I was really shocked when I did this activity. I thought that I could tell the race of someone by the way they look but this activity proved me wrong. I got almost half of my matches wrong. I liked this exercise and I think a lot more people should do it so they will understand that the way you look doesn't always prove what race you are. After reading the assigned articles and doing this activity, I have realized that it is even hard to tell if someone is white, black, hispanic, or any other race. People have so many different features and this dates back to ancestry. I really do believe that all people are connected in some way, which is why I don't understand why race has separated the world and ever became such a big deal.
Skin color plays such a big roll in what happens today. Stereotypes, mainly negative, have shaped today's world. In the article The Roots of Racial Classification, I agree when the authors statee that race has been used to rank order people for jobs, promotions, and loans, etc. This ties back to the Sorting People Activity. I don't feel like this is fair because I have been mistaken to be a diffrent race before. These articles also show how whites became whites and how white supremecy has affected the lives of people in America. Whites are privelaged through laws and the constitution. Peggy McIntosh made very valid points when she listed her privelages just because of white privelages. I like how she is honest about how white supremecy/privalage has "protected" her from many kinds of "hostility, distress, and violence," in which she said she was trained to do these things to people of color. Something that is also interesting is that "people of color" are not all necesarrily black.
After reviewing the facts, I found three that I really agree with:
1. Colorblindness will not end racism
I do believe this because its too deeply rooted within the american culture. It will always be an issue of white supremecy. I do feel like erasing race or acting as if race doesn't matter does not create equality. I do agree that in order to end racism we need to dig deeper into social policies, stereotypes, and politcal figures, but even then, I feel that race will always be an underlining isssue in this country.
2. Most Variations are not inbetween races
I feel anybody can be one race and look like the other; it's genetics. I agree that two hispanic people can be just as different or simialar as a white or Indian person.
3. Skin color is only skin deep
This is a big one for me. Your skin tone or color does not determine your genetics, hair texture, eye color, or athletic capability (Big african- american stereotype). This goes back to what I said before about how a black person can look hispanic or vice versa.
I agree with your take on the race activity and how we are all connected. You also make a valid point with the three facts you found to be interesting specifically “skin color is only skin deep’. I think I always assumed or bought into society grouping people based how they look. You state how it’s a big African American stereotype and before this article that was something I never really considered.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your points about white privilege, how whites have an edge within the law and constitution of America. I feel that although the problem of racial profiling still exists the awareness of the problem is on the rise (slowly but surely.) During the Occupy Wall street movement many black and latino citizens were randomly frisked on the streets during the protesting. This has created an uproar in the cities were the occupy movement is the most prominent and has been covered as racial injustice in various news stories.
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