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After reviewing our lecture notes - watch this video of author and activist Chriss Crass. Crass is a self described feminist and anti-racist scholar. He works to eradicate sexism and racism in our society. Along with that comes oppressive economic systems, like capitalism. According to Crass (and others), capitalism is a part of the larger problem that has framed and created the root causes and potential beneficiaries of our social divisions. In your blog respond to the questions below.
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DIANA GOMEZ
1/12/2015 01:55:23 pm
1) Collective liberation: For example, when they tried to kick out the two main white people who support the colligation in a visible way. People were being racist because white people lead the colligation. People that were complaining did not want to see multiracial unity because it threats the very structure power they operate with. Mentor David Rojas supported and encouraged Crass to begin to organize Chicanos white and people of color to not give up. The way this can relate to systemic racism and classism is by white supremacy ignorance it hurts mainly people of color. Disregarding race and class racism can take place when an individual stands up and fights for people of color rights. An example: when Crass stood by in a rally and was directly called “race trader”, “what color are you”. In other words racism can be against white people that support people of color.
Sandra Montes
1/12/2015 03:22:26 pm
The early 90s are not too far away in time from us, and yet Crass found himself at a racist school that was clearly subjugated under white supremacy; there was barely enough curriculum to brush the surface of the history and truths of minority groups. Its obviously racist to assume Crass and the white woman were the leaders of the group, yet the school did so anyway. This shows their lack of faith that Chicanos would have the intelligence and leadership skills to run a successful coalition. You are definitely right about how the system feared the coalition because it had white members, and that it attempted to tear apart racial unity on campus. I’m also glad that you brought up Terrance, Crass’ mentor, because he discusses how eye-opening Terrance’s experiences were for him, and how he is able to look up to him as he works to create change.
Diana Orozco
1/12/2015 04:02:39 pm
When you mentioned that he was called a "race trader", he could have given up their. He could have given up when the dean said he was going to be arrested, but we need to learn from Chris Crass that we cannot give up just because there are a couple of obstacles in your path. These are just a couple of challenges stubborn people put in front of you in hopes that you will fail. Like the videos that shows how the government began to arrest journalist to scare any others from exposing the police or government. Its things like that we cannot let ourselves be scared of. Those scares should be seen as pity, and we should continue to stand for what we believe in.
Sandra Montes
1/12/2015 02:48:52 pm
Throughout my sociological education, I have learned that race, class, and gender are all socially constructed. In the reading, Crass agrees to this and states that they are “categories that organize people into a hierarchy of power, privilege, and oppression.” (p. 15). This means that, the systematic racism and classism that largely impact so many people exist based off of social constructions that are able to “hold truth” because of their acceptance by the people. Systematic racism and classism cannot successfully coexist with collective liberation, because collective liberation stands against these acts. In order for oppression to be eliminated, people must be educated and understand that their color blind mentality allows for the system to continue to harm so many groups of people. Crass argues that, “organizing with people privileged by the systems of oppressions… also requires working through denial, fear, guilt and shame. (p. 14). He revisits this idea in the video, when he mentions a quote that his mentor Terrance said to him; “… one of the ways that white supremacy hurts you is that it teaches you and rewards you, and socializes you to think you have nothing to learn from communities of color.” This is important, because it helps people feel less guilty for what color skin they were born with. Yes, a white person can acknowledge white supremacy and the privileges that they earn from it, but rather than feeling guilty, they can become angry, and stray away from mainstream society and educate others on the effects that people deal with on a daily basis. If white people often fear becoming involved, then they will not help create change and collective liberation, but rather silently condone systematic oppression. Currently, Crass notes that there is, “an enormous absence of leadership in white communities… you either don’t talk about race and pretend it doesn’t exist, or you talk about it and you’re a racist.”
DIANA GOMEZ
1/12/2015 03:05:25 pm
I definitely agree that in order for oppression to be eliminated, people must be educated and understand race. Crass argues that, “organizing with people privileged by the systems of oppressions feel less guilty for what color skin they were born with. An example of this was when Crass was called to meet at the student den office. He believed he was doing a good job and perhaps he was going to get an award. In reality he was told he was a threat and involved in criminal behavior. Acts of vandalism in school by hanging posters. He was told he was going to be kicked out of school and his 3 semesters were not going to be transferrable. Crass was told he was going to be fine and some time during the week the police was going to arrest him. White supremacy was trying to destroy those bonds the few white people had with people of color, but Crass and his team were very organized and did not give up.
Fay
1/12/2015 04:02:17 pm
I am running out of time and love to read your post. I like your input for the mother. I did read the actual case, and there are to this day many white parents do exactly that and no one says a word about it. Here in bay area that is.
Sandra Montes
1/12/2015 03:38:19 pm
Three central themes I found between the case, “Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids to White School District” and the Crass video were that, the system tries to make an example of others through punishment, white privilege remains prevalent within the educational and justice studies systems, and that there is racial division among American schools. In the video crass discusses the punishments that the school tried to burden him with for his participation, and makes it clear that they were trying to frighten others from continued participation, while the author speaking on the court case tells how the judge wanted to make an example of the mother being tried. The author also tells how if she were wealthy and white, she would not be facing trial, or even have to worry about what school her children were attending, and Crass talks about how because he was white, he was assumed to be the leader of the group, and how he was raised to “not see race.” Finally, just as children’s schools are racially divided, so are schools of higher education. They even try to avoid teaching any truths about minority groups and their histories that effect all people as a whole.
Fay
1/12/2015 03:53:46 pm
What did you learn about collective liberation that relates to what you've learned about systemic racism and classism?
Diana Orozco
1/12/2015 03:56:17 pm
Collective liberation is necessary to help anti-racist and anti-sexism organizations expose the truths about the problems this country continues to face: segregation of minorities. When people of similar interests and variety of backgrounds come together, their combination of experiences, viewpoints, and ideas create stronger impacts on those people that are blinded by white supremacy lies. As Chris Crass states in his book, Towards Collective Liberation, he states “Everyone reading this book is needed in the process of building the powerful and successful movements we need to make changes crucial for our future. As we have learned before, Americans have grown up seeing people of color in the media as “typical criminals”. Changes begin with listening to the backgrounds of people of color, and changing the media to exclude these horrendous images of people of color. Leave a Reply. |
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