Race and demons
The articles that were assigned for today (Jan 25) deal with experiencing race, privilege and inequality in everyday life. Ellis Cose describes these things as a "dozen demons", a dozen factors that all different races (not only blacks) must deal with in life. This articles goes through and decsribes 12 factors that on a daily basis people of different races have to deal with. Some of these include presumption of failure where people assume that you will fail because of one case that they have had where somebody of a different race didn't do well, shattered hopes and the thought that you will never make it so you give in to something less, inability to fit in no matter what background and education you have earned you will never be like the whites, and guilt by association where just because you are a different race people will assume the worst of you. As I read through this I found myself having experienced all but one of the dozen, Identity troubles, I am who I am and there is nothing that would make me change who I am because if this is how I was made to be, then so be it. Someone should not be disregarded or underprivileged for their color, religion, or any factor or race. I believe that everyone is capable of doing better than what they expect of themselves and what they are expected of. Some societies have said that they have moved on from being racist and they treat everyone equally, but in reality there are still people that cannot look past this.
Another one of the articles that was assigned that I can relate to is Karen Brodkin's "How Did Jews Become White Folks". In this article she describes how at one point Jews were considered a different race. They did not have the privleges that normal white people did. Through this article though you can see the transgression to middle class whites that they now hold. For me, growing up in the Bronx, New York you had basically four different kinds of races,. At the time there were Jews, Itailians, Blacks and East Indians. Most Blacks and East Indians considered Jews and Italians who lived there to be whites, just based on the color of their skin. While reading the article it made some sense to me why they were considered "just as white as the next person", but it is still confusing. Jews and Italians hold different cultures than Americans, but yet they were still considered white. Yet for someone having a darker skin tone or color and also having a different culture they still have less privileges.
Another one of the articles that was assigned that I can relate to is Karen Brodkin's "How Did Jews Become White Folks". In this article she describes how at one point Jews were considered a different race. They did not have the privleges that normal white people did. Through this article though you can see the transgression to middle class whites that they now hold. For me, growing up in the Bronx, New York you had basically four different kinds of races,. At the time there were Jews, Itailians, Blacks and East Indians. Most Blacks and East Indians considered Jews and Italians who lived there to be whites, just based on the color of their skin. While reading the article it made some sense to me why they were considered "just as white as the next person", but it is still confusing. Jews and Italians hold different cultures than Americans, but yet they were still considered white. Yet for someone having a darker skin tone or color and also having a different culture they still have less privileges.
Discussion Questions:
If a White American was to adapt a whole different culture, religion and way of life woudl they be just the same as the next person in that culture/religion?
If society is trying to become an unbiased world, why are there less provileges given to others with a different race? Which is defined as white and "of color", as stated in the article Experiencing Difference and Inequality in Everyday Life