Race and Ethnicity Discussion Thread

The communist ability to establish ethnicity in such a quick, effective way. Not only did the Russians create a way of determining ethnicities, but the Chinese communists, influenced by the Soviets, created their own system which created a majority ethnicity with multiple different minority ethnicities. That act just shows how easy it is to separate people based off of random attributes they have. Showing that in Southwestern there were three different ways that the people were divided depending on the person's perspective. I see the value in actually self identifying without offending people. Hypodescent, where a person can be misrepresented because of how they appear, is wrong and it's easy to identify with because almost everyone has been misjudged in a major way at some point (misgendered, wrongfully identified with a different sexual orientation, etc). These ways that nations identify races is definitely an interesting policy that would be good to look into.

www.fresnobee.com/news/business/biz-columns-blogs/real-estate-blog/article62218157.html

This is a Fresno Bee article that I think pertains to some of the racialized space in the US.

Excellent material. So happy to have you in my classes.

excellent article and excellent tie to Lipsitz

Based on what i have learned in this class, and what knowledge i possessed prior to entering this class; I am comfortable in saying that race and how it is used in society is solely a concept that was made by those in power to further distinguish themselves from everybody else. Which goes back to racism, and how Professor Eissinger put it that racism is only racism when it is done by those who are in a position if power. Ethnicity on the other hand has a more concrete meaning, it is those who associate with one another via their cultural, religious, and social identity. Ethnicity has a clear cut better manner in which to group individuals, and yet it is not the one that is used to do so. In society more often than not it does not matter where you originate from, where your cultural ties lay, nor with whom you may associate with. The color of your skin, among other phenotypical markers will dictate your race, and thus lump you together with the other members of society who are of the same race. Relate that to the constant institutionalized racism in today's society and you can clearly see the hierarchy of today's world. Much like the instances referenced in the article "Why I'm a Racist" by John Cook, in which he says that he knows that he will never have to know what it is like to suffer racism. That he will not know what it is like to be stopped by a police officer because of the color of your skin. Or to be judged predominately because of the phenotypical markers you may or may not posses. He talks about how even with his tattoos he still has a better chance of being judged for who he is rather than what he looks like, because under those tattoos he is still white. He is still a part of the group in power. Looking at this from a minorities perspective we can look at it thru the actions taken towards the Japanese workers in "The Nature of California" where they had to prove their humanity to society, they had to prove they were valuable to the racist group in power while still developing and maintaining their own identity. Seldom if ever will you see a member of the power party having to prove their humanity to society, nor will they ever have to prove their identity to their own people. something that as minorities improving yourself to the people in power you diminish your identity to those of your same class, but if you prove yourself to your class you lack to those in power. They are faced then with the choice of being in the right with the societies power, or with their own people. Finally looking at chauvinism we can see just how prevalent this is in today's society, just as much so as in previous generations if not more. White males in particular are seen presenting this trait. They will attack anyone who is not like them, and accuse them of threatening their way of life. And then proceed to justify it with patriotism. They will justify any action no matter how heinous with this. If they attack a minority they will say that it was because this person was threatening the American way of life. If they oppress women they will say it is because America was built of the labor of a man and allowing a women any power will go against what America stands for.

Being a Hispanic women I could be any race and I learned that from class. I believe that all people are equal and should be treated equal. It surprises me how some people take pride in being racist and suprerior. The readings , videos, and class lecture so far have applied to racism and how it affects people in different ways. Some people aren't aware of racism and believe it does't exist. Most of this people are blinded by diversity and only associate with people of there own race. I do agree that racism,prejudice and bigotry can influence people behaviors. I think that we need to get rid of those ways and work together! Before I took this class I wasn't aware of the issues and I'm glad I'm learning more. I think that has a lot to do with up bringing, religion, social beliefs, ect. Over all having positive views and being kind to people is what makes a person better!

race and ethnicity, as well as the differences between racism, bigotry, prejudice, misogyny, and chauvinism.
Race and ethnicity has always been a tough topic to talk about but its all around us at all times. I identify myself as Latina/Hispanic and I am considered a minority in this country. I understand a lot of the racist slurs against my culture and race because I have heard stories from family members and I myself had been judged because of the color of my skin. Racism as we talked about in class is a social construct where people are sterotyped by the color of their skin. In class we talked about how racism and how people who are the minorities can not technically be racist because them themselves are the minority. Bigotry is people who hold different opinions from your owns and prejudice is an opinion a person that derives from no actual reason or their actual experience. I think a lot of people confuse the two because they are commonly used during race related issues and people think their meaning is completely different than what is actually means. I think anyone can be this way because some of us are easily influenced by the media or the people who surround us that we begin to make assumptions and conclusions about people without knowing the actual truth. In the article "Why I'm A Racist" the author talks about his background and how his apearance has made a drasticlally effect on how people treat him and how he is percived as. I myself think that the place I grew up at and the people who surround me had made a great impact on the way I am today.

While taking this class, I gained an understanding of racism and how it is used in society. Race is often defined as the categorization of groups of people with similar traits such as the color of ones skin or eyes. It is often used to instill power and provide benefits to those who have privilege. Ethnicity works differently as it is a grouping of people based on their cultural traditions.

Before this class, I had never thought of racism only being racism when it is done by a race that has not been oppressed. It is absurd that some people think that just because the color of their skin is different that they are superior. However, the examples from lecture and our reading assignments demonstrate multiple times how that idea has existed for such a long time.


The article, Why I’m a Racist, further proves the concept of white privilege. The author, John Cook, mentions in his article that he is able to live his life without having to worry about how people will treat him because of his skin color. The Game Theory video was very interesting to watch as it also connects to the idea of racism and stereotyping. It discusses how we generalize and make assumptions of others because they are different from us. It goes on to suggest that we reject others simply because their ideas and beliefs are foreign to us. This is true of racism and is proven in many of the examples we have looked at in class. One example would be of the indigenous tribes that we learned about in the text Victims of Progress. From the book, we learned of how people would go into the land of the indigenous tribes and strip them of their cultural traditions. It depicted how the tribes would be given food that would help them, which we later on discovered, only made their diets worse. The idea that because these tribes are different than their “superior” white counterparts stresses the idea described in the Game Theory video. Simply because of their different practices, they were rejected by Whites and deemed incapable of living life. Ultimately leading Whites to step in and “help” them properly succeed.

Ethnicity is a common tradition or culture that a group of people share. Race is a social construct used by a certain group to maintain a level of "superiority" or certain advantages over another group, based off of phenotypical markers. What surprised me about the articles was how certain words can give off a different meaning. For example, the article that discussed Trump mentioned how his use of the word "the" in the phrase "the African Americans" has a negative connotation which differs from if he had just stated "African Americans". It gives off a sense of us vs them in a way and eliminates the diversity of that group. Also, in the article "Why I'm a Racist", I found it interesting how you can be considered racist if you ignore the inequalities that exist. If you are not willing to learn and understand the inequalities that exist, then you are equally racist to those who openly display racism, because instead of fixing the issue you are simply ignoring them. I have actually had discussions about this with some of my friends. One of my friends who happens to be white, mentioned how she would not want to enroll in a class about race relations because she feels she will be attacked the whole time due to her race. I did not realize that that is a common fear for white people, and that some of them get defensive when approached with the issue of racism. In another incident, two guys near me were discussing white privilege and obnoxiously trying to discredit it by saying things like, "I am so privileged, that I have a difficult time getting scholarships" and other things along those lines. I normally would not have said anything, but I noticed another man standing by them and overhearing their conversation who happened to be African American. He looked at me while nodding in disbelief at what they were saying. I then approached the two white guys and explained to them how white people receive more scholarships than minority groups or people of color, and supported it with data from the video "MTV's White People". They then were stunned in silence, and one guy looked at me and said "But you are white". I then simply responded, "Yeah, I know". It was strange to me that he thought that since I was white, I would deny that inequalities exist and that I would defend white people. He said it in a way that sounded like I had betrayed him just because I am the same color as him. It is ignorant to defend inequalities just because you are a member of the group that implements them. If anything, it should make you want to change the way your group views others and try to promote equality. 

According to the books and lecture racism is the belief that members from a certain race, usually the master race, who see other people and their races as inferior to them. Bigotry is someone not having the tolerance against other people who don’t have the same opinions as them. Prejudice is someone acting in a negative way towards someone who is a part of a certain group such as a certain race. Misogyny is someone who has a dislike for women in general, not focusing on one race or group but only women. Chauvinism are people who are really passionate about being a patriot for their country, so they act in aggressive ways towards other people against other people they believe don’t belong in the same country and should leave.

This class opened my eyes to terms that I have not been using correctly. I believed that race and ethnicity was the same thing. However, now I know that race is based off of physical features such as eye color, hair color, and hair texture. Race is a social construct and only exists in our minds. It is not a biological construct. Ethnicity is based off of the culture that an individual originated from. Racism is based off of who is in power of the social structure. Therefore, blacks cannot be racist because they are not in power, only whites can. Prejudices are beliefs stemming from stereotypes of certain ethnicites, it is not illegal to have prejudices, however, morally it is wrong. Discrimination is limiting services or opportunities to certain ethnicites. This is illegal, but happens quite often, without any repercussions.