Race and Ethnic Relations Course Blog

Playing in the Southeastern conference allows us to travel to many different states across the deep south.  Some schools such as Mississippi and Arkansas have been eye opening to the type of fans we have played against.  There have been racial slurs towards our black and hispanic players that I have never been around before playing at these schools.  Do people feel that derogatory language is acceptable because it is during a sporting event?  When it has happened in the past, the players who it was directed towards seem to laugh it off.  Sports fans can be very aggressive towards the opposing players but there is no room for comments about race at a sporting event.

Monday’s discussion about Spring Break really sparked my interest.  I have never been able to go on a spring break because of sports but I have had many friends who have experienced a college spring break.  When it comes to white males and females behavior on spring break, I believe they act like they do because of spring break’s reputation.  I do not believe it has anything to do with where they are vacationing or the environment around them.  People act the way they do because it is a week off their regular routines and a chance to let loose for a week.  When a group of college kids get together to spend a week together away from their studies they are going to get a little rowdy.  There is no excuse for inappropriate behavior from spring breakers but I feel the main reason for their excessive partying comes from the stereotypes surrounding spring break.

Given that this weekend is going to be a very interesting weekend for our campus I was thinking about how incredible it is that people from Vanderbilt can connect under the stories of a young black man in music form.  Thinking on the social and racial differences between the Vandy student with our distinct college environment and Wiz Khalifa.   How do you think this could have occurred?  What is the common ground here?

I have a question about corporal punishment and race. I was spanked as a kid while many of my friends now were not. I have told them stories about my family’s discipline and have gotten reaction of shock. These reactions have made me think about whether I will spank my kids in the future. Is this a racial thing? Dr. Pitt said in class that corporal punishment among the black community is a norm. Has anyone else gone through this situation? Would any of the black students reconsidered using corporal punishment with their kids if they had gotten the same reactions from their friends?

White people … do you notice the white privilege that surrounds you everyday? Thanks to your parents and ancestry, your white skin has given you superiority unlike none other. If you don’t believe me .. take the quiz copied below. If you can say YES for most of the questions .. YOU HAVE WHITE PRIVILEGE.

Black people …. how many questions can you say yes to?

QUESTIONS
1. I can, if I wish, arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
2. The day I move into new housing that I have chosen, I can be pretty sure that my new neighbors will be neutral or pleasant to me.
3. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
4. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race in all classes, in all subjects, at all grade levels.
5. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this work on white privilege.
6. I can go into a supermarket and find the staple foods that fit with my cultural traditions, or into a hairdresser’s shop and find someone who can cut my hair.
7. I can swear, or dress in secondhand clothes without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty or the illiteracy of my race.
8. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
9. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
10. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.

I would like to pose a question to all of you:

If you could choose to live a year as someone of another race, which race would you choose and why?

Whose to blame when someone does not “succeed” in life? Do we blame the White man? Do we point the finger at the school system or the judicial/criminal court system? While many institutions serve as obstacles for many disenfranchised minorities, what about putting some of the blame on the family! We have a whole generation of people where the majority were raised with absentee fathers. For socioeconomic reasons, the mother was rarely at home to tend to her children’s needs. Despite doing her best, ultimately, the kid learns self-survival and independence. With their parents absent, they lack the necessary role models to model their behavior and actions from.

When I got home every day from school, my parents would have me do my homework and recite three things I had learned that day. Who is doing this for the kids whose parents are not there? Who is telling them they can be whatever they want to be?

Without the family, these kis will turn to the media and peers for self-identification. I mean really …. shouldn’t we blame to parents???

I read an article three weeks ago written by “an angry black woman” entitled The Truth About White Women. She claims that white women really want to be black women. That is why they get their skin tanned (darker skin is believed to be more attractive), spend money on lip injections (fuller lips are believed to be more attractive), want a curvy, more voluptuous physique, etc. Since the woman did not conduct a field study and most of her “research” was her own opinion, I’m wondering if white women really feel this way? Are there aspects about the Black woman that some White women may want to imitate? Black men …. what do you find to be the most attractive aspect of the Black woman’s body?

Today’s lecture in preparation for Monday’s final lecture brought up the interesting topic of race and its place in the media. I am aware that television shows do certain things or portray certain people in order to provide comic relief and improve ratings but is it alright to condone racism or promote stereotypes in order to make money? See the video below of a show that always crosses the line with its comedy to see an example of overt racism:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5_HmOGT8jM&feature=related[/youtube]

Any thoughts? Should this type of racism be regulated by the FCC?

Here is an interesting/funny video on how sports became racially divided. Although it doesn’t really explain anything it just shows how stupid it is to have certain stereotypes.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqLB8wyrE_A&feature=player_detailpage[/youtube]

I watched an interesting video that had some disturbing facts about what the media is teaching children in term of race.

Out of 36 summer movies, only 4 showed minorities with a leading role.

In 1998, a study was conducted on 1200 kids about race in the media… 58% said the whites on TV made a lot of money… only 8% said the same for minorities.

47% said they see minorities break the law on TV…only 6% said they see the same of whites.

This study was over ten years ago but do you all find it to still be true for today’s media?

In my History of Black Women class yesterday we discussed the stereotype of black women being “welfare queens”. To explain this discriminatory term, it is only applied to black women who are “using” the system whether its by having a lot of children or whatever. Although I am sure that we all know a black woman who is on or who has been on welfare, what most people don’t realize is that while although the majority of blacks are on welfare, 39.8%, the total number of whites is not far behind 38.8%. My question is if the numbers are THAT close, why is it that blacks, especially women are constantly portrayed as being a welfare queen? Do you all think that media has any part in this stereotype?

I ran into an old friend of mine the other day and we ended up talking for several hours about growing up here in Nashville, high school, college and now our post-graduate plans. She mentioned that in high school I was “always acting White. “

Since taking this race class, I suddenly feel that it was upon me to educate her on her own ignorance. I asked her, “What is acting white? How do I do that?” She replied … it’s the way you talked, dressed, and the kind of things you had. Now, none of the things she mentioned are genetically passed down within the supreme white race … because remember … White people are all ONE race and ethnicity group. I prompted her to think of race as a social construction, to think about how we have given things meaning through symbols. Sadly, we have unequally attributed positive traits to the White race while cheating the Black race. Here she was a Black female and she thought because I spoke proper English that I acted White …. We are starting to grasp the concept that race is a social construction … do you think the public is ready?

At least you would think so when you turn the TV on to any Black “reality show.” Let’s see …. Real Housewives of Atlanta, For the Love of Hip-Hop, Basketball Wives, Basketball Wives LA, Braxton Family Values, etc. White people .. that’s not what we do ALL the time!! As addictive as they may be, it saddens me that these women don’t do nothing better with their lives other than gossip, talk about their husbands, eat lunch or constantly get into fights. These women have the potential to be role models to many girls yet they take the opposite route. But why?

Did the egg come first or did the chicken? Is it public opinion that Black women do this all the time? Is it actually apart of our culture? If so, how do explain women like Michelle Obama? While I believe the First Lady could get down if need be, you don’t hear about her getting into fights every other week. OR!!! Are these women feeding into stereotypes about Black women that encourages them to act this way? Some of these women may have been timid as hell but in order to feed the public’s demand for more drama, Black women are enacting a particular group and gender schema? What do you think?

Okay..okay.. okay… Was it me or was anyone a little perturb by the powerpoint Dr. Pitt showed us about White college student’s opinions about Black women? Yes .. some may have been hit right on the dot or extremely close to it. But the one that shocked me the most is that they did not consider Black women to be attractive!! Hold up .. stop there!! What?? I’m curious … why is that? A book that I read for one of my communications classes stated that White people had “aesthetic aversion” to Black people. Its not that White people do not like Blacks, but they have an aversion to our skin color, hair type, big lips, etc.

Now once a year People Magazine releases its “Most Beautiful” issue. Minorities who have graced the cover our Beyonce, J. Lo, Jessica Alba, Halle Berry and Vanesa Williams. Now how can White students say that Black women are not attractive when Black/Latina women have graced the cover the MOST in the last decade? What do you think is their rationale for not including attractive out of over 80+ options??