In preparation for our final exam, scheduled for Wednesday morning (12/15) of final exam week, I want the two families to make up FIVE short-answer questions on anything we have covered in class since the midterm exam (see outline of material covered since the midterm below). A representative of each family should submit these questions and answers to me in writing (or via email, but NOT on this blog) NO LATER THAN FRIDAY 12/10 BY NOON. I WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY QUESTIONS SUBMITTED AFTER THIS DEADLINE. I will, then, consider your submissions and select at least THREE questions from each family, and possibly more if they are good ones. For each additional question I select, that family will earn a bonus point and have the benefit of knowing more questions on the final exam. I will post the questions and answers I selected no later than SUNDAY, DEC. 12TH on this blog, so that you will have time to study them for the final exam. This activity is worth 9 points, and you have to participate in order to earn those points.
MATERIAL COVERED SINCE THE MIDTERM:
(1) Lecture/commentary on book, "Can We Talk About Race," (Chap. 2 - end).
(2) Lecture/commentary on book, "The New Jim Crow," including "Final Comments" posted on the blog, 11/22.
(3) Handout on Asian Americans, "Gangsters, Gooks, Geishas, and Geeks," etc.
(4) Notes on video presentation, "My America, or honk if you love Buddha," (posted on the blog, 11/28).
(5) However far we get in last book, "Yellow."
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Comments: "My America, or honk if you love Buddha"
Before I post some comments on the video I showed just before the break, let me remind you of a couple things coming up.
First, your interview papers are due on Thursday, Dec. 2nd. I expect to get the papers on that date, and I will be calling on each of you to give a brief overview of your interview (no more than 10 minutes). Hopefully, we can accomplish all that on that day.
Second, you should have begun reading our next book, "Yellow," which I will begin to talk about on Tuesday. I am going to try to cover at least the first four chapters. Beyond that, I cannot say how much more we will try to cover. I will also be handing back your essays on "The New Jim Crow."
Third, I will be posting a description of the final family activity soon -- making up questions for the final exam (which is scheduled for Wed. 12/15 morning of exam week).
_____________________________
"MY AMERICA, OR HONK IF YOUR LOVE BUDDHA"
Narrator/filmmaker is Renee Tajima-Pena, who is Japanese (the Pena gets tacked on at the end of the film, which we did not see, when she marries a Mexican-American).
The documentary is really a search for identity -- are Asian-Americans still an "alien nation", don't really belong? (or "perpetual foreigners," as Frank Wu suggests).
Her comment about confusing Victor Wong with the actor in "Chen is Missing" -- "maybe we all do look alike?" which is a stereotypical belief of many Americans.
Victor Wong -- why he liked the beatniks -- they were open, nonjudgmental, accepted him as "just one of the boys." His rebellion as a young man is very American. Lots of Asian-American families go through this.
Mr. Choi (NYC Chinatown) an Asian Horatio Alger (self-made man). Seems to fit the stereotype of Asians as work-a-holics.
Immigrant dilemma: come to America for freedom and equality, or "take the money and run."
Filipino enclave, New Orleans. Came in 1765. Considered themselves white. Asian formula for race-mixing is complicated, but generally looked down on mixing with blacks.
Bill and Yuri Kochiyama -- great people; active in the civil rights struggle. Yuri was interned in Arkansas, while Bill fought against the Nazis in WWII. Yuri was a friend of Malcolm X. Raised their family in Harlem.
She mentions briefly how ASian Americans benefitted from the civil rights movement. (A point Frank Wu will also make in "Yellow.")
Tom Vu, sleezy Vietnamese-American who came here as a refugee and made a killing in real estate: his success motto: "Don't Give Up."
In her own family, she notes how "all-American" her family strived to be, yet was still not accepted. Says she was raised to try to blend in. Japanese proverb: "the nail that sticks up must be pounded down." But she, like Victor Wong and others, resisted this. Says she began to feel comfortable in her own skin as she participated in protests.
Hmong (Laos) family in Duluth, MN. -- struggles at low-end work, especially difficult for the father who was a farmer and 15 year old soldier back in Laos.
Victor Wong frames his face and notes how a lot of Americans think of the Asian face as the FACE OF THE ENEMY because of the various wars in the 20th century.
Seoul Brothers (Seattle) -- "in your face" Korean Americans; not submissive by any means.
Finally, Asian debutante balls in Orange Co., CA -- in part a reaction to being locked out of white debutante balls.
__________________________________________
That's it. If you didn't see the video, you can check it out of the library. It is in VHS format.
First, your interview papers are due on Thursday, Dec. 2nd. I expect to get the papers on that date, and I will be calling on each of you to give a brief overview of your interview (no more than 10 minutes). Hopefully, we can accomplish all that on that day.
Second, you should have begun reading our next book, "Yellow," which I will begin to talk about on Tuesday. I am going to try to cover at least the first four chapters. Beyond that, I cannot say how much more we will try to cover. I will also be handing back your essays on "The New Jim Crow."
Third, I will be posting a description of the final family activity soon -- making up questions for the final exam (which is scheduled for Wed. 12/15 morning of exam week).
_____________________________
"MY AMERICA, OR HONK IF YOUR LOVE BUDDHA"
Narrator/filmmaker is Renee Tajima-Pena, who is Japanese (the Pena gets tacked on at the end of the film, which we did not see, when she marries a Mexican-American).
The documentary is really a search for identity -- are Asian-Americans still an "alien nation", don't really belong? (or "perpetual foreigners," as Frank Wu suggests).
Her comment about confusing Victor Wong with the actor in "Chen is Missing" -- "maybe we all do look alike?" which is a stereotypical belief of many Americans.
Victor Wong -- why he liked the beatniks -- they were open, nonjudgmental, accepted him as "just one of the boys." His rebellion as a young man is very American. Lots of Asian-American families go through this.
Mr. Choi (NYC Chinatown) an Asian Horatio Alger (self-made man). Seems to fit the stereotype of Asians as work-a-holics.
Immigrant dilemma: come to America for freedom and equality, or "take the money and run."
Filipino enclave, New Orleans. Came in 1765. Considered themselves white. Asian formula for race-mixing is complicated, but generally looked down on mixing with blacks.
Bill and Yuri Kochiyama -- great people; active in the civil rights struggle. Yuri was interned in Arkansas, while Bill fought against the Nazis in WWII. Yuri was a friend of Malcolm X. Raised their family in Harlem.
She mentions briefly how ASian Americans benefitted from the civil rights movement. (A point Frank Wu will also make in "Yellow.")
Tom Vu, sleezy Vietnamese-American who came here as a refugee and made a killing in real estate: his success motto: "Don't Give Up."
In her own family, she notes how "all-American" her family strived to be, yet was still not accepted. Says she was raised to try to blend in. Japanese proverb: "the nail that sticks up must be pounded down." But she, like Victor Wong and others, resisted this. Says she began to feel comfortable in her own skin as she participated in protests.
Hmong (Laos) family in Duluth, MN. -- struggles at low-end work, especially difficult for the father who was a farmer and 15 year old soldier back in Laos.
Victor Wong frames his face and notes how a lot of Americans think of the Asian face as the FACE OF THE ENEMY because of the various wars in the 20th century.
Seoul Brothers (Seattle) -- "in your face" Korean Americans; not submissive by any means.
Finally, Asian debutante balls in Orange Co., CA -- in part a reaction to being locked out of white debutante balls.
__________________________________________
That's it. If you didn't see the video, you can check it out of the library. It is in VHS format.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Final Comments on "The New Jim Crow"
During our last class meeting, I hurriedly covered the last three chapters in "The New Jim Crow," focusing especially on the last chapter. In doing so, there were some really important passages and points I skipped over. So, in this blog post I want to backtrack and cover just some of these important passages and points.
CHAPTER 3: THE COLOR OF JUSTICE
Ms. Alexander had a nice passage which clearly described the circular logic of those who defend racial profiling. Referring to studies in New Jersey and Maryland, she says, "What most surprised many analysts was that, in both studies, whites were actually MORE LIKELY than people of color to be carrying illegal drugs or contraband in their vehicles. In fact, in New Jersey, whites were almost twice as likely to be found with illegal drugs or contraband as African Americans, and five times as likely to be found with contraband as Latinos. Although whites were more likely to be guilty of carrying drugs, they were far less likely to be viewed as suspicious, resulting in relatively few stops, searches, and arrests of whites. The former New Jersey attorney general dubbed this the "circular logic of racial profiling." Law enforcement officials he explained, often point to the racial composition of our prisons and jails as a justification for targeting racial minorites, but the empirical evidence actually suggested the opposite conclusion was warranted. The disproportionate imprisonment of people of color was, in part, a product of racial profiling -- not a justification for it." (p. 131)
CHAPTER 4: THE CRUEL HAND
In noting the widespread employment discrimination against ex-convicts, Ms. Alexander makes a very appropriate comment about the importance of work, which cannot be overemphasized. She says, "Even beyond the need to comply with the conditions of parole, employment satisfies a more basic human need -- the fundatmental need to be self-sufficient, to contribute, to support one's family, and to add value to society at large. Finding a job allows a person to establish a positive role in the community, develop a healthy self-image, and keep a distnace from negative influences and opportunities for illegal behavior. Work is deemed so fundamental to human existence in many countries around the world that it is regarded as a basic human right. Deprivation of work, particularly among men, is strongly associated with depression and violence." (p. 145)
She also brings out the phenomenon of a "spatial mismatch," which works against black ex-cons because most of the jobs these days are in the suburbs (if not overseas). As she goes on, "Manufacturing jobs,...have all but disappeared from the urban core during the past thirty years. Not long ago, young, unskilled men could find decent, well-paying jobs at large factories in most Northern cities. Today, due to globalization and deindustrialization, that is no longer the case. Jobs can be found in the suburbs -- mostly service sector jobs -- but employment for unskilled men with criminal convictions, while difficult to find anywhere, is especially hard to find close to home."
"An ex-offender whose driver's license has been suspended or who does not have access to a car, often faces nearly insurmountable barriers to finding employment." (p. 147)
CHAPTER 5: THE NEW JIM CROW
Ms. Alexander makes a very important point regarding what she believes is a profound misunderstanding of how racial oppression actually works -- that it is not just about individual attitudes but the basic structure of our social system. SEE ALL OF PP. 178-179.
Criminality today carries a clear RACIAL STIGMA: "Every racial caste system in the United States has produced racial stigma. Mass incarceration is no exception. Racial stigma is produced by defining negatively what it means to be black. The stigma of race was once the shame of the slave; then (in the context of Jim Crow) it was the shame of the second-class citizen; today the stigma of race is the shame of the criminal...." (p. 192) and note what she goes on to day on p. 192 and 193.
See most of pp. 206-207, where Ms. Alexander notes that we could have responded more constructively to the collapse of inner city communities in the 1970s nad 80s:
"The economic collapse of inner-city black communities could have inspired a national outpouring of compassion and support. A new War on Poverty could have been launched. Economic stimulus packages could have sailed through Congress to bail out those trapped in jobless ghettos through no fault of their own. Education, job training, public transportation, and relocation assistance could have been provided, so that youth of color would have been able to survive the rough transition to a new global economy and secure jobs in the suburbs. Constructive interventions would have been good not only for African Americans trapped in ghettos, but also for blue collar workers of all colors, many of whom were suffering too, if less severely. A wave of compassion and concern could have flooded poor and working-class communities, in honor of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. All of this could have happened, but it didn't. Instead we declared War on Drugs."
"The collapse of inner-city economies coincided with the conservative backlash against the Civil Rights Movement, resulting in the perfect storm. Almost overnight, black men found themselves unnecessary to the American economy and demonized by mainstream society...." (pp. 206-207)
CHAPTER 6: THE FIRE THIS TIME
Ms. Alexander poses an important rhetorical question: "Have we unwittingly exaggerated the importance of individuals succeeding within pre-existing structures of power, and thereby undermined King's call for a "complete restructuring" of our society?" (p. 241) and note what she goes on to point out about being blinded by our belief in individualism (just as we are blinded by colorblindness).
Finally, I appreciate what she observes about Dr. King near the end, that today we are stuck in an approach to civil rights advocacy which Dr. King had abandoned during his final years. We have not appreciated King's radicalism.
______________________________
That's it. Please incorporate the above along with your other notes on "The New Jim Crow." We will make a transition to Asian Americans tommorrow (Tues. 11/23). Start reading "Yellow." We will see a video on the various Asian-American communites in America tomorrow as well. Finally, DON'T FORGET THAT ESSAY III IS DUE TOMORROW AS WELL.
CHAPTER 3: THE COLOR OF JUSTICE
Ms. Alexander had a nice passage which clearly described the circular logic of those who defend racial profiling. Referring to studies in New Jersey and Maryland, she says, "What most surprised many analysts was that, in both studies, whites were actually MORE LIKELY than people of color to be carrying illegal drugs or contraband in their vehicles. In fact, in New Jersey, whites were almost twice as likely to be found with illegal drugs or contraband as African Americans, and five times as likely to be found with contraband as Latinos. Although whites were more likely to be guilty of carrying drugs, they were far less likely to be viewed as suspicious, resulting in relatively few stops, searches, and arrests of whites. The former New Jersey attorney general dubbed this the "circular logic of racial profiling." Law enforcement officials he explained, often point to the racial composition of our prisons and jails as a justification for targeting racial minorites, but the empirical evidence actually suggested the opposite conclusion was warranted. The disproportionate imprisonment of people of color was, in part, a product of racial profiling -- not a justification for it." (p. 131)
CHAPTER 4: THE CRUEL HAND
In noting the widespread employment discrimination against ex-convicts, Ms. Alexander makes a very appropriate comment about the importance of work, which cannot be overemphasized. She says, "Even beyond the need to comply with the conditions of parole, employment satisfies a more basic human need -- the fundatmental need to be self-sufficient, to contribute, to support one's family, and to add value to society at large. Finding a job allows a person to establish a positive role in the community, develop a healthy self-image, and keep a distnace from negative influences and opportunities for illegal behavior. Work is deemed so fundamental to human existence in many countries around the world that it is regarded as a basic human right. Deprivation of work, particularly among men, is strongly associated with depression and violence." (p. 145)
She also brings out the phenomenon of a "spatial mismatch," which works against black ex-cons because most of the jobs these days are in the suburbs (if not overseas). As she goes on, "Manufacturing jobs,...have all but disappeared from the urban core during the past thirty years. Not long ago, young, unskilled men could find decent, well-paying jobs at large factories in most Northern cities. Today, due to globalization and deindustrialization, that is no longer the case. Jobs can be found in the suburbs -- mostly service sector jobs -- but employment for unskilled men with criminal convictions, while difficult to find anywhere, is especially hard to find close to home."
"An ex-offender whose driver's license has been suspended or who does not have access to a car, often faces nearly insurmountable barriers to finding employment." (p. 147)
CHAPTER 5: THE NEW JIM CROW
Ms. Alexander makes a very important point regarding what she believes is a profound misunderstanding of how racial oppression actually works -- that it is not just about individual attitudes but the basic structure of our social system. SEE ALL OF PP. 178-179.
Criminality today carries a clear RACIAL STIGMA: "Every racial caste system in the United States has produced racial stigma. Mass incarceration is no exception. Racial stigma is produced by defining negatively what it means to be black. The stigma of race was once the shame of the slave; then (in the context of Jim Crow) it was the shame of the second-class citizen; today the stigma of race is the shame of the criminal...." (p. 192) and note what she goes on to day on p. 192 and 193.
See most of pp. 206-207, where Ms. Alexander notes that we could have responded more constructively to the collapse of inner city communities in the 1970s nad 80s:
"The economic collapse of inner-city black communities could have inspired a national outpouring of compassion and support. A new War on Poverty could have been launched. Economic stimulus packages could have sailed through Congress to bail out those trapped in jobless ghettos through no fault of their own. Education, job training, public transportation, and relocation assistance could have been provided, so that youth of color would have been able to survive the rough transition to a new global economy and secure jobs in the suburbs. Constructive interventions would have been good not only for African Americans trapped in ghettos, but also for blue collar workers of all colors, many of whom were suffering too, if less severely. A wave of compassion and concern could have flooded poor and working-class communities, in honor of the late Martin Luther King, Jr. All of this could have happened, but it didn't. Instead we declared War on Drugs."
"The collapse of inner-city economies coincided with the conservative backlash against the Civil Rights Movement, resulting in the perfect storm. Almost overnight, black men found themselves unnecessary to the American economy and demonized by mainstream society...." (pp. 206-207)
CHAPTER 6: THE FIRE THIS TIME
Ms. Alexander poses an important rhetorical question: "Have we unwittingly exaggerated the importance of individuals succeeding within pre-existing structures of power, and thereby undermined King's call for a "complete restructuring" of our society?" (p. 241) and note what she goes on to point out about being blinded by our belief in individualism (just as we are blinded by colorblindness).
Finally, I appreciate what she observes about Dr. King near the end, that today we are stuck in an approach to civil rights advocacy which Dr. King had abandoned during his final years. We have not appreciated King's radicalism.
______________________________
That's it. Please incorporate the above along with your other notes on "The New Jim Crow." We will make a transition to Asian Americans tommorrow (Tues. 11/23). Start reading "Yellow." We will see a video on the various Asian-American communites in America tomorrow as well. Finally, DON'T FORGET THAT ESSAY III IS DUE TOMORROW AS WELL.
Monday, November 8, 2010
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY: GLEN BROWDER TALK AND PANEL DISCUSSION
To earn 3 points extra credit, I'd like you to attend either the 11AM talk in Leonard Aud. or the 7PM panel discussion (also in Leonard, I believe)this Tuesday, Nov. 9th.You are welcome to attend both, but I will only be giving extra credit for one response to either the talk or panel. The topic is racial politics in the South. To earn the three points, what I want you to do is simply comment on your overall reaction to the talk or panel, AND MAKE JUST ONE CONNECTION WITH ANYTHING WE'VE COVERED IN THE CLASS SO FAR.
PLEASE POST YOUR EXTRA CREDIT COMMENT NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY, NOV. 12TH.
PLEASE POST YOUR EXTRA CREDIT COMMENT NO LATER THAN THIS FRIDAY, NOV. 12TH.
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