I was asked to interview 5 different people and ask and record the questions & answers to the following and then blog about it:

1. What race are you?
2. How do you know? How do you make that decision?
3. How did you learn what race you are? Can you tell me about some of the early messages you first received about race in general or your race in particular?
4. How do you decide what race other people are? Examples?
5. How do other people decide what race you are? Examples?

In my interviews, every single individual identified their race based on what their parents are. They identified themselves based on their cultural norms. They were the race they said they were because they spoke the language, they listened to music in that language, they had certain ethnic foods they eat, etc.

It was interesting to find that all 5 individuals when asked how do they decide what race other people are they would all go quiet and ponder over how to respond.  Some would giggle, some would widen their eyes, but none responded quickly. Some even said to me they didn’t know how to respond without being rude. I asked for them to give me an example and although I won’t be giving those examples, we can all imagine possibilities said. It’s funny to see how people react to an uncomfortable situation when they are placed with an uncomfortable question and forced to give a response.

I do agree that when I was asked in class what race was, I responded with something like my race is Latina or I am Mexican. I say I am Mexican because my parents were. They were both from Michoacan, Mexico so that makes me in my heart “Michoacana,” although I am American, also, because I was born here. There are patterns in our food that are symbolic to Mexicans. For example, we eat Menudo for a hangover and trust me when I say I eat a lot of menudo.

Now I kind of understand what is meant by race is socially constructed. I’m not sure I agree with race solely being a social category and not a biological one, but it is definitely people within a same group sharing cultural similarities that we consider important to our social values and norms within our culture.

 

            It is apparent that in every society, and where you are in the social ladder, inequality is withstanding.  It is no secret that upper-class individuals have more opportunities in all aspects of life from better schools, to better homes, to better careers. They start ahead of most and usually seem to finish ahead as well.

            While reading this chapter, all I could keep thinking about was the bribery college scandal going on right now with Lori Laughlin and Olivia Jade. It is an unfortunate situation because on one hand, Lori just wanted to do what’s best for Olivia by forcing her way into college since Olivia isn’t mature enough yet to understand that this is what she needs to do. On the other hand, if only we could all be so lucky to be able to pay $500,000 to get our children, even if through a payment to the college tuition, into that specific prestigious school.

            I don’t hate her for what she did. I understand why she did it and honestly am not bothered by it. I know there are laws and they are meant to be followed and blah, blah but what she did is not warranted 20 years in federal prison. I mean c’mon. Get real. There are so many worse crimes being committed and people get off the hook with so much less time. What they need to do is give her a slap on the wrist, a big fat fine with which she will the tuition to enroll maybe 5 deserving students into that college. What better way to apologize that to grant 5 worthy students paid tuition to which otherwise they could not pay themselves? I think that would be perfect.

This was very interesting to learn the different types of Capitals that are involved in ones’ life; those being economic capital, cultural capital, & social capital. It is fascinating to find familiarity in examples shown when introducing examples about minorities, and women. It is also interesting to see how those experiences shape your life then and in the future.

If I was asked to report circumstances in regard to economic capital and my childhood home, it would read something like this:

“I have always been aware that my family was poor. Not because the people around me had more than we did, but because the people in our neighborhoods were usually even more poor.  We were definitely deprived from new clothing. We all wore hand me downs except for my only and youngest brother who was lucky enough to get new clothes because there were none to hand down. We all began working by the time we were working age, in my case, that was 14 and handing over our checks to our parents to help. We luckily never went hungry, although, rice and beans were always on the menu.”

When asked to report circumstances in regard to cultural capital, (Encouragement & Expectations/ Pursuit of the American Dream), it would go something like this:

“My parents expected us to go to school. They expected us to get there early to use our ticket to get our free breakfast and free lunch. We were expected to go straight home, change and go to work.  Getting the diploma was necessarily never their goal, it was to ensure that while they were at work, we were somewhere safe and sound. They encouraged us to always work hard. As a matter of fact, I got my work ethic from them. They were the epitome of hard-working people. They were the first ones there, and the last one’s out. “

“When I enrolled as a late entry Delta College Student, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had no idea where to start. I didn’t know how to fill out the forms or find the deadlines. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. I took a lot of unnecessary classes and lost out on a lot of money. This was due to the fact that I’m a first-generation college student and had nobody to ask. Getting in with a counselor is near to impossible at Delta (in a timely manner). I struggled a lot to find my rhythm, but I did it. I just got my AA-T in Psychology in December.”

Lastly, if asked to report the on behalf on social capital, it would read something very similarly to the example and would read like the following:

It is interesting to see how your culture and your socioeconomic stature shapes your life and your future. It is also thought-provoking to try validating that it doesn’t matter where you come from, some are just luckier than others to be born ahead of the game in middle-class or high-class environments. If only we could all be so lucky.

I truly believe racism is something that we as a people will never be able to overcome.  It is engrained in your mind and body, even if someone hasn’t experienced it personally. A person can be white but know racism through their past generations and what their ancestors have done to people of color. You can know racism maybe because you are a person of color and have experienced it in your past along with the previous generations and ancestry.

Unfortunately, as much as whites try to say that America is a new land of the free and that racism is a thing of the past, that is all lies. They may like to think so, but racial integration is something that will need to be continually worked on and will continue to progress at a slow rate. They say African-Americans have equal rights now in all working environments, but is that really true? If you line up a black man next to a white man does inequality take place? I have to say yes. If you line up a Latino woman and a White woman, does equality take place then? Hell no! And don’t even get me started with putting a man in front of a woman because then I would say yes, maybe just then, the black man, might come before the white woman. Just maybe.

Bringing more awareness to our youth and educating them about respect, what is right and wrong, acceptable and unacceptable is key to a healthier future. We don’t want our children to say they are “color blind” because that is untrue. Everybody sees color. Everybody sees race, sex, gender, etc. The difference is how do you react and how do you treat others who are different than you are in this racist society we live in. That is what matters.

I really enjoyed the way this writer writes. Although this Chapter shows the jarring experiences that Mr. Page and his family went through, it shows us the reality that Black Americans have had to face and continue to do so until this day. He explained how difficult it was and continues to be, even though times have changed. Even though segregation is a thing of the past, he still finds himself with feelings of unequal treatment within the black communities. It’s not unimaginable that these feelings would resonate and linger within him.

I can completely relate to when he said to this mother, “I wish I was white,” because he couldn’t go to an amusement park solely because he was black. That feeling reminded me of when I was in 8^th grade. All of my friends were white. They were all beautiful cheerleaders and I wanted to be a cheerleader so badly. I wished that I could go to homecoming and all of the dances at school. Because they were white, their parents did not care and were not strict. They could basically go to all of the events and do what they wanted. I wished in those moments I could be white so that I could also participate in all of those awesome events.

Later, I realized it wasn’t that I wanted to be white, I just wanted parents who didn’t hold their thumb on my forehead every minute. Of course, I wanted less strict parents who allowed for me to do the normal teenage things other teenagers were doing. Anyway, that wasn’t my life.

I did face discrimination by others growing up. I grew up as a migrant student in the ESL programs. You never forget the way people treated you or how they made you feel. How you were always talked about as less than and were made to feel inferior. I too experienced never being Mexican enough for the Mexicans when we would visit Mexico and I wasn’t American enough for the Americans. It was so frustrating, annoying actually.

I literally got in a fight in my teenage years because I was speaking English to my sister in Mexico and these jealous girls walking by were like “oh, look at her she thinks she’s all bad speaking English (in Spanish, of course) so I responded back in Spanish, “what’s your problem.” She must have been so angry with herself I assume because I didn’t do anything, but she charged towards me. Before I can even go after her, my older sister had already snatched her up by her long black hair and was pounding her ass on the floor. Hey, we are not fighters and are respectful people but when people discriminate against you and are judging you for no reason at all, they are going to get what they deserve.

Racism, prejudice, discrimination all over the world, is real. It is everywhere. It is important to always remember where you come from, who you really are and to never let go of your cultural values and traditions because they are trying to make us forget who we are and the cultural backgrounds that define us.

Growing up, hip-hop was a big part of my culture and of the music industry.  Specifically, back then break dancing was the thing. Unfortunately, break dancers had a lot of negativity come their way. They faced judgement and oppression based on they were all taggers, they all did graffiti and their music was not very understood.

Hip-hop became a huge part of the urban communities and their style became a thing within all the schools. You could see everybody wearing and dressing the way all the mainstream hip hop artists did. There was a lot of negative banter towards hip-hop because their lyrics were always being questioned and misunderstood. Hip-hop artists were actually using this platform as a way to express their political views and the manner in the way they faced oppression.  They came to address real things such as the problem with drugs, violence, police brutality and it wasn’t easily accepted by all.

Also, one of the things that I find interesting about hip-hop is that people need to relax a little bit. For example, when Cooper mentions that it bothers her that Iggy Azalea sounded like a “downhome Atlanta girl” and that it was offensive because she actually was from the South, I think it’s bullshit. We are in an era where everything is supposed to be politically correct and all that garbage but it’s getting taken to far. Just because someone sounded black but isn’t black shouldn’t make somebody cringe or be talked about through social media.

We are supposed to be in an era where women empower women. I don’t think that if you sing about something and there is a disconnection based on the fact that you didn’t actually experience that, isn’t a reason for judgment. There is nothing that says I can’t talk or sing about rape, if I’ve never been raped. I don’t know. I feel hip-hop has allowed people in diverse societies to share their poetic words in a manner that I find somewhat enjoyable, at times.

I personally have never played a sport in my life. Not because I didn’t want to, but because my parents would have never introduced me to a sport where they would have to commit to taking me on weekday nights for practice and probably weekend games. I was raised in a very strict home so sports were never really a thing in my home except for boxing. Oh, boy did my dad love boxing.

When I turned 16, I met my boyfriend and my future x-husband. He was a diehard Chicago Bears fan. He bled Chicago Bears. Since sports, specifically football had never really been introduced to me, he made me a Bears fan. He began to buy me the Bears jerseys, the jackets, he even bought me logos to put in my room. I found it so funny how much a person could care about a team that they didn’t know. He loved them because his dad was from Chicago, although he had never even been there.

Nonetheless, I am now a Chicago Bears fan. Although my x-husband and I have not been together for over 15 years, the Bears are still in my heart. It used to be so fun to ride with him to games and tailgate for our teams. Once I left him, I found myself all alone. I knew no friends that were Bears fans. I was constantly having to learn the sports information in order to defend my “Bearshood.” I struggled with becoming an outsider to new social groups that were no longer his. I realized that all of my social relationships that I had with him were gone and I now everybody differed from my own.

I have spent years defending my Bears and have had several boyfriends throughout the years try to buy me their team gear, but I have always refused. I am no trader. It’s funny how now I look back at what I used to think about him, and how crazy he was about them and I now defend my Bears in the same manner.

Recently I was at a bar and a guy was there in a Bears hat. I gave him a high five and a “Go Bears!”, next thing you know he was my best friend. It is true that sports find a way of bonding you socially to people you don’t know. It brings you together and allows you to feel some type of familiarity with that unknown person just based on a specific sports team. It’s actually kind of cool.

I have never taken the time to sit back and consider that poverty could actually have positive functions. I never considered that without the poor, police officers, social work, Human Service agencies amongst others would suffer. It is true that poverty provides income and plentiful jobs for workers in these agencies. Also, poverty forces people who need money to do those shitty jobs no one else wants to do.

I look at poverty like a dog chasing his own tail. It’ s a vicious circle that it seems one cannot get out of. If you get the job, you have no car to get there. If you have no car, you must use a bus. If bus makes you late, you may get fired. It’s almost impossible for one to succeed when there are no means to an end, or the means are unattainable.

Having such low-income wages and being forced to live in the ghetto is usually the only way these people can live. They are forced to find other means to making money which means they are either stealing or selling drugs to supplement the necessary income to pay their bills. That then leads to incarceration and round and round they go. It is so difficult and almost impossible to get ahead when your are living this life of poverty.

I literally had an “aha” moment while reading a particular paragraph in this Chapter. They are discussing how exposure to middle-class consumption as opposed to somebody who is unfamiliar with social settings in a middle-class environment can find themselves with an advantage in regards to a possible job, or to try and make your way into a particular elite circle.  Recognizing that it doesn’t make you less of a person if you are unaware of the social etiquette is key.

I once was offered a really good job. This job would have made me. It was starting pay over $60K. I had many of the requirements needed such as bilingual, speak, read and write Spanish. I needed experience with office administration. I needed sales experience. I qualified for everything except one thing. I went up against a man who “kind of” spoke Spanish but had years and years of experience. He was also about 10-15 years older than me. I was young and still fighting the whole perception is everything. I used to think who cares how I look, as long as I do a good job. Or, who cares what they think of me as long as I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

Then, I was offered an interview but there was one problem. The hire person had come from out of state for whatever reason and could only meet me that night. I was unaware that I was even in the running at that point. Long story short, I had a piercing in my cheek, like a dimple. It was a dermal which means it had a flat back so without the proper tools I could not remove it. I obviously tried and tried to remove it, but to no avail.  I met up with the hire person at Starbucks at about 8 P.M. I dressed up in my best office attire, completely professional. The first thing of course I did was try to apologize for the “unprofessionalism” of the piercing, but I couldn’t get it out. Needless to say, I did not get the job. I considered this total inequality. They judged me based on how I looked, and the middle-class, older, less Spanish speaking man got the job.

After that experience I developed knowledge that I didn’t previously have. I experienced a social inequality based on judgements that truly did not define who I am or was or how well I could do that job. I simply didn’t get it because of how I looked. I will argue that middle-class people have more opportunities and are favored in our daily lives.

Would raising the minimum wage to $15 and the right to unionize for fast food employees be a good idea? I can see how workers would say yes, and employers would say no. This is a difficult matter to address. First, when people on a minimum wage income cannot survive and do not have enough money for their living expenses and cannot provide for their family, then I almost have to say yes.

It’s unfortunate that many of these fast food employees work 2 or 3 jobs in order to provide for their families and even then, they can’t.  Many of them work tirelessly without proper compensation of overtime provided. Many go from one job straight to the next shift at the other job without breaks and continue for the next 12 hours. Many are still forced to get government assistance as a back up for food and general cash assistance. As much as they are trying to stand on their own two feet, with the cost of living in California, it is nearly impossible to survive off minimum wage.

Would organizing the low wage workers into unions be helpful for them? I don’t know much about unionization. I have heard good things and bad things as well. I would think that organizing a union could be helpful because it would set the ground rules for real compensation, medical expenses, etc. They also ensure that workers are not being taken advantage of at their jobs. When they fight for more money, the unions usually organize the strikes and in the end,  it seems like this would be beneficial for low-income workers. In the end, I feel there are pros and cons to both sides.