White Privilege

The numbers of the effects of white privilege that stood out to me the most were 4, 5, 28, 39, 50.

Number 4 stuck out to me because due to the stereotypes i have experienced in my life, i found this to be relatively true. In my neighborhood or the neighborhoods of my friends that live by me even though the people are nice it doesn't stick out to me that they are "nice". Sometimes i will be in a predominantly white neighborhood and if someone walks by and they don't walk to the other side of the street, they will usually acknoledge me and say hello. When I am in a predominately black neighbor, the usual greeting is a simple nod.

Number 5 stuck out to me because this happens to me all the time and I always wondered how it is to go through a store without being followed. I know I am often followed in stores and constantly asked stupid questions about what  I want or if I want help which to me is just a way of keeping an eye on me.

I found number 28 interesting because it is terrible that a person of color could possibly lose their job because they get in an argument with a white colleague. This applies to other aspects not just jobs. I feel like there have been many experiences in my childhood where my African American friends and I have gotten in trouble because the teacher sided with a Caucasian student.

I found 38 interesting because even with the stereotype of blacks being late to events, I pride myself on arriving on time or early to events so i do not follow this stereotype.

50 was interesting because if I do not know what normal feels like then who does. Is life of a white person "normal"? Who defines "normal" in society? This is very disturbing to me.

Affirmative Action

I agree with Cornel West's statement saying that "the elimination of affirmative action would only justify racial discrimination." By eliminating affirmative action it only causes another barrier for minorities to get past. If affirmative action was eliminated and colleges and other institutions picked solely the most qualified people for the the job or the school, then the race or the sex that is best at what they are applying for would flood the institution. In factory jobs maybe Hispanics would be the only people with jobs. Maybe with technological jobs, Asians would have all the jobs. In schools where it was athletically based, it would be majority black. In schools that are academically based they majority may be white or Asian. I do not think affirmative action is the best thing because races and sexes and other categories shouldn't get preferential treatment but because of history of such categories causes different levels of treatment and advantages over others so thus affirmative action is necessary

Maret Spaces Visual Essay Assessment

Take ONE hour to answer these questions.  This is not an essay; these are just public notes.  Write in phrases, go stream of consciousness – whatever communicates the most effectively in this amount of time.

1.    Describe with specific detail the group’s greatest moments in “creative collaboration.”  Refer to the “Creative Collaboration” sheet to see characteristics of when that is happening.  For example, did you achieve “flow?”  After doing that, describe the times when the group did not work up to its full potential.  How and why do you think these instances happened?  What principles of “creative collaboration” were not upheld that resulted in that dysfunction?

·         Good job coming up with idea, as a whole.

·         Discuss idea and following through idea

·         Trouble working as a group outside of class

·         Open to other participants ideas

·         Trouble with getting a concrete idea

·         Found it hard to complete the assignment with our given area

·         People did different amount of work

2.    If you think of leadership as an activity (not only as a characteristic), describe when you were trying to lead.  What strategies did you use and were they effective.  Describe a moment when someone else in your group showed strong leadership.

·         I tried to lead in the sense of the pictures and getting the best pictures to use for the powerpoint.

·         Even though the powerpoint did not look like I intended it to due to lack of communication, I had an idea at mind and took pictures to show the differences of race and gender and how this changes throughout the day. Since the team wasn’t on the same page this idea was not portrayed.

3.    Looking at the “Commitments to Self” and “Commitments to Group” sections of the “Creative Collaboration” sheet, what were your greatest challenges in being a part of this group?

·         I think the greatest challenge was formulating an idea from the senior lounge. There was not a lot of space and was only full during lunch so showing different race and gender topics was very difficult.

·         Also the lack of communication amongst our group caused problems as well.

Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes

In the movie, Hip Hop Beyond Beats and Rhymes, there is a chapter called "Bitch Niggaz" which really caught my attention. There are two reasons why it caught my attention. First, both "bitch" and "nigger" are derogatory terms used to downplay a race or a gender. These two words, though used in many peoples everyday language, are very hurtful to many people and can lead to a confrontation or even a violent encounter. Second, the word "bitch nigger" is used a lot in the Black rap community today. It is a term that has to derogatory words that add to create a more degrading term. For example, I was hanging out with my friends and one was called a "bitch nigga," one of my friends replied by saying "oohhh he called you a bitch...and a nigga...at the same time!" And even though this term is harmful to many, it is still used in almost every rap song talking about usually a male who is "weak" or "whipped" by a girl, as well as male who has no flaws seen by the rapper but is called a bitch nigger for lack of a better phrase.

Homework #8

One my favorite books is Slam by Walter Dean Myers. This book is about a inner city kid named Greg who is a all star on his high school basketball team. He is so talented at basketball that he gets the nickname "Slam" from being able to dunk the ball so well. Greg lives with his mother and little brother in a dangerous neighborhood in New York. He often interacts during the novel with his best friend Ice, or his girlfriend Kiesha. Slam and Ice used to be best best friends when they went to the same school but Greg was forced to transfer to a predominantly white school outside of his neighborhood. Throughout the book Greg fights with his mother, his girlfriend, Ice and Coaches at his new school and struggles to maintain good grades with this new curriculum.

Other than Walter Dean Myers, I think they're are many authors of the story. I am one of the authors as well as the rest of the mass that read this book. I also believe that the conditions that Myers lived in during his childhood helped create and author this novel. His mother died while giving birth to his little brother and his father was no where to be found. He also dropped out of high school and joined the military. So other authors could include the people who raised him, his neighborhood, his high school, and the military.

Homework #5

I thought it was interesting to compare not just the two contrasting ideas of Leroi and Goodman but also the views Sean Thomas as well. Armand Leroi believed that race is biological and can be blamed from common genetic variants. He says race is a vague shorthand way of separating people genetically rather than culturally or politically.  Sean Thomas stated that race is merely a social construct which constricts society into common boundaries. He suggested that we eliminate race in general for it has no apparent purpose. Alan Goodman stated that race is neither biological nor just a social construct but rather also an experience that society has to go through.

I think all three views are valid points but if I had to agree with one of the statements it would definitely be Alan Goodman's point. From all of the excerpts we have read that said there is barely any genetic variations when it comes to race, forces me to believe race is not at all genetic but a term created to divide people in order to create some sort of a hierarchy. The reason why I can not completely side with Sean Thomas' idea is that even though race has caused separation, animosity, violent backlash amongst races, teaching people to forget such is nearly impossible.

In my opinion, whether race is a genetic variation or a social construct, it shouldn't even matter. There's no reason for the human race to sub-classify themselves in order to create a social hierarchy. Apparently genetic science shows us that an Europeans genes are no different than an Africans. So what makes us different? Solely our external appearance. If I could decide what to do with the idea of race, I would not force later generations not to learn about it, I would teach how to accept all cultures which would lessen some of the animosities that society has today. Eventually humans are going to be a hodgepodge of mixed races so why not get accustomed to other "races" right now?

Homework #3

3. Human subspecies don't exist. Unlike many animals, modern humans simply haven't been around long enough or isolated enough to evolve into separate subspecies or races. Despite surface appearances, we are one of the most similar of all species.

I have always thought all races were irrelevant because we are all the same on the inside but I never thought of it as a process of evolution. This is a very interesting way of looking at race. When thinking of animals, they do not have races, they have different species. For example dogs, the don't have races, they have breeds and the difference between the breeds is that they are shaped differently because they have evolved and adapted to the terrain that they reside in. The only thing that separates humans is that skin color is different but no "race" has really adapted to their surronddings.

My Design

The reason why I made my blog the way it is because I want  people to look at my blog and say "Wow that's different" or "Wow, what was he thinking." Basically I want to go across the grain and have a design that is not "normal" or isn't a standard blog design. So that is why I picked the chickens as my background, I thought it would be different from the mass and set my blog apart from the others. The other stuff I added such as pictures, quotes, and other multimedia was just me trying out the blogspot site to see what cool stuff I could do with my blog, not much planning went into that part of the design. It was just trial and error and I ended up just keeping the media.

Prompt #1 - Due Aug. 1

Pick a character from the book who reminds you of someone you know well.
1. Briefly describe the character and accompanying characteristics that are important to understanding the connection you are making.
2. Cite a passage from the book that shows one of these traits.
3. Describe the person you know and give an example or story that explains the similarity.
4. Explain how this connection might help you relate to the story of Precious.

Rhonda Patrice Johnson is one of the girls that attend the “Each One Teach One” school. She was born in Kingston Jamaica. Her character is very outgoing and outspoken. She is often the one that leads the conversation amongst the alternative education students. She is also very kind and caring and this can be seen in the scene where she offers to get snacks from the store for her classmates. She offers to buy Precious food but Precious does not have any money. At that point Rhonda knows what Precious is thinking and says “I got you.”


“Rhonda say she goin’ to the store, anybody want somethin’? I want somethin’ but I ain’ got no money. Rita give her 50 cent say get chips, salt ‘n vinegar, no salt ’n vinegar get plain. Rhonda look me, say, I got you.” (Sapphire, 48)

I think the most powerful part of this passage is Precious’ reaction to the good deed. People acting friendly toward Precious is a rarity in her life, so of course she is going to be surprised. But this sole act, in my opinion, changed Precious’ overall character. From that point on she cared less about what other people thought of her.

“I look up in her eye. She smile. I feel like I’m gonna cry again. Everybody gonna think I’m a punk, crying, crying. I’m not used to this. But this what I always want, some friendly niceness. I say I pay you back. She say I know you will,” (Sapphire, 48)

My dad is similar to Rhonda in the sense that he thinks about others before he thinks about himself. There have been many times where my dad has offered food or offered to pay for others before he even thought about himself. But one specific example is when my dad took me on a week college road trip that lasted a whole week. During this week we stopped at Duke, University of Virginia, Boston College, University of Maryland, and Harvard. My dad had to drive from college to college and not once did he complain about anything. Every hour or so, he would ask if I was ok and if I needed anything and when I was sleeping he would not wake me up and make me pump the gas or get him something to eat. Just like Rhonda, my father thought about my wellbeing before his own.

I think this story relates me to Precious because similar to Precious, I gained a new respect for someone and began to really appreciate all the things they have done for me. I have always been thankful but I think the road trip was an eye opener to me, just like how the simple gesture of buying a bag of chips had an effect on the rest of a Precious’ life.