniqueness to each part. However, look a little closer at your own salad. What you like in a salad is not necessarily the same as what your friend's perfect salad would be. One piece is not necessarily needed in everyone's to complete the whole. This causes problems since it can lead to racism and exclusion since a salad allows you to leave out or pick around what you don't like. Canada seems to have the current best idea with their cultural mosaic model. A mosaic is a decoration made of colored pieces of glass all put together. The end product is beautiful. Without one piece, it wouldn't look right. It represents both assimilation and multiculturalism. The assimilation would be shown through the beauty of the mosaic as a whole, while the multiculturalism is shown through the each individual pieces each still containing their own individual features.
Census
I think the the 2010 is ridiculous. I don't like how you are only allowed to check on box for your race. It isn't fair to people who are associate with mixed races. It leads to an inaccurate measurement of ethnic makeup in the country. It just irritates me that out country collects false information This leads to new polls being terribly inaccurate. It also leads to unnecessary political debates. We should be more tolerant to people of multiple ethnicity's.
Comedy and Race: Triumph and Epic Failure
As much as it may pain me to admit, I have watched the comedy of Carlos Mencia. I find it to be horrible, and what is more, it has been stolen from various other bad comics (and some good ones). I don't feel as though his constant stereotyping of Latino(a)s is productive or respectful. By consistently making jokes that stereotype a certain race, we are left with stale, overused comedy that does nothing but set back an entire race of people.
Chris Rock, on the other hand, while he might stereotype, is consistent in his description of the hardships that his race faces while being politically and practically poignant. The difference lies with the way those differences are perceived. Stereotyping Mexicans as lazy and dirty as Carlos Mencia so often did (before he was caught ripping off other comics and his career died), is only going to fuel anti-Latino sentiments. Chris Rock spoke passionately (and hilariously) about his plan to increase the price of bullets and how that would truly reduce the crime within the African American community. (See Below)
My point is that there is a very fine line between appropriate and inappropriate when it comes to utilizing race in comedy. Rock, Pryor, Red Foxx=Good Carlos Mencia=Worse than boxed wine and hot dogs.
Chris Rock, on the other hand, while he might stereotype, is consistent in his description of the hardships that his race faces while being politically and practically poignant. The difference lies with the way those differences are perceived. Stereotyping Mexicans as lazy and dirty as Carlos Mencia so often did (before he was caught ripping off other comics and his career died), is only going to fuel anti-Latino sentiments. Chris Rock spoke passionately (and hilariously) about his plan to increase the price of bullets and how that would truly reduce the crime within the African American community. (See Below)
My point is that there is a very fine line between appropriate and inappropriate when it comes to utilizing race in comedy. Rock, Pryor, Red Foxx=Good Carlos Mencia=Worse than boxed wine and hot dogs.
Marcus Anderson Post 7 Change
Drawing off what were discussing in class form the other day, I just want to say that there is alot that is terribly wrong with the 2010 census. In my opinion, I think that the fact that race is on the thing makes it silly. One thing that I can't get over is the use of "Negro" in the census. I'm not just singling out the wrongful use of that identification, but along with the many others that we discussed. I just want to take the time to say that I am really enjoying all of our discussions that are going on within the class. I believe that through identifying these things which we believe to be incorrect, we can be agents of change. I ejoyed our discussion so much, I am preparing call the census people and ask them a few questions of my own. I believe that as we identify what is wrong, and act on the situation.. we can bring about change for the positive. But I just might have a response form the census people soon i'll keep you posted.
Marcus Anderson Post 6 article
Go to rr.com and search white men can't root. Sorry, ahving trouble copying and pasting the link.
Order or Conflict?
The other day we read about the two different theories of ethnic relations. There is the order theory, in which the society is a balanced system and there's the conflict theory, in which the society's held together by the power of the dominate group. When looking at our society I would say we seem more like the conflict theory's idea of a society . To me it doesn't seem that we have a balanced system within our society where everyone has an equal opportunity for success. I would say that the members of the dominate group has advantages over the rest of the population. Although the order theory sounds ideal, I don't think our society is quite that way but hopefully we can keep working towards a society that fully backs the order theory.
Ashley Allen, Post 6
Ashley Allen, Post 6
Marcus Anderson Post 6, Race in sports
So, I just read an article that has to do with the NBA and race. According to this article, the author is trying to give the message that the White fan base in the NBA is dwindling down to almost nothing. The reason for this according to the author is because of the 75 percent of African American players who are made up of the NBA players. In other words, white people don't watch the NBA because there are too many "black players". He claims that the white fan base is about 10 percent. In my personal opinion, I believe that the article is silly. I don't think that race has anything to do with the fan base of certain races especially when it comes to the NBA. The NBA provides equal opportunity for all race and backgrounds. I just think that people just might not find basketball all that interesting as it once was. I bet if you ask 1,000 random people who Michael Jordan is, they would be able to tell you in a heart beat. In the days of Michael Jordan and the Bulls, basketball was the "it thing". I believe that in today's times, hockey, soccer, and other sports are the "it things" that people of all walks of like are drawn to. I think the article overplayed the fact that in the NBA 75 percent of the players are African American. I believe our society seeks "great entertainment" and excitement. You can be the judge for yourself though by looking at the article.
The Melting Pot: Our Duty?
Many people are under the impression that eventually there will be no race. By this, it is implied that we are headed towards a world of slightly tan people everywhere. This would be accomplished by mixing every race for many generations so that there would be no discernible characteristics between races. Is this a good thing?
I'm of two schools of thought. The first of which is that observationally, I've noticed that people of similar races have a tendency (though it is not ever a rule) to date within their own races. This could be due to family pressure or just general comfort given their desire for familiarity. It doesn't appear as though we will be headed that way in the near future.
The second of which is the cultural void that would be left by the creation of a single race. We assign many positive cultural characteristics to individual races, and these would be diminished and eventually forgotten if a single race were to overtake the multitude we currently have.
Is it our duty to create equality and a single race? Or are we meant to continue to perpetuate our current norms?
I'm of two schools of thought. The first of which is that observationally, I've noticed that people of similar races have a tendency (though it is not ever a rule) to date within their own races. This could be due to family pressure or just general comfort given their desire for familiarity. It doesn't appear as though we will be headed that way in the near future.
The second of which is the cultural void that would be left by the creation of a single race. We assign many positive cultural characteristics to individual races, and these would be diminished and eventually forgotten if a single race were to overtake the multitude we currently have.
Is it our duty to create equality and a single race? Or are we meant to continue to perpetuate our current norms?
Kyle Stern Post 5
After our discussion of "Salad Bowl" vs "Melting Pot", I think it is very important we try to take this as an opportunity to help future generations. Though we do today live in a society that is largely assimilation based, we have seen the conflict that can come with the 'need' for other cultures to assimilate. We need to start teaching children to understand that there will always be differences amongst us, whether it is a single belief or for a magnitude of differences. As I said before, I was alienated for what I consider to be a small character of mine, and I don't want another child to deal with such harmful ignorance.
Meaghan Rowland Post #6
The US census has always been a hassle and very few ever want to fill it out. But after really looking at it is it seen how inaccurate and bias the census is. This is surprising since it is supposed to be an official government document and is a way to accurately distribute resources and aid throughout the country. I would like to know how the Department of Commerce and the Census Bureau decided what races and ethnicities to include, why they have a variety of Asian races, no middle eastern races or ethnicities and Hispanic as the only ethnicity. This now seems not only as a bias racial survey but an inaccurate one. It does not look like any good and even distribution of resources and aid can come from a survey like this one.
Meaghan Rowland Post #5
Regarding the salad bowl/melting pot idea...it seems like there is a no win situation of what to tell the children regarding race and ethnicity in the world. The melting pot analogy seems to promote assimilation and the fact that once in the US all should act/speak/look the same way. Although the salad bowl idea does promote a more accepting view of ethnicity and race, it is sadly not accurate for the majority of ethnic and racial views in the US. Also in class a good point was made, in the salad bowl there is always something that everyone does not like. What is to say that the ethnicities and races that are represented by that part of the salad will not still be left out and discriminated against. Overall, it is difficult to come up with an accurate and age appropriate analogy to give the children regarding ethnicity and race. Is the real truth without analogy too much for them to handle? Also something has to be said who is it that is going to decide what is going to be relayed to the school age children.
Alaysia- Assignment 6 (Comedy and Race)
View this>>>
Ralphie May - AUSTIN-TATIOUS - Blank American
I've seen a lot of comedy acts that had to do with race. Yes, some of it can be offensive but I think what they say is a play on stereotypes that are already known to us. The difference is there is a joking matter, something to laugh at instead of gloom about. Same goes for laughing at death. We're all bound to die sometime, so why not laugh at it and live while we can? I know I won't be one of those people who mopes around the house, being angry at the world for letting racism exist. I'm only one person. I'd rather laugh at it.
Ralphie May - AUSTIN-TATIOUS - Blank American
I've seen a lot of comedy acts that had to do with race. Yes, some of it can be offensive but I think what they say is a play on stereotypes that are already known to us. The difference is there is a joking matter, something to laugh at instead of gloom about. Same goes for laughing at death. We're all bound to die sometime, so why not laugh at it and live while we can? I know I won't be one of those people who mopes around the house, being angry at the world for letting racism exist. I'm only one person. I'd rather laugh at it.
Terica Post 6: Don't Say The C Word (Chicano)
So, I’ve been wondering about this since I left class. I’ve been taught that Chicano is not a good word and I was shocked to learn in class that people thought differently. After class, I went to talk to some Spanish people. (No, not just random people but people I knew). I asked them was the word Chicano offense and the general response I got was yes. Chicano is the same as Negro; the word often has derogatory meanings and should not be said. However, you probably will hear Spanish people call themselves Chicano, the same way you might here a black person call themselves Negro. It’s more of an insider that other members of that group can say. More than likely if you were to call someone a Chicano they might get offended. Unless they’re Mexicano and from Chicago, then Chicano might be more of a joke. There is more history to the word and there was a whole Chicano movement. For more information about it I would recommend Wikipedia or asking a Spanish person. However, please do not assume the person is Mexicano because that would be offense also.
the census
Andrea Burns post 5
I'll be honest. When they gave us the census to fill out last year, I hardly gave it a glance. I filled it out without really even paying attention to what it had to say. I checked my boxes and sent it on its way. Now actually looking it over, it is insane the stuff they had the nerve to put on there. While I've never questioned it before, why does race even need to be on here? I can understand wanting to know around how many people are residing in the country. However, why does race need to be a factor? It's very apparent that races of every kind reside in the country. What does having a count of each matter? What impact does knowing this information have? How acccurate does this information end up being with choices given? For example, the option for black also includes the terms African American and Negro. The term negro hasn't been in use since the 1960s. It's not a term used now. Why would it be included on the census? The inclusion of that term would cause people to not want to check that box. It was also very limited to what race you could consider yourself to. Say you just moved here from Italy. Yet the box you're expected to check would be white. How accurate is that? White is a shade of color with no indication as to what race the person is. Also, how did the census decide that Hispanic is not considered to be a race, but an ethnicity? If they are indeed Hispanic, then what race are they expected to be considered? This census is offensive to many different groups of people, yet they require it to be filled out. If anything should be required to be filled out, it should merely question about the amount of people and where they reside, nothing to do with origin.
I'll be honest. When they gave us the census to fill out last year, I hardly gave it a glance. I filled it out without really even paying attention to what it had to say. I checked my boxes and sent it on its way. Now actually looking it over, it is insane the stuff they had the nerve to put on there. While I've never questioned it before, why does race even need to be on here? I can understand wanting to know around how many people are residing in the country. However, why does race need to be a factor? It's very apparent that races of every kind reside in the country. What does having a count of each matter? What impact does knowing this information have? How acccurate does this information end up being with choices given? For example, the option for black also includes the terms African American and Negro. The term negro hasn't been in use since the 1960s. It's not a term used now. Why would it be included on the census? The inclusion of that term would cause people to not want to check that box. It was also very limited to what race you could consider yourself to. Say you just moved here from Italy. Yet the box you're expected to check would be white. How accurate is that? White is a shade of color with no indication as to what race the person is. Also, how did the census decide that Hispanic is not considered to be a race, but an ethnicity? If they are indeed Hispanic, then what race are they expected to be considered? This census is offensive to many different groups of people, yet they require it to be filled out. If anything should be required to be filled out, it should merely question about the amount of people and where they reside, nothing to do with origin.
Tossed Salad.
When I brought up this metaphor, I wasn't expecting it to become such a subject of discussion for the last week and a half.
The attitude behind the salad is what counts. If people have a malicious attitude, they can use it to be like "well, we don't like broccoli or banana peppers or chick peas so they're bad." But from a teaching diversity perspective, it can be used as "well, many people like many different toppings in their salad and they're all delicious in their own way."
I prefer my salad with red onions, chick peas, egg and light french dressing. But that doesn't mean I don't respect the integrity of things like peapods, cauliflower and broccoli.
The attitude behind the salad is what counts. If people have a malicious attitude, they can use it to be like "well, we don't like broccoli or banana peppers or chick peas so they're bad." But from a teaching diversity perspective, it can be used as "well, many people like many different toppings in their salad and they're all delicious in their own way."
I prefer my salad with red onions, chick peas, egg and light french dressing. But that doesn't mean I don't respect the integrity of things like peapods, cauliflower and broccoli.
The Census
I was really put off by the Census form.
The things it chooses to include and not include were mind boggling. I just don't understand where it was coming from.
I would like to again note that there are more than 2 genders in the world and the fact that the only choices are male and female make me wonder where any data of the transgender community comes from.
And I do appreciate those little moments where people fill in the blanks with things like "human" or "jedi" or "ninja turtle." But the Census isn't going to take it seriously. And makes me think, what can we do to fix it?
Part of me wishes that we could all just be labeled as being HUMANS but another part of me wonders if there's a better way to celebrate diversity than physicall segregating ourselves.
The things it chooses to include and not include were mind boggling. I just don't understand where it was coming from.
I would like to again note that there are more than 2 genders in the world and the fact that the only choices are male and female make me wonder where any data of the transgender community comes from.
And I do appreciate those little moments where people fill in the blanks with things like "human" or "jedi" or "ninja turtle." But the Census isn't going to take it seriously. And makes me think, what can we do to fix it?
Part of me wishes that we could all just be labeled as being HUMANS but another part of me wonders if there's a better way to celebrate diversity than physicall segregating ourselves.
Alaysia- Assignment 5 (Census!!!)
I personally believe that negro was placed as a choice on the census to piss black people off. For the longest, people were speaking out about how black people should vote and that their vote counts and that they do matter. But now they go and put negro on the census so that black people would be offended and not want to count themselves. I believe thats what they want because when they don't count themselves, then it's believed that majority of the people in the US is white...a.k.a more of a certain race, more power.
When I was filling out the census last year, I was appalled they would define people as that. Now coming from a girl who went to a majority white school and grew up around white people, my reaction was reasonable. But think about all the black people who don't even really interact with other people of different ethnicities. They have to be right to feel beyond upset about this because it's just another thing to say to put them down and show that they are beneath it all.
When I was filling out the census last year, I was appalled they would define people as that. Now coming from a girl who went to a majority white school and grew up around white people, my reaction was reasonable. But think about all the black people who don't even really interact with other people of different ethnicities. They have to be right to feel beyond upset about this because it's just another thing to say to put them down and show that they are beneath it all.
Census (6)
I agree with Tibrisha about the Census. Race and ethnicity should be optional, there is really no point or reason in having that question on the Census. I didn't like some of the questions on the census we saw in class the other day. I also didn't like how the census had an option with Black, African American, and Negro. I thought that it was crazy the Government put the option of Negro in the census.
Education of Children (5)
Teaching kids about ethnicity and race at a young age is very important. They need to be taught at a young age because parents can put racists thoughts in the children's head which will not be good when the child grows up and becomes a racist. Teaching the kids of either the melting pot example or the salad bowl example I think would be fine as long as their positive and in a positive image. When I was a kid I remember being taught with the melting pot example. However I do like the salad bowl example better because of our discussions in class.
What are we?
The discussion over whether we are a melting pot or a salad bowl got me thinking the other day. The whole concept of calling our country one or the other is a good idea. We are in fact a bunch of different cultures thrown together, but I dont understand why people get so offended by the term melting pot. The idea of us all coming together and blending together is a good visual. People get so offended by melting pot analogy because your individuality is lost in a melting pot due to the melding of flavor. I thought the whole idea is for us all to be who we are inside the context of the whole melting pot being America. Regardless of which analogy is used, we all should be tolerant to the point where these analogies aren't needed, but that probably won't happen.
Friday, February 18, 2011
The 2010 Doll Test
I think kids can be seen as the ultimate test of how far our society has come, and judging by this video, it's not very far. After Shawna spoke about the documentary she watched on a doll test, I remembered an Anderson Cooper special I watched on CNN last year. It chronicles several children of different races responding to the same questions, with the same images in front of them, with the same interviewer. I think the results are quite shocking and demonstrate that many Black children see the color of their skin as something a teacher or adult wouldn't like. One little Black girl specifically demonstrated that she wasn't detached from the illustration of the girl on the page. I think this is a really eye-opening documentary and it proves that not only are kids aware of the differences in skin color, but also the negative prejudices and racist attitudes attributed to them. Where do kids pick up these kids of thoughts and how do we stop them?
One of the cornerstones of the Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast program was to get kids to come together and learn acceptance, both of self and of each other. I saw a clip of the documentary "Eyes On the Prize" filming kids at this program (which allowed both White and Black kids to have a free breakfast) and I was really moved by the part in which the Black children are standing together being lead in a sort of "Black is beautiful" mantra. These kids were being taught to see that they were beautiful, disregarding the negative attitude an ugly society pushed on them.
This study included kids of all different skin color. Here's a link to just one of the segments from the Anderson Cooper report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQACkg5i4AY
One of the cornerstones of the Black Panther Party's Free Breakfast program was to get kids to come together and learn acceptance, both of self and of each other. I saw a clip of the documentary "Eyes On the Prize" filming kids at this program (which allowed both White and Black kids to have a free breakfast) and I was really moved by the part in which the Black children are standing together being lead in a sort of "Black is beautiful" mantra. These kids were being taught to see that they were beautiful, disregarding the negative attitude an ugly society pushed on them.
This study included kids of all different skin color. Here's a link to just one of the segments from the Anderson Cooper report:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQACkg5i4AY
My Census:"And it goes a lil something like this." (8)
If the Census was legit the questions they would ask would be:
Where are you currently living?
How many people are in you household including yourself?
How many children in the household?(0-21) (only if they are attending college)
How many adults in the household? (21+) (18+ if they aren't in college)
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst 10 being the best)
How well is your local goverment working for you?
What kind of eduaction is your child recieving?
How good are the elementary schools in your district?
How good is your local highschools in your district?
How well is your postal service performing?
How well is the public transpertation in your area?
How good are the side walks?
How well is the highways during the winter?
How well are the streets paved?
Have you had any social services in the past 6 months?
What service has social services provided you with?
Are they helpful?
How long do you think you will be on the social services programs you are currenlty on?
Have things improved since you have been on social services?
How well is your local social services offices performing?
Is there anything you want to see done diffrently in the area your living in?
How would you desribe your quality of life?
Is there any other public services that you think you could benifit from? If so what are they and how?
Are you married or single?
Do you have any children?
Are you a legal gardian? Is so of how many children? What is the relation?
What is your race and ethnicity? (OPTIONAL)
What is your gender? (OPTIONAL)
What is your age?(OPTIONAL)
I feel like this would be a legit cenus with the real purpose of helping people and serving people. This is also a way of checking the population numbers. You dont need to know the race and ethnicity of people to "really" help people. But you do need that information to keep people living in underpovished areas, or keep certain areas underpovished. Just something to think about. I also feel like I put these questions in order of importance.
Where are you currently living?
How many people are in you household including yourself?
How many children in the household?(0-21) (only if they are attending college)
How many adults in the household? (21+) (18+ if they aren't in college)
On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the worst 10 being the best)
How well is your local goverment working for you?
What kind of eduaction is your child recieving?
How good are the elementary schools in your district?
How good is your local highschools in your district?
How well is your postal service performing?
How well is the public transpertation in your area?
How good are the side walks?
How well is the highways during the winter?
How well are the streets paved?
Have you had any social services in the past 6 months?
What service has social services provided you with?
Are they helpful?
How long do you think you will be on the social services programs you are currenlty on?
Have things improved since you have been on social services?
How well is your local social services offices performing?
Is there anything you want to see done diffrently in the area your living in?
How would you desribe your quality of life?
Is there any other public services that you think you could benifit from? If so what are they and how?
Are you married or single?
Do you have any children?
Are you a legal gardian? Is so of how many children? What is the relation?
What is your race and ethnicity? (OPTIONAL)
What is your gender? (OPTIONAL)
What is your age?(OPTIONAL)
I feel like this would be a legit cenus with the real purpose of helping people and serving people. This is also a way of checking the population numbers. You dont need to know the race and ethnicity of people to "really" help people. But you do need that information to keep people living in underpovished areas, or keep certain areas underpovished. Just something to think about. I also feel like I put these questions in order of importance.
"Come on now! Let's use our common census" (7)
The issues I have witht the cenus is that I understand why its necessary. (To keep count of the overall human population) But it also seems that "they" (the Government Im assuming) Also wants to keep track of how many racial an ethinc groups are here in Aerica as well. And in what areas they reside, now people claim that the these things are done so on a local scale when the state legislators are sending out funding for schools, roads and other local amenities, that this is how they determine which funds go where first. Now I ask if racism is based on;distribution of power and wealth. Isnt the census just a documentation that helps further carry out racism?
No wonder many minority groups dont want to do thier census, and are suspicious of the government not treating thier local districts with the same funding as they do other areas with less minorities. I think once we admit that the census is just another tool used to keep certain peopl in certain places. Just ad welfare sytem is another used tool to opress many minoroties as well....then we may be able to make some progress here in America concerning racism.
Also why is it okay for offensive words like "Negro" to be a option as a race? I think people are too free with derogetory words in general but especially ones geared towards black people. Its never okay to say other derogetory words and there has never been a debate about it either. We just know that saying "chink" or "beaner" are unexceptable. And least of all we would never see them written on a government document. This was a cheap shot in my personal opinion. I was offended. I m not a negro or any other variation of the word.
No wonder many minority groups dont want to do thier census, and are suspicious of the government not treating thier local districts with the same funding as they do other areas with less minorities. I think once we admit that the census is just another tool used to keep certain peopl in certain places. Just ad welfare sytem is another used tool to opress many minoroties as well....then we may be able to make some progress here in America concerning racism.
Also why is it okay for offensive words like "Negro" to be a option as a race? I think people are too free with derogetory words in general but especially ones geared towards black people. Its never okay to say other derogetory words and there has never been a debate about it either. We just know that saying "chink" or "beaner" are unexceptable. And least of all we would never see them written on a government document. This was a cheap shot in my personal opinion. I was offended. I m not a negro or any other variation of the word.
Terica Post 5: it's not because your black, It's because your an american
We’ve had long discussions in class about assimilation and pluralism; The salad bowl vs. the melting pot. However, we never really discussed the marginal people. The marginal people think of themselves as part of a larger society. This idea made me think about how we see ourselves. We have been breaking ourselves into categories. Yet, no one has mentioned the one think we have in common, we are all American. We share the same American culture that we don’t tend to notice because we see it everywhere.
I took a trip to Japan about a year ago and I was nervous about how people would view me. I considered the fact they may have negative feelings towards black people. They might base my character off the things they saw on American TV. However, I realized they didn’t dislike me because I was black but because I was American. They saw me as an American with American values, which would make it difficult to understand the Japanese culture (Of course, the Japanese think that of all foreigners but that’s not important.) The Japanese may like some people more than others, but they do not base this on race but rather on the country you’re from.
I did not realize how many things I did daily that was a part of the American culture. For example holding the door for other people, saying bless you when someone sneezes, or putting your groceries on the conveyer belt in supermarkets. In fact, I don’t think anyone notices how much we take from each other and make it into an overall American thing. For example, the hamburger is from Germany but has turn into an American symbol. Sushi (originally from China) is a Japanese tradition that Americans have adopted. We have the California roll, the Philadelphia roll, the Hawaiian roll, and other types of sushi and sashimi that originated here. Even Chinese food eaten in Chinese restaurants is not actual food from china but Chinese recipes twisted to suit Americans. Even coffee didn’t originate here but in Ethiopia and the word came Italy.
America is a mixture of so many cultures into one. We separate ourselves into smaller groups but when it all comes down to it we’re all American. I remember a Norwegian girl telling me she thought it was funny how all the Americans said “I’m 20% this and 40% that”. Her general response to that was “good for you” it didn’t matter because they were all American. I just wonder why we can’t see it that way. I think the marginal people have it right.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Black doll White doll
In class, a topic that has been addressed a lot recently is weather or not schools should teach the "Salad Bowl" metaphor to their children, so that these students some how become educated about multiculturalism at an early age. I have attached a video that I believe, supports why we should teach children about multiculturalism as quickly as possible. In this experiment, 15 out of 21 black children preferred to play with the a white doll over the black doll. When asked why the white doll was good, children would respond by saying, "Because he is white." Clearly, children at a very young age are exposed and aware of the racial differences in our society. This study shows how black children develop low self-esteem because they think that white people, are "good" and that black people are "bad". I think that in some way or another, multiculturalism needs to be taught to young children no matter what. Children at a young age need to learn that it is a good thing that there are multiple ethnicity's in our society, and that they should not be ashamed of their ethnicity.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Melting Pot or Salad Bowl?
I found the class discussion of whether melting pot or salad bowl was a better way of describing our society's ethnic make up interesting. Personally I prefer the salad bowl over the melting pot. The melting pot idea seems to be more of bringing all the ethnic backgrounds together and creating a brand new culture in which we cannot trace any of the different ethnicities that make up this culture. In the salad bowl metaphor all of the different ethnic backgrounds are brought together, however we are still able to see unique characterstics of each of the ethnicities that make up the society. I feel this is a better description of the United States because today many citizens' -that make up the population of the United States population- ethnic background is still recognizable.
Ashley Allen,Post 5
Ashley Allen,Post 5
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
How do we correct a Schoolhouse Rock History?
In class today we discussed the idea of presenting America as a Salad Bowl rather than a Melting Pot. In the Salad Bowl the different "flavors" of American all mix together to create something unique and something to celebrate. A Melting Pot rather melts everything down to the same (boring) kind of culture...maybe it's supposed to create a new kind of culture, but I think the class mostly agreed that the dominant groups in our culture would rather have just squelched the others to make a larger dominant group that agrees with its own values, culture, language, etc. I've always thought of the proverbial Melting Pot as more of a laundry bin where "clothing" of all different colors (cultures) is tossed in, bleached, starched, and returned to the pile where all are neatly matched and agreeable. I think perhaps the reason it is so difficult to choose between the two is because neither are correct. The Melting Pot doesn't exist because the larger dominant group is too concerned with pretending to uphold the myth that they celebrate a diverse America, when the one they want is a bland, one note, everybody-agrees-on-everything kind of America. The Salad Bowl isn't quite the complete story either (it would be if we didn't have the kind of ethnic and racial struggles we've discussed in class). Of course we have a whole lot of diversity to be celebrated in our country, but we can't just leave it at that. What about all of the action (both legal and otherwise) that has been taken to try to stomp out the cultural aspects of certain groups in order to make way for larger numbers in the dominant group? We can't leave out things such as European missionaries whose tactics were, let's say, less than Christian. And we can't exclude the dehumanization and attempted culture-robbing committed against African slaves. American Indian Boarding Schools are a perfect example of the American government attempting to remove culture, language, and familial bonds from Indians in order to "kill the Indian, save the man." The question is, how do we get school kids to learn a proper representation of history without making them run out of the room crying? How to we teach them about racial oppression, discrimination, prejudice, and general struggle while still preserving their innocence and excitement for learning? Feel-good history is far from the truth, but it's what keeps kids excited to participate in their President of the United States pageants and proud of their country.
I remember watching Schoolhouse Rock videos in elementary and even junior high school. Those videos are the perfect representation of what our country hasn't been, but what kids have been taught to believe it is. Who is going to feel comfortable telling 4th grader that their hero Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and participated in one of the largest atrocities against humankind in our world's history? I'm not saying I have the answer--I definitely don't. But history is full of emotion. When we learn about the slave trade, or Japanese internment camps, or Indian Boarding Schools, we learn about the pain that these people went through. You can't learn these things without investing some kind of emotion in them--and they aren't happy emotions. When we emerge from our little cocoon of elementary through high school and moved on to college history courses, we learned more about the "real" history of our country. Some of us felt angry, tricked, lied to, or just plain disappointed. But that's because the true history isn't a pretty one for the most part. It's ugly. And we have to figure out how to teach our children the truth, while fostering a respect for diversity as well as a desire to learn more about our history and how we can use its lessons to reshape our society.
Here's the Great American Melting Pot Schoolhouse Rock Video:
I remember watching Schoolhouse Rock videos in elementary and even junior high school. Those videos are the perfect representation of what our country hasn't been, but what kids have been taught to believe it is. Who is going to feel comfortable telling 4th grader that their hero Thomas Jefferson owned slaves and participated in one of the largest atrocities against humankind in our world's history? I'm not saying I have the answer--I definitely don't. But history is full of emotion. When we learn about the slave trade, or Japanese internment camps, or Indian Boarding Schools, we learn about the pain that these people went through. You can't learn these things without investing some kind of emotion in them--and they aren't happy emotions. When we emerge from our little cocoon of elementary through high school and moved on to college history courses, we learned more about the "real" history of our country. Some of us felt angry, tricked, lied to, or just plain disappointed. But that's because the true history isn't a pretty one for the most part. It's ugly. And we have to figure out how to teach our children the truth, while fostering a respect for diversity as well as a desire to learn more about our history and how we can use its lessons to reshape our society.
Here's the Great American Melting Pot Schoolhouse Rock Video:
I could really go for some salad right now...
In the Marger text, chapter 5, they talked about the idea of a Melting Pot. Melting Pot is the idea that multiple ethnic groups would blend together, blend into and mix up, until eventually, they would all dissapear. I found this interesting because I don't really hear the term Melting Pot anymore. In a lot of my classes I have herad teachers and students use the term Salad Bowl. The Salad Bowl represents different ethnic groups in the salad. It is supposed to be a symbol of mulicultrualism: embrassing different ethnic groups to make one (tasty) salad. I wanted to know what the rest if the class thought. Do you think a Melting Pot or Salad Bowl describes our society?
Sunday, February 13, 2011
ethan fox 4
Since i grew up in the inner city and attended buffalo public schools i have been very exposed to racism and stereotypes. I think it is all very terrible that people still let this kind of thing happen. It is very prevalent in todays society just look at the last presidential election and all of the terrible things that were said about Obama. But on the other hand things are starting to get better because after all he is now the president.
ethan fox 3
Chapter three has showed me more of how the world is messed up. Why do we need to put groups of people based on race. Why are "minority groups" seen as weaker i really do not get it. Also who gets to decide what groups get more of a say in society. This is all still very relivent in todays society.