Takaki-Chapter 3

The thesis of this Chapter seems much like the one of Zinn’s chapter 2 “Drawling the Color Line.” In both chapters the author explains that in the beginning the black slaves and the white servants were working together to gain freedom, however, the rich white feared revolt from the work force so they gave stricter punishments to the blacks then were given to the white servants. The rich and powerful also tailored the laws to be unfair to the blacks and to give the whites more power. When the white were given more rights they could separate themselves from their African counter-parts.

Tataki’s main argument seemed to be that slavery was invented to keep control of the Africans. Tataki quotes a historian that says “the status of Negroes was that of indentured servants and so they were identified and treated.” I think Tataki uses this quote to show us that Africans were not brought here to just be slaves that at one point in time blacks were on the same social level as white servants. That it was only when the wealthy whites feared revolt that the differences in race was made.

Tataki’s chapter is a very interesting piece the historical documents and quotes from both historians and people of the time really bring this information to life. This chapter is much like Zinn’s in many ways and they were both well put together pieces. The information was well organized and the source material was well placed throughout the chapter.

I think this chapter was very good. I was familiar with the ideas because they were similar to the ones in Zinn’s chapter 2. Although there was little new or shocking that Tataki had to say on the subject that Zinn had already brought to my attention, I think it was good to read both chapters because now it is even less likely that this is an isolated theory. It is more fact now that I have read two author’s accounts of it.

Johnson chapter 8

The main idea of this chapter is that as people in the dominant group we deny oppression still exists. We tell ourselves that racism and sexism were a problem years ago but in this day and age we are fair to minorities. The dominant group says that they are not racist that, being racist is no longer accepted so therefore it has virtually disappeared.

The chapter is basically about denial. The dominant group denies that there is oppression, and therefore denies that there is also privilege. The dominant group lies to themselves that they are the dominate group that they control the resources and that they control the subordinate groups. They will often say that the subordinate groups have more of an advantage, that because of affirmative action that whites and men are at a disadvantage.

Yes minorities do have it rough but is it not true that in some situations African Americans do have certain advantages. For an instance when filling out college scholarship applications the question arises of race, I believe that this has nothing to do with the consideration of me getting money to attend college or not. Some will say because blacks have been oppressed for so long that black students cannot be compared to their white counterparts. However is it not true that the daughter of Oprah Winfrey has more disadvantages then a man from a poor white family? Perhaps in some cases people blacks are disadvantaged however other factors must be put in context with the race factor.

Maybe I am also denying that race is the only factor that causes disadvantage because I am white and therefore a member of the dominant group however I am also female and I firmly believe that just because I am female I have a disadvantage to my male counterparts. In some cases I do believe that men have an advantage to me but I also know that sometimes I have an advantage over men. I think that for the most part life evens out and it’s all a system of balances. Sometimes it doesn’t work out and sometimes life isn’t fair, but no one ever said life is fair. Maybe that the only people that life is fair for top executives and CEOs and maybe those people are all white males but there is no requirement that says “to have power you must be a white male.” Powerful black women are a prime example of that. Women like Star Jones and Oprah Winfrey show us that blacks and women can succeed

Johnson chapter 6

The main point of this chapter seems to that even if someone isn’t necessarily sexist or racist they don’t do anything to stop the racist people because they don’t want to cause trouble. They are traveling the path of least resistance. Johnson uses the example of a man hearing an off color joke but doesn’t want to make a scene so even though he doesn’t agree with the joke or believe in the stereotypes that make the joke funny he will say or do anything; the man will chuckle along with the rest of his friends or coworker to avoid conflict.

The main point of this chapter is that racism and sexism still exist because people want to fit in with others around them. Johnson says that we all have choices but we choose not to make a scene, we choose to travel down the path of least resistance because are afraid of the consequences that would face us if we choose to speak up, we choose to agree with our bosses; who are usually white males. Johnson says that we will sell out our beliefs and morals because we are afraid of losing our jobs if we stand up to our superiors.

Johnson says that we allow racism and sexism to continue to avoid conflict however, is this not a reason that sexism and racism would soon become nonexistent? A racist person is not socially accepted by most groups and organizations so it doesn’t make senses that people would sit back and listen to racist or sexist comments so that they don’t stir things up. It makes more sense that people who were racist or sexist would keep those feeling to themselves so that they would better fit in with the people around them. If I were racist or sexist unless I was among friends that I was sure shared my beliefs I would remain as pleasant as possible to all others around me.

I think this chapter did have so good points although I don’t believe that all individuals stand back and listen to offensive jokes because they don’t want to cause a stir, I do think that Johnson had a good idea about the path of least resistance. I think a more likely reason that people laugh along with off-color jokes is because they do believe the stereotypes even if they claim they don’t. Also if the person don’t really believe the stereotype they do know what the joke is poking fun at so they laugh.

Johnson Chapter 3

The main idea of this chapter is that capitalism is the reason racism still exists in the world today. That capitalism is the one thing that keeps whites and blacks separate and that if we had a different system racism would virtually disappear.

Johnson argues that capitalism is the means to make at lower coast then what the produces can sell that product for. Because they are trying to produce goods at low cost the capitalist pay their workers low wages and the reason they can do this is because of racism. If workers strike for higher wages then bring in minority workers who will work for less money.

However Johnson does not show that this is the reason that whites fear other groups. Maybe this was a valid theory several years ago but now labor laws and government regulations prevent factory owners from paying minorities lower wages. Although outsourcing is a concern for many workers Johnson did not provide enough proof to say that this is why racism is still alive and well.

I don’t think that this chapter was very accurate. I do believe that racism is taught more than natural but I think that it is not intentional. I think that children are taught that black is bad, not necessarily the skin color but the color black itself. Fairytales are filled with evil black witches in black hats and big bad black wolves that do terrible things to little kids. By association kids then think that anything that is black is out to get them. Once they learn that black people are bad there is little that anything anyone can do to change their mind.

Johnson chapter 2

The main point of this chapter is that we are not born with a fear of the unknown but it is instilled in us by our culture. Johnson explains that things like disability, race, and gender are defined by the dominant group in the culture. He explains that people that need a wheelchair are considered disabled; however people who need glasses to see more clearly are not thought to be perfectly normal because the dominate group says it’s okay.

Johnson explains that in Native American cultures that a baby that was born without clear male or female characteristics was placed into a third category that was not abnormal. He also goes on to say that individuals could change genders without being thought of as deviant. In today’s culture such a person would be considered transgender and in most cases transgender people are excluded from “normal” society. The author talks about the power that our culture places on race. He explains that a woman in Africa does not think of herself as black because it is not important in her culture. Likewise a man in Norway does not think himself white because his culture is somewhat colorblind, but if one was to transplant these people into America where a great deal of privilege is dependent on being white these individuals would quickly realize that they were of a their respective races.

Is it not wise to teach our children to fear others who are not thought of as “normal”? For instance if we were not taught to fear strangers who drive windowless vans near playgrounds, and offer candy in exchange for their assistance in finding a lost puppy many more of us would have been kidnapped as small children. It is true that we teach our children to fear but a certain amount of fear is healthy. Perhaps in our society we have gone so overboard that people fear to approach anyone who is different from them in any way.

I think that this chapter was very good. I think that it was interesting how Johnson makes comparisons between people as they age. It’s strange to at one time we were all curious two year olds that were totally fearless and from the moment we could talk we said whatever came to mind unaware that it wasn’t the social norm. In some cultures this might have been encouraged but in ours and many others, like our own are parents began the life long struggle to teach us not to stare, point or ask personal questions.

Race: The Power of an Illusion

I think that the guiding statement of this video is that race is an illusion. That there are no subspecies of humans, that despite our appearances we are basically all the same. The main argument is that whites have made the rule governing who could become a citizen and who was white. That being white in this country gives a person better opportunity and makes their homes more valuable. The video explains that there are “higher races” and “lower races” and the “lower races” had worse jobs that had lower paying, and because of this they lived in slums. It was said that they had these jobs because of their race.
The question is more about the housing part. In this it says that the property values in areas that blacks began to more into went down because of the blacks. However is it not possible that the values of the homes began to go down to prices that the black could afford and it was not the government’s property apprising laws that were racist but the people who did not hire the blacks for the well paying jobs.
I think that over all this was a very good peace that exposed another side of history that I had never heard about. I never knew that there was a time in this country when courts decided if one was white or not. It’s very interesting that the government spent so much time deliberating over something that these days seems so trivial. However it seems to me that this video pushed too hard to show the government in a racist light. Although I don’t deny that some of the laws were racially skewed, I don’t believe that all the laws were meant to be exclusively pro-white.