To start off I must say that this week’s readings were the most challenging for me to grasp. Racism and discrimination have never been broken down into two separate definitions to where I could understand them. I have always seemed to lump both definitions into one. This week’s readings have given me a more in-depth understanding of each.
First, I grew up in a small city that was mostly white. I can easily remember when I was a young kid that it was very rare to see or interact with people who looked different or had different color of skin. It just was not the norm of society to have friends that were of a different race or to date a boy that looked “different.” Thankfully my family taught me that judging or treating people differently because of their skin color was not appropriate and that we are all human and should be treated equally.
As a tall Caucasian woman, I can see some advantages and disadvantages in society. One advantage is that living in a predominantly white community I was never denied a job or discriminated against because of the color of my skin. I can walk down the street and not fear that people are staring at me because of my skin color. Another privilege of being a middle class white female is that I know I can afford and rent housing in a decent community and not be discriminated against or questioned about my financial status because of the color of my skin.
There are some disadvantages of being female in society. The obvious disadvantage is that females are still not getting paid as much as males in the workforce. There has been a definite increase in females in higher positions in companies but, males still seem to have the advantage. Another disadvantage of being a female in society is that women are still seen as a sexual figure. I still think that sometimes women are still judged on their appearance whether it be attractive or not.
Looking back at the family history paper I did, which was on my father in laws family, one advantage his family had was not so much race but that his father was a veteran of WWII. When he came back from the war he was given the opportunity to use funding from the GI Bill to help with housing. His family had the opportunity to move out of communities that were run down and that had high crime rates. Being a middle class white family it was easy for them to move to the suburbs in a predominantly white community and feel safe. It was easy for my father in law to get jobs and be accepted into college because he didn’t have to worry about being discriminated against because of his skin color. All of these privileges seemed to be inherited by his children who have been given the opportunity to graduate from college and lead successful careers. Is it because of white privilege? Maybe...
Another problem women face is the system is inherently geared toward men, just as people of color struggle in a system catered to white people, as it was a system created by white men for white men so to say. So even when kids are young, the school curriculum and standardized tests are teaching and testing for the aptitudes that white males also seem to hold the advantage, but as you said, some of these norms are beginning to change as women become more recognized socially, politically, and economically.
ReplyDeleteIt's a social pattern. When founded on white male power the nation try to maintain that white male power, we have come into a time when it is changing however, especially given that Obama is the president. It was interesting as you noted people group to those who are the same as them, even I know I tend to do that at times. Why is that? As people are we to scared to feel unaccepted so we tend to socialize with people who we ASSUME will accept us? Or is it an internal gravitational force of interest to gravitate to what looks like us?
ReplyDeleteI have noticed a pattern that a lot of the students in our class are from small predominately white towns. Their interactions with other races have been minimal and this may be part of the reason that the readings this week were so challenging. We are now being told that everything that we have deemed normal in our life is racist and being used to hold dominance over other non-white races. Up until this week many if not all of us had never put any thought into this possibility. Also as Michelle mentioned we are being asked to change the definition of terms like "racism" and "discrimination" that we have each in our own way defined and led our lives around.
ReplyDeleteHmm, I find it pretty interesting that you used to put discrimination and racism into one definition. I’ve always thought the opposite, actually, because I feel that discrimination covers a lot more, you know what I mean? I mean, white women can face discrimination, but not racism… But, I thought that our reading was saying that they are the same thing, basically? Maybe I should reread.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing is that I was also taught to treat all people equally, which is why it was also somewhat shocking to find out that, even so, I am still guilty of passive racism…
When you said that you grew up in a city that was mostly white, I began to think about where I came from. Where I grew up, I was surrounded by different ethnicities all of the time. It was not unusual for me to be in situations where I was the only caucasian there. That is what is normal for me, and I think it would be weird if there were not many ethnicities around in a town that I would possibly live in, in the future.
ReplyDeleteI also found it difficult to distinguish the difference between racism and discrimination because I had never been taught the difference. Now I do realize the difference from our readings this week and I still have my own definitions of what I believe racism and discrimination are. I found our reading extremely difficult to understand the concepts, but once I read them a few times everything started to fall into place. I also find it interesting that the blogs I have been reading, people are coming from a middle-class white family. I wonder why? Any suggestions? Bowling Green is a a big school and many people come to Bowling Green from all over so why is our class predominately white?
ReplyDeleteI had about the same situation as you, i also grew up in a suburb of mostly whites, but had a family that taught me not to judge people based on their color. For that reason i never considered myself racist and only knew and understood the one most broad definition of racism. Wrongful acts of discrimination against a person of another race. The fact that ive always seen racism as one thing made it more difficult to look at it in these different aspects and accept what they said. I also like you think that as a white person we have many advantages over others, however as a girl we do experience sexism everyday.
ReplyDeleteI too have come from a very white community, but i think one of the best things i ever experienced was going to high school in a completely different area. The city i come from is about 90% white. And the high school i went too was about 50% white, and 50% from other races. It was a great experience to see how other races and cultures acted and lived there lives.
ReplyDeleteI also came from a predominantly white community. I came in contact with very minimal amounts of people of other races until I started college courses my senior year in high school. It was quite the change, I must admit. My parents and I never talked about racism it was just something I had to sort of learn on my own and form my own opinion about.
ReplyDeleteI often wonder how my siblings and I learned to interact with people of different races. I guess ya'll have to take my word for it but I am not racist and have many friends of mutliple races. Also my sister (to a greater extent) and brother (to a lesser extent) do not have racist or discriminating tendencies. But when growing up I can not remember ever seeing examples or being told anything on racism or discrimination. Maybe it was the lack of comment cause I do know of some friends whose parents make racist jokes and now they make similar jokes.
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