Race & Ethnicity

As always, the class discussion on white ethnic Americans was very stimulating. I absolutely love that our class is such an open forum. In another course that I am taking the question was asked, why it may be uncomfortable to talk about racism in a classroom. Some responses were: you may not want to insult any specific person, you may be afraid to let your views be known, whether for or against, you may be targeted or threatened with violence, you may be laughed at, ignored, and so on.
I suggested that it depends on the boundaries originally set up between the instructor and the students. Quite naturally I boasted about our class. I pointed out that just because the course title is Ethnicity and Race doesn’t guarantee that none of the above issues would become a problem. Or for that matter, everyone will openly participate. However, if the instructor sets the tone from the very beginning about not only what will be covered, but what will be expected of every student. We are old enough and mature enough to decide for ourselves if the content is something we are open to learning about and openly discussing. I mentioned how respectfully and even comically we all share with one another, our personal views, thoughts, and questions.
Several students approached me to ask what is our instructor’s name and do I know if the course is offered next semester. I am so proud to be a part of our class. Thank you professor Iovannone and all my classmates!!!!!
S. Ramos,

Alaysia Assignment 13 (Cartoons)

Yes The Simpsons and Family Guy can cross the line...jump over the line, erase the line, roll over the line...etc, but I personally don't have a probably with it. (I WILL NOT VOUCH FOR SOUTH PARK...I REPEAT, I WILL NOT VOUCH FOR SOUTH PARK) Any who, yes those cartoons are habitual line steppers and I personally find them very entertaining. They don't make fun of just one race and personally attack them every episode. Even Peter Griffin had moments where he was Irish and black and even created his own religion around Fonze. I'd rather be able to laugh at something then to be angry and upset. These cartoons are just like comedians. They step outside the comfort zone, testing how well the people can take it. Comics don't stand on stage and make jokes just to (excuse the language) pussy foot around certain subjects. Margaret is a great example of that. Yes she didn't hide behind cartoons so her act wouldn't be as offensive but that's not the point. The question is can you take a joke? There are more offensive and hurtful things that have occurred in this world and are still taking place. Yes we have habitual line steppers that take pride in what they do. Shouldn't we take those strong feelings and gear it towards something else that needs more attention?

Alaysia Assignment 12 (What is White)

I've explained in the past that for the longest I saw the world in black and white. Especially growing up in the city and then going to a suburban school with majority white people. I've always noticed and paid attention to races that weren't mine or weren't white and never really thought about what white was. I asked a couple of people and they weren't able to give me an answer so I finally looked it up. "White is eastern and western European origin." After figuring it out what it was, it made me think about how the people I asked didn't even know, and if they didn't know, who else doesn't? How many people out there are ignorant just as I was and why don't they take the time to figure it out like me? Then it hit me. I never thought to look them up before because I believed white people never needed to look their own culture up and look up their history because then I didn't think their history was as important as the minorities who suffered more of a hardship trying to live a life under the "White man." Others could have thought the same way which explains a lot of things we see in this country. Even how we don't have a month dedicated to the "white" people.

White ethnic groups

Andrea Burns

Learning about the white ethnic groups and the racism they faced really interested me. I was brought up in a Catholic household with an Irish background. I was amused to find out that I was considered to be a part of the second level of the American Ethnic hierarchy today. I personally do not care about any such things but my parents do. They're racist and find themselves to be so much greater than many groups of people. They seem themselves as being at the top because they're white. However, their religion and heritage places them in an ethnic group that is not at the top level. While by looking at them, you do not see their background in them however. They can hide that as much or little as they want. Despite being part of this second level, white ethnic groups really don't seem to face any discrimination any more. This could be because that on the outside, everyone does look like the same. No one knows whose Protestant or Catholic by looking at them. While the discrimination against these groups hardly exists any longer, the stereotypes unfortunately still do.

Family Guy

Andrea Burns

As crazy as this may sound, I have never seen Family Guy. Because it has been brought up so frequently in class about its mocking of everything and everyone, I decided to look into the criticisms of the show. It seems that since its airing, this show has received many numerous complaints from people. The Parents Televison Council has voiced many concerns in regards to Family Guy. After the show's second season, they started a letter-writing campaign to try to have the show canceled. It has continuously been voted by them as "the worst prime-time shows for family viewing" for its use of profanity, violence, and animated nudity. A group known as the Answers in Genesis accused the show of being anti-Christian. An Entertainment Weekly TV critic Ken Tucker accused the show of being anti-Semitic. Major controversy occured in regards towards the episode mocking someone with Down Syndrome. However, the show's creator claims himself to be an "equal-opportunity offender." This being the case, is it considered to be okay since no one group has been singled out? Since every group is being poked fun at, is the show considered to be that harmful? I intend to watch a few episodes of this show so I can finally understand what everyone's been talking about!

Jewish American Stereotypes

According to Marger Jewish Americans have been one of the most successful ethnic groups in America. Many times they're referred to as the ideal ethnic group. You would think that a successful group such as the Jewish Americans would have a positive stereotype and be looked up to. However, it seems that there has always been so many negative stereotypes about Jewish Americans. Marger mentioned some of these stereotypes- dishonest, unethical, and conceited. I was thinking why the stereotypes are this way. I feel it is because their success could have been seen as a threat to other Americans. Therefore they used talking poorly about Jewish Americans to make them look bad as a defense mechanism.
Ashley Allen, post 13

White Ethnic Americans and Stereotyping

I feel as though white ethnic Americans are only the subjects of stereotyping when it is used in a humorous fashion. For example, the clips that Dave showed in class about drunken Irish and mobster Italians were intended to make us laugh. And especially in modern times, we no longer see stereotypes such as those as having a discriminatory affect on how ethnic white Americans live. The times of "No Irish need apply" are in the past and being an ethnic white no longer seems to have a detrimental impact on how a person can live in American. Even Catholicism, which Jordan pointed out was effectively normalized with the election of JFK, no longer seems to be a point of discrimination. Instead, jokes that we make about Irish and Italian Americans are simply just that, jokes. Unlike with other ethnic minorities, who often find stereotyping to be the source of much of their discrimination.

Is it okay to laugh?

The other day I was thinking about some of our discussion in class about the media and stereotypes. I was particularly thinking about the episode of Family Guy (I think that was the show it was from) where there was a character with down syndrome who was played by a girl who actually had down syndrome. It seemed like many concluded in a case like that (or other similar cases like Margret Cho) if the person poking fun at a certain group was a member of the said group, it was okay, since they're just making fun of themselves. However, if an outsider made the same joke it would be crossing the line. This made me wonder, if it's inappropriate for an outsider to make the joke, isn't it just as inappropriate for an outsider to laugh at the joke as well?
Ashley Allen, Post 13

Post 14: Jewish Americans

I thought about the idea of Jewish by Association, and it makes a lot of sense to me. A lot of the people I know who are Jewish aren't Jewish as much by choice, as much as just because their parents were. I feel this is accepted though in a lot of the JEish community because of the acceptance of different views and groups. Reform Judaism for example pretty much came around in the late 19th century when Russian Jews were intermarrying with Christians, hence why intermarriage is widely accepted in the Reform and Conservative Sects.

Post 13: Ethnic Whites

Well after our long discussion of Family Guy, I think shows like that are now playing a bigger role in society. Shows like The Simpsons, South Park and many of the Seth MacFarlane shows I believe are becoming a great use of social commentary. Also I believe they are helping point out the ridiculousness of many stereotypes. I mean if any seriously watches an episode of Family Guy and sees the character Mort, and assume that is what all Jews are like, then they need some real help. It also uses people who are part of those groups to voice those characters where ever possible. So it isn't just Seth making fun of people constantly, but also people poking fun at themselves.

Jewish Community (14)

I see the Jewish community as a very successful people, they value education, make money, and raising their children in a good manor and I believe they have been prosecuted because of their success financially.  Jews and the Irish i believe both embrace their stereotypes and don't mind being mad fun of in the media.  Some Jewish stereotypes are them having big noses, being cheap with money and having curly hair.  I believe the Jews community for the most part embrace theses stereotypes.

Kim Krenzer Post #2 3/20-3/26

Perhaps some jokes are just too soon to make. Maybe they'll always be too soon to make.

Having said that, not saying something or making a statement about it causes fear of the subject. But then again, certain rules should be applied to humor.

Racist jokes aren't funny. Holocaust jokes aren't funny. But there are scads and scads of them floating around. Whenever I hear one, I cover my mouth out of pure shock that someone has a twisted enough mind to come up with something like that. Some jokes are just plain crass and rude. And they have no rhyme or reason or purpose for being made.

Having said THAT, I believe that humor/satire is one of the best ways to reach society. People listen more when it's presented in this light. Whenever I look at comedians like Sarah Silverman or South Park or Family Guy, I like to hope that they're making these jokes to point out how stupid people are who actually believe these things. It becomes satire, it becomes a mockery of prejudice and racism and then people really listen.

In an idealistic world, most people would understand the function of satire. Sadly, a good number do not.

But whenever I look at the humor we discussed in class, I see an opportunity to learn something and the subsequently grow from it.

Irish Americans

Since I'm Irish I have heard many of the Irish stereotypes.  The stereotypes are obviously true for some or most but not all of the Irish community.  I embrace the stereotypes and don't mind them at all.  I don't fit the fighting Irish stereotype, I prefer not to get into a fight.  However I do like to drink but I usually tend to keep that in control. I don't really feel like fighting, and being drunk are that bad of a stereotype. I believe the only thing that set the Irish apart from other white ethnic groups was because of their religion.  The Catholics and the protestants have a long history of not liking each other.  This might be cause of the negative stereotypes by other white ethnic groups.

Kim Krenzer Post # 1 3/20-3/26

My latest obssession is House. The episode I had been watching involved an Asian American woman traveling back to China to find her birth parents. Upon finding them, she is instantly rejected leading the medical team to hypothesize that she was born after the one-child policy was implemented in China. Her parents had alledgedly tried to kill her by pushing needles into her brain, which had stayed and eventually caused her alcholism and subsequent health problems.

Not only did this episode further convince me that I will one day adopt a baby girl from China; it had relevant parallels to assimilation within American culture and trying to get back to one's roots.

There was a particular scene where the patient and one of the Dr's, Kutner (an American-Indian man), bond over their similar situations, both abandoned and later adopted by white families. Which got me thinking about how American families handle situations where they adopt children of other ethnicities. Do they fully assimilate the child into American culture and traditions or do they make sure to keep their original culture relevant? And how will this affect the child in the future?

Cirque du Drag: What Drag does for the Gay community

I've been part of the Pride E-Board for the last two years and every semester we put on a student run drag show. For us, this is our biggest event of the semester. Not only do we get our typical general body that shows up (which numbers between 50 and 60 people), but we also get many who are just simply interested in seeing a drag show for the first time. For many gay and straight people alike, a drag show is their first introduction into gay culture. While I believe that this can be both a good and bad thing, there is no denying that every semester our drag show is quite a hit. I counted tickets at the door and I lost track at 150 people. The theme of this years show "Cirque du Drag" also allowed the audience to feel more familiar with what they were about the see. The novelty of a freak show, combine with men dressing as women or women dressing as men gave new audiences something familiar with something new. I think this semesters show was one of our best yet and was a hit with the student body.

Erin Goldberg, Post 11

Terica Post#14: what are we fighting for?

We talked about white ethnicities blended in to one identity. The class and merger did not seem very happy about this. I wonder why? I understand that it’s a loss seems like a loss because it seems people would lose their culture. However, the main idea was to assimilate to the American culture. Shouldn’t this be considered a success? If they were to blend to one culture then they could not be discriminated against for their heritage.  Or is that not what Americans want? Do we want to continue to be separate but equal?

Terica Post#13: I knew nothing

I have to start off by saying I don’t quite understand. I have had this discussion with my friends for the longest. I don’t understand how Jewish people became a race. It’s important to note I said how and not why. I perfectly understand why they are a race now. They have a different culture and lifestyle. The group has their own history and has gone through many trials. I just don’t quite understand how it started? How did it get this way? I’ve never known anyone Jewish, so I never had the ability to ask. This leaves me with really nothing to say about it. This was just a real learning experience for me.

"A shanda fur die goy" & "Not in front of mixed company" #15

I myself personally for quite some time was familiar with the Jewish culture, by having a Jewish Grandmother via marriage. Have always learned a lil more and more about the people and thier culteral/religious backgrounds. I know alot about the discrimination they have exsperianced (anti-semetism). In my personal oppinion it is more about thier (1.) Socialeconomic status here in America (2.) Religion (Religious) (3.) Secularism/Zionism. I think within' any culture or subculture thiers a exclusivity amongst the group. Jewish culture is very much so unfamiliar and confusing at times for mainstream America. So I had looked up the yiddish language and I watched several movie in which some one was speaking yiddish. So I decided to check out a few phrases. Yiddish is a high German dialect of Ashkenazi spoken all over the world. But the phrase that I can Identify with was "A shanda fur die goy" meaning for a Jewish person to do something shameful/embarrassing to Jewish people in front of non-Jewish people (Goy is also a derogatory term used to describe gentiles, non Jewish people). This stuck out to me in particular because many other minorities have this very same saying such as "Not in front of mixed company" meaning what you did is embarrassing to the whole race or ethnic group mainly because you did it in front of white people. And its usually because you did something that may have fed into a stereotype and its funny like that because; As a minority when you are in front a group of white people you as the minority are direct representation for your whole racial/ethnic group. Which makes it hard to express your individuality at times cause you are direct representation. And I know that Jewish culture stresses individual achievement. Words like Naches means to bring joy. And children are "Shep naches" meaning expected to bring their parents much joy via individual achievements. I would like to learn a few more Yiddish phrases. The Yiddish phrases seem to be somewhat sarcastic or self loathing in some manner. also a lot of these words have worked their way into mainstream America words like "Smear" of "Nash" ands "Putts" and "prick" cheeky lol.

Adam Sandler original Chanukah (Hanukkah) Song

I wanted to add my opinion about the media making fun of different ethnicities. We talked about Family Guy and the Simpsons all making fun of everyone and that it should be okay for everyone to laugh at everyone else. However, recently, in my experiences I have heard more and more Jewish jokes and references and I don't think they are very funny. I am glad that many Jewish Americans can laugh it off. But I don't like that people these days insult people by calling them a "Jew"- as if that is a bad thing. Like Kim stated in class, some jokes will always be too soon. Just like 9/11. I think any jokes about Jewish individuals is just being insensitive. So that is why I posted this video of Adam Sandler. Is Adam Sandler just another Margret Cho? Is it okay for him to make fun of Jewish people because he is Jewish? Some of my friends believe this song is educational because it informs the listeners of who is Jewish in our society. But, does that really matter? I do know one thing, it is a great song. I love the melody and it is really catchy.

"The White Man" Who? Which one? #14

As the Merger text explained white ethnic groups aren't that highly studied or acknowledge. Why is this? I believe this is because many minorities especially those of color that are physically more distinct in skin tone,skin color, facial features and hair textures, Usually view all white ethnic groups simply as "White People" I mean they they understand that Irish and Italians etc. all hail from different places of origin but and even have diffrent religions. But because they all share very similar skin tones (pale) facial features (light eyes(blue)narrow noses) and hair texture/color ( flowing locks, brunette, blond) That overall in contrast to other minorities the white ethnic groups appear to be all the same. I know personally are studying people and talking to people and just experiencing higher education that no not every white person is a white person. Also that although many of them share a similar skin color, not all their facial features nor hair textures are same at. But these generalizations happen all the time to each racial group. What make this significant is that white ethnics have a option of truly and successfully "passing" as the dominate groups (WASP) Turing it on and off, they can choose to be Polish, Dutch, German, Jewish, or even Italian if they want to. They can fall in and out of success, receive all the "white privilege" and be offered opportunities that via racism that even a Black or another visible distinct race/ethnic person may never be privy too. Ever. And that's why the acknowledgement of racism towards white ethnics isn't usually done y other racial/ethnic minority rather from within the dominate group. Because most racially distinct groups see them all as "white people" but the dominate groups usually wants to make white ethnics recognize that even thought they may share in some of the privilege they have, that they still aren't a authentic WASP. and that they are still beneath them.(EX: of this are whenever blk comedians in particular discuss race they usually refer to all white ethics/or otherwise as "white people" Katt Williams , Dave Chapelle.)

Jews in America

I know I mentioned little bit about consumer culture and the way it shaped Jews in class, but I've got more insight. Consumer subcultures were becoming prevalent in the United States, claiming parts of cities and certain ethnic business districts. Jewish people took part in these subculture divisions. Their participation in mainstream culture developed, advertisements started to appear in their native language, newspapers were distributed in Yiddish and English. This pushed the Jewish people into the consumer light and led them to become a market within themselves.

Manufacturers now targeted the Jewish market through media, toy development, Synagogue gift shops, and through Kosher food products. Also, consumption on Jewish holidays changed. Specific table settings and outfits were required for certain religious events. Hanukkah, which used to be a minor holiday, was now using it's closeness to Christmas as an advantage. Producers selling to Jews tried to equate Hanukkah to Christmas and rid envy of Jewish children of the gifts that were associated with Christmas. Bar and Bat mitzvahs have also gone down a consumption pattern with cards, gifts, and receptions that resemble those of weddings sometimes.

Some say consumer culture has destroyed the old Jewish ways by turning tradition into mainstream. But for others, the spread of Jewish ways is seen as a positive promotion of their history and a positive spread of their ideas.

Anti-Dentite

In our last class we talked about if groups are the only ones that are allowed to talked about their individual groups. Well when we started talking about this I thought about Seinfeld and the episode with the dentist. Jerry's dentist converts to Judaism and he the dentist begins to make Jewish jokes. Jerry does not get offended by this as a Jewish person though but as a comedian. I just think this whole episode shows that people can get upset for many reasons. I find it funny because at the end he begins to make fun of dentists and the girl he is with agrees with him but crosses the line. This just shows that using stereotypes and making jokes is a very fine line and can be pushed to far if in the wrong mouth. Its just you have to remember who you are with and what you say around them, because you can offend someone because you are not allowed to make those jokes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mV7m6IIN_tI

progression or no? Marcus Anderson, post 13

Within our society the media, film, and television teach us the stereotypes of different races in which we gain our preceptions of different races. Here is one example which challenges the 'typical view' of an African Americans in society. Familiy Matters was one of the most loved and watched tv sitcoms of the 90's. This show was about an African American Family who goes through different life struggles as an everyday family would. This show was a powerful example of challenging the typical sterotype in which people may have envisioned about African Americans. Steve Urkel's character was that of a Genius who knew more than he could handle at most times. This is not a typical view in which society places on African Americans. There are a few points that I would like to make about the media and our perceptions of races. Through shows like Family Matters, Smart Guy, Sister Sister, George Lopez, (to name a few) we are moving into an age in which the traditional stereotypes are being challenged in a positive manner. This is a progressional manner but we still as a society have a ways to go. I would like to note that within the 2000's shows such as these ones which showed great diversity and challenged the 'stereotype' have decreased greatly and pretty mich have disapeared. The dominant group has placed controls on what is displayed in the media, films, and television. I believe that due to the dominant influences over the media our youth in society are left to devices such as chapelle show, south park, family guy and other shows such as these to obtain their perspectives and develop stereotypes when dealing with different races. Not once did the actors on Family Matters poke fun at each other for being African American. That ideology that Family Matters once held in the 90's is lost within our society. The negative has taken over and has become more attractable than the positive. What the dominant group allows within our society, will become the ways in which our next generations will view different races within society.

Race conflicts, Marcus Anderson 12

One point that I would like to touch upon from Marger is the historical conflict between Irish Americans and African Americans. Marger mentions that Irish Americans and African Americans did not see eye to eye because of competition of unskilled jobs. Marger also points to the fact that Irish Americans did not support the ending of slavery of African Americans to limit opportunity for African Americans to compete in the labor force against Irish Americans. Even still today, we see the struggles and conflict between racial groups dealing either in political, economic, or social issues, or in most cases all three. The racial conflict between different races in the past and present all have a common goal, to achieve higher gains or status within society. The dominant group serves as a model for all groups below them to model. Most believe that true happiness in when one achieves the status of the dominant. My question is what would happen if all races would be on the same level of equality. I believe that in our society and the way we are progressing, people will begin to challenge these old traditional thoughts of 'reaching the top' and bring about a monumental change within our nation and mabye the world. No racial group within society should have to step on each other to obtain a goal as it was recorded historically in our past.

Irish Americans

Irish Americans have received many negative stereotypes just as much as the next ethnic group. It is common to hear that they are drunks, ignorant and unintelligent. Not only is the personality of this White Ethnic Group but also the physical appearance. They were referred to as dog like. In the 1800s scientists began to associate the facial angle with intelligence and character. Since the Irishman's face was dog like they were referred to as cowardly, primitive and uncivilized. They were seen as non white but over the years the view of the Irish has switched to that of hyper white. It is interesting to see how many white ethnic groups have elevated their social status to become equal to the rest of the "average" US citizen and in some cases more successful, powerful and influential.

White Ethnics

During discussion in class yesterday I realized that we group the smaller branches of whites into one the same way we have non-whites. Just like there are many different paths which lead a person to be "black", there are different paths followed that are all determined as "white". It seems like people take less offense to the grouping of white people. Why? I have spent time becoming in touch with my roots and where I come from and I should be able to hold onto that history like any other person, right? I understand that people see color, but why is it more acceptable to group in some cultures than it is another? And if we aren't going to acknowledge where we came from then why is it so difficult to agree that we're all American I wonder.

White Ethnics

Today's class discussion made me realize how ignorant "American" society has been and still is. There is this set image of perfection that society keeps emulating for everyone to chase after. There seems to be this idea of what an American should look, behave, and act like that our society has tried to instill upon us. This image of course always leaves out people who have different skin colors, hair color, physical features, sexuality and so on. It's comparable to the Aryan race concept during Nazi germany. With the use of the media, we are able to broadcast these images of what everyone should look and act like. We will not be able to progress as a society if can not get passed the propaganda that is distributed through majority group via the media. Social stereotyping will always be prevalent in our society because everyone buys into through their tv sets.

Visuals

I think the structural hierarchy is the way it is in the United States because so many Americans are obsessed with only what we can see. Maybe the primary reason that Irish and Italian Americans have become easier assimilated into White society is because they are less-recognizable than other groups. The level of intermarriage with these groups and White groups is higher, therefore making them less physically distinguishable. We live in a society that is unfortunately strongly focused on the visual aspects of people. We're almost like children. As it was mentioned in class, children focus on what they can see, and those who are more physically similar to ourselves are the ones they ally with and feel close to. Because the dominant group is White, it is the groups who look similar to the dominant group who are going to be best helped by the group.