en-us https://www.intensedebate.com/users/1119072 Comments by Highway308 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85047740 I totally agree with you. I am a white guy and totally stay away from the race issue unless I am in the company of my closest friends. It certainly seems (an actually feels like) if you discuss and focus on race, that you could be perceived as racist. Being in Law Enforcement, I have to take that to another level. Many, many times, the issue of race is brought up when dealing with a person of color. I do my absolute best to leave race out of the encounter and very often, the person of color is doing their best to bring race into the encounter. Tue, 6 Jul 2010 00:12:26 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85047740 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85046283 The “A Girl Like Me” video was very interesting and at the same time, very sad. This was a video that was put together by a young black girl. Many young, black girls were interviewed. The resounding sentiment was that they were taught at a very young age that lighter skin was more beautiful as well as many other “white” features (ie. Hair, nose, etc.). We also viewed a study that was completed using very young black children. The children would enter a room and were shown two dolls that were identical in every way, except for their skin color. One doll was black and one doll was white. When asked which doll they liked the best, the overwhelming majority chose the white doll. They also would chose the white doll when asked which doll was the good doll. When asked which doll was “bad”, the black doll was selected a large percentage of the time. These children were extremely young and already at the pre-school/elementary school age, it was ingrained in them that “white” is better. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 23:59:22 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85046283 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85046259 The third stage is Immersion. In this stage, the conscious exploration of heritage begins and white people become irrelevant. They find other non-white cultures uninteresting, but tolerate them because they are allies against white people. They will often belittle their own people who are not in this stage. This stage is marked by a chaotic balance of bitterness and love. The fourth stage is the Disintegration stage. In this stage, people of color begin to see their own bigotry. They make links to “racism” and “prejudice” and contradictory actions. They begin to confront their own people in this stage. The fifth stage is the Pseudo Communitarian Stage. In this stage, meaningful relationships are established with anyone. Race still remains the primary lens through which they navigate the world, so you still focus on issues related to their own group or minority issues in general. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 23:59:10 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85046259 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85046228 I can definitely see that the lectures are going in a different direction, but they are still very interesting. This lesson covers “The tale of the two legged Amphibians” or the tale of color. The first stage for people of color is the Pre-Awakening Stage. In this stage, little thought is given to racial and cultural differences. People sometimes assume they are “white.” This is common among Asians. Also in this stage, racism is experienced, but not clearly identified as “racism.” Cultural views and emotions surrounding race are internalized. This can include a deep rooted self-hatred. The second stage is the awakening stage. In this stage, people of color awaken to their ancestry and realize that the place of their group is within the mainstream culture. They begin to see the “us” and “them” groups and discover that they are the “them”. They begin to struggle with white culture but they don’t embrace their own culture. Mon, 5 Jul 2010 23:58:52 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-6-lesson-9-stages-of-racial-identity-people-of-color-stages-1-4__trashed/#IDComment85046228 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84793830 I too was very interested in the whole wash cloth issue. I am your average white guy. I have always had and always used wash cloths. I know that many people do not use them, and often wondered how they scrubbed themselves clean. I never really knew that this was an issue that was mildly divided by race. I thought it was funny. For once, I found myself in the minority. I would imagine, like with many other issues, it is how you are raised. My family always used wash cloths, so I use them. My wife always used wash cloths and it was never a topic of discussion. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 23:07:42 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84793830 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84792133 It was interesting to discuss how people of color can keep white people at this stage by: dismissing white concern or white guilt; keep white people on edge with anger; talk about the past and inequality; and feeling good (secretly) when a white person struggles. In stage 4 – Reversal, discomfort can cause white people to fall back into old patterns. Reversal can bring out anger toward people of color. Finally!! The beads!! I have been wondering during all of these lectures what the story of the beads was. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 22:49:27 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84792133 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84792111 We then moved on to Stage 3 which is Revisioning. In this stage, one begins to see racial inequality, white privilege and racism; may not see a problem with Political Correctness; may reach out to people of color; this increased awareness leads to anger towards whites; and growing discomfort with inequality can lead to guilt. Dr. Richard then asked the class, “Who feels guilty for being white?” This really made me think. Why should a white person feel guilty for being white? Just as a person of color should not feel bad about being a person of color. You have no control of what your ethnic background is and thus you shouldn’t feel bad about it. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 22:49:11 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84792111 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84792064 While discussing the awakening stage the issue of thinking about or talking about race in situations when you shouldn’t be thinking or talking about it. I believe that this happens a lot. Just like the example of a car crash. “This black guy pulled out in front of me!” This type of situation occurs quite frequently. I really don’t think that in most situations this statement is racially motivated, but is an interesting issue to look at. It is almost “natural” for some people to identify someone’s race, when the race of the individual isn’t or shouldn’t be a factor. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 22:48:46 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84792064 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84791988 I smell like a dog when I am wet? Really? That comment is probably the thing that will stick with me the most from this lecture. This was a very interesting lecture, but that one really got me. Now, to go back to the beginning of the lecture. I would have to agree that white people are either taught or learn not to talk about race. Speaking about race, in and of itself, can be perceived to be racist. We are taught to treat everyone equally. The video clip of the two white Nationalist girls was very sad. These two beautiful young ladies are being taught to hate and that their race is superior. As the old saying goes, “You can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family.” These two girls will be entrenched in a life of hatred simply because of who their parents are. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 22:48:05 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-8-stages-of-racial-identity-white-people-stages-3-4__trashed/#IDComment84791988 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84765294 I totally get what you are saying about the situation with your mother. I am sure that it was one of the most difficult situations in your life. Through my work, I have seen a large variety of individuals who are injured, physically disabled, mentally handicapped, etc. It isn’t until you see and/or interact with these individuals that one realizes how good they have it. We all take so much for granted, like being able to walk, talk, see, hear, to name a few. The old saying “We don’t know what we have until it is gone” could easily be just “We don’t know what we have.” Sun, 4 Jul 2010 19:26:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84765294 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84763549 I certainly have mixed feelings about the Sen. Bird “White Nigger” comments. I am surprised that someone with that much public speaking experience would make such a comment. When seriously thinking about the issue, I really think I know what he was talking about. I perceived his comments to mean that the term “Nigger” is an extremely derogatory term for the worst group of African Americans. I think what he was trying to say that there is a “worst group” of whites as well. There is not this group of African Americans that is far worse than the worst group of whites. They are equally bad. I am finding it hard to explain this issue, but I did not think that his comment was racist in any way. Actually, it was to the contrary. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 19:18:47 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84763549 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84763412 When Dr. Richard asked me to reflect, “Who am I?” My response would have probably been something like: A son; husband: father: brother; police officer, American, etc. I can’t say that ‘white guy’ would have been real high up on the list. That is because I don’t think about it that much. In my mind, it does not affect me that much. After listening to this lecture, I think that it actually does. This is especially true when I put myself in the shoes of a person of color. It does affect them. It can have an affect of nearly every facet of their lives. I identify myself as a man. A person of color most likely identifies themselves as a black man. I found the discussion concerning majority and minority relations to be interesting. I consider myself a pretty average guy. I am white, about six feet tall, straight, and right handed. In each of the majority/minority examples that Sam provided, I found myself in the majority. To me, that meant that I never really reflect on the issues presented since I am in the majority. The world seems to “fit” or be “normal” to me. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 19:18:24 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84763412 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84763244 Finally. After a very crazy three weeks, I am able to find a few minutes to turn my attention to SOC 119. I have missed participating in the class lectures and assignments. I found lesson 8, “The tale of the White Fish”, to contain a lot of very interesting discussion. As a white person, I would have to agree that I do not talk or think about what it means to be white very often. I will have to admit, though, at times I have been thankful to BE white. This is especially true when contemplating the many issues that people of color have had, and still have, to deal with. Racial discrimination still occurs today, and will continue for many years to come. I must add, however, that I believe there are more and more cases of reverse discrimination occurring each day. Sun, 4 Jul 2010 19:17:43 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-5-lesson-7-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment84763244 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79382851 It certainly can be boring to sit and reflect on statistics. You know the old saying, “Seventy-five percent of statistics are wrong.” To be honest, however, some of these statistics can not be overlooked. The rates of drug incarceration are interesting. White men are incarcerated at a rate of 773 for 100,000 while black men are incarcerated at a rate of 4618 per 100,000. How do we explain these rates. Do you think that police, prosecutors or judges are thinking, this is a black guy, so I am going to screw him? In some cases, I have no doubt that that level of racism does exist. The truth is that I believe there are many factors to explain why this happens. Some of it is subconscious. Some could be the quality of representation that the average black man could afford. The statistics that I would like to see is the incarceration rate of white men and black men in front of black judges. I would speculate that black judges themselves incarcerate black men at a higher rate than white men. If this were true, how could be possibly explain that? Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:50:08 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79382851 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79382810 In the second lecture, we were to consider whether there is racism in the Criminal Justice System. I think that it is pretty clear that racism does exist in the Criminal Justice System, as well as in just about every other facet of life. I was a little surprised to learn that the federal prison inmate population is 39% black and 57% white. It seems that there is so much focus on minorities that I would have thought that blacks would have been the dominate class in Federal Prison. Then I realized that much mis-classification occurs and that many Hispanics would fall into the white class. The statistics for state prisons were slightly closer to being in line with popular belief. The state population is 34 % white and 44 % black with 19 % Hispanics. Probably the most interesting statistic for me the State and Federal prisoners by ethnicity, with 1.2 % of all whites, 2.5 % of all Hispanics/Latinos, and 8.4 % of all blacks aged 25-29 are in prison. That is a staggering statistic when you consider approximately 1 in 11 blacks between the ages of 25-29 are incarcerated in state or federal prison. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:49:44 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79382810 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79382777 Wow! What an interesting week thus far. We certainly covered a wide variety of issues in these two lectures. We began by considering why some groups rise to power. The first explanation was Freedom and Genes due to a particular group being smarter and more innovative at making choices or being stronger and better able to adapt to their environment. The second explanation was Luck of Birth and Sociological factors and forces. We learned that dominate groups control ideology. Free will proponents believe that everyone is free to be on top and whoever gets there must be the fittest and should have the strongest voice. Determinists believe that the rich manipulate how people think such as what is taught in schools, what is aired on television, what is reported in the news, etc. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:49:23 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79382777 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79379020 I agree, this was an interesting week of lectures. The “man on top” demonstration was pretty interesting and brought back some elementary school memories. It certainly seems that when someone finds themselves on top, they will find a way to keep themselves on top. I have the same thought as you concerning where I stand or am leaning on some of these issues. I think the reason that it is so difficult in this class is that Dr. Richards is presenting the material in such a way to cause you to think or look at the issues from other perspectives. Thu, 10 Jun 2010 00:13:15 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/06/week-4-lesson-6-race-and-ethnic-inequality__trashed/#IDComment79379020 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78816097 I totally agree with your assessment of this week’s lesson. I too, like you, thought that whites would have been at the top when it comes to family income. After some explanation by Dr. Richards, it made sense. I also agree that it seems that, as with most things, Native Americans are overlooked. I was also surprised that the number of whites graduating from college was not higher. The segment on Oprah was definitely eye opening to show the differences between two high schools that were geographically a short distance apart. I think that it was great for the privileged kids to be able to see how good they have it and hopefully appreciate it a little more. I am not sure that it was good for the children from the school from the lower income neighborhood. I feel that it could create some animosity toward the privileged kids. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 17:51:21 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78816097 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78815165 The film of the clip from the Oprah Winfrey show was interesting. Removing a group of children from a highly privileged school and allowing them to visit a school in a low income community would a very worthwhile trip. This allows the children from the privileged school to hopefully appreciate all that they have. Conversely, it allows the children from the low income community to see everything that they are missing out. I think that it would actually have a negative effect for them and instill some animosity toward the children from the privileged school Sun, 6 Jun 2010 17:39:53 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78815165 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78815130 I never really thought about the socio-economic status of immigrants that come to the United States. After considering it during the lecture, it makes complete sense to me that most of these immigrants had to be wealthy in their home country to be able to afford to come to the United States. The discussion about the root causes of the differences among each of us I found to be very thought provoking. The Biological difference is the cause of inequality and is related to people’s genetic differences. Some (ancestry) groups do dominate other groups because they are biologically matched for particular social conditions. The socio-psycho cognitive cause of inequality is related to people’s choices. And the socio-structural cause of inequality is related to people’s socio-economic differences. It was interesting to learn that 99.99% of the human genome is the same in every person. It makes me chuckle to consider telling a white supremist that they are 99.99% identical to a black man. Sun, 6 Jun 2010 17:39:29 +0000 https://www.racerelationsproject.org/2010/05/week-3-lesson-5-social-inequality__trashed/#IDComment78815130