1. The third chapter in Takaki’s book was that the slavery in the American colonies evolved over a longer period of time than most people think. A lot of people probably think that the American colonies were filled with slaves shortly after the English arrived. But the slave process took much longer than that to develop. At first the main workers on the plantations were white indentured servants, but over time African American’s were used more and more often as slaves.
2. The beginning of the chapter highlights how little English people thought of African Americans. The English referred to them as: deeply stained with dirt, foul, dark or deadly, malignant, sinister, wicked, a people of beastly living, without a God, law, and religion all on pages fifty-one and fifty-two. Shakespeare noted the importance of the slaves to the plantation owners when in his play the white man Prospero says this about his slave Caliban on page fifty-two, “We cannot miss him… He does make our fire, fetch our wood, and serves in offices that profit us.” Olaudah Equiano, a slave onboard a trading ship, recalled this when he was nervous about being eaten by the English, “They told us we were not to be eaten, but to work…” The chapter then explains how in the early days of the English colonies most of the workers were white indentured servants and similar to the African slaves they also came involuntarily. But both groups, white or black they shared the same class exploitation and abuse as unfree laborers. The Virginia legislature then had problems with whites and blacks running away together. As time went on, black slaves were separated from white servants and the blacks were given longer times to serve as slaves for running away. As time went on, the Africans were being made to serve for life and were viewed as their master’s property. Over time it was found that twenty black slaves could be kept cheaper than one white indentured servant. In 1667 Virginia passed a law that said a baptized slave had to remain a slave to their owner and a few years later a law was passed that no slave even if baptized and free could buy a white person. In 1705, a law was passed that said, “all servants imported and brought into this country, by sea or land, who were not Christians in their native country…shall be…slaves, and as such be here bought and sold notwithstanding a conversion to Christianity afterwards.” But even late into the 1600’s land owners still favored white servants over Africans. But as less white servants came, the number of Africans imported continued to rise. Part of this was because the lifespan was longer and the Africans were cheaper as they were slaves for their entire lives. The white servants continued to grow more disgusted with their bondage to their owners and wanted land of their own, so after some rebellions, the owners became more afraid of a huge rebellion of all the servants. The plantation owners saw that the Africans would be easier to control because they could be denied rights because of their skin color. As the Africans became increasingly prevalent states denied them the right to vote, hold office, and testify in court. Thomas Jefferson wanted to avoid the class conflict by letting all white men own a farm. A slave named Benjamin Banneker thought that since the British colonies were overthrown in the Revolutionary War, slavery should be abolished and all blacks should be free. But unfortunately this would not happen for a long time.
3. This was a very informative chapter as it explained the whole process that led up to slavery in the colonies. I think a crucial point is that slavery did not happen over night. Since it was a slow process, I think that was why it was harder for the whites to let it go after the Civil War. The fact that most white plantation owner depended on slavery so much and that it had become an accepted norm made it much harder for them to let it go and move on without slavery and why white privilege is still a problem today.
4. I guess I had always thought that slavery was in effect the minute that the English landed in the Americas rather than it actually taking about a hundred years to come into effect. I also never heard that Thomas Jefferson was a huge slave owner. He knew it was wrong, but just couldn’t let it go. This was a good read as Takaki organized his writing very well.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Friday, September 14, 2007
Johnson Chapter 8 post
1. For chapter eight I think Johnson’s thesis is his very last sentence It reads, “Sooner or later, the dominant groups must embrace this hook they’re on, not as some terrible affliction or occasion for guilt and shame but as a challenge and an opportunity. It’s where they’ve been, where they are, and where they’re going.”
2. Johnson begins his eighth chapter by stating that subordinate groups are on the hook everyday and that so are the dominant groups. But the dominant groups are more likely not to notice it because they have a multitude of ways to through privilege to get away with not noticing it. He says one way people get off the hook is denying that there is a hook in the first place. But he says that they are in a poor position because of that because they rarely know what they’re talking about. People of dominant groups define the experience for the other groups without even experiencing it. Another way of denial is by people of dominant groups seeing people of subordinate groups as better off than they are even though this is clearly not the case. Therefore oppression is blamed on the people who suffer most from it while the people of privilege remain invisible and untouched. Another claim that Johnson points out is that people think that everyone prefers things the way they are right now. For example, a white person may say that an African American would rather live with other African Americans rather than in an integrated neighborhood. Another problem is that people hate to take the blame for the problem. Johnson says on page 117, “Since I can make a good case that I’m not a bad person, then the trouble wouldn’t have anything to do with me.” But he later falsifies this claim on page 118 when he says, “But the truth is that my silence, my inaction and especially my passive acceptance of the everyday privilege that goes along with group membership are all it take to make me just as much a part of the problem as any member of the Klan.“ We would rather people see us as individuals than part of a social category. But at the same time when it is to our advantage we would like people to treat as if we were in that privileged category. Whites being treated well is not a problem, rather other people not being treated the same way is the problem. The problem is that people of the privileged category are unaware of the fact that they get treated better than people not of that category. Many people of the privileged class feel they are not treated any better, but in reality there is no neutral ground on which to stand. The privileged often say they are bombarded with the claims that they are treated better all of the time and they are insulted by it. But Johnson then offers this quote, “In reality, ‘all the time’ come down to ‘enough to make me look at what I don’t want to look a, enough to make me uncomfortable.’ And usually that doesn’t take much.” Johnson ends the chapter stating that this will never end until the privileged embrace the hook that they are on.
3. I believe the author makes some very valid claims in this chapter. People of the privileged class hate hearing that they are treated better than others and don’t have as many problems. They never want to accept the fact that they are treated better and have advantages in all aspects of life. In order for the power and privilege to end people of the privileged class will have to accept this and give up some of their advantages to change the situation.
4. I thought this chapter was excellent and explained a lot of the reasons why people in privileged places don’t like to talk about the subject and why nothing ever gets done to fix the situation. But even if every single person in the privileged class read this chapter, I honestly don’t even think that would help either.
2. Johnson begins his eighth chapter by stating that subordinate groups are on the hook everyday and that so are the dominant groups. But the dominant groups are more likely not to notice it because they have a multitude of ways to through privilege to get away with not noticing it. He says one way people get off the hook is denying that there is a hook in the first place. But he says that they are in a poor position because of that because they rarely know what they’re talking about. People of dominant groups define the experience for the other groups without even experiencing it. Another way of denial is by people of dominant groups seeing people of subordinate groups as better off than they are even though this is clearly not the case. Therefore oppression is blamed on the people who suffer most from it while the people of privilege remain invisible and untouched. Another claim that Johnson points out is that people think that everyone prefers things the way they are right now. For example, a white person may say that an African American would rather live with other African Americans rather than in an integrated neighborhood. Another problem is that people hate to take the blame for the problem. Johnson says on page 117, “Since I can make a good case that I’m not a bad person, then the trouble wouldn’t have anything to do with me.” But he later falsifies this claim on page 118 when he says, “But the truth is that my silence, my inaction and especially my passive acceptance of the everyday privilege that goes along with group membership are all it take to make me just as much a part of the problem as any member of the Klan.“ We would rather people see us as individuals than part of a social category. But at the same time when it is to our advantage we would like people to treat as if we were in that privileged category. Whites being treated well is not a problem, rather other people not being treated the same way is the problem. The problem is that people of the privileged category are unaware of the fact that they get treated better than people not of that category. Many people of the privileged class feel they are not treated any better, but in reality there is no neutral ground on which to stand. The privileged often say they are bombarded with the claims that they are treated better all of the time and they are insulted by it. But Johnson then offers this quote, “In reality, ‘all the time’ come down to ‘enough to make me look at what I don’t want to look a, enough to make me uncomfortable.’ And usually that doesn’t take much.” Johnson ends the chapter stating that this will never end until the privileged embrace the hook that they are on.
3. I believe the author makes some very valid claims in this chapter. People of the privileged class hate hearing that they are treated better than others and don’t have as many problems. They never want to accept the fact that they are treated better and have advantages in all aspects of life. In order for the power and privilege to end people of the privileged class will have to accept this and give up some of their advantages to change the situation.
4. I thought this chapter was excellent and explained a lot of the reasons why people in privileged places don’t like to talk about the subject and why nothing ever gets done to fix the situation. But even if every single person in the privileged class read this chapter, I honestly don’t even think that would help either.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Summary of Johnson's chapter 6
1. Johnson’s theme in chapter six is that instead of blaming the problem of privilege and power on individuals, it should rather be blamed on the social groups, whether they be at school, in a job, or in our entire country. He says that the problem cannot be corrected unless groups of people take a stand against the minority or against the path of least resistance. In order to do that, groups of people need to give up their privileges that they have in order to make a statement to the rest of our nation.
2. Johnson begins the chapter explaining that the reason no one discusses power and privilege is because they are too afraid that they will be judged unfairly because of it. He explains the reason for this on page 77 when he says, “everything bad in the world is seen as somebody’s fault, which is why talk about privilege so often turns into a game of hot potato. Individualistic thinking keeps us stuck in the trouble by making it so hard to talk about it.” He then says that power and privilege have nothing to do with individuals it has to do with the social categories we wind up in. Johnson explains that the place to start is realizing that individualistic thinking is wrong and that the social world consists of a lot more than individuals. He explains that we learn our identity in this country through social groups such as families, schools, religion, and the mass media through examples set by family, school, religion, teachers and public figures. Johnson says that another reason why this is a problem is because people follow the paths of least resistance. He explains this to mean that people often take the easy way of helping people of the same social status as them rather then the more uncomfortable option of helping someone who has a different social status. He states, “Managers of this profile [white, straight, male and nondisabled] probably won’t realize they’re following a path of least resistance that shapes their choice until they’re asked to mentor an African American woman or someone else they don’t resemble.” He says people stick to this path because they are afraid of what will happen if they don’t. He then concludes that social life works through the relationships between individuals and social systems. In order to fix the problem Johnson also suggests that we need to see how systems are organized in ways that encourage people to follow paths of least resistance, because power and privilege are rooted in systems that we all participate in and make happen. He says on page 85, “If we have a visions of what we want social life to look like, we have to create paths that lead in that direction.” He says it is important to raise awareness, because most people don’t even know that they’re following paths of least resistance. The problem is that the vast majority of good people are silent on these issues and that it is the “good” people’s responsibility to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
3. I think his idea of paths of least resistance is definitely true. Most people look to get out of sticky situations the easy way rather then stand up for what is right. I agree that it will take a large group to make concessions and stand up for the people of lesser social status in order to do something about the problem. This chapter is well written and easily understandable and he makes many valid points about why nothing is being done about power and privilege.
4. In my opinion, a group of people in the dominant social group will not be formed anytime soon. Our society is a capitalistic society, this means that the people at the top of the food chain are greedy and always want more. So they would never in their wildest dream want to stand up for the people who are in lesser social groups, because if they do that they will lose their power and privilege.
2. Johnson begins the chapter explaining that the reason no one discusses power and privilege is because they are too afraid that they will be judged unfairly because of it. He explains the reason for this on page 77 when he says, “everything bad in the world is seen as somebody’s fault, which is why talk about privilege so often turns into a game of hot potato. Individualistic thinking keeps us stuck in the trouble by making it so hard to talk about it.” He then says that power and privilege have nothing to do with individuals it has to do with the social categories we wind up in. Johnson explains that the place to start is realizing that individualistic thinking is wrong and that the social world consists of a lot more than individuals. He explains that we learn our identity in this country through social groups such as families, schools, religion, and the mass media through examples set by family, school, religion, teachers and public figures. Johnson says that another reason why this is a problem is because people follow the paths of least resistance. He explains this to mean that people often take the easy way of helping people of the same social status as them rather then the more uncomfortable option of helping someone who has a different social status. He states, “Managers of this profile [white, straight, male and nondisabled] probably won’t realize they’re following a path of least resistance that shapes their choice until they’re asked to mentor an African American woman or someone else they don’t resemble.” He says people stick to this path because they are afraid of what will happen if they don’t. He then concludes that social life works through the relationships between individuals and social systems. In order to fix the problem Johnson also suggests that we need to see how systems are organized in ways that encourage people to follow paths of least resistance, because power and privilege are rooted in systems that we all participate in and make happen. He says on page 85, “If we have a visions of what we want social life to look like, we have to create paths that lead in that direction.” He says it is important to raise awareness, because most people don’t even know that they’re following paths of least resistance. The problem is that the vast majority of good people are silent on these issues and that it is the “good” people’s responsibility to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.
3. I think his idea of paths of least resistance is definitely true. Most people look to get out of sticky situations the easy way rather then stand up for what is right. I agree that it will take a large group to make concessions and stand up for the people of lesser social status in order to do something about the problem. This chapter is well written and easily understandable and he makes many valid points about why nothing is being done about power and privilege.
4. In my opinion, a group of people in the dominant social group will not be formed anytime soon. Our society is a capitalistic society, this means that the people at the top of the food chain are greedy and always want more. So they would never in their wildest dream want to stand up for the people who are in lesser social groups, because if they do that they will lose their power and privilege.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Summary of Reading #6
1. Patterns of inequality result from and perpetuate a class system based on widening gaps in income, wealth, and power, between those on top and everyone below them. It is a system that produces oppressive consequences. p. 44
2. The author begins by stating that people think racism is silly and can’t understand why it is still present. He says that two reasons why there is racism are because it hasn’t been around very long and because it occurred at the same time that capitalism became the dominant economic system. The reason there are still privileges in the workforce is that social life is determined by where you fall in the workforce. During the early years of our country, other races besides the dominant “white” race settled for a low social life because of slavery and after slavery extremely low paying jobs. He said his first reason as to why there is still racism is because it hasn’t been around very long. The unfair privileges in the workforce are getting better, but are still extremely present. He then goes on to say that the top twenty percent of the richest households control fifty-six percent of all income. While at the same time the bottom twenty-five percent of the nation’s income is distributed to the bottom sixty percent of the population. He then says that it is extremely hard for a person to improve their place in the American class system. He summarizes this on page forty-five by saying, “Such dynamics of capitalism have played a key role in the trouble surrounding privilege, especially in relation to race and gender.” Johnson then says that unequal rights in the workplace began with the slavery of one million Africans so capitalists could make a gigantic profit on cheap labor. After the Civil War along with the African Americans, Chinese and Japanese immigrants were also used for cheap labor. He then says on page forty-six, “To justify such direct forms of imperialism and oppression, whites developed the idea of whiteness to define a privileged social category elevated above everyone who wasn’t included in it. He says one reason that there is a huge gap between the class levels is because when low or middle class white workers wanted better wages, the capitalists would threaten to fire them for cheaper “nonwhite” labor. This created anger among white people against people of other races rather than the wealthy who are the people who are actually to blame. He says on page forty-nine, “Class dynamics that arise from capitalism interact with that trouble [privilege] in powerful ways that both protect capitalism and class privilege and perpetuate privilege and oppression based on difference. He then writes that most people belong to a privileged class and an oppressed class at the same time. He says the only way to fix the privilege situation is to see that we can’t belong to a privileged class and an oppressed class at the same time. He summarizes this in his last sentence of the chapter in which he writes, “We won’t get rid of racism, in other words, without doing something about sexism and classism, because the system that produces the one also produces the others and connects them.
3. I think that the evidence supports his conclusion. The reason why so many minorities are still in the lower class in our country is because at the beginning of the capitalism movement they were at the bottom. Even though we may not think so in this present time, that still has a lingering effect, even though it was 150 years ago. Back then the whites were privileged far above all other races. While it is not nearly as bad now as it was back then, it definitely still has an effect. I would take a guess that a large percentage of the nation’s upper class is white. While there are people of other races that have advanced themselves to that level because of hard work, it is still monumentally difficult in this age for anyone of any race to advance to that upper class.
4. I agree with what he is saying. But I think that it is hard for anyone to advance to the upper class now. Even with a college degree, a person is still going to end up with a middle class or even lower class job most of the time. It takes a lot of luck for a person even with hard work to get to that level. But I do agree that certain people do have privileges over others in the workplace and I feel it will be like that for awhile.
2. The author begins by stating that people think racism is silly and can’t understand why it is still present. He says that two reasons why there is racism are because it hasn’t been around very long and because it occurred at the same time that capitalism became the dominant economic system. The reason there are still privileges in the workforce is that social life is determined by where you fall in the workforce. During the early years of our country, other races besides the dominant “white” race settled for a low social life because of slavery and after slavery extremely low paying jobs. He said his first reason as to why there is still racism is because it hasn’t been around very long. The unfair privileges in the workforce are getting better, but are still extremely present. He then goes on to say that the top twenty percent of the richest households control fifty-six percent of all income. While at the same time the bottom twenty-five percent of the nation’s income is distributed to the bottom sixty percent of the population. He then says that it is extremely hard for a person to improve their place in the American class system. He summarizes this on page forty-five by saying, “Such dynamics of capitalism have played a key role in the trouble surrounding privilege, especially in relation to race and gender.” Johnson then says that unequal rights in the workplace began with the slavery of one million Africans so capitalists could make a gigantic profit on cheap labor. After the Civil War along with the African Americans, Chinese and Japanese immigrants were also used for cheap labor. He then says on page forty-six, “To justify such direct forms of imperialism and oppression, whites developed the idea of whiteness to define a privileged social category elevated above everyone who wasn’t included in it. He says one reason that there is a huge gap between the class levels is because when low or middle class white workers wanted better wages, the capitalists would threaten to fire them for cheaper “nonwhite” labor. This created anger among white people against people of other races rather than the wealthy who are the people who are actually to blame. He says on page forty-nine, “Class dynamics that arise from capitalism interact with that trouble [privilege] in powerful ways that both protect capitalism and class privilege and perpetuate privilege and oppression based on difference. He then writes that most people belong to a privileged class and an oppressed class at the same time. He says the only way to fix the privilege situation is to see that we can’t belong to a privileged class and an oppressed class at the same time. He summarizes this in his last sentence of the chapter in which he writes, “We won’t get rid of racism, in other words, without doing something about sexism and classism, because the system that produces the one also produces the others and connects them.
3. I think that the evidence supports his conclusion. The reason why so many minorities are still in the lower class in our country is because at the beginning of the capitalism movement they were at the bottom. Even though we may not think so in this present time, that still has a lingering effect, even though it was 150 years ago. Back then the whites were privileged far above all other races. While it is not nearly as bad now as it was back then, it definitely still has an effect. I would take a guess that a large percentage of the nation’s upper class is white. While there are people of other races that have advanced themselves to that level because of hard work, it is still monumentally difficult in this age for anyone of any race to advance to that upper class.
4. I agree with what he is saying. But I think that it is hard for anyone to advance to the upper class now. Even with a college degree, a person is still going to end up with a middle class or even lower class job most of the time. It takes a lot of luck for a person even with hard work to get to that level. But I do agree that certain people do have privileges over others in the workplace and I feel it will be like that for awhile.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Reading 5: Privilege, Oppression, and Difference
1. Basically the point of this chapter is that the author believes that white males have more power and privilege than any other group of people in the United States. The first sentence is a good summary of what is to come in the rest of the chapter. It reads, “The trouble that surrounds difference is really about privilege and power- the existence of privilege and the lopsided distribution of power that keeps it going. The trouble is rooted in a legacy we all inherited, and while we’re here, it belongs to us.
2. The author starts out by saying that generally we are fearful of people who are different than us. The author gives an example of how a lady in a wheelchair saw that children became more afraid of her year by year as they became older. The author then explained how white people in the country are more privileged than people of other races. An example is used that a woman in Africa is viewed as African, but when she comes to America she is viewed as black. Another example is given as a Norwegian man sees certain privileges when he comes to the United States because he is white. After that it is explained that because a person has a disability, they are labeled with that and it affects the rest of their life. The author says that “white” people and males have more privileges than other people and that they become defensive about it. The author believes that the only way for this to change is for the people with privileges to accept it and give it up. One type of privilege people have is unearned privileges, which are things all people should have but some people don’t. The other privilege that the author describes is conferred dominance which says one group has power over another. The author then provides a long list of privileges that white people have over African-Americans and other minorities. The author goes on providing a long list of ways that men have advantages over women. After this another list is provided listing ways heterosexuals have advantages over gays. Finally another list is provided including privileges that non-disabled people have over people with disabilities. The author says that the consequences of this are that there is uneven job distribution, wealth, income, and everything that goes along with that. The author says that even though these people may not feel privileged, they still are no matter what they think. Even though many people have these privileges, sometimes they still aren’t happy because of their guilt.
3. The author his many valid points in his argument. There definitely are advantages to being of a certain race or gender. This author has made it seem like a white male pretty much has it made and doesn’t need to work hard to be successful in this country. On the other hand he makes it seem as though an African American woman has a slim chance to make something of herself. While I agree that white males may have some advantages, they are not as blatant as the author describes them to be.
4. This author brought up some interesting points in this article. Also I think this article maybe a little out of date. It seems like some things that were on his lists have been improved in the last 10 years or so. For example the author says on page 27, “Whites can reasonably expect that if they work hard and ‘play by the rules,’ they’ll get what they deserve, and they feel justified complaining if they don’t. It is something other racial groups cannot realistically expect.” I feel that a person of a race besides white can do all these things and get a good job. This was a very true article, but I think the author went a little overboard.
2. The author starts out by saying that generally we are fearful of people who are different than us. The author gives an example of how a lady in a wheelchair saw that children became more afraid of her year by year as they became older. The author then explained how white people in the country are more privileged than people of other races. An example is used that a woman in Africa is viewed as African, but when she comes to America she is viewed as black. Another example is given as a Norwegian man sees certain privileges when he comes to the United States because he is white. After that it is explained that because a person has a disability, they are labeled with that and it affects the rest of their life. The author says that “white” people and males have more privileges than other people and that they become defensive about it. The author believes that the only way for this to change is for the people with privileges to accept it and give it up. One type of privilege people have is unearned privileges, which are things all people should have but some people don’t. The other privilege that the author describes is conferred dominance which says one group has power over another. The author then provides a long list of privileges that white people have over African-Americans and other minorities. The author goes on providing a long list of ways that men have advantages over women. After this another list is provided listing ways heterosexuals have advantages over gays. Finally another list is provided including privileges that non-disabled people have over people with disabilities. The author says that the consequences of this are that there is uneven job distribution, wealth, income, and everything that goes along with that. The author says that even though these people may not feel privileged, they still are no matter what they think. Even though many people have these privileges, sometimes they still aren’t happy because of their guilt.
3. The author his many valid points in his argument. There definitely are advantages to being of a certain race or gender. This author has made it seem like a white male pretty much has it made and doesn’t need to work hard to be successful in this country. On the other hand he makes it seem as though an African American woman has a slim chance to make something of herself. While I agree that white males may have some advantages, they are not as blatant as the author describes them to be.
4. This author brought up some interesting points in this article. Also I think this article maybe a little out of date. It seems like some things that were on his lists have been improved in the last 10 years or so. For example the author says on page 27, “Whites can reasonably expect that if they work hard and ‘play by the rules,’ they’ll get what they deserve, and they feel justified complaining if they don’t. It is something other racial groups cannot realistically expect.” I feel that a person of a race besides white can do all these things and get a good job. This was a very true article, but I think the author went a little overboard.
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