• Home
  • About Us
  • Journals
  • Submissions
  • Catalyst

Blog #3: Exploring gender, race, and class bias due January 12th @ midnight

1/12/2015

9 Comments

 
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.
  1. What did you learn about collective liberation that relates to what you've learned about systemic racism and classism?
  2. How do the nuances of race and gender play out in real world scenarios?
  3. What cases below show the value of looking at social problems through an intersectional lens?
  4. Find three quotes from Crass to include in your original post.
Write a short paragraph that highlights three themes from the Crass video and one of the cases below.
  • Black mother jailed for sending kids to a White school district
  • Racism in Schools: Unintentional But No Less Damaging
  • Minority Students Don't Only Get Less Experienced Teachers, They Also Get Less Effective Ones
  • Black Children Face The Most Barriers To Success In America, Asians The Least
  • School suspensions: Does racial bias feed the school-to-prison pipeline?
  • LGBT Students Know Your Rights
Requirements for BLOG POSTS
  • You must write 250 words (minimum) for your original post with a 50-100 word response to another student.
  • Students must post on or before the due date.
9 Comments
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.
2) The way nuances of race and gender play out in the real world are by getting the opportunity to be part of a community; schools but never forget your place. An ex: was when Terrance was an a all white school and he was about to graduate. The day of graduation he was going to give the valedictorian speech and was stopped by the police at the parking lot for suspicion of casing cars. He felt so humiliated but new that other people weren’t going to interfere for that social injustice because for white people would probably congratulate the Police” for doing a good thing.”
3)The case that I selected was “Minority Students don’t only get less experienced teachers they also get less effective ones”. Studies were found that in schools with a high concentration of minorities are more than twice as likely to have an ineffective teacher than students in schools with a low minority enrollment. Also poor teaching skills are provided to low- income students and minorities. There is a poor environment for students to be “provided with education”. Many school have no ceilings, walls falling, and uninhabitable classrooms.
4) I) “Plant our feet on the importance of what we do the significance of our actions even as incomplete as they often feel”.
II) “You either don’t talk about race I your community and pretend it doesn’t exist or if you do talk about it you’re racist”.
III) “People that tell you their personal stories can be an eye opener to anti racist”.

Reply
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.

Reply
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.

Reply
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.”
He spoke of his experiences in the video, and explained the vulgarity of the language spoken to people of color that he knew, and expressed how scared it made him. He also mentioned how his community college offered very few ethnic and women’s studies classes Without education, people will remain narrow-minded and will not develop a consciousness necessary to participate and evoke change in any communities. Being a person of color, a woman, or both, should not define a person, and it most certainly should not discredit them in any way. If a white person wants to be an ally, they should not be discredited either, and be called a “race traitor.”
In the case, “Black Mother Jailed For Sending Kids to White School District,” intersectionality is important to notes, because not only is she black, but she is also a single mother who happens to live in a low income neighborhood. Her experiences through the lens of those three characteristics all intertwine and effect how she views herself, and how others view her and in turn treat her. The article argues that were she a wealthy white woman who committed the same offense, the results would be a lot different.

Reply
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.

Reply
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.

Reply
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.

Reply
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?
For the very first time today I discover how all my hard work going to school together will be a tool for me to work not just as an old woman, put a part of something much bigger than my mind can fathom.
How do the nuances of race and gender play out in real world scenarios?
So if you are a woman of color and you look younger than you really are in a meeting, well no one would bother with you till the floor is yours. After they see you have PHD, only than your vocabulary has audience.
Well, racism no longer exist said person in charge at some university in Lala land!
So there was never any help for a young American- African (I decided to change the order, I like it better, and actually in my personal opinion this is where it all starts anyhow.) To endure pain, to be left alone, is to see him hung himself. The person in charge admitted not taking the boy seriously and miraculously resigned.

The alleged harassment began in August and lasted through October, prosecutors said.
I am not sure just how long one must endure pain!!!
"I can't believe in the year 2013 that we're talking about an African-American student being treated this way," District Attorney Jeffrey F. Rosen told CNN. "We're taking this case very seriously."

"Let me be clear: I am outraged and saddened by these allegations. They are utterly inconsistent with our long cherished history of tolerance, respect for diversity and personal civility," Qayoumi's letter said.
What cases below show the value of looking at social problems through an intersectional lens?
For that would be the first one.
A mother that sacrifices for a better future should not pay like this.
Find three quotes from Crass to include in your original post.
We need to move one no matter how.

Reply
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.
Throughout grade school, children are taught that inequality no longer exists. However, it is as noticeable as ever that inequality still exists in this country. The real world discriminates against people of color or sex, like mentioned before, with the media as a major influence in education, workplace, and the general public. In previous classes, we have mentioned how an officer will assume a person of color is up to no good, and will use any excuse to search the persons’ belongings. We also spoke about women in the workforce. Women tend to not earn as much as men do because they are seen as weak, uneducated, and emotionally unstable. Chris mentions a quote from Steven Biko, “The most powerful weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed. The media and people around those of color influence the thoughts and goals of that person of color. For example, Alejandra, a Latina from a high school in Santa Barbara believed her counselor when the counselor said she would be better off at a community college. The counselor influenced Alejandra that University curriculum might be too difficult for her to handle. Instead of assuming how well or not well Alejandra might do in higher education, the counselor as well as the school should have challenged Alejandra to do the best possible and give her a helping hand.
These counselors, teachers and others may not know that they are being racist, also mentioned in class, but that is all the more reason to confront these people about the harm they are causing on their peers. As Chris states, “... I, and many others, knew how to talk about anti-racism with white people and feminism with men was by challenging them.” Challenging them will help the anti-racist/sexism groups speak the truths about the problems, as well as help those blinded by white supremacy to speak of their influence to oppress minorities. Challenging oppressors will also help tap into the their minds and insert thoughts they would never think of themselves.
In Crass's video he points out that we need to keep a firm foot on the bases of what we stand for. As mentioned in class, we cannot give up when one person disagrees with what we say, but keep pushing the truth into their minds, while moving onto other people and warning them of the discrimination issues that people continue to practice in this country. He states that white supremacy colonizes your mind, which as mentioned before, media is a major factor in helping white supremacy. Finally, Crass states that we need to continue to connect with white people and understand their backgrounds as well in order to move them into equality actions.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    JS 132 Students

    This blog is for JS 132 students.

    Syllabus

    RaceReader Part 1
    RaceReader Part 2


    Archives

    January 2015
    August 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

THE BEAUTY

OF BLACK

CREATION

ABOUT US

JOURNALS
​
​SUBMISSIONS

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Journals
  • Submissions
  • Catalyst