El Norte

While I had little trouble with Takaki at first this piece proved to me how dry his writing can be but also about how little I know about the Chicano past. The length of this was almost to much but I made it through and learned that Mexicans saw America in much the same way other immigrants did but saw it only as, “The North” because unlike the European and Asian immigrants this was a part of their land/continent. Also that unlike the European and Asian immigrants today the Mexican population still views America like they did in the past and with the same energy as previous generations. Unlike the other ethnic groups who’s immigration rate declined after a time.

The first thing I highlighted in this response is the story of one person who got twenty-eight families to make the trip across the border. It made me wonder if things were really that bad then for Mexico and other parts of South America. Fortunately Takaki explains their reasons for leaving their beloved homeland. The famines, revolutions, and lack of jobs almost left them with no other choice considering how easy it was for them to get into the US at the time.

Another difference between the Mexican immigrants and those from other countries is the want to return home. They also had the ability to do so easier than the others however because of the systems set into place and racism from business owners the Chicano population had little chance to return home. The quote Takaki uses “I am only waiting until conditions get better, until there is absolute peace before I go back” expresses the Mexican sentiment to return home but this became another reason for them to stay. Put up with the racism in the states (specifically the Texas wife who said “God did not intend him to be; He would have made them white if he had) or go back to war and hunger. The choice was obvious but not easy.

In the end I learned a better understanding of the Latino plight and better understand my Hispanic friends. I have several who have tried to explain the situation to me, especially around when American Latino community began protests recently in America, proving that those conditions have changed little since they began.

Wu Response

I believe that what he is talking about in the second quote is that as Americans we would prefer to believe that our race doesn't matter and that the person is important. That we like to think people would judge us for who we are instead of who we are not and that we could somehow get a kind of respect through that. He is also saying that despite our desire to believe this we are actually judge by our race before others do interact with us lumping the individual with the whole.I know that I fall into this and that I allow myself to do the same to others, but I try to allow them to change that perception so that I won't hold them to unfortunate stereotypes.

Chris Fair

Comic Cover: Wu

I believe Wu’s hypothesis is “because no matter how idiosyncratic one’s individual identity one cannot overcome the sterotype of group identity.” The reason I believe this is because from beginning to end he seems to suggest, and at one point he says “I am who others perceive rather than how I perceive myself to be.” As for the comic book covers all of them come from a time called the golden age of comics. A time when comics were unrestrained and allowed to basically get away with whatever the illustrators pleased. My cover choice was the one of the Green Hornet – Tojo’s Propaganda Hoax. I chose this cover for two reasons. The first being that the Japanese in this piece, like so many of the others, completely fall into the physical stereotypes of an Asian. Slant eyes, yellow skin, short stature, and for some reason an odd mouth. How the mouth ever became exaggerated as such I’ll never know but in this time period it was only acceptable for them to be portrayed as such it was almost encouraged. Comics and hero’s of this era were constantly doing battle with America’s true enemy. The fantasy of having a hero battle a real foe was appealing and lended to the exaggerated characteristics. The other reason I’ve chosen this one is because the Green Hornet’s side kick, Kato, is an Asian American. The Green Hornet, being white, falls into yet another style of the time where all the hero’s were white males. With the exception of Wonder Woman, and few other female hero’s, who often found themselves admittedly sexual situations like bondage, homosexuality, and begging positions. Back to Kato, with Him being the sidekick to the white man Kato instantly becomes a subordinate, lower class, working for his superior’s benefit. The other issue here is of the cultural lens where it is often the powerful white man looking over/presiding over a minority. While that has changed the power of the perceptions of a minority remain as Wu talks about the young boys who strike an Karate pose or those who see and Asian exhibit and then talk to him about it. What he fails to mention here is that the people who do this aren’t just white. Other races and been lead to view them in the same way because of how they have been presented instead of finding out if they’re really from another country or not.

Zinn Chapter 9

So this reading was a long one however at points it certainly perked my interests. The first thing that really stuck out to me also happened to be what I believe is his thesis to be. “The ending of slavery lead to reconstruction of national policies and economics, it was not a radical reconstruction, but a safe one – in fact a profitable one.” Throughout his argument Zinn gives examples about how not just the South but also the North exploited blacks despite fighting for their freedom. Their freedom was given to them but the true issue of racism, the idea that whites are better than blacks, still remained. Zinn gives examples such as the Northern extortion of the black labor force, allowing the government to institute “separate but equal” public locations, and rising of radical lynching were proof that things had not truly changed. He presented great quotes from Francis Ellen Watkins Harper and the Black Female Student who points were presented to officials with a great truth behind them but they fell on deaf ears. Another example of black exploitation was from none other than Abraham Lincoln himself. Of course I grew up with a great admiration for President Lincoln and was surprised to learn of his “flip-flopping”, if you will, on the issues of not only his position on slavery, but his very respect for them as humans. I will however maintain a positive outlook on our president because he had to perform these duties in a time where the idea of freeing blacks, and seeing them as equals, was a completely foreign idea which he would be incapable of performing without some disagreeable ideas. Through this I feel that Zinn takes a stance on Lincoln I’m not sure I completely understand. Most of his argument is negative towards our former President but I would suppose this is because we already know the positives so Zinn presents the negatives. This, in my mind however, says that Lincoln should be looked at unfavorably. Like many Presidents in difficult situations he had a great man difficult choices and positions to take and he preformed as best he could. I’ll admit he probably made mistakes, the very ones Zinn presents, but that shouldn’t lessen the accomplishments or praise Lincoln deserves.

That was a long article… but a good one…

PPD2

Privilege, Oppression, and Difference was certainly one of the more eye opening pieces we’ve read. His thesis, while long, in itself offers a new point. “Talking openly about power and privilege isn’t easy, which is why people rarely do. The reason for this seems to be a fear of anything that might make dominant groups uncomfortable or “pit groups against each other,” even through groups already pitted against one another by the structures of privelige that organize society as a whole. The fear keeps us from looking at what’s going on and makes it impossible to do anything about the reality that lies deeper down.”

The obvious first item of interest is the Diversity Wheel on page 15. The ability to look over who one is and begin to see where we are on the wheel is fun but in itself is racist as well. While I understand his point in using it what he does is reinforces the ideas that there is one social group over another. While he is bringing the various issues to light it almost feels like he is saying this is how life is. When he talks about how life would change if one of these things were changed like waking up the opposite sex or another race he does so in a way that suggests that there are better traits for a person to have and that there are undesirable ones as well. He does this primarily when he says “what changes would you experience in switching from white to African American, from Asian or Latina/o to Anglo.”

What I most liked about this piece though is the section What Privilege Looks Like In Everyday Life.AND This section is so powerful because it shows subtleties of our culture that often go unnoticed. That whites can be successful and no one will be surprised, whites can assume national heros will be white, heterosexals can feel fee to voice their sexuality when they want, and nondisabled people can can assume they won’t be treated like children and taken seriously. Now finally this again is, for me, the most interesting part of the piece and can wow first time readers.

Zinn 2

In Drawing The Color Line Zinn tries to answer an interesting question. His thesis, Is it possible for whites and blacks to live together without hatred, hopes to find it’s answer in historical facts. The colonists easily saw blacks as slave labor since their culture was thought to be just as primitive as their way of life. Also because the Africans were stripped of what little they had breaking their will through disconnecting them from their culture and family. Treating them like something between livestock and human and the horrid ordeals used to get the to America also made them easy to “control”. Zinn states that once the slaves were in America the colonist used religion, discipline, harsh consequences for breaking harsh rules, and establishing a field slave/house slave hierarchy. Overall I don’t believe any disagreements or questioning of the information of what he presents can be made. It seems to be a great deal more historical and informative than the other articles that seemed to have a bias towards the non-English people in their stories. I was however interested in reading this article, as it progressed, because it was a part of history I know much less about. What I knew about slavery was mostly standard information. I knew that it was a darker part of America’s past, there was harsh treatment of blacks and those who helped them, and that racism stemmed and flourished from it. I did not know however that blacks were abducted, marched, caged, chosen, stuffed, shipped, and finally sold on a continent completely different from their home. I’ve also gained a greater heart for the African American “plight” if you will (I don’t have a better word or way to put that) and feel a greater responsibility to it’s understanding and correction.

Takaki: Chapter 2

So Takaki challenges us again with the information that the “typical American” has only been given a glorified version of Christopher Columbus and the early days of European influence on the Americas. He presents it in what is, for me, a very interesting way by using the Irish and Native Americans as examples of how the British influenced what they believed to be “lesser” cultures, not just races. Race though eventually plays a role in this especially for the Indians who become demonized. The other way Takaki shows the English attempts to acculturate other groups is with The Tempest, which makes somewhat obvious observations. During this Takaki gives examples of how desperate the Europeans were, one man eating his wife, and how will the Native Americans were to help. Through greed and lust though the Indians were mistreated because they were viewed as being “savage”, eventually being over taken by the technologically advanced British. Just because the Native Americans didn’t live up to what they believe civilization to be the British try to force them to conform and live as they do despite the fact that they have their own culture that works, and on their own land better than the Europeans. The question I always pose when it comes to Native American culture is “Are they (the individual) allowing their culture to be taken/used or are they trying to preserve it?” I’ve heard a number of different sides on this and I’ve always found that it comes down to the individual. Takaki tells us the Europeans thought the Indians could be acculturated by “consent”. The problem with this is that the British idea of consent and the Indian way of life were confused. The Indians simply did what they knew and the Europeans decided to take advantage of that. Then when it was time for the Indians to fight some did, and others traded because they wanted the things of the foreigners. From the way Takaki presents his material it would almost seem as though there was little the Indians could do and what little resistance they mustered was partially passive-aggressive. In a way he shows it like the way the American school system does. The Europeans showed up, the Indians helped, then the British started taking over. However he holds a sentiment for the Native people because of Europeans looking down their nose’s at the Indians.

As for my response to reading this I’ll say it again, its not really new and this time I didn’t really like going over it again. The use of The Tempest was interesting but didn’t do enough to get a reaction from me.