Complete the 4 Slideshows on the PBS Race site: Me, My Race, and I.
- Split Identity
- To See or Not to See
- The Elephant in the Room
- How to Be an American
Write a brief reaction to the one slideshow that impacted you most.
- Why did it have this effect on you?
- Do you have any personal stories that relate to the slideshow?
Due by Wednesday 12/12/12 @ 8:00 am
How to Be an American really impacted me a lot. It shouldn't matter what nationality you are to be considered an American. Just because you are black, does not mean you are not an American. One thing that really got me was when as Asian woman pulled up to a gas station, and looked at her white husband and asked him if she spoke English. That is just so ignorant and rude of someone to do, but people do it everyday. For example, my grandpa and grandma are both from Italy and have very thick Italian accents. While ordering at a restaurant the waiter couldn't understand my grandfather and asked me to translate. The waiter was rude, and we never went back there again. All of these slideshows were very good, and opened my eyes to how racist I myself can be and how I really need to work on it.
ReplyDeleteOut of the four videos, "Split Identity" impacted me the most. This slideshow had people of different races speak about how they had always been prejudged and discriminating against by others, and the hardships they faced as a result. One example from this was one African American's story about going onto an elevator and women on the elevator immediately clutching their purses. He was perceived as a bad man just because of his race. Also, for some races, some people were expected to be great and looked down on if they didn't meet expectations, and weren't given equal treatment. I personally experience prejudiced about my 100% Italian family all the time and it extremely bothers me. People only assume that we are every stereotype known about Italians, when in fact we probably only fit one stereotype. My family is usually looked down upon in conversations with non-Italians. It makes me wish that stereotypes were never created in the first place.
ReplyDeleteSplit Identity impacted me the most out of all of these. People automatically match people with stereotypes of certain races. People make assumptions on that person when it probably is not true. Some people think they have to live up to their stereotypes and some do not because of their negativity. When the Asian woman was talking about all her expectations of being an Asian it was sad to hear how she felt like she needed to be smart and be good in math and sciences. Most people think that "Oh she's Asian, she must be a genius", but that always isn't the case and that is okay! Everyone is unique and different in their own way and no one should be judging someone for the way they are. People should be associating different races with their stereotypes. I can relate to this because I know I am one of those people who automatically assume that an Asian is smart. I realized I need to stop assuming and putting Asians in this category to live up to. Even though we don't realize we are doing it, many people can be racist with associating even small things.
ReplyDeleteThe slideshow entitled "How to be an American" really enlightened me through making me upset. I personally find different cultures very interesting, and I love immersing myself in customs that are different from my own. America was made out to be the perfect place for that intercultural exchange of ideas to occur, allegedly the "melting pot" of the world. When the immigrant rush of the 1900s occurred, the only ones welcomed were people of white European descent. Although groups like the Irish and Italians were originally discriminated against, when other people who were more aesthetically different from the existing white American population came, the white immigrants were welcomed with open arms and were quick to jump on the discriminatory bandwagon. Groups like the Japanese, Filipinos, Chinese, Hispanics, and multiple others were prevented from assimilating into the population due to the white supremacy ideas floating around in the time. It honestly brings tears to my eyes, to think that America, my home country, one that has always prided itself on being the "land of opportunity," became the land of broken dreams for so many immigrants, solely based on their race. My grandparents emigrated from Cuba to America solely based on my grandfather's belief in the American dream. He always dreamt of coming to America, believing it to be a land filled with promise and opportunity, just like it claimed to be. Luckily, they moved to a neighborhood filled with other Cuban immigrants, so they felt at ease in their new home surroundings, but it saddens me to think that if they hadn't had their fellow compatriots with them, they could have been ridiculed and excluded from society.
ReplyDeleteAlso, one of the points brought up by a speaker in the slideshow intrigued me; she said that though whites may have privileges in society, they don't have any sense of their ancestry. White people usually don't identify themselves by the country of their ancestors' origin, but simply as "white." Though conditions may be disadvantageous for nonwhite groups in America's white-dominated society, minority groups may, in a way, benefit from their exclusion because it gives them a chance to bond with other members of their races over the injustices done to them. Though it's a twisted way of thinking about it, because minority groups are already seen as point-blankly "different," they are free to embrace their cultures and immerse themselves in it because it's all they have to identify themselves with when their land of promise turns on them.
I found the last slide, "How to Be an American" really interesting because it connected to the fact that America was not always a white country. The United States truly is a melting pot that is made up of people of different cultures and races that have come together to build America. I remember learning in history class how even in the 1900s there was discrimination against the people part of the new waves of immigration. People looked at them differently just because they came to the US later than everyone else did and it's extremely appalling because many Americans still do that today. It has become almost normal to make jokes about stereotypes of the different races and I often take offense to it myself.
ReplyDeleteMy family and I came from Peru and moved the US when I was almost 3 years old, so I have basically grown up in America, but in a Peruvian cultured family. My family had to learn English to quickly adapt to the new culture but they were met with a lot of criticism. Still today, I overhear people say "You're in America, so speak English" and I find it extremely rude. America was and still is a melting pot of different cultures and no one has the right to define what a true American is. Instead of discriminating against each other, and holding one race to a higher set of standards, we should instead learn from each other and encourage the range of diversity America has.
The slide show "Split Identity", I feel, had the largest impact on me. During this slide show I heard moving stories about men and women being treated differently solely because of the color of their skin. This really upset me because I truly believe everyone should be given an equal opportunity in life before they are judged. To judge someone based on how they look is inhumane and just illogical. Nobody's outer appearance can indicate who they are as a person. Their stories about being accused of basic stereotypes upset me especially because it doesn't really register that it is happening before it is said out loud. Hearing the insults from the receiving end of the stereotype allowed me to view the entire situation in a new light.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I believe almost everyone deals with stereotypes on a daily basis. While driving in a prominently black neighborhood, I’ve seen people lock their car doors, and drive quickly from point A to point B, looking worried and scared. Little things like that exemplify our nation’s ignorance and how we need to be educated that no one is good or bad based on their skin color. If more people can see this video, I feel it would make a significant difference.
America is well-known for being a melting pot ever since we became a nation, because immigrants came from numerous countries in order to live a better, more efficient lifestyle. In the "How to be an American" video, a woman had stated that, "Even those who have been in America for generations are still known as foreigners" People are judged by outer appearance, whether it be one's skin tone or the attire they are wearing. I had taken a quiz online regarding skin tones, eye shape and hair, I had to put a group of people into the separate nationalities in which I thought they would fit. Surprisingly, I had a lot more wrong than I had thought. I learned that many people are misjudged regarding their ethnicity. Categorizing people into white and black is not what America is about. It should not matter in this day in age the color of one's skin tone and who we should associate ourselves based simply on that. This video really had an impact on me because it opened my eyes in how many citizens continue to be discriminated against. I was not aware on how much discriminating people still do today.
ReplyDeleteMe, My Race, and I was a very eye opening video. It is crazy how ignorant we can be towards people and how rude. Each of the slideshows impacted me in a different way but especially The Elephant in the room. I agree that a lot of people now a days just say " oh yeah I respect black people, slavery ended ages ago." But what I didn't realize is that we still as whites hold the power. And how we feel towards black people is mostly guilt instead of respect. I really liked James Baldwin's quote at the end as well. " Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." I have not had an experience that has related to exactly this, but I do find myself feeling guilty sometimes towards other races and almost being overly nice and not acting like my normal self because I don't know what is wrong and what is right in all cases. I continue to wonder if one day, there will be absolutely no boundaries and there will be no such thing as racism and that we are for once completely equal whether it is men vs women, whites vs blacks, etc.
ReplyDeleteAll of these videos made me feel sadness and sorry for all of the people that had to go through these terrible circumstances everyday, and those who unfortunately still are. The video that impacted me the most was "How to be an American" because it made me think of my family and what could have happened years ago if we were a different race. We all moved here and became US citizens from England but what would have happened if we were a different race? If we were black, Hispanic, or Asian then we would have encountered much more difficulties and troubles along the way and that is just not right. No one should face more difficulties based on the color of their skin but unfortunately that is how it has been in the past and we still see it today. In the video it was saying how the white immigrants could be seen as true Americans but no one else, so how does that make sense when America was supposed to be seen as a land of the free? I really liked the quote at the very end about how no one was white before he/she came to America.
ReplyDeleteMe, My Race, and I exhibited how ignorant I am of everyday struggles faced by people just because they have a different color skin. The slideshow named "Split Identity" definitely impacted me the most. The story about the Asian woman who said people expect her to be good at math and science simply because she is Asian was very eye-opening. A similar effect came over me when I heard of the African American who claimed that when he got on an elevator, women automatically clutched their purses closer to them in fear of this man. These women expressed fear simply because of the color of his skin, and the man was able to laugh it off pointing out that he was at work with his identification on. I think that this impacted me the most because I could not imagine what it would feel like for this man. I can say that personally when walking through the streets of New York my mom has held me closer to her when walking past an African American man, but at the same time a white man could be just as dangerous or even more dangerous! Just because of the color of this man's skin we are inclined to judge him. It seems that in our white dominant society, we only point out acts of violence by minority groups and this is very unfair to these groups.
ReplyDeleteThe slide show series, "Me, My Race, and I," was definitely both thought provoking and saddening. It conveyed this by presenting sides of the age-old divide in our nation in new ways using personal anecdotes that left the viewer feeling sorry for both the minorities in the US as well as the majority. It made a point that the situation is truly to blame rather than one specific race, but that we all must come together and become "mad" at the situation rather than feeling sorry for each other in order to remedy it.
ReplyDeleteThere were many scenes throughout the slideshow that resonated with me, but one of the most interesting was when an Asian woman said that she is expected to be good at math and science. Initially I thought, "why wouldn't someone want to be thought of as good in math and science," but then realized that growing up with that sort of pressure and stereotype surrounding a person must be exhausting. Because this stereotype of Asian-Americans being so good at math and science is so prevalent in my world, it made me more aware of the negative sides such comments may have.
I found the slideshow "Split Identity" the most interesting of the four. Profiling happens all the time. It is an unfair form of discrimination, and many minorities live in fear of being searched or pulled over because of the color of their skin. I actually recently watched a video about a class offered to minority groups concerning their rights when they are stopped by police officers. The class had taught them their rights, when they could refuse to be searched, and how to respectfully deal with the problem. My first thought was, "Wow, this is really helpful". However, then when I thought about it more I felt disgusted by the fact minorities even had to be taught these things.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who is Mexican and lives in Clifton. He's told me countless stories about Clifton/Paterson police officers stopping him on the street and questioning him as if he did something wrong. It's gotten to the point where he doesn't even panic anymore when it happens, and he just expects it now. Things like this are repulsive. It's a shame humans judge each other on race.
Being white, however, I can't even come close to understanding how alienated and defenseless minorities feel. Even if I don't consider myself a racist, me and just about everyone else has that moment where they see a person of minority and get nervous. These reactions have been taught to us from an early age by our family, media, and society as a whole. We can only hope that one day race will not matter, but when that day is no one can predict.
The slide show that impacted me the most was "Split Identity". it was really surprising for me to hear about the level of discrimination that still is going on. I was also surprised that this was the first i was hearing of it. The parts of this that impacted me the most were the statistics. That such a large number of black people and Latinos get checked at the airport, and pulled over, etc really shocked me. I always assumed that the statistics were always about even for each race. This slide show made me feel like i have been living in a bubble my whole life.
ReplyDeleteThis slide show made me think of how people were discriminating against me when i went on vacation, because i was from new jersey. They assumed that my life was like the Jersey Shore and they refused to see otherwise. I was annoyed that they kept bringing it up and using it as being a negative thing. I was also upset because everyone assumed that i was a certain way just because i was born in a certain state.
The video slide show, How to Be an American really affected me, it was heartbreaking what some of those people had to deal with all the discrimination and abuse they got. I felt so bad for the people in the photos because they didn’t choose their race, in fact no one does so we shouldn’t be judged and tortured based on that and no race is superior to another. This video really got me thinking about what is American? I wasn’t able to truly conclude how we are or who is an American because there are so many different kinds of American and they should all be equal . The only thing I could conclude was that an American is someone who lives in America, whether they are white, black, Asian, or any other race. The quote “No one was white before he/she came to America. It took generations and a vast amount of coercion before this became a white country.” By James Baldwin is very thought provoking and very true and I thought it had a huge impact on the video.
ReplyDeleteTo See Or Not To See interested me, because the idea of a colorblind society is kind of what I was getting at the first day we discussed this in class. So many people are taught, from a young age, not to acknowledge race at all, when that's totally the wrong way to go about things, in my opinion. A sense of self, as far as your racial history goes, is important to many, many people, and taking that away is stripping someone of part of their identity, part of what makes them, them.
ReplyDeleteHow To Be An American was eye opening, because it's true, America is meant to be this mixing pot of all different cultures and people, and somehow it morphed into this "white" country, where the minorities don't matter and the majority rules all, but when it boils down to it, none of us are purely white. To kind of make a simplified example, it's like how bloodlines are explained in the Harry Potter novels (which, by the way, obviously mirror the issues we have with race in today's society). It's like the idea that no one's really pureblood anymore, people have gotten so mixed up along the way that everyone's got a lot of everything in their blood at this point. Race is the exact same way- I tell everyone I'm Irish and Italian, but the Italian part on my mom's side can really be a whole mix of things, as not everyone's sure where my great-great-great grandparents came from, etc. The idea of a majority and minority is, in my opinion, ridiculous, and just an excuse for people to try and put themselves in a higher position over others.
The slideshow that really impacted me was "How to be an American". I realized that a place someone may call their free home may be someone elses prison chamber. I have grown up being told how proud I should be to be called an American, but I feel that that title holds so many lies behind it. Why should I be proud of something that judges people, that thinks a specific race is superior, and that focuses primarily on what is on the outside? A song that America is known for even states "and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea" yet at one point this "brotherhood" could only include white. We are a very hypocritical society because of the fact that although we where known to be a melting point we only welcomed a few. I don't think there is and ever will be a general definition of what an American is and I don't think there ever should because anyone I think that daily people are making exceptions to what an American is due to their look, race, or beliefs, which makes us what we are an undefined race.
ReplyDelete"split identity" impacted me the most. I think it impacted me the most because i did not realize how oblivious i really am to the racism going on around me. I didnt think of hite people as "getting the bennifit of the doubt" it makes me really sad that some peoples lives are so affected by racism and it affects their moods and the way they act. Before sociology and my project I did not think racism was to much of a problem anymore. as a matter of fact i thought that it was not a benifit to be white because apparently white people do not get into collage as easy. it really confuses me because i thought we were all about diversity. i feel like racist people just go along with what the crowd does and does not think about what it must feel like to be differently because of the color of someones skin.
ReplyDelete"Split Identity" really caught my attention. It made me feel very oblivious to what is going on around me. I honestly had no idea that racism was still this bad. After seeing the responses from the minorities point of view, it made me realize the pain that they are really going through. I mean imagine going through what they go through every day? They must feel like they are playing a role based on their ethnic background. The caucasian man in the video even said that we have it much easier. I feel like by watching this video, I have a much better idea of what it is like to be the minority, but you can not truly ever no the experience until you, yourself, is the one who is experiencing it.
ReplyDeleteI think the slideshow that impacted me the most was "How to be an American." Firstly, what initially caught me off guard was the picture of WWI soldiers, and the man in the middle was wearing a turban. I think that's awesome to see because ever since 9/11 people tend to discriminate against Iraqis (or anyone that may resemble one), assuming that they are all anti-american and then you have a man with the same appearance fighting for America(a pictures worth a thousand words heh!?)
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I found the purpose of this slideshow to be important. We would not have "American" without all these different cultures mixing and evolving together, eventually resulting in a typical white American.But if white people were secondary, then why do they discriminate against other races as if their secondary citizens.
Each of these slides, I thought were all very interesting in their own way. I think because of what I saw in the first slide show, “A Split Identity” made “How to be an American” have the most impact on me. There were some part of the Split Identity that just made me mad, like when one white person said race doesn’t apply to them and therefore they don’t care about it. That was so rude and I do not agree with that statement at all, I did agree though that race isn’t as much as an issue for white people and therefore is sometimes over looked. The video that impacted me the most had to be how to be How to be an American. After I watched this video I just felt terrible. I don’t know if the sad music in the background, or the pictures with the people’s look of anger or despair did it but I personally felt like I was discriminating them. This video made a huge impact on me because I find it funny how when everyone was coming to America for new opportunities and to become a new nation, America decided to discriminate against people because of their skin color, something that they were born with. Its sad knowing that America wanted to be a “melting pot” but excluded so many people and that people saw others who had different skin as enemies. I thought this video brought out a lot of key points about race that I know I do not always think about because I am white and never really feel discriminated against. This video was very helpful to see what it meant to be American then, and what it means to be American now.
ReplyDeleteAfter watching the Me, My Race, and I, I was most impacted by “How to be an American”. I never really thought about it in that way before. My mom moved here with her mother, father, and sister when she was 5, so she grew up here in the U.S. and speaks perfect English and I always considered her as being American. This slide show made me realize how quick to judge I am of other races. Seeing a person of Asian descent, I usually just make the assumption “ohh they are Asian”, but I never really thought about the possibility, that their family has probably been in the U.S for generations and could be more “American” than me. When the Asian women talked about how she was at a gas station and the attendant asked her Caucasian boyfriend if she could speak English, I realized that people today just make assumption and prejudge people on their looks instead of their personality, beliefs, and characteristics. In the slideshow they said that in the late 1700’s and on, to be considered a citizen who had to be white. I don’t agree that in order to have been a U.S citizen back then you had to be white because America was considered to be a melting pot for all races and religions to blend together. So no matter what color your skin was, I think everyone who lives in the U.S. and blends their culture with the American culture is considered American. These slidshows opened my eyes further into better understanding other cultures and not judging them for their skin color.
ReplyDeleteAll the slideshows on "Me, My Race, and I" were very interesting to watch, but "How to Be an American" was particularly thought-provoking to me. As I watched this slideshow, I found that it made a really good point about "white people," they are immigrants, or are descendants of immigrants, just like everyone else in the United States that is not a Native American. This is a topic that I personally find to be very ironic. Native Americans are the only group of people that are technically "pure Americans," yet they are sometimes discriminated against in this country for having "red skin." White Americans are essentially immigrants from other areas of the world. This is why I perceive the United States to be primarily a country made up of immigrants. I myself came from Ecuador and can relate to the people in the slideshow. I found the story about the Asian lady and her boyfriend being stopped by the police officer on the road quite amusing. Since I look more Chinese than Ecuadorian (I don't know why, I'm only 1/4 Chinese, maybe because my tan is gone) people get really surprised when I start fluently speaking in Spanish because they expect me to speak Chinese. This slideshow was also very eye-opening in the sense that people in our society still discriminate against others based on their skin color or facial features.
ReplyDeleteThe slide show "split identity" really impacted me the most. To listen to these people talk about how they are discriminated was actually really sad. The one that I found to be the most moving was the Asian lady. I felt really bad when she was talking about how she feels like she is expected to be smart because that is what the stereotype of Asians is. I personally know a lot of Asian people who aren't any smarter than I am and some of them even say that they wish they were as smart as "their kind". After watching theses slides, it gave me a better view of how other ethnicity groups feel and I now know not to judge a person on how they look and where they came from.
ReplyDeleteOut of all the slide shows, The Elephant in the Room had the most impact on me. During the presentation, a speaker mentioned how people tend to feel "guilty" for the way different races are poorly treated in certain circumstances. A person feels guilty that another individual is being stripped away from their personal freedom, due to the color of the skin. However, a person should not feel guilty. Instead, people should feel angry that people of different races are being treated as inferior. As people of the 21st century, we need to express our anger by taking a stand in order to emphasize how the corruptness behind racism. I feel that I really related to this message because I do at times feel guilty when other races are being discriminated against. This slide show, however, has opened my eyes to realize that instead of guilt, I should do something about how others treat people of a different race.
ReplyDeleteAfter viewing the four slide shows, the one that stuck out to me the most was "Split Identity". I was shocked by the level of discrimination that is still present today. I was mainly surprised at the statistics of black people and latinos who are checked at the airport or pulled over. I always figured that our society was past this clear discrimination and the discrimination that was still present was far less obvious in the law. This slide show made me feel oblivious to what really happens in the world when no one is looking for it.
ReplyDeleteBeing a white american I am less likely to face the discrimination that black americans and latinos face. However, I have felt what it is like to be left out because of my race. My swim team is primarily latinos, asians, and a few black kids...Whenever I walk into a conversation and ask what it was about, they jokingly say "you wouldn't understand because you're white" Since I am white and it is generally thought of as the dominant group, the group of minorities on my team tend to separate us.
"How To Be An American" had the most significant impact on me. One of the people speaking over the video said that American are synonymous with the white "race." The irony in this is that America is and always will be a melting pot; it's a conglomeration of everything, but one group's skin colour is perceived as an advantage. This is obvious favoritism is unfair but since I'm white and live in a predominantly white area, I can't relate to being on the opposite side of things. Of course there have been times when I was the minority and no one wants to be treated as if they're a lesser person because of physical attributes. A person doesn't have to be born in the United States to be an American; it's a state of mind that a person has for his or her country because they are proud of it. There are so many people that know more about our country's history and aren't technically Americans. People are so caught up in their daily routines that they forget about the history of America and the foundation it was built upon.
ReplyDeleteTo See or Not to See interested me a lot. This idea of what a color blind society would look like. In theory it sounds like a good idea. No race. No problem.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, taking away race will not take away prejudices. And taking away race is taking away some sense of identity for certain people.
Split Identity really was shocking. It was so horrible but needed to hear from the minorities. Many think that now since slavery is over and black people have rights, and we have a black president all is good. It isn't and I think it is important to realize that. I cannot relate to minority groups other than being a female. And I still get mad we get less pay. I can't even imagine these large scale issues they have to deal with.
The one that had the greatest affect of me was To See or Not to See. I thought it was interesting when it said that 50-80% of your lifetime wealth is influenced by your family and what they provided for you as you grew up. This reminded me of how hard it is for minority groups to get out of poverty when they have spent their whole lives in it, which I think is a hard part of this. Fortunately, I cannot say that I have a particular experience with this, but I am reminded of the How the Adults Reacted video, when the one woman pointed out at the end that even if we have experienced discrimination once or twice, it is nothing like what minority groups have to accept daily.
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