Terica Post 1

 I am African American but I identify myself as just American. It annoys me that everywhere else but America, I am considered to be American. Yet here, I’m an African American. All those people whose ancestor traveled from Europe are just called American. Why can’t I have the same privilege? So I guess you can say from the beginning, I was aware of issues of ethnicity and race. Growing up in New York City, there was a lot of diversity. The diversity draws people attention to differences in others, even if it isn’t to be racist. I’ve always been told, this is what white people do, this is what Spanish people do, this is what Asian people do, and this what we do.

                The events that spark my awareness were the shopping experiences. Almost every supermarket/corner store around me was owned by someone Spanish person. The stores were usually low priced but not the best quality. The owners and employees spoke English but they were almost all Spanish. They would switch their language when they didn’t want you to hear what they were saying. I learned the hair supplies and discount stores were owned by Asians. Your bags were checked as soon as you came in the door and someone was always “working” in the aisle you would be walking in. However, in the white supermarket, you were pretty much left to shop on your own. Not many people spying on you, although you might get the one or two. For the most part the supermarket is too crowded to do so. Yet, the problem with this supermarket was, the prices were too high to buy anything. For example, $28 for balsamic vinegar at food emporium (it must be the best in the world).

                I can’t count the things I’ve been told about different races, good or bad. I think the most prevalent was white people are crazy, Asians only like white people and other Asians, and Spanish people can’t be trusted. To be honest, when I was a kid, I didn’t think much of it but as I got older I realized it’s not too far from the truth. I realized white people do a lot of things that are not normal in my culture.  For example, wearing flops and shorts in the snow. I have met a lot of Asians who talk about their parents disapproving of them having friends of certain races and dating them. In fact, I heard recurring for Asian women that their family wanted them to marry a white man over anything else.  If not a white man then an Asian man. Other races, such as black men, were unacceptable. I watched one of my friends turn down a guy she liked freshmen year because he was black and her family wouldn’t approve. As for Spanish people, well I have had many of double crossing instances with them. However, I realize these things can happen with anyone, and I just might be paying more attention to one race because of the stereotype.

                I have experience many experiences of racism and even caused some of my own without knowing. The most annoying experiences are ones that involve my music. I listen to a lot of Goth and Asian music. It shocks a lot of people and usually leads to stereotypical jokes and quizzes about the artist I listen to. Sometimes I get the blunt, “your more white than black”. I get these remarks from all races and it makes me feel as though it’s impossible to be myself.

Kim Krenzer, Post #1

When I was in the 3rd grade, I had to do a presentation about my ethnic heritage. So my parents told me that I was German and French on my Dad's side and entirely Polish on my Mom's side. and that was that. I haven't necessarily forged into my family history to find out what my ancestors did. A few years later, I found out my Mom was, like, .5% Lithuanian. Which may or may not explain how easily I tan during the summer. I crisp like bacon, it's wild. I digress. My heritage is just something that I'm told I'm a part of. It's not really something that I've taken the time to really learn about or get into.

My family is predominantly white. When I was younger, I attended Catholic schools that were basically 99% white. However, my high school had a strong sense of diversity and had a healthy mix of different races. Also, my oldest sister has a best friend, Lindsay, who is biracial. And she's been there ever since before I could remember. She has been such a huge part of my life that I call her my sister. She refers to me as her baby sister. And when we tell people this, the reaction is palpable confusion. I think our relationship has been a huge influence on my views of race. I certainly believe that all diversity should be celebrated and acknowledged. But in the end, we're all just people trying to get by in today's world. And I love Lindsay as if she were actually my sister.

I am a firm believer in equality for everybody. As a woman, I have been faced with blatant sexism. As an open lesbian, I have been faced with prejudice. I have many friends of different races and sexual orientations who have also experienced some form of racism, sexism or homophobia. And I don't believe that any of us should be subjected to hatred for things that we cannot control. I believe that we should celebrate our differences, but at the same time realize that the human race connects us all. And maybe that's too much to ask. Maybe it's unrealistic. But, when we start thinking of those that are different than us as human beings, it might start changing things.

Ashley Allen Post 2

A few days after last week's discussion of "Recitatic" I ran into a situation that seemed to connect to some of the points that were made during class. It seemed that Toni Morrison was trying to teach the lesson that a person's race should not be a significant factor in placing a judgment on others. The other day I was at a friends house with a group of people when one person began a story. It seemed that this person did not think the same way as Morrison because mid story he stopped to add in the race of the men he had been talking about. After his story I began to think if the race of those men had been relevant or information that was necessary to understand the story, and it was not. I think it's great that so many of us already understand that it is important to judge someone by what they are on the inside rather than the color of their skin. Hopefully other people, like the one I heard the story from, will one day understand this as well.
I thought this was also a good example of the idea talked about in chapter 1, that many feel the need to put everyone into categories. I think it is a subconscious habit that many people have. I'll admit I catch myself placing people into categories, but it is a habit I want to shake. I don't believe we should try and put people into categories because everyone we meet will not fall into one certain category.
Ashley Allen, Post 2

Erin Goldberg Post #1

I'll start by being frank: I have no idea what my complete ethnic heritage is. It's not that I was adopted or that my family records got lost somewhere along the line. No, the reason I don't know my full ethnic heritage is, is because my father thinks it's funny to give me a new family story every time I ask him. For a few years he used to tell me that he was half German and half Russian, making me a quarter each. Then he decided our family came from Lithuania. Now he says that he says that his full heritage is Russian. I've given up on asking him. My mom has always been consistent with her answer ("You're a quarter French Canadian, 12.5% Irish, and 12.5% Scottish on my side"). So for me, I've always just gone with the reliable answer of telling people I'm an ethnic mutt. And that's fine with me, because I don't identify strongly with any part of my ethnicity. I suppose that in the legal sense, I would be considered white or Caucasian. Translucent might be a bit more accurate, and I can't get a tan to save my life (although I burn quite magnificently).

In terms of my awareness of race and how I was brought up on issues concerning race, I never had anything particularly unique occur to me. My parents are divorced and I have a pretty diverse family in terms of color, sexuality, and ethnicity. I have three gay uncles, and one whose partner is African American. I'm sure at some point someone in my life had a talk with me about race, but to be honest I don't remember and it really didn't matter. People are people, regardless of skin color, ethnicity, gender, or sexuality.

I will say though, that I grew up in one of the most racially and diversity lacking communities. I live in Williamsville NY, which is a suburb of Buffalo. It is mostly filled with WASP's, with the occasional Catholic thrown in the mix. However, I can say that my graduating class had maybe 5% ethnic minorities. I also acknowledge that most of these kids felt pressured to fit into "white culture" constantly and there wasn't much room at my school for diversity. However, to my knowledge, there was no obvious display of racism. But there was never much effort made to teach ethnic or racial diversity.

My views on race and ethnicity have certainly changed as I have grown. While before I used to just believe that ethnic tolerance was important for the sake of being important. However, now I know the deep and lasting impact that racism can have (along with homophobia and sexism). I think a large part of this has to do with my work in the Center for Multicultural Affairs. It has definitely changed me for the better.

Marcus Anderson Post 3 The Venus Hottentot

I thought that he video that was watch was awesome in describing the struggles that Sarah Baarttman went through in her life. I myself was not aware of the Venus Hottentot, until I saw the footage that we had watched on her. Although I was not suprised about how she became a spectacle to the white audiences of her time. Her struggles are the same ones that we still as people face today. Just because the she was "different" in her physical features, made her some kind of different species, when the truth was is that she was just a person. I though it was very intersting how the scientist and people, were so interested in what she had underneath her garments, that she used to cover up, rather than what she knew intellectually. When we don't understand each other for our similarities and differences, then that's when conflict can come and cause havoc. I think that in todays times, people have gained a little more understanding about different races and cultures, but not to where we "should" be in this day and age. We still have some work to do. One more little interesting thing that I observed is how in our society a " Venus Hottentot" women is looked at by some as a good thing. Now im comming from a male perspective here but people in society now a days may like a women with curves to her such as the Venus Hottentot had. My reason for pointing that out is to show how a society who once had no understanding and appreciation for the different physical appearence of a women, now might actually appreciate and like it. I just think it's very iteresting, how as a society those old ways are being overturned as time progresses.

Blog #1

I've always identified myself as a White female. As far as my ethnic heritage goes my parents have always told me "you're a little bit of everything." My family and I don't practice any traditions based on our ethnic background. I have always been interested in tracing my ancerstory to find out more about my family's background.
I would have to say the first time I really started to become aware of issues of ethnicity and race was when I was ten or eleven, after September, 11th. After that event was the first time I really noticed so many remarks and judgements made on someone based soley on their ethnic background.
Growing up my parents along with the majority of my family always taught me to be respectful of others and keep an open mind when it came to ethnicity and race. My grandfather, however does not always have that same respect. At times I will hear him make comments here and there on others from a different race, but I just tend to ignore those comments. To this day I agree with the ways my parents taught me. I beleive it's important to realize that not everyone is just like you, but that's what makes life interesting and you need to be respectful of those differences.

Ashley Allen, Post 1

The Venus Hottentot

I wished we had had more time to discuss this poem and the documentary in class today. I think this is one of those horror stories in world history that isn't discussed as much as it should be. Even if we subtracted the fact that Saartjie was an African woman from the equation, her life was an extremely tragic tale of greed, total apathy, and evil, whether she was Black, White, Asian, Latina, or any other ethnicity. The fact that she was an African woman places her amongst the millions of African men, women, and children who suffered at the expense of the same sort of ideas through the Atlantic slave trade (a number Saartjie could arguably be placed amongst). I thought Saartjie's story connected to our article we read for Tuesday in that she was proof that in Africa as a continent exists different peoples, nations, and ancestries. I think that during the slave trade and even today we often consider "African-American" or "Black" to be an umbrella term, while White peoples' ancestries are considered. For instance, I'm a White girl, but I am also Polish, Hungarian, and German. African-Americans may have ancestries that include Ibo, Yoruba, and Fulani (as named in the article). Backers, supporters, and investors of the slave trade attempted to wash all captives of their tribal and national affiliations in order to further deprive them of their humanity. They thought that erasing one's past erases their humanness. Saartjie proves that just as Ukranian people have different features from say a French person, the Khoi Khoi people had distinct features from other peoples in Africa. It is deplorable that this was used as justification for using her in freak shows, but the fact is, even from the racist men who conned her into going to Europe saw that the Khoi Khoi were a distinct people of Africa.

I really liked the part of the poem that was a tribute to the genius that was Josephine Baker. These two women are very interesting to compare and contrast. Where Saartjie's exotic beauty was used against her and considered "freakish," about one hundred years later in Paris, people celebrated Baker's performances and her beauty as a woman of color. However when she came to America, she was shunned by White audiences and seen as a performer of savage erotica. I think the juxtaposition of the two women is a testament to how this country seems to have lagged behind other nations in "taboo" subjects such as sexuality and ethnicity. People have used words such as "sophisticated" and "powerful" in describing Baker. These same words could and should have been and now be used to describe Saartjie. As the poem states, she was intelligent, capable of speaking at least three languages, she was well-traveled (though perhaps not by her own accord), and she was aware of issues that most European people of the time could not begin to fathom. It is a terrible shame that her voice has been lost in her story as a completely capable person whom I am sure would have had a lot to say.

This poem and the story that goes with it have a lot to teach us. It's good that we have been able to come into contact with it and discuss it. I think it has been one of those stories the White world has been hoping to sweep under the rug to forever be forgotten, but it happened, and we must learn from it and honor Saartjie's memory.