Drug War facts

There is just as much a drug use stereotype as there is racial stereotype in the United States.  Common stereotypes include the speculation that drug use leads to violent crimes including murder, illegal drugs are deadlier than other substances both legal and not and that the majority of drug users are people of color. The statistics on www.drugwarfacts.org prove otherwise, in fact it states that 40% of convicted murderers and more than half of assault convictions were under the influence of alcohol (a legal substance), the death toll as a result of illegal drug use was 17,000 in 2000 compared to death 32,000 death as a result of prescription drugs used in hospitals, and that 72% of male illegal drug users are in fact white while 32.2% are black and 10% are Hispanic. Despite the numbers disproving the drug use stereotype the site also states that, “In 2001, the chances of going to prison were highest among black males (32.2%) and Hispanic males (17.2%) and lowest among white males (5.9%)” (Imprisonment in the US). This likely the result of the Southern Strategy a political scheme which manipulates the paradigm of society to support anti-colored policies and creates negative social projects in regards to people of color. The effects of the Southern Strategy are so in ebbed in the minds of Americans, especially white Americans, that it continues to strengthen racial stereotypes such as those stated above on the issue of illegal drugs that it allows for politicians to further prosecute people of color on false notions of their culture or ethics. The website offers a lot of though provoking statistics but it would have been interesting to see the numbers for people who believe in the racial stereotypes of drug users.   

Literary LaGaurdia

     I was surprised by the amount of people who showed up at the forum and more surprised at the amount of submissions given to Literary LaGuardia. Honestly I came in with little interest in students writing since I had been to many school events in high school and in my time at St.Johns' and every time I left unimpressed with the students work. From the first non-fiction reading I am not a Booster by Delana Lewis I realized that this event would be different. With each reading I could feel that these students had written their papers, poems, and stories with actual passion and not just because they were given an assignment. I also could relate to many of the stories they were telling especially Joseph Cutolo's Becoming a Girl (which was very well written) since I did feel growing up that i did not fit the ideology of being a girl, Raphael Sabando's Immigrants Entrepreneurs in New York City being that I am second generation in the United States and issues of immigrations are dear to me, and again Delana Lewis' I am not a Booster.

Ying Ma common theme in pg 107 & pg 111

     In Chinese Girl in the Ghetto Ying Ma claims that asain Americans withstood a lot of abuse based on their ethnicity. She discusses the tension between asian students and the black and hispanic students in her daily school life and describes her own experience of being bullied based on her race by a hispanic girl named Maria " she preferred to dish out racial slurs to those who looked Chinese. Against us, her epithets rarely elicited a response" (Ma 111). Not only does she claim that asain americans were abused based on their ethnicity but she also states that they were a target of bullying because they had the tendency to not fight back. Ying becomes tired of being bullied  and decides to fight back ,however, the way in which she retaliates includes exchanging racial slurs with Maria. In doing this Ying participates in the racial discrimination that plagues her community. This particular form of racial discrimination is within different ethnic minorities. Interracial conflict was not exclusive to Yings community, throughout american History there has been a struggle within ethnic groups.
     Omi and Winant discuss the interracial discrimination that occurred in the U.S during the civil right movements of the 1950s and 1960s. When the government created equal opportunity programs different ethnic minorities began to compete for positions in these programs which resulted in racial conflict. Without unity in the different minorities interracial  and plain racial discrimination continued.

Stress and College Life

          Hey welcome to college life (if you aren't a transfer, if you are....welcome back). I'm sure I don't need to tell you that college is stressful. Hey life is stressful in general I'm sure you could use some more (saaaarcasim). One think I can tell you ,however, is that you are not alone. LaGuardia is full of students struggling to get an education. Many of us live on our own and as such have no choice but to work either full time or close to it to simply survive. The first few weeks are going to be the hardest, not because of the work but because you'll have to make some decisions in regards to how you are going to live your academic life. I am a firm believer that individuals need to experience things for them to learn but if you are willing to listen to some advise I have plenty to give.

          First off: Financial Aid. For those of you lucky enough to receive it DON'T WASTE IT (like I did). Just because you can retake a class and it wont show on yer transcript doesn't mean you should. You only get eight semesters of financial Aid. So the more classes you fail and have to take over the more likely YOU WILL PAY FOR SCHOOL LATER ON. If you think college is expensive now... Tuition and everything else we get billed for increases each and every semester. So what am I trying to say? Do your work! You dont need an A a B is pretty good too.

          College is a full time job. So if you already have a job now you have a second job. No one is going to hold your hand, you don't read, you don't study, you don't write your papers you fail that's it. So that job you have now is the job you will have for the rest of your life. Try getting a decent apartment with that nice little o' paycheck. The life you live now, the struggling to pay your bills, will be your future, your eternity if you don't take the time to be a student. And if you live with good old mom and dad...you are wasting their hard earned money. They break their backs for it don't be a brat. 

         But it's just advice. Hopefully you aren't one of those people that have to fail to learn. With some determination you'll get where you want to be, Good luck.

(P.s If all goes well I'll have a nice little condo in Manhattan which I will use to make up for the time I wasn't able to be a kid and have cocktail parities with cute dresses and shoes with all my graphic designer friends....So what I'm vain... xD)

Chinese Girl in the Ghetto vs. Illegal Immigrants

          Today I will write about the author of Chinese Girl in The Ghetto, Ying Ma. While I was reading the book I found that while I could relate to her experience in the inner cities and her families struggle I did not find her story to be inspirational. The way I perceived her tone to be was something like "I came here, I did this, I'm so much more hard working than any  of the people around me." I think because of this attitude she cannot feel empathy for the people who come to this country and have struggle like her if not more. It's almost as if she believes that if you don't break your back to make it then you dont deserve to be in America. She is the prime example of a minority internalizing racial projects and replicating it.

          Looking through her facebook page I noticed that she is the host for a page named "We Came Legally". Personally I cannot say that I am fond of Ms.Ma but I cannot say that I do not agree with the implied message of her page. However, I do not want to condemn the thousands of immigrants who have come to American illegally  in search of a better life. As a human being they have the right to search for better opportunities for themselves and for their children. I truly believe that because they were so desperate and chose to come to the United States illegally they are not granting themselves more opportunities but instead limiting themselves. Many of them might not have realized that back home. Our politics are wrong is trying to stop illegal immigration, not morally but strategically. It's just not the way to go around it. Perhaps they should make it easier to get working visas or green cards so that immigrants don't have to turn to coming here illegally. Hey I don't know, I'm not a politician but I am a concerned citizen making suggestions.

          As for Ying Ma she is a part of the machine and its people like her that make it so hard for immigrants and children of immigrants to be seen as human beings and not leeches. (That's speaking of her in a nice way C; )

The Symbolic Landscape of the British Hill Station in India

Kenny, Judith T. "Climate, Race, and Imperial Authority: The Symbolic Landscape of the British Hill Station in India." Jstor.com. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., n.d. Web. <jstor.org/stable/2564433>.

This article has a lot to do with race in india.

"Ultilitarian beliefs encouraged education of Indians so that they may be raised to British Standards and values. Yet, as Bhabha describes, the educated Indian subject became the ultimate figure of mockery. The "mimic" colonial subject suggested that to be Anglicized was emphatically not to be English."

I will use this in my paper by arguing that another way English psychologically colonized the Indian was making them believe that if they became more like an Englishman that they could become an Englishman but in reality they were emphasizing how an Indian could never be an Englishman.

Pgs 104-105 "Reforming the Racial state"

                In this blog I will discuss the concept of "Reforming the Racial State" as seen in pages 104-105 of Racial Formation. Omi and Winant explain that during the 1950's and 1960's people of color came together and actively took steps to bettering the racial state. "Direct Action" such as the civil disobedience sit in and marches eventually lead to the creation of "equal opportunity" programs which required that state institutions meet a Quota of colored employees. However this created conflicts over resources provided by the programs and different ethnic group were now in competition with each other.We can relate this to Untouchable in the sense that Bakha and the other untouchables are in constant completion for the resources higher caste members may offer. This causes a further divide within the untouchables and without unity the untouchables cannot demand a reforming of the Caste System instead they are letting it take a stronger hold. MLK and Ghandi both believed that reform was possible through unity however when individuals are caught up in a "me, me, me" attitude everything falls apart as seen by the outcome of "equal opportunity" programs,
 few make use of the program while the majority are locked into a state of poverty.

Race as a Social Construct

Good Afternoon members of the Human Rights Watch today I will discuss the issue of “race”. Common sense would tell us that race is a method of diving people based on physiological aspects such as the color of one’s skin. Many people believe that race is something that is stagnant, never changing and ground in stone. However the notion of race was not created until Slavery was introduced as a means to identify who was a slave and who was not. Prior to this according to the documentary “Race the power of an Illusion” people were distinguished one another as Christian and heathens but not “white” or black”. The documentary also points out that “race is an idea that evolves over time, that it has a history, that it is constructed by a society to further certain political and economic goals”. In other words, race is a social construct which is ever changing to meet the needs of the current racial state. This means that race is not a natural concept but a false one only given meaning when people give it meaning and actively participate in it.

            The affinity for “white” over “black” began during slavery when dark skin became a symbol of slavery and African descent. When slaves were brought over into the Americans there was a need for labor, diving people on the basis of colored ensured that there would always be a cheap and continuous source of labor. 

Brain Storm Assignment 2

Caste mobility------

*Hockey stick-

                The novel Untouchable highlights the denial of upward mobility by showing us that upper caste men do not want lower caste men to own any sort of property. Ownership of valuables such as English products, clothes,  land , etc.,  gave a man value. If that man obtained value then they could no longer say that he is of lower status. This is shown when Bakha receives an almost new hockey stick from an Upper Caste men, Charat Singh, who then tells him that he must hide it and not tell anyone where he got it. Afterwards Bakha meets with upper caste children who have also received hockey sticks from Charact Singh, Bakha states, “The Babu’s sons were the Babu’s sons. He would, of course, give them sticks. That he had given one to him, a sweeper, was an extraordinary favour” (Anand 112)  Bakha realizes that children of upper caste men were expected to have ownership of various valuable items and that he was not.  

 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many people would agree with my claim that the process of Colonization was not only a forceful process but a psychological one. Based on Bakha’s behavior, we learn that he praises the English way of life above his own because he is constantly exposed to the social project of white superiority.    

·         Colonial Hutchinson

·                                                        

When the British came into India they found in play a paradigm that consisted of a strict caste system. As long as the Indian people were divided they could easily pit one group against another, successfully diverting attention away from the real issues. In the novel Untouchable it wasn’t until Ghandi ousted the British government’s attempt to further divide the nation by exempting Untouchables from political bodies did the Indian people understand the caste system was hindering their freedom. Ghandi states “ The British Government sought to pursue a policy of divide and rule in giving to our brethren of the depressed classes separate electorates in the councils that will be created under the new constitution” (Anand 146). In other words the British Government wanted to segregate the Untouchables from the other castes in the new council as a means to continue to divide and conquer them. In this way the British would be able to continue to manipulate the psyche of the Indian people. However diving the people was not the only way that the Bristish psychologically colonized the Indian people.

                Based on Bakha’s behavior, we learn that the youth of the lower caste system place a high value on the English way of life and English material items.  

A common strategy of Colonization is “divide and conquer” and it was very effective.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SCRAP

Cluster Connections

          I find the concept of "clusters" interesting  As a transfer student who has already experienced the freshman gig LaGuardia's cluster approach seems to ease freshman into college life more effectively. It's easier to absorb material when all your classes focus on the same subject just use different approaches. It also makes it easier for students to connect what they have learned in one class to another. I have used material I've learned in a class in a previous semester in a current class but the material was always foggy and watered down. With this cluster the information is fresh and its easier to  quote from class to class. This is great for freshman who may not have connected material from different classes and must do so now. For example:

     

          The first text we read was Tannenbaum's Slave and Citizen. He spoke of the treatment of Slaves in Latin America and about the concept of dark skin color symbolizing slavery. Recently in Anthropology we read several passages on the treatment of slaves post-slavery and it was clear that throughout Latin America those of dark skin presumed to be of African American decent were looked down upon and segregated. In the text Color as a Symbol of Social Status the author specifically states, "The antagonism was not directed against people of color because of color as such, but because their color indicated that they were, or had their origin in, slaves" (Arlene). This means that people of color were not looked down upon because of their skin color but because their skin color symbolized slavery and the salve was the lowest of any social hierarchy sometimes not even considered human. From reading this text it became clear to me that this concept was not exclusive to Tannenbaum (he wasn't so crazy after all) but that it was a paradigm, something people of historically did not question. 

        The one thing I do note about the cluster is the use of the same key terms like race, ethnicity, racial formation and the universal "Race is a social construct", "Race is not real" theme. It's a nice thing to hear but does the rest of the world know that? If anything having these phrases repeated to me has made me aware of my so called "race" and "ethnicity". 

         

         They say ignorance is bliss and I've never been able to agree with it until taking this cluster. My eyes have been opened to so many social issues that in a way make me feel powerless to change. I was happy living in my little paradigm "go to school, get a job, get paid, buy a house" (although my version might have been get a job, struggle through school, maybe get a job?, possibly afford an apartment without roommates?) and now I'm "the fish that realizes its in water" (or something like that). It's an out of body experience.

Twitter Tweets

@Prisonwatchint

http://www.propublica.org/article/are-california-prisons-punishing-inmates-based-on-race

I read an article they posted about how in California they are separating inmates by color in an attempt to reduce gang violence. At a glance this plan might sound good but when you look closer you realize that gangs aren't necessarily organized by race. While its true that some are that doesn't make all gangs strictly based on race. One argument they make is "One state court judge concluded in 2002 that “managing inmates on the basis of ethnicity” was counterproductive, and instead increased hostilities among prisoners." which means that the tactics they are using to reduce gang violoence actually may increase it. By segregating prisoners you are enforcing the idea that they are different and that they should stick to their own kind. This can lead to the belief that on racial group is better than another and in turn increase hate crimes within the prison system.

I am not one to look for news regarding the prison system. But perhaps someone who is concerned about the prison system would find this twitter account useful and find it as an outlet to discuss their concerns and share their own articles etc.

@lobojost

 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323741004578418682347182750.html?mod=wsj_share_tweet

I was scrolling and saw this article about housing prices. This is something that interests me since I do want to relocate hopefully soon. My issue like many new yorkers is the rising rent prices in the safer and convenient neighborhood. This articles discusses the price of owning a home in the Bronx versus other boroughs like Manhattan or Queens. It also states that more people are moving into the bronx than moving out which is funny to me b/c I am always trying to get my fiance to agree to renting an apartment in the bronx simply because the prices are a bit more reasonable (he doesn't like the idea b/c of the bronxs reputation and how far it is from our family and friends in Queens). I also found that this articles relates to our groups focus of gentrification. It also talks about how lower income families are being "pushed out" and that is our groups interest.

I found that simply b/c this was a topic I was interested in that this Twitter account was useful. However I have yet to feel that Twitter overall is useful to me as individual but I do acknowledge that it has the potential to be.

Anti Islamic Hate Crimes

         The chart provides information in regard to anti-Islamic hate crimes from 1995-2008. Prior to 2001 such hate crimes were considerably much lower than after 2001. From 1995 to 2000 the crimes didn't go over 30 crimes a year. 2001 was the highest year for anti-islamic hate crimes where there were 481 crimes. After 2001 the crimes lowered to about 155 crimes a year. It is much lower than in 2001 but it hasnt gone below pre 2001 numbers. Its obvious that the reason for the large increase in anti-islamic hate crimes was the attack on the twin towers in 2001. Which explains why the crimes were at their highest during that year. This data is important because it signals that many Americans harbour hate towards Islamic people and that after 2001 they are a high risk group for hate crimes. By knowing this information it may be possible to protect these people and attempt to educate the public agaisnt this unreasonable hate. This information may also help understand the tension between race and culture or which races and cultures clash the most.

Akeem's Blog Feedback

            This blog is written in response to Akeem's Blog numero dos in which he claims that he believes the main claim of Tannenbaums Slave and Citizen is the contrast between the treatment of African American Slaves in the northern and southern hemispheres of the Americas. Akeem's agrees with Tannenbaums notion that slaves had rights in Colonial Brazil where as in the United States they were denied even being though of as a human being. He implys that the reason for the mistreatment of slaves was based on skin color. Akeem relates this to his own experience growing up outside of the United States in Guyana, "the country in which I was born, there is still great tension between the people because of skin color, race, and simply areas where you were born and raised" (Qadeer). I can also relate to Akeems claim that in other countries aside from the United States there is still tension between people because of skin color or race. I have witness just how differently African Americans have been treated in the Unites States and I have also witness how people from the same foreign culture treat each other based on skin color. For example my family is Hispanic/Latino/Spanish, the majority of my family from my mothers side is "darker" (tan) while my fathers side of my family is "white" (Spaniard).  Since I resemble my fathers side of the family but I was surrounded by my mothers side of the family I was very fair skinned compared to them and they treated me differently. They felt like since I was fair skinned I would give up my ethic culture more readily than my darker skinned siblings. Whether this was true or not I was considered an outsider who could not understand their culture just as the Anglo-Americans felt the African Americans were outsiders and could not understand their culture. All this prejudice was simply based off of skin tone and not on the character of the person.
           Akeem brought up some valid points and supported Tannenbaums claim through the use of personal experience. I believe he could use this claim perhaps as a closing statement for his paper. It would leave the reading with something memorable and would be interesting.

Mixed Races

        In class we spoke about how Tannenbaum believed that in order for slavery to truly end in the United States the white population had to stop associating dark skin with slavery.  The Anglo-American of the time had the notion that if you had dark skin you were a slave and vice versa, if you were a slave you had dark skin. Even after the civil war and the end of slavery this state of mind continued through out the United States. In the last pages of Slave and Citizen we discovered that Tannenbaum believed that in order for whites to accept blacks people needed to start mixing races. He believed that if races mixed it would create a “new biological type” (a new race). He believed that this new biological type would create “new values and human beauty” (pg120 Slave and Citizen).
Perhaps he envisioned a future where people where no longer either black or white but one mixed race. Back in his time a person of mixed race might have not been so common but in our present time its more of a reality.

        It might be the fact that I grew up in Queens, one of the most diverse communities in the world, but I come across people of different and mixed races quite often. For example one of my teachers in middle school was black and Korean, one of my sister-in-laws in married to a Korean man and have a beautiful Korean-Dominican daughter, I also met plenty of people mixed with black and Hispanic blood or Asian and Hispanic blood or Asian and American blood. Maybe Tannenbaum would have been pleased to know that all these races are now mixing together but this mixing of races doesn't exactly mean that there is eventually going to be one uniform race. However, I like to think that this mixing of races does signify a future where people are more tolerant of other races simply because they themselves are multi-cultural. 

         You don’t necessarily  have to be biologically  a mixture of races to feel that you are multi-cultural you just simply have had to be exposed in one way or another to different races. I believe that Tannenbaum’s notion that slavery will never truely end unless there is mixing of the races is wrong. I think that white Americans will learn to accept other races as a part of the United States if they are simply exposed to other races as children in a positive way. The only way to truly end slavery is to educate our children about other cultures besides our own and teach them to be open minded and accepting of them.

Slave and Citizen Summary

           In the writing Slave and Citizens, Tannenbaum accounts the experience of the African American during the slave trade. He contrasts the treatment of these people in the Spanish Empire and the United States. It was his belief that slaves were treated somewhat more humane in the Spanish and Portuguese Empires than in the United States. Tannenbaum supports his claim that in colonial Brazil people of color were treated better than in the United States by citing the observation of a witness who lived at the time. The witness stated that he observed an African American, which he referred to as a Mulatto woman, in a horse drawn carriage with slaves following behind and a white husband. From such an observation it’s obvious that in the Brazilian colonies interracial marriage was acceptable whereas in the United States there were strict miscegenation laws, or laws prohibiting intercourse between races.

         The witness also added that the first doctor of the city was a Mulatto and that there was a Mulattos president of Province. Things like this were unheard of in the United States where African Americans were denied even a primary education. Tannenbaum writes that in the United States, “A barrier has been drawn against the Negro. This barrier…has served to deny him the very things that are of greatest value among us--equality of opportunity for growth and development as a man among men.” (pg 42). He emphasized just how much African Americans were denied opportunities to better themselves and rise beyond their slave status.

My class tweets

          Nicos tweet " i believe that the same way slaves were the backbone of the country back then, today it is same with the minorities/immigrants" really caught my attention. Being a part of a family of immigrants I have personally witness minorities work hard for this country. Immigrants are the ones in construction building homes bridges, renovating your home etc. Hey they also mow your lawn.

          I also like Nayaras tweet "It's so sad to here how African Americans were haggled like about like any cattle.They were treated like animals, sold, and then branded." When i read this in the text I was disgusted. I felt empathy for these people being ripped away from their home and treated like trash.

Hyphenated American

While reading Du Bois theory of double consciousness I realized I’ve heard something similar before. Double consciousness sounded a lot like the term “hyphenated American“. Theodore Roosevelt famously used the term in one of his speeches where he stated, “There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism…a hyphenated American is not an American at all." In which he basically said that a person could not be both an American and hold onto his ethical background. I find both Du Bois and Roosevelt’s views on Americans offensive. My parents are Colombian so whether I like it or not I am considered  Colombian-American (a hyphenated American). However, it doesn’t mean that I am neither American or Colombian, as Theodore would say, it means that I have had the privilege to see the world through the eyes of two different and unique cultures and that I am the bridge that will connect them. 
It seems to me that Roosevelt spoke for the Americans of his time and perhaps even Americans today. Despite an ethic persons attempts of being all American there’s is a boundary they cannot cross.  Just as Du Bois puts it for the African American of his time, “ He simply wishes to make it possible for a man to be both a Negro and an American, without being cursed and spit upon by his fellows…”.Du Bois points out peoples tendency to judge others. An American will judge a foreigner for trying to be American and a foreigner will also judge that same person for straying from his or her culture. It seems to me that it isn’t just the person of color who is stopping himself from integrating into American culture but people on both sides of the spectrum with this type of “us vs. them” mentality.

           The Souls of Black Folk

 

                In the early 1900’s an American sociologist, W.E.B Du Bois, examined the psyche of the Africans Americans of his time. It was his belief that African Americans were in a state of “double consciousness” as he states in his book The Souls of Black Folk. He describes it as a “sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity.” This view of the African American psychological state meant that African Americans identified with two cultures as being a part of them. They felt like they were Americans yet at the same time they also felt they were African. They identified with both cultures even though other people may have looked down upon it since being African American during the early 1900’s came with many restrictions. Often African Americans saw themselves through the eyes of others which further added to the conundrum of “Double consciousness”.  Du Bois argued that it was this state of mind that caused a struggle within African Americans. They wanted to find unity between both identities.

                Du Bois believed African Americans wanted to “merge his double self” so that they may become “better”. However, in the process of merging themselves they did not want to lose any part of either identity. According to Du Bois, African Americans felt “…America has too much to teach the world and Africa. He would not bleach his Negro soul in a flood of white Americanism, for he knows that Negro blood has a message for the world.” After being taken from Africa and freed from slavery America was their new home. They valued the American way but also cherished their African roots. This way of though is what led to the internal struggle Du Bois called “ Double Consciousness”.