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Now that we are over 1/2 way through the term imagine yourself as a blossoming racial justice educator. You've been asked to give a presentation on racism and sexism. The PowerPoint below is your starting point. The leader of your organization asks you to edit this presentation but 1st they want a written rationale for the changes you make. Your rationale will be your original post. Review the PowerPoint slide below. This PowerPoint is a general overview on racism and sexism. For your blog this week you are asked to 1) read the PowerPoint slide and take notes, 2) take notes on what you've read in Wise & Crass (see syllabus for reading requirements), 3) brainstorm on what's missing from the perspectives shared in the slides & 4) answer the questions below to complete your rationale:
Requirements for BLOG POSTS
53 Comments
Sharon Serper
11/5/2014 04:24:19 am
There are several additions that can be made to the powerpoint given. First, it is important to recognize the statistical significance that can be present within dubious supervision. Yes, this is a form of racism and sexism, but it is also important that we learn the facts about the specific cases we are looking at. Next, we must dive further into the section entitled “education.” People must be educated at a young age, giving them more knowledge and information to become respectful and fair adults. This is extremely important because often times the people who grow up to be ignorant, racist, and sexist, did not have the opportunity to learn about equality as children. Additionally, each of us could do a better job of spreading awareness, the next subtitle under the section, “strategies for combating racist and sexist behavior.” A significant piece of information that could be added to this is that each and every one of us is responsible for raising awareness. Yes, we can do as the powerpoint states and tour museums, but we can also raise awareness on a smaller scale by bringing the topic up with friends and family on a daily basis. Courtland Milloy, a writer for the Washington Post wrote an article entitled, “In America, Racial Oppression is Not Ancient History.” In this article, Milloy focuses on the history of racism in the United States and how oppressive society still is today. Milloy states, “This is not ancient history.. This happened in my lifetime,” (Milloy, 1). This article could be added to the presentation to demonstrate the emphasis that should be placed on raising awareness about racism. It would give the audience first hand evidence and a great example of why we must implement change and fight racism. Also, this article could relate to concepts from the book, “Speaking Treason Fluently: Anti-Racist Reflections From an Angry White Male.” In this book, Wise talks about how each of us has the responsibility to open our eyes and realize that racism is still present today. Milloy’s piece on racism would help illustrate this concept.
Alexander Salah
11/5/2014 11:03:13 am
I agree. While sexism and racism are important to become aware of at a young age, we cannot do this without educating out young citizens. Education plays such a large role I cannot stress enough the importance of how we can change our society if we just learn to educate its people. I like how you stated that often times, people who are racist and sexist are uneducated because most of the time this is true. If people were more aware then we would probably not have sexism and racism because people would realize that there is no point to it and we are all human.
Dylan SanFilippo
11/6/2014 03:04:50 am
I like the suggestion you made about teaching kids at a young age about equality. Lots of people in the world seem to not know what someone means when they say or talk about “equality.” If this was taught when people were young, then there would be less confusion later in life.
Niloufar Pirkhezri
11/7/2014 05:58:03 am
I completely agree that we should educate our kids at a young age about sexism and racism. By educating children at a young age, it can help eliminate such issues when they are adults rather than trying to clean up the mess of ignorant adults that were not brought up thinking that all races and genders are equal. The more we teach our kids on such subjects, the better adults they will become and it all starts from our generation and on forth.
Jason Do
11/9/2014 03:49:03 pm
With this in mind I'd like to mention that I don't believe anyone is born a racist or sexist. The ideas of racism and discrimination are impounded onto the clean slates of children by society from the day they are born. One of the most memorable moments from high school I have is when I was watching a video in class where a reporter was recording an anti-gay rally and there was a small boy holding a sign that said "God hates faggots!" The reporter walked up to the little boy and asked him if he knew what a faggot was. The boy said no.
Nelson Chuang
11/9/2014 03:09:31 pm
I second your idea that education must begin with the youth so when they grow up they can make decisions that can be backed up with common sense. We see all too often in our young adults today poor decisions that can turn out to have consequences for the rest of their lives.
Judy Chen
11/9/2014 03:56:22 pm
I completely agree with your suggestion of how displaying statistics about each specific case would really help the masses understand how significantly racism and sexism impacts those who are negatively affected by A lot of individuals are visual learners, and displaying these statistics of inequality may really resonate with them. Sometimes speaking about an issue isn't enough to spread awareness, gain interest or sympathy, but when one witnesses a situation in which racism or sexism takes place, or even sees a visual representation of the case, they are most of the time more likely to be inclined to want to make a change and spread more awareness to those around them, gathering a group effort that could potentially be very effective in an anti-racism/anti-sexism coalition.
Alexander Salah
11/5/2014 04:44:20 am
As I began to read the power point slides, there were some changes I thought I would bring to beneficial change the presentation. Racism and sexism are very powerful topics but have been broadly mentioned in some of the power point slides. The first question being brought up in slide two asking soldiers what sexism and racism are, should be changed to asking the general public what they think sexism and racism are. The reason for this change is that asking soldiers is just one specified group of opinions of these two topics and should be changed to the general public so we can capture more of a broad sense of equality in how we ask people. Another change I would allocate would be in slide three, the ignoring factor would. The slide says, “Ignoring-Discounting what an individual says not giving it credibility because they may be a minority or a female.” I would change this to more of a balanced term and take out females and change it to more of a gender-neutral term because although in most cases women’s opinions are disregarded, there are some males that fall subject to disregarded opinion. According to Devega, “Discrimination isn’t just an insult to our most basic notions of fairness. It also costs us money, because those who are discriminated against are unable to make the best use of their talents.”(pg.1) The result of sexism and racism on America does not only take a mental toll on people but also hinders their ability to utilize their knowledge to the best of their ability and benefit themselves. If we are still subjected to sexism and racism we cannot move forward with equality and fairness in terms of economic and financial means. There are many concepts from Tim Wise and Chris Crass that I would include in this presentation but I have narrowed it down to a few key concepts. One concept I would add in is the realization of awareness of racism and equality between certain minorities and the model majority. People fail to realize that there is a problem with racism nowadays and in order to solve the problem, people have to be pro-active when it comes to advocating policy change. If we can bring more awareness to a specific cause, then eventually people will see the need to change our system. Overall, the key concepts on this slide were very educational and beneficial to racism and sexism minus some of the very minute changes I have proposed.
Dylan SanFilippo
11/6/2014 04:00:13 am
In your post you say, “…I would add in … the realization of awareness of racism and equality between certain minorities and the model majority” (Alexander Salah). Why would you only include ‘certain minorities,’ but not all of them? And, which minorities would you include in your presentation/example(s) and why?
Alexander Salah
11/7/2014 01:06:23 am
I think you misunderstood how I wrote my blog post. By saying "certain minorities" I do not mean casting other minorities out of the picture but I was providing a specific example towards the Wise/Crass concept. What I mean by that is certain majorities lack the knowledge and equality of certain minorities and should be more aware of reasons for these problems. I hope this cleared things up for you. If not then let me know and I can try to explain it a better.
Sharon Serper
11/6/2014 04:27:16 am
I think it’s important that you mentioned that racism and sexism were mentioned broadly in the powerpoint. It did not provide compelling evidence to show the audience how significant the topics are. I also like how you included the topic of the model minority. This would be a great addition to the powerpoint as demonstrates a clear issue we are facing today.
Dylan SanFilippo
11/6/2014 03:43:16 am
White Privilege is a concept that Tim Wise speaks about that is not included in the PowerPoint presentation. It would be good to touch on this subject so that people can be aware of the concept. Telling people how white privilege relates to the American justice system, and relating that information to the jail rate in America is important because then people would be aware of how and/or why there are so many more minorities in jails than white people. The benefit of people understanding and being informed of this subject is that minorities can truly be aware of what reality they exist in and it would help white people know that they have an unfair advantage. Through informing people about white privilege, more people would likely speak out against it, therefore creating that much more equality in the world.
Sharon Serper
11/6/2014 04:30:52 am
I definitely think that white privilege is a huge topic that should be added to the powerpoint. Learning about it in class has been completely eye-opening, and including it in the powerpoint would be beneficial. It is definitely important to raise awareness about the fact that white privilege affects so many people without them even realizing it. Overall, it’s great that you decided this would be an advantageous addition to the presentation.
Niloufar Pirkhezri
11/7/2014 05:48:50 am
I completely agree that white privilege is a topic that should have been discussed in the powerpoint. Prior to taking this class is was something that I never realized but now has really opened my eyes to the fact that it really does exist. The more were talk about it the better so we can help eliminate upper and lower classes.
Vanessa Fernandez
11/9/2014 05:43:26 am
I completely agree with you that informing people is a huge step in eliminating these issues. If people are not aware that these issues exist, they will never get solved, knowledge is power. White privilege is not commonly spoken about because its not an easy topic to bring up in a conversation but the more we open our minds to these truths the more we can get done.
Jason Do
11/9/2014 03:54:03 pm
Privilege is definitely one of the most important and also the hardest thing to educate people about. Privilege exists, and some people have more than others; that's just the reality of life as it is right now. No one chose to have privilege, but to pretend that it's a nonfactor on the outcome of our lives is simply wrong. However, telling people that they have privilege, or to "check your privilege" id definitely not as simple as telling them "Good morning." I remember the first time I was coming to grips with the fact that I am more privileged than other people, and I felt offended and kind of like I was being attacked for something I had no control over. It will definitely take some easing into to get everyone to understand the proper way to live with one's privilege.
Hakwoo Kim
11/10/2014 08:00:26 am
Although I agree with you that the topic of white privilege would be a good topic to add, I wouldn't necessarily say it is not included in the presentation. In the strategies to combating racism/sexism section, there's a bullet point called self-analysis. I think white privilege would be a good example to illustrate why it is important to self-analyze. I believe that Wise's point is not only about white people having privileges from this oppressive society and being ignorant of it, but also about everybody realizing what their role or responsibility is to combat this oppressive structure.
Vanessa Fernandez
11/6/2014 07:00:40 am
The power point starts off by defining Racism and Sexism and giving examples that the audience can refer to. It states that people are socialized to believe its okay to be a little sexist but not to be a little racist,this statement is too broad and requires data or a statistic to further prove why people think this way. Through out the power point data and statistics would have brought out the severity of this topic to people who are just learning about the impact of racism and sexism. In addition to the strategies for combatting racist and sexist behavior, organizations and groups combatting these issues should have been named as well as ways in which they are doing so. The way in which figures of authority such as police partake in these topics is also an important factor to people understanding how much of a problem systemized oppression is. White denial is not spoken about in the presentation and many white people believe that racism and sexism is not their problem because they do not face it on a daily basis. Chris Crass uses a quote in his book "Towards Collective Liberation" that really makes you questions white people's roles. The quote says, "I haven't the faintest notion what possible revolutionary role white heterosexual men could fulfill, since they are the very embodiment of reactionary-vested-interest-power"(Robin Morgan). Chris Crass and Tim Wise are both examples of white men who have used their whiteness to their ability to spread and educate society about the oppression of certain races and and are the opposite of white denial. I found an article that talks about the aftermath of Ferguson, Missouri and it talks about the majority of the people who were angry and hurt were people of color. The article states "And almost nothing, silence practically, by the majority of my non activist, nonacademic white friends—those same people who gleefully jumped on the bandwagon to dump buckets of ice over their heads to raise money for ALS and those same people who immediately wrote heartfelt messages about reaching out to loved ones suffering from depression following the suicide of the extraordinary Robin Williams, may he rest in peace.''(Janee Woods). So in reality, the people we should be reaching out to and education are those who are not directly involved in racism and sexism. So that when it is time to fight these inequalities everyone is on the same page whether your colored or white.
Dakota Bramer
11/6/2014 12:41:10 pm
First off, education should be stressed a lot more as a strategy for battling racism and sexism. Everything has roots and those roots begin when the seed is planted. If we can teach children what is really right and wrong while they are young, we can nip the bud before it even begins to grow. Just as social injustice is unknowingly jammed down our throats, we can do the same with young kids, but in a good way by teaching them how to be respectful and understanding to all sorts of people and idea’s. We are most impressionable as children, so that is the ideal time to steer each other in the right direction. A big point from Time Wise’s book “Speaking Treason Fluently” that should be a large part of this power-point is denial. Tim Wise discusses numerous times that there are still many people whom deny real racism exists. Not quoted from Wise, but I bet a good chunk of those people would not see sexism as a problem either. We need to eliminate denial for there to be progress. I strongly believe that many people who “deny” these social problems don’t necessarily really believe it. I think many just feel by denying it they don’t have to do anything to help. “Racial Cowardice, White Denial: Post Racial Delusions in the Era of Zimmerman” by David J. Leonard is an article that could serve as a good reference in this power-point as it deals with denial, which is of course one of Tim Wise’s main themes. “White denial, dismissal, delusions, and racial cowardice are dangerous; they too are part of the trauma that is taking place right now” (David J. Leonard). This quote rings so true and that it’s scary. Sexism is a subject I would definitely want to garner more attention. I almost feel as racism is a very “mainstream” issue and sexism often takes a backseat to it. Don’t get me wrong, both are huge problems and society needs to fix them, but to do it, both need to receive enough attention.
Alexander Salah
11/7/2014 01:16:02 am
I agree. With a new, solid form of education starting while students are young, we can combat this issue of race and even sexism to learn to develop students and have them become more aware of the troubles people face on a daily basis all around them. If we do not "nip the bud" while we still can, then I think our country will have a very hard time correcting its wrongs and actually improving society as a whole.
Tiffany Le
11/7/2014 11:41:26 pm
I like how you brought up that children need to be educated on these matters at a young age. Often times, when boys do something "bad," people say "boys will be boys." On the flip side, if girls are standing up for themselves, they're told that they're being mean.That saying forgives the actions of males; females are taught to be nice and submissive. Already, children have been socialized to act different ways based on their gender.
Karla O'Connor
11/11/2014 01:00:05 pm
In response to Dakota, and Tiffany's comments as well, these ideas really opened up my eyes to how gender influenced my childhood. I grew up predominantly hanging out with boys, because I enjoyed sports and competition, but when I got home my mom didn't really like the fact that I hung with the boys, so she would call me a "tomboy," or most commonly not acting "like a girl." I never understood what this meant, and I didn't really care or acknowledge it at the time because I knew who I was, and because I was very controlling in situations, guys didn't like that and it's crazy to think that as children we are expected to act a certain way based on gender. Dakota's and Tiffany's responses is so true, and the next steps in combating sexism is educating our children about closing these gender based assumptions, thinking for themselves, and teaching them right from wrong. I was socialized to think that playing rough wasn't right just because I liked things that guys enjoyed doing, but now I can say that it wasn't wrong at all.
So Chun Kiu Ryan
11/8/2014 04:53:11 am
I love the sentence "Everything has roots and those roots begin when the seed is planted". To address the issue, we have to work at the root of the problem so it can be completely solved. However, when we talk about racism, people usually are trying to hide, avoid from the topic which is meaningless for the whole issue. Education is for sure a very decent solution for racism in future generations. It educates children the right and just value so they won't be wrong when they grow up. but on the other hand, I think that the culture, adults should also pay attention. Since children learn quickly from their parents and adults around them, we adults should try to be a role model for them. For example, trying not to be racist in front of our kids, not telling racist jokes...etc. Hence they can have the right altitude and value of racism while they are learning.
Karla O'Connor
11/9/2014 11:18:34 am
You make important points, racism is a more "mainstream" issue and is spoken more often than sexism, this is true. People don't tend to see sexism as something that needs to be fixed because we do live in a man-dominated society, where men will make more than women besides having the same credentials. This mentality of patriarchy and casting women of lower status all stem from how this country was formed, and how these powerful men dismissed women, people of color, minorities, and immigrants. This has had a major impact on how people view these groups today, and because of this, the only thing to do is to recognize these systems of oppression, and to come together collectively in pushing for gender and racial equality. A speech which I found empowering was the HeForShe campaign that Emma Watson, the UN Women Goodwill Ambassador spoke in. She states, "If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by what we are—we can all be freer and this is what HeForShe is about. It’s about freedom." I found this important because what she’s saying is that we need to stop comparing ourselves to other people, and once we can start doing this, we can be liberated from these gender based assumptions.
Hakwoo Kim
11/10/2014 08:08:20 am
Yeah, I agree with most of what you wrote. Education surely is a really important part of the solution, and I love that your focus on education is to teach how to be open-minded, not just limited to learning what's really going on. I believe the lack of openness is what makes people become scared and oppressive. Denial is something I'd also stress. Every solution starts with acknowledging the problem or at least the possibility of betterment. It would really help people to stop and think about what we are denying to see. Finally, I agree with you that sexism is an underestimated form of oppression. I read an article called "The Human Male", which lays out how sexism oppresses males. Looking at sexism really broadens the perspective on oppression, as it shows it's not just a inter-racial problem but exists throughout all humanity.
Dominc Allred
11/6/2014 12:54:07 pm
The power point is okay for the most part but a significant aspect it is missing is where racism is rooted in society and the perpetuation of it. Tim Wise throughout his book hammers home the concepts of white privilege and white denial. These two concepts go hand in hand in either believing racism no longer exists or having the belief that racism is appropriate. These two ideas that branch from white privilege and white denial are not true in addition they are harmful to the process of dismantling our racist society. In the article “Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person...” by Gina Crosley-Corcoran she states “If a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.” The statement Crosley-Corcoran makes is very true, and unstated aspect or undertone of her article is that white privilege affords white people the opportunity to “make it” even with dire circumstances such as hers because white people do not have to face oppression based on race. Something that Chris Crass emphasizes is change based race and sex takes a collective effort from people of different backgrounds. As an experience Crass had was organizing white people at JC he was going to school at to fight for multicultural course. The important part is getting white people to join, participate, and advocate for social change. The aspect from Crass could be more of implementation to the presentation and not necessarily stating out right since white people (men in particular) would probably be resistant to thought of dismantling racism and sexism.
Vanessa Fernandez
11/9/2014 05:50:52 am
Its really important that you brought up that there needs to be an effort from people of different backgrounds. Its not only a battle for minorities but everyone who is part of our society. Our society needs to come together as a whole, including whites, to overcome the inequalities faced by people of color.
Arnulfo Gembe
11/9/2014 02:53:11 pm
I do agree with Crass' statement of white people needing to join in the fight for social change. As unfortunate as it may be I feel as if the media emphasizes these points of views more as opposed to when a minority makes a statement of social change. The media makes comments of social change much more radical when a white person encourages social change.
veronica romo
11/6/2014 01:38:54 pm
While reviewing the slide it became obvious that because the topics of racism and sexism are so broad and extensive, more specific information and a bit more information in general would be beneficial. also if presented with actual facts and statistics people might be able to make a bigger more affective connection to the problems at hand. for example Wise used the effective example ..."a full- time black male worker in 2003 made less in real dollar terms than similar white men were earning in 1967." Part of the reason racism and sexism isn't discussed is because people tend to overlook or even normalize these topics especially when in situations involving either or both issues. I believe that the topics mentioned by Tim Wise of "white privilege" and "perspectivism" should also be mentioned in order to help with the self-awareness bullet. and lastly, articles of modern day situations could be added for affect, and why not some more resources in order to promote activism and social change. its important to understand as Wise white privilege for the benefit of not just minorities but also whites. "perspectivism, which allows the white narrative to become the predominant national narrative empowers whites in any number of ways and makes it difficult to recognize the extent of the racism problem, since white reality (and the denial that defines it) is the privileged version of truth, in schools and mainstream discourse." I would choose to include an article written by Monica Potts titled The Gender-Pay Gap: It’s Real, and Yes, It’s Sexism she discusses issues of inequality in business relations, occupational opportunities and stereotypes as well as the gap between average incomes between men and women of different races. "Women are paid less than men overall—78 cents to their male counterparts’ dollar according to a survey this year, which is a whole penny more than it was for the past decade!—and mothers are paid even less. Black women and Latinas are heavily discriminated against in the workplace, making only 64 and 56 cents for every dollar, respectively, paid to white men. Black and Latina mothers bring home more than half of their families’ income, and female-headed houses are the most likely to be poor." its important to illustrate the brutal truth of our history, how far we have come, but still how far we have to go, as well as demonstrate responsibility yet resistance against inequalities surrounding us all.
Tiffany Le
11/6/2014 01:42:03 pm
First of all, when defining racism and sexism, the powerpoint states racism is how a person or group of people exercise their power over an inferior group intentionally or unintentionally; I think this should say consciously or unconsciously because society has been socialized to think about race in a certain way from an early age. In addition, it says on the powerpoint that people are socialized to think sexism is alright, but racism is not. I believe this is untrue because racist stereotypes, jokes, and other racial behaviors and thought patterns have been ingrained in our society. On top of that, political action has been created that perpetuates racism: poll taxes, gerrymandering, immigration laws. Both racism and sexism are forms of systematic oppression created by the white patriarchy.
Judy Chen
11/8/2014 08:52:03 pm
It's important to note that privilege can be subjective, and that it may not always be what it seems. Certain people need to recognize their own privilege in order to compare and contrast the social inequality that people of color face. Someone who is white but of a slightly lower class status may not realize all the privileges they still obtain compared to people of color, because they are only focused on how under-privileged they are compared to other white people who have a higher status in society. This goes along with how sometimes we tend to ignore, whether it's intentional or not, the world outside of our own, and how we have a tendency to believe that just because we aren't being affected by or witnessing certain behavior, that it doesn't exist.This thought process should be reversed in order to get whites to be conscious of issues of racism and sexism, even if they can't or haven't witnessed it first hand.
Dominic Allred
11/9/2014 10:20:13 am
Colorblindness a wonderful way to perpetuate racism based on the privilege of being allowed to be "colorblind". So very true about not being able to treat every one equal based on each person circumstances. Maybe as an addition to the power point it could discuss equitable actions towards people since equal action would most likely leave certain groups of people.
Karla O'Connor
11/6/2014 01:44:49 pm
The powerpoint slide only gives the perspective for soldiers, so if we can give this guide to a sample of the youth, most specifically teens in high school, we can move towards change. We can see what they know and what we can do to educate these concepts in a way that can be engaging. First, I would ask these kids what racist, ethnic, or sexist jokes they know, and have them write it down on a board. Then, educate them in how these jokes can reinforce stereotypes, and how destructive it can be. I would then highlight and define Dubious Supervision. This associates people of color to crimes, and partially this is due to media representation. I would then ask the Youth what they can do to combat Racist or Sexist Behavior, and ask them to brainstorm any ideas they have. I would also introduce the idea of equity, instead of the term equality. In this section, I would explain how treatment from teachers, parents, friends, public officials, colleagues, employers, etc involves understanding differences and situational factors that keep people from succeeding. I strongly believe putting yourself in other people’s shoes is something that is critical in understanding someone’s story. By doing this, we see the world through their eyes, along with their perspectives of life.
So Chun Kiu Ryan
11/8/2014 05:19:28 am
Hi ! I saw that video "10 hours of walking in NYC as a Woman" as well. I was shock that I didn't even notice racism is involved in a video of sexism! It is kind of disappointing to discover that I am unable to detect injustices in the things around me. It's even more disappointing to see a video consists of racist element. Media plays an extremely important role in our culture. There is no way media only supports some justices while denying the others. What they do greatly and effectively affect the public. That's why I agree with you that media should try to cover more racist issues and inform people what is really going on in society.
Judy Chen
11/6/2014 02:25:24 pm
One of the most important concepts left out of this PowerPoint, in my opinion, is the need for people to stop assuming that people of color voluntarily wish to leave behind their culture or individuality in order for them to fit into American society and assimilate to American culture. To expect and assume that others want to conform to America’s “whiteness” and deviate from their own perspective cultures and ethnicities is an act of ignorance that must be recognized and stopped. Another aspect that may improve the PowerPoint would be perhaps a few visual representations of statistics between people of color and white people, whether it may be incarceration rates, property ownership, or annual income in order to further emphasize and present how unjust the social system is for people of color, as well as society’s expectations for them in general. This was especially reiterated in Tim Wise’s textbook when he talks about the severity of white supremacist culture, seeing that whites tend to prefer and enjoy people of color only when they are an exception to the stereotypes placed upon their race. “Instead of hostile acts like using racial slurs, keeping people out of certain jobs, or denying housing to certain races, the majority of of discrimination is caused by giving favorable treatment to someone who shares your characteristics, the researchers found” (Bryce Covert, Racism and Sexism Look Different Than You Think). This quote from Bryce Covert’s article is a wakeup call to whites who continue to be ignorant about how racism doesn’t exist simply because they don’t personally see it impacting people of color in a significant way. There are many discreet forms of racism and sexism that take place when obvious methods are kept quiet, and the results are just as detrimental as slander and hostility. Chris Crass brings up in his textbook how he personally believes that the societal system in America was designed to make certain groups of people feel alienated and helpless, which would be another important topic to bring up in the presentation. The question would be how we should go about fixing our societal setup and our institutions so that stereotypes can be reversed and people of color can be given equal opportunities to prosper and thrive in America. Stereotypes of how people of color are lazy and less educated were created due to a twisted social system and also wrong conceptions within social construct. People of color could have easily been given the same education if white supremacy didn’t enforce segregation in schooling institutions. From the start we have given them less of a chance to become successful individuals, and that is why so many negative stereotypes are believed in and told by people today.
Arnulfo Gembe
11/9/2014 02:31:26 pm
I agree with your comment about Crass and how he "believes that the societal system in America was designed to make certain groups of people feel alienated and helpless." I used to work in retail and at this retail store my fellow coworkers used to tell me that I should avoid helping any African American costumer because most of the time they would use fake credit cards. Not until I worked in retail did this ever occur to me. There were instances were if we had any issues with a white customer's credit card we would call customer service to help out with the transaction. However when we had an issue with an African American's card we would call the loss and prevention department instead to help out with the transaction. As messed up as it is this will probably never change at this retail store because that is the way that the system is setup as.
Arnulfo Gembe
11/6/2014 02:53:01 pm
Both Wise and Crass as well as a majority of society would agree that eliminating racism and sexism will take some time to accomplish. Society has been successful in eliminating some percentage of racism and prejudice since the Civil Rights Movements. This powerpoint does a good job at emphasizing that by “- Taking part in activities in which you would mix with members of different races and genders. This affords the opportunity to experience first hand that the stereotypes held toward different groups often have no basis for truth.” This element of participation should be practiced on a daily basis and it doesn’t necessarily have to be activities it can also be applied in class or at work by talking to a new person who is not of your race. The powerpoint also makes a point about stereotypical language and how society should eliminate this mentality. Although society in America has progressed since the Civil Rights Movement it does not mean that racism is close to be eliminated. According to Nuseibeh “the U.S. Army can use the term ‘Negro’ in reference to ‘black or African American’ personnel, according to the ‘Army Command Policy’ regulations document.” The fact that this term is still not banned from our military is an example of how society still has to improve and educate itself in terms of discrimination. It also makes you wonder that if this term is still used in the Army then how many high ranking officials in the Army are African American? Is it harder for African Americans to reach high ranking positions in the Army as opposed to other races?
Nicole Cheng
11/6/2014 02:57:42 pm
ASSUMPTION: the presentation is given to newly recruited military personnel (largely young males), referencing the military handguide.
So Chun Kiu Ryan
11/6/2014 03:16:10 pm
I would suggest adding “racism and sexism are systematic and institutionalized phenomenon”. Generally in white community, racism is often considered as “flaw of individual personality”. Most whites are unable to identify that racism is a systematic phenomenon that has been harming the whole society for decades. Racial profiling, racial health care disparities, gender discrimination are not even a big thing in their minds that they are usually uneducated or misinformed about these cruel facts. Therefore, talking about racism, first mission is to let them know the dominance and the impact of racism and sexism in this society. They would hence realize the importance of understanding racism and be more willing to learn about it. One thing to improve about this PowerPoint is that it seems very dull and irrelevant to us. It is full of so called definitions and terms that can scare people off easily. I would recommend providing evidences and examples to enhance the depth of this topic, so they can relate all these concepts to their life and perspectives. Additionally, adding “communication” in the part of strategies of combating racism should help. Since our experience of racism and sexism can be very limited, or we didn’t even notice racism or sexism, communication effectively helps us to understand this topic from multiple perspectives. Especially for people who enjoy privilege in our unjust society, informing what people of color, women experienced in that past helps a lot. According to Tim Wise, White people enjoy privilege of not needing to know about racism. They have never experienced or tested on it and for sure they would have no idea about racism. To think out of their box, they would have to know more about the truth of all these inequalities by getting knowledge from different sources including experience of other people. Article “Who Experiences Racism?” states the perspective of victims of racism and would be helpful for us to understand importance of perspective and experiences in racism.
Karla O'Connor
11/7/2014 03:45:23 am
I like the ideas you put out, not a lot of people see sexism or racism as a systemic problem which is the reason why it is not taken so seriously, or why white people dismiss that it still exists. Educating those about racial wealth disparities, housing discrimination, and racial profiling are only a few things that are not covered by the media which is a huge issue in my eyes. There is wide misinformation that is being showed to society, therefore contributing to the reinforcement of racial stereotypes. What can we do as a society to change this, when the elite are the ones in control of these sources?
Dominic Allred
11/9/2014 10:06:46 am
Very good point of stating that sexism and racism systematic and institutionalized phenomenon. In addition to stating each is a systematic and institutionalized, an important addition to that would be to state that sexism and racism are sociological creations from humans and have no true scientific backing. This is because many people believe that sexism and racism are inevitable factors in human interactions, and they are not.
Cody caropepe
11/6/2014 04:03:03 pm
I definitely think that all the topics in the power point are great topics. I think these are rain tail topics for teaching people equal rights and racial equality. The only thing I would add is that sometimes you don't even reailize how involved you actually are in the whole mess of things until you take a step back and take a good hard look. This was one of the hardest parts for me personally. I couldn't figure out where I was involved in all of this mess. I kept thinking well if it doesn't effect me personally or if I don't effect anyone else than why even bother getting involved. If people could realize how much that actually effect people with their actions that they don't make then we can start to bring about change better. As long as we have people out their that don't see or feel the effects of all this stuff we won't progress in life. We need to continue to show these messages in pop culture like we are starting to in today's society. Once all of this is captured in people's heads only then will that start to truly learn.
Dakota Bramer
11/9/2014 02:19:40 pm
I feel where you are coming from when you say "if it doesn't affect me personally why even bother getting involved." I think that's one of the biggest problems involving these issues. Many people, in my opinion, look at it in that way which does not allow any sort of progression.
Nelson Chuang
11/9/2014 03:12:43 pm
Perspective is definitely important. I like how you pointed out that sometimes we just need to take a step back and be able to look at the whole picture. A lot of times we dont think an issue is a part of us when in reality it is a lot closer than it seems.
Niloufar Pirkhezri
11/7/2014 05:41:29 am
After going over the powerpoint, I noticed a few points that were failed to be discussed. First of all, In the slide about education, they failed to discuss about educating our children. People who have grown up to be sexist or racist were probably not educated enough when they were children. By teaching kids at a young age, it will help eliminate the sexist and racist gene from there brain and help from maturing into ignorant adults. That way we can stop correcting our wrongs, but teaching young kids so there is no issue to correct later in the future. Secondly, Tim Wise made a huge point about white privilege, which was not discussed at all in the powerpoint. Before taking this class I never really even thought about white privilege or any kind of privilege that has to do with race. By incorporating that into the powerpoint it will open some viewers that wow, it is something that exists but now how can we help eliminate that line between races. The last thing that stood out to me was that they didn't talk about the denial of racism which is another topic that Wise focuses a lot on. The fact that racism exists is without a doubt true, but some folks are still in denial about it. Instead of being in the shadows, the more we talk about the issue the better so we can help eliminate it. It is not a case of ignorance is bliss. The more we talk about that imaginary line that we all know is still there, the more beneficial we will be in actually eliminating it entirely.
Nicole Cheng
11/9/2014 12:18:16 pm
I enjoyed your deconstruction of the powerpoint of how little of youthful education was mentioned and agree that a huge victory would be to show children that skin color isn't important; my question to you (and anyone else who'd like to answer) is : what is one way to begin changes in the educational system?
Dakota Bramer
11/9/2014 02:25:01 pm
Yeah, we need to destroy that line between races. Everyone should have the same "privilege" and/or opportunities. Ignorance is one of the greatest problems we have in battling racism and sexism. Without citizens who don't have the proper knowledge of society, there is no way any problems can be truly fixed.
Hakwoo Kim
11/7/2014 06:04:39 pm
The presentation does a really good job laying out many aspects to understand racism and sexism,especially focusing on how individuals are participating in them. Although it briefly covers how these two forms of oppression are institutionalized, I found that it does not clearly give examples and explanations of how it is so. It is important to have the big picture of oppression as well as the interpersonal side of it, as it always helps people to realize the limits of individual actions and feel the needs of collective actions. The ideas from the books of Crass and Wise give good explanations and examples to illustrate this big picture. Crass understands many struggles of race, class, and gender as the movement of liberation. He views these unjust and oppressive society as one big oppression and claims that we are all victims of this oppressive structure. Ultimately, what we long to see is a liberating society where everyone feels empowered to be their full selves. Giving this context of liberation will greatly helps soldiers why it is important to understand racism and sexism, as it ties the lives of soldiers with the movement. Harvey Jackins’ (1999) article “The Human Male” gives a vivid example of how sexism is institutionalized. By laying out the armed services, the exploitation of men as workers, the sex industries, the sports industries, the family, and the media as such institutions, he shows that men are pushed to fit the image of “man” portrayed by society, which is to be aggressive, insensitive to emotions, non-communicative, and so on: “out realy nature is obscured and distorted by the heavy conditioning society puts upon us…” (p.212). Another example I would you is Wise’s idea of white denial. This idea gives a vivid illustration of how the oppressive groups, privileged by the system, tends not to see the problem and denies it. As the presentation covers sexism, it can be hard for male soldiers to clearly see what’s really going on. Showing Wise’s idea of white denial will provide them with an opportunity to deeply reflect on their privileges and positions within the system. After all, presenting Crass and Wise’s ideas of liberation movement and white denial together will incorporate the big picture of these two forms of oppression on top of what is already included, which focuses more on personal level issues and practices.
Tiffany Le
11/7/2014 11:33:22 pm
Hi Hakwoo. I agree that there are no concrete examples in the book, and I think that giving some detailed examples would develop some understanding about racism and sexism. Also, I like how you used the article that Professor Yuen brought up in his class. In so many instances, men are trained to be unemotional and aggressive, which hurts both men and women in the end.
Nicole Cheng
11/9/2014 12:11:15 pm
I like your emphasis on the need for individuals to know how their actions are implicit/explicit participation--
Nelson Chuang
11/9/2014 03:40:14 pm
A relevant idea that the Crass talks about that ties into this PowerPoint is White Supremacy and how it affects us unconsciously in so many ways. Many individuals are unable to see the affects it has on them because they are inside the sphere of influence. Many of those who are brought out of that sphere are able to notice it because they have a perspective of it as a whole looking in rather than a small part looking out. In “10 things Everyone Should Know About White Supremacy”, Chauncey DeVega states that “[white supremacy] was created to make Europe’s efforts to colonize and conquer the world seem like a “natural” process wherein “superior” white races would dominate “inferior” non-whites.” This ideology that was created to justify injustice and racism has changed and shaped many ways our country is functioning.
Jason Do
11/9/2014 04:04:25 pm
The powerpoint states that "In general, people are socialized that it’s acceptable to be a little sexist, but it’s not to be a little racist," but I'd have to disagree with that point. Racism is ingrained into our culture, and though it may be true that people are more aware of it than they were 200 years ago, racism and discrimination are still a commonplace reality in everyone's lives. Saying that society teaches us it's not okay to be a little racist is little more than a pipe dream at this point in time. Tim Wise states that nigger is still the first word on white people's minds when they see a black person on the evening news. He mentions that no one is innocent of racism and even though some might try their hardest to be as non racist as possible, the seed of discrimination lies dormant in everyone, as seen in Wise's story about his grandmother. While racism might not be as overt as it was in the time of slavery, there are other avenues racism manages to sneak its influence into our daily lives. According to Bryce Covert, a writer at ThinkProgress, "Racism, sexism, homophobia, and other forms of discrimination don’t look the way they used to. Today it’s more about giving a leg up to people who are similar to you than trying to hurt people who are different." (Racism and Sexism Look Different than you Think) This is definitely a truth as seen in the wealth disparity between whites and people of color. Even if a white person and a black person might be equally qualified, the black person will find it much harder to succeed in life while the white person might have connections to help him get to higher places easier.
Bojana Cvijic
12/2/2014 08:16:56 pm
There are many additions that could be made to the powerpoint given to us, we can add statistics, things from the books and readers we have been given or considering that we are imagining ourselves as educators, the materials we use to help teacher our students. Another thing I would do with this powerpoint is I would get rid of the statement "In general, people are socialized that it’s acceptable to be a little sexist, but not to be a little racist" Racism and sexism are both unacceptable and that should be made clear in this statement, it should also be talked about how racism and sexism can go together or are connected to each other, and talk about the ways to eliminate them both. Unless the point being made is by the soldier getting trained, then then we should discuss the point I made (or another student made) after I brought up that point. I feel like the layout of this is a little confusing, I think that would be the first thing I would change, I would make sure that the points the students are making are clear that those are their points and that we have to discuss them, rather than making it seem like those are the points I'm making in my powerpoint. It's important to keep the students involved in the powerpoint but it's also important to not confuse or detract away from what the powerpoint is teaching. An article I would add into the power point is "Racism and Sexism - A Collective Struggle: A Minority Woman's Point of View" Leave a Reply. |
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