In the
preface of ‘Critical Race Theory: An
Introduction’ that we read a few classes ago Delgado and Stefancic mentioned
the vigorous opposition by some groups to the election of President Obama. The
article doesn’t go into detail but some of Obama critics were vocal about his
connection to Critical Race Theory. Apparently, as a law student, Obama was a
student of Derrick Bell, one of the founding intellectuals to Critical Race
Theory who happened to be the first tenured African American law professor at
Harvard. Some critics feel Critical Race Theory attempts to change the US’s
liberal legal order based on rationalist principles which they feel are immune
to the effects of racial discrimination. To me it looks like the critics
shudder at the notion of change which challenges the status quo as we’ve often
talked about in class. I feel often in America people literally interpret the
founding fathers, deify them resulting in an excuse not to adjust what critics
of change consider immutable laws. Such oppositional forces show how difficult
any change in race relations is achieved even when seemingly logical
legislation is demonized as radical and revolutionary. Here’s a link with a
controversial exchange between a reporter for CNN and a critic of CRT
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
Could the world Ever Be Completely Racist-Free?
In the Jackson et al article they discuss the concept of
“othering,” which is using a derogatory term that stems from a race or group of
people that was at some point or another not accepted in society like “being
Jewed,” something being referred to as being “gay,” or making fun of White
People Problems (WPP) (2013, p. 349). People have a tendency of separating
themselves from those who are different, but why? And why is the world obsessed
with categorizing everything about a culture, saying if you’re Mexican you have
to be these certain things? Take for example what popped up this morning on my
Facebook feed from Cosmopolitan that can be seen through this link:
28 Signs You Grew Up Mexican by Krystyna Chavez.
What is this teaching people? Ok, so perhaps I, as a
Mexican, fall into some of the signs, but what does that mean? Reading some of
the comments under the Facebook post, people are arguing whether it is racist
or not. I can understand the point of view of people saying it is funny and
just a good joke, but not everyone is going to see it as a joke. It’s upsetting
to me because people of other backgrounds will go ahead and read this article
and immediately assume all Mexicans have to have these signs. Sorry for my
language but this is total bull****. If society keeps accepting stereotypes and
dismissing them as a funny joke, we will never get anywhere, racism will never
cease to exist.
Resources
Jackson, R.L.
& Moshin, J. (2013). “Identity and difference: Race and the necessity of
the discriminating subject.” In
T.K. Nakayama & R.T. Halualani (Eds.), The
Handbook of Critical Intercultural Communication (pp. 348-363).
Wiley-Blackwell.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Muslim Hipsters
In
this week's article: "Of Being an Arab Woman Before and After September
11: The Enactment of Communal Identities in Talk," the concept of false
notions of female oppression are discussed.
One
woman in particular makes it known that while she is Arab, she is not oppressed
and seems to blame the images in the media for propagating this myth.
A
fairly recent “cultural phenomenon” involves a group of young women who want to
show that the hijab is not a symbol of oppression, but rather just another part
of who they are. They have done this by coming together to show a different picture
of Muslim women in the U.S.
According
to the group’s official Facebook page, Mipsterz-
Muslim Hipsters: “A Mipster is someone at the forefront of the latest
music, fashion, art, critical thought, food, imagination, creativity, and all
forms of obscure everything. A Mipster has a social mind, and yearning for a
more just order, a more inclusive community unbounded by stale categories,
unwilling to plod blindly along in a world as obsessed with class as it is
unmindful of its consequences.”
As
part of their campaign, a video was released showing a number of Mipsterz on
the streets doing everyday things to the Jay-Z song “Somewhere in America.” The
video and the song choice have received mixed reviews, but the main criticism in
the comments section of the article is that if these women were in a country
like Saudi Arabia they would be punished for dressing in such tight clothing.
Critics of these women seem to be saying that, yes, here in America this is what a
Muslim woman can look like, but in a conservative country it is not.
The
group is trying to show that scarves can be seen as a tool of empowerment and
not oppression. Is this the way to get people to change how they view Muslim
women in general, and Muslim women living in America in particular?
Friday, January 24, 2014
The Eyes of a Child
As I was reading the introduction to The New Jim Crow, I noticed that the author, Michelle Alexander, mentioned that she didn’t always believe in racial castes. Then I remembered one of the white men in The Color of Fear, who said that he didn’t see, understand, or believe that non whites lived such an oppressed life because of white dominance. In my short lifetime, I’ve run into people who claim the same thing : Barack Obama is President and Bill Cosby and Oprah Winfrey are major successes, so how can we be living in a time of racial castes or institutional racism. I find this question fascinating because I’ve been able to recognize racial stratification since I was a kid. This thought reminded me of an experiment I’ve been familiar with for a few years now. An interviewer places a piece of paper with drawings of children of different skin colors in front of real kids and asks questions like: Which is the the good child? Which is the ugly child? Which is the smart child? Which is the mean child?
As the video goes on, a pattern becomes clear. The lighter-skinned children are identified as children with positive traits (like good, smart and nice). The darker-skinned children are given negative traits (like bad, ugly and dumb). The children being interviewed are reflecting what they’ve seen and experienced in real life, which is something that I don’t understand about adults who claim that there is no racial caste system.
In chapter five of The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander makes an observation about how people know and don’t know the truth about mass incarceration:
“For more than three decades, images of black men in handcuffs have been a regular staple of the evening news. We know that large numbers of black men have been locked in cages. In fact, it is precisely because we know that black and brown people are more likely to be imprisoned that we, as a nation, have not cared too much about it. We tell ourselves they ‘deserve’ their fate, even though we know-and don’t know-that whites are just as likely to commit many crimes, especially drug crimes.”
So how can social stratification be so easily recognized by a child, but somewhere between childhood and adulthood some individuals suddenly fail to see it?
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Gay Marriages Confront Catholic School Rules
The Jackson and Moshin reading, 'Identity and Difference', states “There must be something on which we must focus that distinguishes itself from something else. This very small interstitial dynamic is what catalyzes difference. At the moment we are compelled to designate a name for some person, place, thing, or experience we are beginning the practice of discrimination (338).” The questionnaire that we completed, 'Daily effects of white privilege', had many statements in which race could be replaced with sexual orientation. This issue of privilege as discussed in last night’s class goes beyond race and ethnicity. It is extended to another socially deemed “other” which is based on sexual orientation. Heterosexual relationships are privileged in the United States. This New York Times’ article reveals a situation in which a man was fired from his job once it was discovered that he had recently wed another man. Would a man in this exact position be fired for marrying a woman? What I find redeeming about this situation is the amount of outcry and uprising that has come together to speak out against the unjust and discriminatory firing of Mr. Z. We learn that bystanders will not stand idle. What does this mean for the homosexual community? I, for one, hope that this protesting on behalf of those persecuted is a trend that continues until equality prevails.
Monday, January 20, 2014
More the Merrier??
A recent article in the Economist spoke of a bill introduced in the French-speaking province of Quebec which would prohibit the wearing religious symbols, which many believe specifically targets the hijab worn by Muslim females. Here's the link:
http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21594328-debates-over-immigration-are-often-toxic-not-canada-more-merrier
The government states the ban is needed to promote state secularism, others, naturally, vehemently disagree. What is interesting is that Quebeckers, along with most Canadians, promote mass immigration and believe immigrants are a boost to the economy. This has been the case for decades with Canada adopting ‘multiculturalism’ as a maxim for tolerance in the 70’s but at the same time expecting them to integrate. In Quebec the government prefers the doctrine of ‘interculturalism’ which emphasizes assimilation into the dominant culture.
The cultural intolerance of the Quebec government illustrates how often the dominant culture will perceive, or disregard, a minority group’s ‘primary socialization’ identifiers and instead treat them as ‘secondary socialization’ identifiers as discussed in Alex Frame’s, ‘Cultures, Identities and Meanings in Intercultural Encounters’. In other words, your culture is second to the primary culture you are now surrounded by. This static view of the culture lacks a deep understanding of the ever changing nature of culture, comforted by the illusion of one’s own culture as imperious to change at the expense of altering another’s. Furthermore, one does not need to search in between the lines too long to realize that while Quebeckers claim such a laid back status to potential immigrants laws of this kind make it plain to see that Muslim-immigrants should look elsewhere.
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Embodied Translation and Photography: "Touching Strangers"
In class on Wednesday, we discussed the concept of embodied
translation from an article we read by Gust A. Yep. The author cites K.R.
Chavez’s definition of embodied translation as “the process of reading and
making sense of ‘other bodies’” (Yep, 120). In class, photography was mentioned
as a powerful medium for representing this concept. Afterward, I remembered a
news story from August about photographer Richard Renaldi and his “Touching
Strangers” project in New York City. I have provided a link to the CBS News
story and video here.
The project involves Renaldi placing strangers in intimate
embraces for portraits. I find this series to be a great example of a mediated
deconstruction—a “quaring” of sorts—of embodied translation for the viewer and
participant. And for this reason, I argue that the series creatively challenges
the way in which we read and make sense of other bodies. The process provokes
various components of embodied translation, including textual signifiers of the
body, such as the gender, race, age, and clothing of the participants; nonverbal
communication, seen in participant-described awkwardness and subsequent
comfort; verbal communication during the photo shoot; the primary context of
New York City; and the historical and cultural context of the participants.
After watching the news video, what are your thoughts on how
Renaldi uses photography to deconstruct the process of embodied translation?
How could we look at this project from the interpretive and/or critical
paradigms?
--Michael
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