What can individuals do to improve race relations?

I've been thinking a lot about the question that was asked in class about racism and what do we do now. I pondered a lot about that, and how slavery combined with the civil rights movement has left an indelible mark on our psyche. How do we move on from that?

I don't think there any easy answers. I do know that the guilt experienced by many whites and anger that I feel black-and-white both share, may be motivators for change but ultimately slow down progress. Below are a couple of interesting resources that I found when I went to Google to add to the Richard Smith essay entitled The Personal is Political.

Smith suggests 10 steps to take in order to improve race relations, and many of them I feel we are doing collectively in class. We have become aware of privilege and internalized oppression, we are studying and discussing the history of peoples of color and white working-class, we are talking about the fact that white supremacy exists all around us. This has become a popular topic for me at home, and he suggests exploring and challenging white supremacy within one's own family-- this I’ve been doing most of my life, and will continue to do so.

The essay ends by respecting the fact that many people may be too busy or feel overwhelmed and unable to make a real difference. However, he says that you don't really have to “do”; you really just need to be. By that he means being open to having a conversation about race and explore the true history of our culture, and see that it is a multiracial history. He also says to "keep one eyes and ears open -- along with one's heart and mind -- and see what happens." The seed of openness has already been planted in each of us, and I feel that as we move forward, we will be able to share what we have learned with others; thus, planting new seeds of equality and change in those around us.

Are Race Relations Any Better In America Today? MSNBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbZDU6I04fw

Tulsa Race Riots, and what the community is doing today: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20091117_222_0_bNegie9013&allcom=1

Tax wealth like work

This week my head was swimming with blog ideas. At first I thought I would write about Native American sports mascots, after seeing a Florida State game where the fans were chanting and chopping their hand like a tomahawk. To have a look check this clip out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VKBc5k3weM.

I've also been chewing a lot on the idea of manipulating privilege. I had many ideas on the topic and I think much of the ills of our society stem from a system of privilege that was created by manipulation, and control of power. The September 20 New York Times article titled, A Tax Others Embrace, U.S. Opposes, is what finally led me to talk about the tax code, and the movement to tax wealth like work.“My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress. It’s time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.” Buffett believes that it is time to change the current tax structure to one that is a fairer and equal sharing of the tax burden, among all Americans by taxing income created by wealth.

See Buffet and Obama on ABCNews from Sep 19, 2011: http://youtu.be/rWxKaVxytVI

There are many on Capitol Hill, however, that argue taxing the rich will increase the deficit, and inhibit job growth. While in reality, the deficit increased by $1.7 trillion between 2001 and 2008, all thanks to the Bush tax cuts. “And to those who argue that higher rates hurt job creation,” Buffet wrote, “I would note that a net of nearly 40 million jobs were added between 1980 and 2000. You know what’s happened since then: lower tax rates and far lower job creation.”

Our current tax code rewards wealth not work, by shifting the tax burden to low and middle income households, and deprives our country desperately needed revenue. Simply by taxing interest and dividends at the same rate work is taxed, the budget could gain $37 billion a year from the added tax revenues. If Congress truly cares about the economy, job growth, and a mounting deficit-- then it is time to end Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

For the Daily Show spin:

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Works Cited

Really great site! United For a Free Economy: http://faireconomy.org/

Stop Coddling the Super-Rich

WARREN E. BUFFETT Published: August 14, 2011http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/opinion/stop-coddling-the-super-rich.html

A Tax Others Embrace, U.S. Opposes

DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI Published:September20,2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/business/obamas-tax-on-millionaires-faces-obstacles.html?_r=1&adxnnlx=1316797944-6LiGSrvMNdMuLH77pn4HsA&pagewanted=all

Week #5 More on race

This week's readings were powerful for me in many ways, and I felt myself developing a new framework around prejudice and racism. The idea that prejudice is "usually based on limited information" (Adams p. 67), helped me to have compassion. Not only for me in dealing with my recent revelation that I've internalized prejudiced beliefs, but also for the people who helped to socialize me.

It was also powerful for me to learn, that having biased or prejudiced beliefs does not make a person racist. From what I understand in reading Wellmen, is that racism is institutionally implemented prejudice. For example our criminal justice system has higher rates of incarceration of young black men (and is designed to do so) than any other population, therefore our criminal justice system is racist. On the other hand people who operate from limited information (which is most, if not all of us) are simply prejudice based on lack of education. So, I felt optimistic that with time institutional racism will change.

Slavery and segregation were institutions based on race, and the pervasive belief of white (male) privilege lingers still today. But, I feel that the more we rewrite history as it happened by revealing the true history of America. This history included great leaders and thinkers from all walks of life, skin colors, and both genders. Future generations may be able to live in a world free from prejudice and break the bonds of institutional racism that have limited us all. I feel that all Americans have fallen victim to white supremacy, because by limiting the opportunity and progress of a group of people (based on the color of their skin, their gender, age, or ability) limits the progress of all of us as a society.

I believe that American democracy is one of the world's greatest social experiments, and was created from the best of intentions. However, the vision of our nation's forefathers was clouded by prejudice, and it is our job and the job of future generations to expand our knowledge about our shared history in-order to embrace our shared humanity. Then we will become a truly democratic nation.

During my reading/writing I kept thinking of Dr. King, here is a video of his "How long? Not Long!" speech.

Video link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAYITODNvlM&feature=player_detailpage

Race and Identity Blog #3

Growing up white in America, I thought the best way to be culturally sensitive was to have a colorblind mentality. Through reading about race, cultural competence, inter-generational effects on the legacy of racism; I see the colorblind approach is not an effective strategy for understanding racial differences or seeing the full magnitude of racism.

I naïvely believed that identity and race have a cultural basis in American culture. However, that belief has shifted as a result of our exploration of identity. But now it is clear to me that much of the need for a racial identity stems from racism and oppression by the dominant group (whites), rather than created by a subordinate groups (non-whites) and they're varied cultural backgrounds.

(Please see Color of Fear film clips- links below)

I now have a greater understanding of my neighbors. I live in East Austin in a traditionally black neighborhood, and have been saddened by the fact that I felt that my neighbors who many of them have had families who lived in the neighborhood for generations, were unwelcoming, insulated, and avoidant when I reached out to them.

The racial prejudice of white American has done more damage to our society than I ever before imagined. It goes much deeper than the mistrust my neighbors have for me. The evil of racism goes beyond just physical and emotional violence (lynching, internment camps, etc.) inflicted on nonwhites. It spills over into society as a whole with wide reaching negative consequences.

The racial prejudice driven attempts of some white Americans designed to grow and promote white dominance and superiority, has created crippling problems for our society. By limited educational resources and opportunities for advancement of nonwhites, we are now faced as a society with more poverty, higher crime rates, despondency (especially among young African-Americans), racial tension, and inadequate education. All of these social problems jeopardize us as a nation, and is reminiscent of the seed of greed that has led to our current financial collapse.

I now have a fuller understanding of the impact racism has had in contributing too many of our social problems. I think that there are no easy fixes, because it takes much effort to change people's beliefs enough to begin to create legislation that is racially fair. Until all people are treated just a fairly none of us will have the luxury of being Colorblind.

The Color of Fear by Lee Mun Wah, a powerful movie examining closely the issue of racism. Considered by many to be the best film of its kind, exploring the conscious and unconscious behavior of racism. The film explores different issues of race in the U.S. through a dialogue between 8 men of different ethnic backgrounds. The trailer for the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rbfh5oM3EQ&NR=1

A powerful scene from the movie:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vAbpJW_xEc

If you'd like more info on internment camps I found this great documentary on PBS, their is historical info, and a timeline that goes well with the article we read: http://www.pbs.org/childofcamp/documentary/index.html

Identity-- where did it come from and where will it go

I found it interesting that the targeted identities that hold our attention are often the dominant ones which go unexamined. This made me reflect on the identities I focus on my own life.

-Woman

-nontraditional student

-disability

These are facets of my identity that I tend to focus on, yet I never look at the fact that I am white, what that means, or the advantages it has afforded me.

According to the book, my lack of exploration is basically equal to “ignoring socially enforced and imposed racial identity.” I took that to be similar to the old cliché, that if you are not part of the solution you're part of the problem. And, by not exploring where identity comes from one becomes a passive participant in maintaining the socially constructed system of inequality.

Is a difficult truth to swallow, knowing that society decides whose privileged and it is society that defines difference. Each of us plays a role in maintaining the status quo, whether we realize it or not. The fact is that real social change is difficult, simply because most individuals lack self-awareness needed to change their own belief structure and simply internalize the concepts created by the culture in which we live.

Throughout this reading I kept asking myself what do I do that maintains the status quo as well as what can I do to erase “isms”. So that I can play a role in creating more equal than just world. I think the answer is more than just self-awareness, but more of an unlearning of differences that society has taught us, so that our response to differences are no longer a series of subconscious reactions.

Another important component of change is education. Not only do we need to educate ourselves through exploring our internal landscape and asking ourselves where our beliefs came from. This can be done simply by focusing on what we all have in common and minimizing the things that make us different.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eHIkgh1K_0&feature=related