This week talked a lot about racism and discrimination and James Baldwin’s article My Dungeon Shook is a powerful letter to his nephew that empowers his to look past racism and discrimination. Baldwin described how racism has destroyed Americans as he writes how it was, “destroying hundreds of thousands of lives and do not know it and do not want to know it.” This sentence really caught my interest because I agree with him completely but I would like to add onto his idea because I think that the racist Caucasians destroy all sorts of ethnic backgrounds but I think that everybody also needs to add in how they are destroying themselves, some know it and deny it while others are blinded by it. Not only is this essay powerful and beautifully written but also I learned a lot from his messages and found one of his themes to be incredible, telling his nephew to love those that hate you, those that have put you in an unpleasant lifestyle, and those that put you down. I was able to understand how important it is to inspire others and to help others out when dealing with difficult and important issues.
I thought that the most interesting condition in Peggy McIntosh’s essay is 46, “I can choose blemish cover or bandages in ‘flesh’ color and have them more or less match the color of my skin.” I find this an interesting comment because I have actually thought of that before too and always found that to be odd with all of the different inventions and choices Americans have today. Why would it take 2009+ years for people to invent different colored Band-Aids when they even have ones with Superman (a heroic male figure) and Barbie (the ideal female body figure)? Noting that both are Caucasians. Not only is this simple product shocking but are many other privileges which I can understand and agree with, but there are some of her ideas of white privileges that I disagree with such as 17, “I can talk with my mouth full and not have people put this down to my color,” and 39, “I can be late to a meeting without having the lateness reflect on my race.” I disagree with these two statements completely because there is not reason for anybody, of any race, sex, or other background, to act this way because it is disrespectful and that it reflects the individual and I would never drag a group of people with those actions. I understand that McIntosh brought up the fact that many of the white privileges are not detected by whites, which I can see and I am glad that I read her article because it raises my awareness and I can do my best to minimize racism and white privileges that are unearned.
My family history paper showed me a lot of my past that I never knew about. I decided to go back farther than the 1940’s because the information I could find was at my will. I had books and everything from the 1830’s when my families came over from Germany. I had many family members go to war and were in the action. One was thrown on the dead pile only to be saved by a fellow American soldier. My family is in big into agriculture and welding. My Gast side owned many stores in the St. Henry area. My family was very successful. I found out more than I ever would have guessed in this paper. My family was one of the first founders of my town and they did much more than just that.
Throughout middle school I was friends with the farmers and hard workers. My school was nearly 98% white, catholic, and had German heritage. I did have one friend that was black and he would come with his grandparents to St. Henry during the spring, summer, and fall. His grandparents were the Mexican tomato pickers. That showed me a different lifestyle that I never experienced before 6th grade. His family stayed in a house no bigger than my living room and three people stayed in that house. They had no air conditioning after the hot days to cool off or any luxury for that matter. I never judged the Mexicans as bad or worse people but many people did in my community. If my grandparents never owned that caning factory I have a feeling that I would be as racist as everyone else in the town. The reason for me saying this is because my town has a very strong work ethic which most places can not say. When I went to college I have not met a dozen people that work as hard as farmers and people in my community do. My town is very conservative politically because we are a farming community and I think that brings out the racism to our community as well.
I feel that my race puts me at social advantage in my community. Very few people talk to the Mexicans or the blacks in St. Henry. My county history has drove out black communities out of this area. At one time there was a town of 400 blacks in Carthagena and the town was burned in the 1970s because people wanted them out. Being the only boy in my family of six kids gives me the upper hand of inheriting the farm when I get older. That is a big advantage for me because that is what I want to do someday. Like what other people said I do not have to worry about walking at night like women do. I think that no one is equal because people discriminate people no matter what. First impressions can affect everything the way people view a race. People will always have a little bit of discrimination against race and sex for as long as I can imagine.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
Blog 4
The black race has been segregated and discriminated against for hundreds against. There has been the beaten, raped, lynched, and deprived a chance to be as equal as the whites. Blacks did not have to be a slave to feel the slave treatment through the US. They would be deprived good jobs, and the salary that goes along with it. There were two main approaches that blacks would consider to get their equality: violence vs. non-violence.
Non-violent:
The non-violent approach was an approach that some big speakers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks used to get his word across to the public. This way was targeted more towards the black community to get them excited and to help push action to the government. Government does not want to see violence and if anything would make them not want to change the law in this case because it shows that blacks are not a civilized as white people. Non-violent approaches were very civilized and organized like boycotts and protest marches to the city. People would not obey the law in some cases and would end up in jail but they were doing it for a cause that they believed needed to happen today not 10 years from now.
Violent:
One of the more famous people on the violent side of the Civil Rights Movement was Malcolm X. Malcolm X thinks that if the government is not doing its job to protect the black man the black man should be protecting himself. He states that the constitution gives even the black man the right to own a rifle or a shot gun and he thinks that all blacks should. He does not think that a black man should go and kill a white man but he should if the government is not protecting the black man. He says that I am not fighting the white man I am just fighting the racist people which happen to be white. Malcolm firmly believes that the blacks have the right to fight against the racists, by any means that are necessary. I liked a quote that he said in the Ballot or the Bullet speech. “Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.” This to me is a realistic view on how many black people would have felt because they did not come here willingly and are not treated with any of the rights that America’s constitution gives to the white man. When the government would not even step in and stop white from the hangings that were going on in the US the black community should have fought for what they believed in. These blacks where humiliated, beaten, burned, and killed on this rope in front of hundreds of people in the crowd. People that believed in the more violent matter were also people that were tired of the white man raping the black women. They felt that they should be able to defend themselves and their women. Like Jean Owens case of being raped by 4 men and the men never being charged for anything but 15 days in jail would really piss me off too. This was something that happened on a daily basis and many whites would not be charged anything. Black people had to face more abuse than any race in the United States to this day. They had to face the physical abuse and emotional abuse on a daily basis. Violence was thought to be the answer to sum because it would be a temporary fix and make white people doing all of these bad things to the blacks. Some blacks also wanted pay back because of the way they were treated.
Both groups were hoping that they could end the segregation and ultimately bring equality to all people. Today segregation does not really happen any more and blacks are still discriminated against in some degree. Blacks still discriminate against whites to some degree as well so I do not ever think that there will not be any discrimination in the US but it has gotten 500 times better in the last 50 years.
Non-violent:
The non-violent approach was an approach that some big speakers like Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks used to get his word across to the public. This way was targeted more towards the black community to get them excited and to help push action to the government. Government does not want to see violence and if anything would make them not want to change the law in this case because it shows that blacks are not a civilized as white people. Non-violent approaches were very civilized and organized like boycotts and protest marches to the city. People would not obey the law in some cases and would end up in jail but they were doing it for a cause that they believed needed to happen today not 10 years from now.
Violent:
One of the more famous people on the violent side of the Civil Rights Movement was Malcolm X. Malcolm X thinks that if the government is not doing its job to protect the black man the black man should be protecting himself. He states that the constitution gives even the black man the right to own a rifle or a shot gun and he thinks that all blacks should. He does not think that a black man should go and kill a white man but he should if the government is not protecting the black man. He says that I am not fighting the white man I am just fighting the racist people which happen to be white. Malcolm firmly believes that the blacks have the right to fight against the racists, by any means that are necessary. I liked a quote that he said in the Ballot or the Bullet speech. “Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American.” This to me is a realistic view on how many black people would have felt because they did not come here willingly and are not treated with any of the rights that America’s constitution gives to the white man. When the government would not even step in and stop white from the hangings that were going on in the US the black community should have fought for what they believed in. These blacks where humiliated, beaten, burned, and killed on this rope in front of hundreds of people in the crowd. People that believed in the more violent matter were also people that were tired of the white man raping the black women. They felt that they should be able to defend themselves and their women. Like Jean Owens case of being raped by 4 men and the men never being charged for anything but 15 days in jail would really piss me off too. This was something that happened on a daily basis and many whites would not be charged anything. Black people had to face more abuse than any race in the United States to this day. They had to face the physical abuse and emotional abuse on a daily basis. Violence was thought to be the answer to sum because it would be a temporary fix and make white people doing all of these bad things to the blacks. Some blacks also wanted pay back because of the way they were treated.
Both groups were hoping that they could end the segregation and ultimately bring equality to all people. Today segregation does not really happen any more and blacks are still discriminated against in some degree. Blacks still discriminate against whites to some degree as well so I do not ever think that there will not be any discrimination in the US but it has gotten 500 times better in the last 50 years.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Blog 3 Japanese and Mexicans
The Mexican and Japanese were very different but in some ways exactly the same. Everyone that came to the United States at least in the lower classes had very similar goals that they wanted to accomplish. They wanted to make money and make a decent living doing so because life in their old country had few opportunities to keep themselves alive, employed and out of debt. The Mexicans were really going through some major economic problems as a whole in the early 1900’s and there was the Mexican Revolution going on during this time so people wanted to get out of Mexico and the economy is still why they want to get out today. The Japanese were having the economic problems of their own because they could not pay their taxes and they were stalked with hunger. These two groups needed to get out of their situation and go to a place to start over which was in the United States. Little did they both know that they were both going to be treated as lower class even if they had an education or not.
The book was talking about the rush of Mexicans coming to the US in rapid numbers because jobs were scarce in Mexico. These people came with the big sombreros on their head and they felt that they had pride for being a mexican. They filled up the streets and trains to get here because they had an opportunity. They located in the southwestern part of the United States which is where many Japanese people located. In Mexico there still are very few job opportunities because of the dense population. When the Mexicans reproduce they really reproduce which is why Mexico has such a high population. In the book it said the avg. American had 3 children while the avg. Mexican had 9. This is a huge jump in population to the United States and because of this happening the Americans needed to control the number of Mexicans that came to the US. The Mexicans were very important and still are very important to this day in age to the United States because they do many jobs that most of us do not want to do. The Mexican Americans helped build the United States International Railroad and connected the US railroad 900 miles south into Mexico. Mexicans did work on a wide range of job whether it was on a farm, railroad, hotel waiters, elevator man, or pouring asphalt. The Mexicans were very proud of who they were and built a strong community around themselves. They felt safe in their community even though it was a slum but everyone came from the same place and did not need much to be happy. This reminds me a lot of my heritage as well. No they were no Mexican but they never had a whole lot could maybe have been lower class but did not even know it. The families were united and neighbors would help eachother out because that built community and happiness. Your friends were your neighbors and when you have that feeling you can feel safe at night when you sleep. Unlike now in cities everyone has the ADT protection but where I live today people are still close and do not even lock the doors when they sleep because they feel safe.
The Japanese Americans were coming during this same time frame as the Mexican and they both believed that America was a land of opportunity. The Japanese came over with their families and some came as “picture brides” which where women who had a picture and a marriage license with someone in America and never met them before. Many Japanese Americans would come to start the American family farm which was much larger than the one that they had in Japan. The one in Japan usually had around 2 and half acres unlike the ones in America which could be in 40 acre plots. In Hawaii there was a big request for Japanese labor which in the book they had a receipt where a company was ordering bonemeal, canvas and Japanese labor. I found that very interesting that a company would order people as a product that they needed. But just as the Japanese were really needed in Hawaii the Mexicans where needed every in the south such as Texas to help with the crops. There were so many acres in Texas and Mexicans needed to be of assistance since many of the black labor wanted to move to the northern part of the United States.
Both the Mexicans and the Japanese had very low paying jobs. That would really stink because many of the Japanese were educated through high school and many into college. They were very smart individuals but where discriminated against so they never were able to get a real opportunity to work in a better condition. The Mexicans on the other hand thought that education would help them fit in to the society as well but Americans kept saying that why do the Mexicans need to know how to do anything. The discrimination was defiantly there and it still is today. These groups were assimulated into doing the things that they would be good at which was the farming and harder physical work. They were a lower class citizen to the English and were paid that way as well. The Japanese were paid 18.00 while the Portugues did the same work and got paid 22.50 This was just a way the Japanese and mexicans were treated because they where the lower class because they were not white.
There were some differences between the Mexicans and Japanese though. One was in the education. In the 1900 Japan believed that women should be educated alongside of the boys which gave them an advantage compared to most women that where reaching the United States. Unlike the Mexicans, many people including men and women where hardly educated at all. Also Japanese people also did not have the accessibility to come back to their homeland to see their family like the Mexicans could. Japanese were not likely to ever go back or if they would it would be at least 20 years. The Mexican Americans really had a different advantage when it came to migrating to “El Norte” as the book called it because the border between Mexico and the United States were touching. The border was pretty much nonexistent in the 1800 and early 1900’s because people were still locating yet across America. Illegal Mexican Americans could come to America and leave as they wished. Today that is really not the case. It is heavily bordered by 18,000 boarder patrollers and large fencing around some cities.
That is some similarities and differences that I have noticed about the Mexican and the Japanese Americans. Overall I think all of the groups that we read about this week had a mission when coming to America. They wanted an opportunity to succeed in a better life than what they were in before. They also came for money and a new beginning to start a family in a better place.
I hope this is what I needed to do for this blog because it was a hard one to start and come up with. On top of that we have that family heritage paper due next Friday.
The book was talking about the rush of Mexicans coming to the US in rapid numbers because jobs were scarce in Mexico. These people came with the big sombreros on their head and they felt that they had pride for being a mexican. They filled up the streets and trains to get here because they had an opportunity. They located in the southwestern part of the United States which is where many Japanese people located. In Mexico there still are very few job opportunities because of the dense population. When the Mexicans reproduce they really reproduce which is why Mexico has such a high population. In the book it said the avg. American had 3 children while the avg. Mexican had 9. This is a huge jump in population to the United States and because of this happening the Americans needed to control the number of Mexicans that came to the US. The Mexicans were very important and still are very important to this day in age to the United States because they do many jobs that most of us do not want to do. The Mexican Americans helped build the United States International Railroad and connected the US railroad 900 miles south into Mexico. Mexicans did work on a wide range of job whether it was on a farm, railroad, hotel waiters, elevator man, or pouring asphalt. The Mexicans were very proud of who they were and built a strong community around themselves. They felt safe in their community even though it was a slum but everyone came from the same place and did not need much to be happy. This reminds me a lot of my heritage as well. No they were no Mexican but they never had a whole lot could maybe have been lower class but did not even know it. The families were united and neighbors would help eachother out because that built community and happiness. Your friends were your neighbors and when you have that feeling you can feel safe at night when you sleep. Unlike now in cities everyone has the ADT protection but where I live today people are still close and do not even lock the doors when they sleep because they feel safe.
The Japanese Americans were coming during this same time frame as the Mexican and they both believed that America was a land of opportunity. The Japanese came over with their families and some came as “picture brides” which where women who had a picture and a marriage license with someone in America and never met them before. Many Japanese Americans would come to start the American family farm which was much larger than the one that they had in Japan. The one in Japan usually had around 2 and half acres unlike the ones in America which could be in 40 acre plots. In Hawaii there was a big request for Japanese labor which in the book they had a receipt where a company was ordering bonemeal, canvas and Japanese labor. I found that very interesting that a company would order people as a product that they needed. But just as the Japanese were really needed in Hawaii the Mexicans where needed every in the south such as Texas to help with the crops. There were so many acres in Texas and Mexicans needed to be of assistance since many of the black labor wanted to move to the northern part of the United States.
Both the Mexicans and the Japanese had very low paying jobs. That would really stink because many of the Japanese were educated through high school and many into college. They were very smart individuals but where discriminated against so they never were able to get a real opportunity to work in a better condition. The Mexicans on the other hand thought that education would help them fit in to the society as well but Americans kept saying that why do the Mexicans need to know how to do anything. The discrimination was defiantly there and it still is today. These groups were assimulated into doing the things that they would be good at which was the farming and harder physical work. They were a lower class citizen to the English and were paid that way as well. The Japanese were paid 18.00 while the Portugues did the same work and got paid 22.50 This was just a way the Japanese and mexicans were treated because they where the lower class because they were not white.
There were some differences between the Mexicans and Japanese though. One was in the education. In the 1900 Japan believed that women should be educated alongside of the boys which gave them an advantage compared to most women that where reaching the United States. Unlike the Mexicans, many people including men and women where hardly educated at all. Also Japanese people also did not have the accessibility to come back to their homeland to see their family like the Mexicans could. Japanese were not likely to ever go back or if they would it would be at least 20 years. The Mexican Americans really had a different advantage when it came to migrating to “El Norte” as the book called it because the border between Mexico and the United States were touching. The border was pretty much nonexistent in the 1800 and early 1900’s because people were still locating yet across America. Illegal Mexican Americans could come to America and leave as they wished. Today that is really not the case. It is heavily bordered by 18,000 boarder patrollers and large fencing around some cities.
That is some similarities and differences that I have noticed about the Mexican and the Japanese Americans. Overall I think all of the groups that we read about this week had a mission when coming to America. They wanted an opportunity to succeed in a better life than what they were in before. They also came for money and a new beginning to start a family in a better place.
I hope this is what I needed to do for this blog because it was a hard one to start and come up with. On top of that we have that family heritage paper due next Friday.
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