Friday, October 26, 2007
Brief Return
Wow it has been a long time since I posted. I am really behind on a lot of things. I doubt that anyone will even read this. I hope that eventually you will read this. This quarter I am taking sociology. It is a very interesting class. What amazed me was how it doesn't sugar coat anything it just tells it like it is. One thing that it said was that race was a creation of society to give reason for existing social inequalities. That was real deep to me. Last year in my Political Science class the book said that in American society that the balanced is tipped in the favor of whites and that minorities often get harsher punishments for the same crimes that whites commit. Then my History text book stated how the lingering effects of past racism still exist in American society, for both blacks and whites. I find this to be interesting because I thought that the racial problems that this nation faced were swept under the rug and basically ignored. This shows me that maybe more people are addressing it than I once thought. What I want to know is what do you think about the racial issues in this country. do you think that there is a problem or are some people just reading too much into somethings? I would love to know what you all think.about this issue.
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10 comments:
There is more of a racism probelm than people would admit although it's much better than it used to be. Unfortunately, the cretins running our country right now tend to exploit it.
Oh, and republicans are the worst racist fuckers of all.
I remember taking a sociology class in high school. I am so grateful that my school offered such a variety of classes.
"I doubt that anyone will even read this."
Me too.:)
Good to see you again.
folks do check in occasionally- and many have feed readers where your post shows up- and people can read it there. so- you may get readers and not commenters- very different kettle of fish :)
as for racism, it just went underground. now, it feels free to rear its ugly head with the rethuglican party. make no mistake, the dumbocrats are racist by condescension. it isn't that they think all races are equal- but they find the 'minorities' vote to be needed. there's always a power structure and white folks own it. but people of color are equally discriminatory in their own lives and their own neighborhoods. it's a human problem not just a 'color' problem.
Racism is subtle now, If you don't pay attention it will go over your head. I recently contacted Kentucky Fried Chicken to complain about a commercial I had seen depicting a single black mother. Many people will say I was just being petty, but I feel a company has a responsibility to portray people in a positive light. I wanted to know why there was no black male in the commercial. Mind you the commercial with the white family had a male figure. Well anyway this is what KFC wrote back to me:
Dear Mr. Morgan:
Thank you for contacting KFC regarding our recent advertising. The
opinions of our customers are very important to us.
KFC is a fan of the American family and we celebrate those who make
dinner
time their family time. We also understand that sometimes work or other
schedule issues prevent the entire family from dining together. Whether
all the family members are present at dinner -- or just some of them --
KFC is proud to be a part of family time, as depicted in this
commercial.
We thank you for voicing your opinion. Please be assured we value your
patronage and look forward to serving you again soon.
Sincerely,
KFC Guest Satisfaction Department
I went to YouTube and viewed the commercial and noticed that the dinner table in question had only four chairs. That means their argument is void.
To see the commercial please go to www.pajoyner.blogspot.com
and to call KFC
1-800-225-5532
C-Dell, welcome back if for only a brief time.
It's a bit dated, but since the public policy positions haven't changed much (although you'd have to double-check the figures) you might want to read ferai chedeya's book Don't Believe the Hype in which she gives a thorough overview of how the dialogue of race is formed by media.
Sociologists are, of course, aware of actual trends. And because they have a more objective methodology than people shooting off their mouths in op-ed pages, you can often see that the hoopla doesn't match anything that's measurable.
With all due respect, Undeniable Liberal, I'm someone old enough to remember the "white" and "colored" signs on bathrooms. I wouldn't say that things are much better, but rather in a state of regression. Perhaps a broader trip around the blogosphere or cyberspace in general, and you can see what I mean. Betmo's right: racism just went underground.
I would agree that the worst, most virulent, most intractable, most violent racists happen to be Republicans too. But I would say that racism is generally about the same on the left and the right. Both sides seem very keen to define racism without much input from racial minorities, and both define it to fit whatever they're comfortable acknowledging about themselves.
Hah, I read it and glad to see you. But I have to go to sleep, so I will return with a better comment. It's good to see all of your blogmates here too!
I know all about feeling behind in everything. It is awful. But we always catch up.
Racism is alive and well. It just is more claudestine, but the good that is coming from spurts of blatent racism is the fact that people will no longer play ball and engage in what Dr. King called a "negative peace". We've had a lot of protests on campus about the 6 students held accountable after that noose,etc incident---I was glad to see it and I gave an excused absense to anyone willing to go.
First of all, I want to say that like you, I have been posting less and less as of late- time slips away on me! I'm glad I came over here today, however, because the local high school in our town has been dealing with this very issue.
I was shocked and amazed (not in a good way) when my husband (he teaches at the high school) came home and told me of the issues at the school right now:
Kids (mostly white males from my understanding) are putting confederate flag decals on their lockers and elsewhere.
Said students are crying foul when the teachers make them remove the decals stating they are excersizing free speech. I believe this claim to be a bunch of hooey, as do the teachers.
First of all, they are defacing school property. Secondly, any free speech statement made in schools is subject to certain restrictions based on other people's rights.
If they want to wear jackets with that emblem on them outside of school, that's their decision (never mind that it's a BAD decision, in my opinion).
We live in a rural, midwestern small town, and I would bet that we're not the only town with some of these issues. Many older folks who hold these views are savvy enough to keep their views to themselves, but when their kids become teenagers the outspokenness of youth reveals not only the opinions of the kids, but also of their parents who taught them these views behind closed doors.
Thanks for bringing up this raw, tender issue. You are right- this will not go away for many generations to come (sadly).
Hey, welcome back! Hope all is going well in school.
Not only is racism alive by the (bullsh*t) definition of the word wherein only a member of a group with enough power to significantly affect the other group can be racist (meaning in America only whites can be racist)... But colorism (rivalry between dark and light blacks) is alive and well, as is rivalry between ANY two races. Just name two races/groups at random, chances are you've heard someone from one group say "I hate those whoever."
Aaaaand... every time a black person calls another black person N****r, or even "Nigga" they are carrying on the disrespectful behavior ingrained into society by centuries of racists. Whenever someone makes a rude comment about naturally curly hair or very dark skin, they are mindlessly buying into the ridiculous and self-esteem crushing Eurocentric standard of beauty.
If you haven't done so already, I suggest you find yourself a quality, thorough Black History class. You may be amazed by what you don't know that you don't know. (Hope that made sense.) Wouldn't hurt you either to Google AfroSpear and check out a few of the wonderful blogs that make up the AfroSpear group.
...O.K. Climbing down from my soapbox now. Haha. :)
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