blog#5

Changing a persons or societies perception of a stereotype comes with education and time. The plays we read in the last chapters were from the early 1990‘s, since then we have become less stereotypical. We all know that stereotypes have been a part of everyone’s lives for as long as they can remember, this is because most of them date back to our country’s origins.  Some races and ethnicities have fought long hard battles to get the political and legal freedoms they now have, however, some people refuse to change.  Yes, I believe that society is slowly changing for the better, I.e. less stereotypical.

African Americans have faced stereotypes, and racial discrimination while serving in the armed forces since United States of Americas’ revolution.  Clearly they do not face nearly as much these day’s as they did in the early years, however I would not be surprised if there still is some form of racial discrimination in the military today. I am assuming this,  due to the fact that I have not served in the armed forces and cannot give a first hand recollection.  However, I do know that African Americans have made tremendous progress in gaining the recognition and honor they deserve.  This has come from the great sacrifice that so many African Americans have given while serving in the armed forces.

I do not believe that African Americans are still treated with disdain when they speak Black English. I feel that black English has evolved and is rooted so deeply into the English language that we all speak it everyday almost whether we know it or not. I enjoyed the example from the book, when two good friends are “tight”, which I’m sure all of us have used or heard at some point.  Although most of the black English language is considered slang, I do not believe that African Americans are still treated with disdain.

After reading Elizabeth Wong’s Letters to a Student Revolutionary, it was clear to me that Bibi was in search for identity. When Bibi is in America, she is considered a racial minority and tries to hide it by dressing and acting American, however  when she is in China she feels racially connected. Bibi is torn between the two countries while she writes back and forth with Karen in her true search for her identity.

In the country of South Africa, there has been a long battle between “whites” and “blacks” for power, that at one point ,was very racially motivated.  Racial segregation has been around South Africa since colonial times and was dominated by the “white” minority.  Internal violence and outside trade embargos against South Africa have helped change the landscape. This most noticeably happened when the once jailed for 27 years, Nelson Mandela, came to power in 1994.  South Africa serves as a great example where persons of color were subject to racial challenges of  today.

Blog #4

Before reading the play Pow Wow; or, The Great Victory by William Lang I never linked the connection between the history Native Americans and racism.  The United States Government and people used racism to target Native Americans way of life and culture.  In doing this they took nearly everything the Native Americans had, however the Native Americans fought back.

I always new that Native Americans were never treated fairly by the United States Government, however I did not think of it as a form of racism.  I though the government just figured the best place for the “Indians” was all together on an reservation.  My reasoning for this was the Indians as a people made the poor decision after surrendering to move on specific small tracts of land so they could be with each other and live like they always have.  When I say this I mean they assumed that they were going to be able to live the hunter gather lifestyle, with out the interference of outsiders or the government.  Clearly I was wrong in the assumptions I made about how the Native Americans just made a poor choice when surrendering.

In the early beginnings of the United Sates there was a policy in the form of racism that targeted Native Americans. At first the government pushed them west of the Mississippi with the passage of the Indian Removal act of 1830. Soon there after settlers began to move west with the “Indians” wanting more and more land.  Eventually the “Indians” were forced to sign treaties and move to reservations.  What the United States government was doing to the native Americans is an act of racism. This continued when they began to take or buy land that was on the reservation which was supposed to be reservation land. The United States government wanted everything the Native Americans had even their treaty rights!

I now have a new understanding of American “Indian” history and how they lost everything to a form of racism.  The  United states government thought it was superior to the Native Americans and decided it had the right to rule them which they did.  The government even tried to take back there treaty rights, which were supposedly given to the Native Americans. I feel that Lang wanted to show us all how the natives have started to get some of their land and rights back. He does this In the play when the Menominee wild rice people take back the Catholic Abbey which was once on treaty land.  In today’s time Native Americans are getting many treaty rights back including the highly touted Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe’s right to net lake Mille Lacs of fish.

In summary, I will now think of racism when I think of how the Native Americans were forced on to reservation and striped of almost everything.  It is also apparent to me that racism can get carried away with some horrible outcomes
 

Blog #3

The term race is used to group or organize humankind based on there common decent or heredity. People have been using race in this way for thousands of years because it is practical and easy even though it is not always fair and equal. A racist is an examples of how a person or persons have used race for there own empowering or gain, by depicting there own race as superior to any or all other races.  Racist judge certain other races as one or all the same, which in my opinion goes hand in hand with the definition of stereotyping. Racist are usually uneducated people who joke or humor themselves by the judgment of another race. An example of racism from our recent readings is the United States government when they sent all Japanese Americans to internment camps because they were not to be trusted even though Japanese Americans had nothing to do with Pearl Harbor. A racist is a ignorant

If we laugh at a racist joke are we racist? In my opinion people who make fun of a race or laugh at racist jokes are racist. Nothing good comes out of a racist laugh or joke.  This type of humor originated to soften blow of how humiliating racism is. What could possibly be good about making fun of someone else, by illustrating there decent or heredity inferior all others?  Anyone who ignorant enough to think that they are better than someone else because of where they are from or what color their skin is could be called an uneducated bigot. Although the United States government still to this day uses race or heredity for its censuses every ten years, there is not a difference between any man or women. The only way to fight racism is to fight for the importance of education. even though there is a long history of racism, there is also a long history of people fighting these presumptions. One example that come to mind that we all have heard is from the works of the great Thomas Jefferson who once said in the declaration of independence, “All men are created equal”.

There is a connection between racism and the act of discrimination. Racism goes hand in hand with racist and it all leads inevitably to discrimination of a certain decent or heredity. racism comes from a hatred or prejudice against another race or ethnic group. Discriminating is judging someone by what the beholder views or thinks about someone because of their race, even though that is not actually who they are. The though of racism as a whole is a hatred used to better ones own race from another, Which leads to discrimination. When someone discriminates against someone else, they are preventing them from making steps of progression. Although there is a long history of racism and discrimination, it is getting better. By making laws against discrimination, we have slowed the spread of racism and the connection between them.

Blog 2

There are many different situations that we as a people may find ourselves in where we are confronted with stereotypical jokes that may cause us to become uncomfortable. On the other hand some people use the racist sense of humor as an empowering tool, for their gain.
The most common stereotypical joke that I have been around are jokes used to perpetuate racist stereotypes.  The first place that comes to mind is the local bar down the street where I frequent every once in awhile for dinner or a drink. In this establishments atmosphere is predominantly white and is a long cry from being politically correct. The reason I bring this up is, when I’m in there,  I hear all sorts of racial and ethnic jokes that are offensive however I feel as if I’m supposed to laugh because I am surrounded by my neighbors and peers. In my opinion they do this to because they think it’s always been that way around their and it always will be, not thinking about the damage its causing. In this kind of situation there is nothing I can really due to try and stop the topic of discussion.
Sometimes I am confronted with stereotypical jokes and humor where a different race or ethnicity from mine is using in a stereotypical degrading way regarding themselves. Just like the Youtube video we watched where the “black man” was upset because the “white man” was laughing at the “black” jokes.  This is a fine line and one must be careful how they handle it because if you laugh it may be offending. Generally if you know the person well enough for them to tell racist or ethnically charged comments or jokes about themselves you are ok to laugh with them. I’m saying this with the assumption that the person who is telling the joke is a close friend of mine.
There are some situations where it is flat out inappropriate to say any kind of racial or ethnic stereotype regardless of the situation. One example that comes to mind is when I am coaching my hockey team composed of fourteen to eighteen year olds who are like sponges to anything I say. I make a point neither to say nor allow any type of joke, comment, and phrase regarding race or ethnicity. The work place is another situation that has any room for any of the stereotypical BS, In fact many jobs deem that kind of vocabulary grounds for termination.
After writing and thinking about the subject regarding when and when is not a good time to humor upon stereotypes, I’ve come to the conclusion that there really never should be an appropriate time or place. I mean come on ethnic jokes truly exploit ethnic stereotypes and should be considered racist and offensive. Avoiding situations and crowds where stereotypical vocabulary is used might be the best option.

society impacted by stereotypes

The mainstream theatre and media have created and perpetuated stereotypes of people of color that have greatly impacted our society as a whole.  Stereotyping is embedded so deeply into our society that it is accepted almost everywhere we go, and nobody ever really thinks twice about it. How has it gotten to this point? Well there is a long history of the mainstream media and theatre depicting stereotypes upon people because of race, ethnicity, and culture.
African Americans have been a targeted and stereotyped since the mid 1800s when actors started performing minstrel shows. The minstrel shows which were really white men who painted their faces black and portrayed African Americans as “fun-loving fools, driven by their appetites and instincts” Playwrights of color. These show were just the start, these days we see movies like dolomite where the African American superhero is a pimp and drug dealer.
  Stereotypes regarding the Latino culture have also been around since the mid 1800s just after the Mexican American war and are still strongly rooted in our everyday culture.  The first thing that comes to mind is the name brand Fritos chips used an amigo as its trademark.  Another example is in the movie training day were Latinos were the gang banging bad guys who were going to kill the cop. And how can I forget the stereotype that the book mentioned how Latino women were strong willed and sexually available.
Native Americans are stereotyped as savages and vicious killers who were going to take over and kill the white man. Most westerns that you see are using Native Americans as plot devices so that the cowboys always just barely beat the over powering Native Americans like the show Tomahawk Trail. Another great example is the use of Native Americans as mascots, everyone know the professional baseball and the Cleveland Indians or University of North Dakotas fighting Sioux. These are all examples of how Native American stereotypes are perpetuated in our culture.
Asian Americans were also stereotyped as soon as the first Chinese immigrants came to California. Many plays were created to help form these stereotypes like The Chinese must go, Madame Butterfly, and The Darling of the Gods, all of which depicted Asian Americans as “strange costumed, heathen worshiping, and generally uncivilized”. Actors like Charlie Chan, have helped influence stereotypes of today. For instance Asian Americans are labeled Dog eating, overachieving math geniuses, who all look the same.  Clearly these are not true however these are examples of what people think today.
Stereotypes are in every Americans life everyday whether we like it or not and are perpetuated by modern media and theatre. Because they are so common we accept them not realizing how damaging they can be to not only a certain group but as society as a whole.