Reading Reflection #7

"There can be no equal justice where the kind of trial a [person] gets depends on the amount of money he [or she] has." (Justice Hugo Black) p 239

I found myself agreeing with a lot of the things Newman addressed in this chapter. In my criminal justice courses I have learned that in an ideal world, equal protection and equal treatment are NOT illusions, however this is not an ideal world. So many people are locked away because they do not have the financial means of bringing a lawyer back for numerous appeals, as it often takes that much to be acquitted. Also, there are WAY WAY too many rich people who are able to buy their way out of trouble. It must be quite luxurious to have the means to buy your way out of something as small as a ticket, or something as big as a murder.

I was very startled to read the statistics about African American's crime rate and their conviction rate. It is incredible how easy it seems for courts to give a guilty ruling for a black man who is thought to have committed a crime such as robbery. For instance, Ruban Carter. A black boxer who was charged heinously for a crime which he supposedly did not commit. He was charged with three murders with very vague evidence supporting this. The calls that the police recived pointed to two black men driving a white car headed either west or south bound. There was little physical evidence and no fingerprints taken at the crime scene. None of the eyewitnesses identified Carter as the criminal, however he was still charged for the crime and put in prison for over twenty years. This case shows how easy it was for police to place the blame on this man because it seemed as though as long as two black men were locked up, that was all that mattered. As Newman talks about, images of criminals are oversimplified and generalization plays a big role in crime stopping. This, to me, is wrong.

I can admit that for a short period of time, probably the month of September in 2001, I was suckered into believing that different groups were bad. With my little knowledge about people from the Middle East, I too made generalizations. "Those people in the Middle East must hate us Americans." I can remember a classmate saying. This was all too unfair, however, as 9/11 was an act committed by a group of terrorists, not a terrorist nation.

I feel that having more quotations incorporated into this chapter would have been helpful. I would be interested to hear from people who have been influenced by discrimination. This would help Newman to keep my interest through all of the statistics he put into this chapter. Though he incorporates others point of view, the point would come across stronger to hear from targeted individuals.

Observation Journal 3

“How retarded can I be?”

Last month at work a coworker of mine made a mistake and blurted out loudly, “How retarded can I be?” I looked at her and smirked knowing that the mistake she made was, in fact a silly mistake. She then slapped her forehead and said “hit me the next time you hear my say ‘retarded.”’

My co-worker, Stephanie, got my wheels spinning and helped open my eyes to several pejoratives that I use that I have overlooked. ‘Retarded’ is the world I’m most guilty of using incorrectly. This is particularly important to me because it is something that I should be more aware and sensitive of as I used to go to work with my mother in a home for disabled people. During my childhood, my mother worked at a home called AppleRidge, a place for anyone who needs help such as: physically disabled elderly, mentally disabled adults and elderly, and deaf people working through life with additional disabilities. Over five years I spent much time learning all about these individuals’ lives and how they have been oppressed because of their challenges. This learning process, however, is nothing that I became aware of until well after my experiences with these people. At the time, I was having a good time just lending an ear and learning about human nature. Now, I realize how much these people taught me, and I feel that I owe them more respect than to be using terms like ‘retard’ derogatively.

Stephanie and I have been working with each other to catch those slip ups and stop using pejoratives while we are at work. In doing this, we are trying to limit the oppression that is obvious in our society when looking at the way disabled people are treated in society. Words like ‘Sped’ and ‘retard’ are used in a way that is negative. It is when Stephanie or I do something outrageously stupid or realize our obliviousness that we use the word retard. Obviously, this implies that “retards make big, stupid mistakes.” Because this is not our purpose, we need to find alternative things to call ourselves in time of stupidity.

Reading Reflection #6

"Its not how you feel, its how you look" p 202

I found parts of this chapter astonishing. It is obvious that there are many Americans who are highly concerned about their appearance, but I was blown away by how common drastic measures are taken to achieve a high self esteem or at least a desired look. Women are altaring their physical appearances more than I had begun to realize with 8.3 million Americans in only one year having cosmetic surgeries. I would probably be offended if I was an African American woman and had a friend undergo surgery to make herself look "less black." First of all, it is a matter of being proud of who you are and where you came from. I would find it offensive even because in taking those actions, my friend would be saying that I am not beautiful because of my "black" features my friend chooses to change. It is too bad that the American society has taught people that the typical white person is most attractive. I also think that diversity is crucial in determining beauty. I think that there are many beautiful Asian women with very small, slanted eyes who are very petite; and there are so many black women with large, wide noses. These features do not, to me, decide whether or not a person is attractive because those are just differences, not faults.

Another part of this chapter that I found startling was the fact that we have a surplus of food in the world and that we really just lack proper distribution of the food. I do believe in hierarchies being a crucial part of a society, however I feel that statuses play too significant of a role in matters of health or sickness (and life or death). All along I have bought into the idea of ending world hunger and things of that nature. Newman showed me, however, that world hunger is as he puts it decided by "social institutions and human policies," and that hunger is a "human, not natural phenomenon."(p.196) Learning this has confused me a bit, and left me wondering what there is for me to do. As a humanitarian, I feel that it is important to help poor and starving people. With the knowledge that there is, in fact, enough food to go around, I have realized that the battle to end world hunger would be more of a battle against corporations and agencies who possess financial power, not a battle with mother nature to produce more fruits and vegetables.

I have often heard the generalization that "poor people are fat" but I had always dismissed that information as false. As I read about obesity in America I was surprised to learn that I have been wrong all along. As I saw it, people could not afford to eat plentiful meals, therefor they could not be more obese than those executives eating out three meals a day. However the more I read about the "obesity epidemic" the better I understood how and why there are so many underprivileged obese people in our nation. It is odd to me how different foods have changed in status as well. For instance fish and vegetables, which are a nice meal nowadays, used to be poor man's food. Maybe one day the quarter of our country who are overweight (I use that term loosely...what IS overweight??) will be back on the fish and veggies diet and the wealthy and often cosmetically skinny will be back to sitting on their butts all day stuffing their faces until they are obese and dying of heart disease, diabetes and atherosclerosis.

Reading Reflection #5

“So, what are you?” p.149

I started by thinking about what I am: a student, a daughter, a hard worker, a girl, average, white, American… obviously, I could keep going, but I’ll stop there and start with this. As Wise helped me to realize, what someone is, can almost always be a way to attack them. Student’s aren’t trustworthy. Girls are week. American’s are selfish. As I read Wise’s story about moving and being a lone and scorned Jew, I thought about all the things that I have been, or could be attacked about. The comment from the young boy asking Wise “what are you?” is a great way to show that many people have been raised believing inequalities that are imposed upon us as we develop by both our families as well as the rest of our society.

Personally, Wise challenged me when he said that our brains divide the world into distinct categories. I suppose that many people do function like that, however personally, I have this belief that there is no black or white, always gray. Nothing is ever one way or the other, because there are always exceptions. Stereotypes are socially constructed and I can’t think of a single statement that “All ____ are _____”(p151).

I feel that Wise does a great job of showing how stereotypes work and the outcomes of them, however I feel that he does a lot of attacking. He neglects the view of people who don’t believe in inequalities. Such as in “Raising Isaiah” a film about a young black boy adopted by white parents. One scene has the older, white sister holding hands with her little black brother and she asks him, “What’s the difference between my hand and yours?” “Yours is bigger!” he proclaims, oblivious of the color difference.

After reading this chapter I will watch myself more closely because I have been able to identify some stereotypes that I have, though they are most likely not true. People cannot be categorized as easily as society presents. The stereotypes that have been ingrained into me since childhood will be hard to notice, but I am beginning to realize the importance of these stereotypes in helping to create equality.

Observation Journal 2

Where does an "oreo" fit in?

In one of my social work classes we were talking about people of mixed races and the difficulty they face fitting in. After class, I asked the girl next to me what you call a person who is a mix of races. I got a blank stare..."Good question. Gee, they don't even get a name," she said. At that second, I did not think much of it, I just brushed it off like most of the other comments you hear daily and went about my business. However that innocent comment has a second later to it which my classmate probably didn't imply.

*Oreo *Halfro *Calf *Cheese Nip *Caramel *Chromey *Chinxican *Cookies n Cream *Heinz (57 varieties) *Niggeroid *Skunk *Jigger *Halfrican are just a couple of the 136 slurs when I did a search of "mixed." When I searched for politically correct terms, I found hardly anything. Multi-ethnic was the solitary word that I was able to find for someone born from different ethnicities or colors. In an article I read written by a woman whose parents referred to her as an Oreo, and she claims that never in her life has she fit in.

My classmate's comment was significant because it made me think about what hardships people who are multi ethnic face. Children who grow up in a place where they are exposed to different ethnicities every day are forced to choose where they feel they best fit in. Is it with the white kids, the black kids, or the Asian children? This, should not be an issue, however we are still not at the point of the "melting pot" dream that ethnicities and cultures can mesh together as one big culture.

Why is it that a child with a black mother and a white father has to have so much difficulty fitting in on the playground? Why do they have an especially hard time if they are a lightly colored black person or a dark skinned white? Is there a difference? Does it matter? Often of the play ground children with different races section off, that in and of itself shows us that they don't feel equal. This is something that is learned, not an inherent emotion. As bad as that is, it must be extra difficult for a child who doesn't fit into any group perfectly. If these kids aren't allowed to play red rover with white children or hide and seek with the black just because they look different, how can they grow up to believe they are equal in society?

Reading #4

Learning difference

“This is great! He just got his first lip!” –Newman, p112

As I began to read this chapter and got into the learning gender section, I noticed how different my opinion on the matter is compared to many others. I am the eldest of four children and both my sister and I were raised to be ‘lady like.’ Until I began college, this was something that I never gave a second thought. Now that I have studied a little more about feminists, I realize that I am different than many girls in that I really being ‘girly.’ I enjoy having the door help open for me and the fact that I am not responsible to move the furniture or big boxes. This is not to say that I expect these things to happen, but can be nice. Recently at work, however, I have been frustrated about things “I cannot do” because I am a girl. I can’t pick up hot tray, I can’t work the line, I can’t bring the wine cases downstairs or the ice bins up. I have recently felt like I am there to be the ‘pretty face’ people see, not the one who cooks the food. I find myself guilty of bringing this onto myself though. When my two younger brothers were being brought up, I remember always clapping when one of them fell. “Good fall, buddy. You’re alright. Get up quick!” or “Great! His first fat lip!” -112 Whereas when my sister fell I found myself coddling her and holding her until she stopped fussing. I never thought much about the difference until reading this chapter. It opened my eyes to realize that I have incredibly conflicting standards. I want to be treated delicately, but I also want to be capable of doing things myself when I want to.

This really leaves me struggling with what is right and wrong about raising children. I will want my daughter to be self sufficient and tough, and I would like my son to be kind, gentle and nurturing. It seems silly, though, to keep dolls form my little girl and guns from my boy. Children should be, within limits, allowed to play with what they choose, not what I choose for them, because they need to define their own character. Even if that means my girl is a tomboy and my boy turns out a bit more gentle than other boys, I feel that it’s important to let them choose their own roles. I can’t say that I will not tell my son to “tough it up” or tell my daughter to “let it all out” because that is what’s instinctive for me.

I feel that Newman could have brought in examples from adults brought up in a gender neutral environment. I would be curious to hear their view of the situation. Did they suffer consequences or receive any positive outcomes from being raised in the environment?