Facebook Blog Post

When I first received this assignment I wasn’t really sure what I was looking for on facebook. I thought about all of the articles we read in class and I couldn’t think of one article that related to anything that was on facebook. After I continued thinking about it the one article that I thought related the most was the article about Abercrombie. The article about Abercrombie was the one article that people in my generation could relate to the most and so I thought that it would be the best one to relate to another important part of our generation, socializing on the internet.
When I searched facebook for the word Abercrombie I got a lot of results. The first few pages were all people who had Abercrombie as their last name but then I found groups supporting Abercrombie, people who worked for Abercrombie and listed it under employment and even people who listed it under their interests. I was surprised that I didn’t get more results when I typed in Abercrombie and Finch. I got more results when I just typed Abercrombie. It was interesting to see how the article related to what I found on facebook. I don’t agree with what the article said, I believe that there are other reasons as to why facebook’s target market is white, but just for the articles sake I will say that all the results on facebook showed Caucasian Americans. I do believe that there are alternative reasons as to why when you search facebook for people with the word Abercrombie. I do not think that it means that Abercrombie is a racist organization its just that their target market is a specific group of people that just happens to be Caucasian, young, hip teenagers.
As an overview, I don’t think that facebook promotes discrimination. Instead it allows people to express their true identity. Race and Nationality are about of people’s identity.

“Where do you want to go today?”: Cybernetic Tourism, The Internet, and Transnationality

This article talks about discrimination on both the internet and in television and print advertising. Nakamura, the author talks about how on the internet, or in cyberspace, it is easy to have certain parts of your identity overlooked; Aspects of your identity such as race, gender, age, sexuality. She also talks about how this isn’t always the case. It’s not always possible to completely abandon that aspect of ones identity. In the articles introduction paragraph it says, “This pure, democratic, cerebral form of communication is touted as a utopia, a pure no-place where human interaction can occur, as the voice-over says ‘uninfluenced by the rest of it’”. This quote is referring to a television commercial that claims that on the internet individuals are not influenced by ‘the rest of it’. It is referring to how on the internet there are only minds and no discrimination based on race, gender, age, sexuality etc. MCI Internet Services also used a similar advertising concept. In their advertisements they pushed the idea that getting on the internet made individuals part of a global network that freed them from their attributes that may or may not discriminate against them. Another example was a television commercial created by AT&T that promoted a world without limits and that communication is that tool to make it work.
Nakamura uses many great examples of how large corporations have advertised that the internet allows individuals to express their identity not by their skin color, or their gender, or any other discriminating factors but rather show their individuality thru their personality. Nakamura does an incredible job of analyzing these promotional messages but very rarely did I see her address the deeper issues. She spent majority of her time analyzing the promotion and what it meant and not really talking about the effectiveness of the advertisement or even the way that the message was received by customers. She also spends very little time addressing the hidden meanings in the advertisements. On page 94 when she is discussing the IBM commercial I think she finally digs a little deeper into the true problem of these advertisements. She says, “These ads claim a world without boundaries for us, the consumers and the target audiences, and by doing they show us exactly where and what these boundaries are, and that is ethnic and racial”. She further addresses this underlying issue beginning on page 96 when she states that advertising in magazines such as Wired, Time, Smithsonian, the New Yorker and the Chronicle of Higher Education are directed towards upper-middle-class white readers.
I don’t think that Nakamura ever directly states this but I think that the underlying issue with all of these promotional campaigns is that they are true, but only to their target audience. However, I don’t think that it’s a negative concept and that it promotes discrimination based on race, sex gender or any other discriminating factor. It’s a basic business concept that in advertising the message in any promotional material has to speak directly to the targeted audience. I think that instead of arguing that these certain advertisements discriminate people should argue that business re-analyze their target audiences and design other advertising campaigns that speak to another proportion of this audience.

Erasing @ Race

I didn’t have to read much of this article before I discovered what the most important concept behind the article was. At the end of the first paragraph it says, “Experience is defined by taking action, including deciding explicitly who you are, or who you want to say you are. Consequently, the design of such spaces- the interface that user’s access- has significant power to affect the interaction expressible at such sites”. This quote sets the tone for the rest of the article. It is simply saying that since users use computers and not real human interaction it’s easy to deceive people into thinking that individuals are different than themselves. Having said that gives this interface a lot of power because it gives people the opportunity to hide behind this created reality. The article continues to further discuss race as a part of this virtual identity.
Something that I found interesting early on in the article is Kolko’s discussion about language choices in text- based worlds such as instant messaging. With interpersonal communication facial expressions, hand gestures, tone of voice etc play a very important role in our interpretations of others. In the text based world all of these communication tools are absent; therefore language choice is very important when individuals describe themselves. It plays a crucial role in creating an individuals virtual identity. This is also true of physical appearance. Without being able to see the individual, language choice is the only significant factor that can be used to significantly identify ones virtual identity.
The most interesting argument that I found was Brenda Laurel’s argument about the politics of interface design. She argues that, “constructing a self-replicating and exclusionary category of “ideal” user, one that, in some very particular instances of cyberspace, is a definitively white user”. I know I have gone back to this concept a lot but why do we focus so much on this? Nothing is ever going to change because we over analyze everything so much. This quote says that people make the assumption that users are white until they are given distinct and direct clues to learn that they aren’t. It’s a common fact that people are more comfortable around people that they can relate to. Regardless of skin color that is something that everyone has in common. The world needs to take a step back and embrace our differences and realize that we are never all going to be the same and that there will always be some forms of discrimination but that over analyzing isn’t going to help.

Why I hate Abercrombie

This article begins by talking about how white, gay men are drawn to the Abercrombie clothing line. It’s interesting to think about what makes the brand such a magnet for white, gay men. Abercrombie was established in 1892. It quickly grew to become a prosperous outdoorsmen’s store, featuring elaborate promotions set up just like they would be in the wilderness. Even in the earliest days of its conception Abercrombie was associated with white men who lived in the leisure class. The company first created the catalog after Abercrombie had resigned. This catalog was more than 450 pages long and was shipped to over 50,000 elite white males who they hoped to make potential customers. Abercrombie began to face economic hard times until current CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch began a very successful marketing campaign that captured “playful coed shots” to glamorize the collegiate lifestyle. In 1997 Abercrombie and Fitch launched the A&F Quarterly to further promote their new image. In 1998 Abercrombie and Fitch once again became a publicly traded company.

What’s interesting about their Marketing campaign is how much they have to focus on marketing the lifestyle that their clothes provide to privileged and leisure class whites because the clothes are actually boring and homely. Abercrombie provides the Abercrombie Look Book: Guidelines for Brand Representatives of Abercrombie and Fitch to all of their Brand Representatives. These books discuss numerous topics but are broken down into five sections: Introduction, Our Past, Our Present, Our Future, and the A&F look. This book talks about all the qualities. Both personal and physical that a Brand Representative must have in order to sell the Abercrombie images, which is what ultimately sells their clothes. In all of the pages of the A&F Quarterly there are images of white men and women, but predominantly men.

Just one of the many ways that Abercrombie promotes racism is the line of “Asian” themed t-shirts that the company launched in April of 2003. These t-shirts poked fun of Asians and were protested by people in that community.

Another way to look at the way Abercrombie promotes racism is the skin color of all of their employees. In all A&F stores the sales staff is predominantly white. Similar clothing designers such as Ralph Lauren do a much better job of promoting equality as well as diversity. On June 17th, 2003 a class action lawsuit was filed against Abercrombie claiming they discriminate in their hiring practices. The author of this article believes that the elaborate creating of the A&F look was a method to avoid company exposure to lawsuits against their employment policies. The author of this article also said that every previous employee that he had spoken to were white men. It also said that they ranged in age from 19-26 and were either college educated or in college. These men told stories of how black employees were excluded from company photos, sales staff who were fired because they did not fit the Abercrombie look, and the grading scale used to rate the looks of Abercrombie employees. One previous employee also said that they were very clear in the employee type that they were looking for. They wanted the all American look, natural, no skin problems, and to look for white people.

Numerous times the author stated in this article that people are not buying the Abercrombie clothing line for the clothes; they are buying in for the life style. Having said that people have to understand that it’s all apart of their business plan and marketing campaign. It’s not being racist using implementing the right sales force to make the most of their business plan. If African Americans and Hispanics were buying their clothes it would be different. Vast majority of their clients fit the description of their typical employee and they want to be sold clothes by someone that is similar to them. It’s the same in all areas of sales. People want someone who can relate to them and that they feel comfortable with or they are not going to be willing to buy. People need to stop claiming that they are discriminating, when in all actuality they are running a very successful business that provides their customers with exactly what they want.

Takaki Chapter 12

Why did everyone view America as the land of dreams? A lot of Mexicans moved north to the United States because it was so easy for them to get across the boarder. They never needed a passport just to check in with the immigration office on the American side and change into some American clothes. Mexicans continued to flock to the United States because of the violence of the Mexican Revolution and to escape the poverty and starvation that was taking over. Many Mexicans only planned to reside in the United States for a few months or at least until peace returned but those few months quickly turned to years. The development of the Mexican railroad helped encourage workers and other Mexican citizens to move to the United States. The railroads caused a massive migration to the United States. Altogether an estimated one tenth of the Mexican population moved to the United States.

Even in the early 1900’s discrimination was present. Mexicans were only able to work industrial jobs, and were also limited by the white labor unions. Mexicans worked in a variety of different areas, always earning less than they should and never experiencing room to advance.

Mexicans were forced to stay where they were because of their contracts and the debt that they were forced into. Violation of this ultimately resulted in their arrest and then jail.

Mexicans actively participated in Labor Strikes, especially during the Great Depression. They fought for higher wages and better working conditions, frequently losing.

One page 325 it has a quote from a local media reporter threatening the Mexicans who were on strike. It reminded me of a similar situation and issue that we are currently faced with right now in regards to immigration. The idea of what to do with our current illegal immigrants in the United States and how to limit and restrict the immigration of future immigrants. The Mexicans eventually settled on a compromised wage rate.

Not only were Mexicans given crummy employment opportunities they were also excluded socially from the Anglo society. While I was reading the paragraph about how Mexicans were excluded socially I was appalled when I read the following line, “I told my friend I would rather die of starvation than to humiliate myself before the Americans by eating with the Negros” (pg 327).

How can Mexicans complain about discrimination when they discriminate against others, in this case African Americans? How can people be that hypocritical? Once again it goes back to pointing fingers just because people don’t want the fingers pointed at them. It’s a broad generalization to make but I believe that everyone shows some form of discrimination towards others. It’s all about individual comfort levels and societal pressures. I also believe that people can not be expected to be treated as equals unless they treat others with the same respects they expect to receive.

Takaki Chapter 12

Why did everyone view America as the land of dreams? A lot of Mexicans moved north to the United States because it was so easy for them to get across the boarder. They never needed a passport just to check in with the immigration office on the American side and change into some American clothes. Mexicans continued to flock to the United States because of the violence of the Mexican Revolution and to escape the poverty and starvation that was taking over. Many Mexicans only planned to reside in the United States for a few months or at least until peace returned but those few months quickly turned to years. The development of the Mexican railroad helped encourage workers and other Mexican citizens to move to the United States. The railroads caused a massive migration to the United States. Altogether an estimated one tenth of the Mexican population moved to the United States.

Even in the early 1900’s discrimination was present. Mexicans were only able to work industrial jobs, and were also limited by the white labor unions. Mexicans worked in a variety of different areas, always earning less than they should and never experiencing room to advance.

Mexicans were forced to stay where they were because of their contracts and the debt that they were forced into. Violation of this ultimately resulted in their arrest and then jail.

Mexicans actively participated in Labor Strikes, especially during the Great Depression. They fought for higher wages and better working conditions, frequently losing.

One page 325 it has a quote from a local media reporter threatening the Mexicans who were on strike. It reminded me of a similar situation and issue that we are currently faced with right now in regards to immigration. The idea of what to do with our current illegal immigrants in the United States and how to limit and restrict the immigration of future immigrants. The Mexicans eventually settled on a compromised wage rate.

Not only were Mexicans given crummy employment opportunities they were also excluded socially from the Anglo society. While I was reading the paragraph about how Mexicans were excluded socially I was appalled when I read the following line, “I told my friend I would rather die of starvation than to humiliate myself before the Americans by eating with the Negros” (pg 327).

How can Mexicans complain about discrimination when they discriminate against others, in this case African Americans? How can people be that hypocritical? Once again it goes back to pointing fingers just because people don’t want the fingers pointed at them. It’s a broad generalization to make but I believe that everyone shows some form of discrimination towards others. It’s all about individual comfort levels and societal pressures. I also believe that people can not be expected to be treated as equals unless they treat others with the same respects they expect to receive.

Takaki Chapter 6

I found its interesting how to hear how the Irish came to America. It wasn’t because they dreamed of a brighter future or land of opportunities it was because they were forced to leave. And it was just a small amount of Irish who were forced to leave it was five and a half million between 1815 and 1920. Ironically, they were being pushed out of their country in masses, “by strangers from England”. Previously the Irish had lost a vast majority of their land to English land lords and were forced to convert to the Christian religion but later found themselves defending Catholicism. Due to the push to increase exports the Irish were pushed even further into poverty. Between 1750 and 1810 Irish exports increased from 2 million to 6 million pounds. To try and overcome poverty around the 1840’s many Irish became migratory workers and were able to make enough to feed their families potatoes for a year.

In July of 1845 the potato crop was attacked with a disease. By 1855 over one million people had died from hunger and sickness. During this time many Irish fled to America in an attempt to escape the fever, disease and hunger. Over one million people had died from the Great Potato Famine.

Like many other immigrants that came to America the Irish became laborers. While many of them became laborers some Irish didn’t even make it to America. Due to the horrible conditions on their voyage over an estimated twenty percent of the emigrants dies during or because of the passage.

Conditions in Ireland failed to improve and between the years of 1855 and 1920, three million Irish moved to America. Even though they came to America looking for the land of promises they quickly realized that it wasn’t what they thought it was going to be. After an Irish labor strike, Chinese workers were brought in to fill the gaps in unemployment. The Chinese were able to increase production compared to the Irish. When contrasted with the Chinese they were often compared to blacks. According to an English traveler, “To be called an ‘Irishman’ is almost as great an insult as to be stigmatized as a ‘nigger feeler’” (pg. 150).

Even though the English viewed Blacks and Irish in the same social class standing Irish people did not treat Blacks as equals. Once again it comes back to the same issues of equality. No ethnicity or race can expect to be treated as equals when they don’t show the same equal treatment to others. As soon as the Irish began receiving jobs that were perhaps worse than those given to the slaves they began to promote their whiteness.

Takaki Chapter 7: Foreigners in their Native Land

Throughout this whole class we have discussed and debated what it means to be American. Early in this chapter it says, “Ironically, the Irish had been pushed from their homeland by British colonialism, and here they found themselves becoming Americans by participating in the conquest of the Southwest”. When I read this sentence I began to think about which individuals and groups were able to assimilate into what the traditional American Society was becoming. The groups and individuals that were able to assimilate were those that didn’t fight the change by holding on to their cultural values and traditions. For example, the Indians fought to hang on, they held on, or tried to hang on, to their cultural values and beliefs.

This article discusses how the Mexicans first came to settle in California and their ways of life. Initially when Americans came they were accepted and learned the way of the life lived by the Mexicans who lived there. Eventually Americans began coming in groups that didn’t respect their way of life and caused great resistance amongst the initial settlers of California. The Bear Republic was quickly established, declaring California as a possession of the United States. Even though the initial trouble was in California the war began in Texas. The war was brutal and embarrassing to the United States. Mexico eventually, in early 1848, accepted the Rio Grande as the Texas Border and sold territory to the United States for 15 million dollars. Once again Americans began alienating people and making them feel unwelcome in their homeland. The United States gained political power and then began to deny Mexican Land Grants, giving them ownership to even more Mexican Territory. They also implemented taxes that made even more Mexicans lose their land. Soon Mexicans began working for the people who had taken over the land because they had no other options. Mexicans made up majority of cowboys, railroad workers, and workers in the mine industry. Mexicans quickly found themselves in mainly blue collared occupations, such as service and unskilled labor. For those Mexicans who did have the same jobs as Anglos they were paid significantly less. Soon Mexicans began creating associations known as mutavalistas that helped in resisting labor exploitations and racism.

It’s unfortunate and yet at the same time not surprising. It seems that in all areas of History certain groups of people are being mistreated by those who find themselves to be superior. Why they find themselves to be superior is the real question…

Takaki Chapter 10

What shocks me most about this article is not that American citizens or those who are eligible for citizenship, meaning only those who were “white”, did this but that the government in countries such as China, Japan and Korea allowed their citizens to be used in such a manner. Why would the government of these countries allow their citizens to be treated like slaves and continue to send individuals at the demands of the employers? Why were more governments not like that of the Korean government who eventually prohibited further immigration to Hawaii because of the way that their citizens were being treated? Its article such as this one that make it so easy to point fingers on just one group of people when in all actuality the fault is everywhere. Why would the employers stop treating their workers that why when they are getting extremely high levels of productivity at low cost and other countries are allowing their citizens to do it? Why would they stop if everyone was supporting their actions?

In the article it talked about how even though all workers were treated very poorly some where discriminated on more than others. On page 255 it talks about how even women were required to do much the same work as men they were paid significantly less. On average women made 55 cents a day while men made 75 cents a day. That was back in the early 1900’s so why is it much the same way today. This only goes to prove that we have made significant strides for equal opportunities in the work place but we still have a long way to go.

Along those same lines the article goes on to talk about the most significant “blood unionism” and the Japanese Strike of 1909. They were in a rage and protesting against the fact that Portuguese laborers were paid more than they were for the same work. They were on strike for four months before they were required to return to work. Even though they returned to work and continued to make different wages than their counterparts from around the world the plantation owners discontinued using the differential wage system because of all of the pressure they felt from the strike.

After the Hawaii Laborers Union was created, a multiracial organization, Plantation owners and leaders tried to turn the different racial groups on each other using black mail and propaganda. Eventually the plantation owners claimed a complete victory but three months later increased wages by 50%.

The issues that the Japanese and others faced in America in the early 1900’s can be blamed on many different things. There are so many outside factors that its impossible to point the finger at any one particular cause.

The “Giddy Multitude”

After reading just the first paragraph I realized something. If tomorrow we woke up and saw an individual with purple skin how would we react? What would we do? What would we think? I was amused by the quote about the African’s skin color. It says, “It seemeth this blackness proceedeth rather of some natural infection of that man, which was so strong that neither the nature of the Clime, neither the good complexion of the mother concurring, could anything alter...” It was after reading this that I begin to question what we in present day society would think of someone who we randomly stumbled upon with a different skin color. If we saw someone with purple skin how would we explain it? I believe that we would try and explain it scientifically using modern day technology. Whets the difference between that and the way the whites tried to explain it hundreds of years ago? With the technological limitations was their beliefs and opinion so wrong?

On page 54 it talks about how in the early days of the Virginia colony most “slaves” were actually white indentured servants. It says that during the seventeenth century almost 75 percent of the colonist came as servants. After hearing this fact I find it ironic that we view slavery as a matter of differences in skin color and about people being inferior to others. This fact makes me believe that slavery is not about skin color its about feelings of power. Feelings of power over other people regardless of what their skin color is. Some people may find that its easier to exert this power of people that they view as inferior but I don’t think that skin color is the main factor. Could it be that we use racism as a scapegoat to cover up human greed and selfishness? Is it possible that humans are not generally good and only have their best interest at heart? I think that there are many other “hidden” reasons for slavery that are not often addresses.

It goes on to say that these people who were indentured servants were the outcasts of society. Therefore the people that used them as indentured servants viewed themselves as superior and it was not because of their skin color but rather because of their place in society. So maybe its safe to say that blacks are viewed as inferior to some because of their place in society and not because of their skin color.

What I don’t understand is what happened. Why did blacks then become indentured servants for life while whites were only required to complete a certain amount of time? When did it no longer become an issue of power and an issue of race? Its this mystery that I think deserves more of our time trying to solve than trying to discover while there is slavery in the first place.

Chapter 2: Drawing the Color Line

Early in Zinn’s article he begins talking about how the past should provide us with a few clues as to how the future should unfold. Will the color line ever completely disappear? In the third paragraph Zinn defines racism as the combination of inferior status and derogatory thought.

After reading this and contemplating this definition I don’t think that it necessarily relates to what the current definition of racism is. Is our current situation in regards to racism really about derogatory thought and inferior status?

In my belief racism has come to represent a misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of how to fix it. In my opinion whites do not view blacks as inferior but rather they have never been taught to view them as equals. For example, if we were taught that chocolate was bad for hundreds of years would we instantly believe that it’s good for you? We have been taught and almost brainwashed into what to believe for so long that it has hazed our thinking. Or is it that we try to hard to cover up our differences that we make it look like we find ourselves to be better or inferior?

For example, affirmative action. Due to the way that we have been raised we felt it necessary to create rules and regulations to promote equal opportunity for different races, genders, and sexualities. If we had been raised slightly different we wouldn’t find it necessary to create laws and regulations creating equal opportunity. Equal opportunity is not created through rules and regulations, it’s through beliefs and values. The color line will never disappear until we stop forcing people to feel a certain way and start becoming more understanding of different cultural values and beliefs.

How Systems of Privilege Work

In this chapter Johnson addresses the basic foundation of privilege. Johnson says that there are three characteristics of systems organized around privilege. Those characteristics include dominated, identified and centered by privilege groups. All of these characteristics support that belief that all members of privilege groups are better than those that are below them and they deserve to be there. He also states that white men have most of the power. He uses the example of a business and how the further up you look the more men you see and the further down you look the more women you see. He calls our current society a male-dominated system. It was interesting to hear that evidence that Johnson had for how our society is dominated by males. He talks about how many derogatory comments there are for men who are dominated by woman but there aren’t many for women who are dominated by men. He also stated how men are criticized if they don’t live up to the typical expectations given by male power. Another great example was when he talked about the term brotherhood and how it is commonly used and would never be replaced with words such as sisterhood.

After reading this chapter there isn’t anything that I question. Issues of gender are very present in today society and are directly related to privilege. My favorite example of this is when Johnson talks about how high-status occupations and how the core competencies required for these positions are based around masculine qualities such as competition, aggressiveness and not being emotional attached. It’s unfortunate that our society has to stereotype different genders but I don’t see any way around it. In our society it’s extremely difficult to be a women and working in a mans world. It’s interesting to think about why women have such a strong disadvantage but if you think about all of the opportunities that they don’t have its not surprising. One of the most interesting ideas that I have heard about this is how in business women do not have access to some of the most important place business deals occur and that is the golf course. It’s interesting that men have created a double disadvantage without even realizing it. Not only are women at a disadvantage to men because they don’t have the same qualities as men when it comes to business but they are now also at a disadvantage physical because they don’t normal play on the same level as men. I believe that most men would be irritated if they were playing golf with a women and she was not at the same skill level as he.

It’s interesting to when all the facts are laid out because I think that its something that in our day to day lives we tend to over look.

What it all has to do with us

In this chapter Johnson talks a lot about myths and social construction. He states early on that our society places a strong emphasis on the individual which is more often than not a strong disadvantage because it distorts our view of reality. He also concludes that think only about the individual causes us to play the blame game, always blaming everything in the world on someone else.

Johnson also discusses the idea behind everyone’s personal identity and how that relates to our social systems as a whole rather than the individualistic model. In order to understand what happens in the world you need to know how our social systems behave and interact with individuals, not how individuals act alone.

Another interesting theory that he discusses is the theory of the path of least resistance. After reading about the theory it made perfect sense but it was never something that I realized or identified with before being told about it. As individuals we do what is normally accepted by our social systems and is the easiest for us to do. This concepts just reinforces that its individuals acting within social systems that creates our society.

Once again I do believe that Johnson does a great job of further explaining privilege and oppression in our society today, however, I completely disagree with his statement that, “A University, for example, is a social system, and people participate in it. But the people aren’t the university and the university isn’t the people.” While I think that his intentions are good with this statement I do think that this would be very confusing to many readers. I understand the concept behind what he is saying in regards to individuals and social systems but there is a fine line distinguishing the two. I do believe that a university is the people and that the people are the university. What would a university be without the people behind it? The university is a social system but social systems are nothing without the individuals collectively supporting, creating and nurturing them. If people were not here to support the university what would the university be? If we were not here how different would the university be? If the professors were all different what would our values be? What would our mission statement be if we had a different President?

All of these questions, I think, show how collectively individuals do create the social systems such as Universities.

The Trouble with the Trouble

“If dominant groups really saw privilege and oppression as unacceptable –if white people saw race as their issue, if nondisabled people saw ableism as their problem-privilege and oppression wouldn’t have much of a future.”

This is by far my favorite chapter in Privilege, Power and Difference. I can really relate to all of the concepts that Johnson talks about and feel he does a great job of relating these issues to actual business practices today. Johnson concludes that there are a few reasons why people do not actively engage in privilege issues; because they don’t know that it exists in the first place, because they don’t have to, because they think that its just a personal problem, because they want to hang on to their privileges, because they are prejudiced, or because they are afraid. Johnson believes that these reasons are the foundation as to why people ignore issues or privilege. He also concludes that there are two ways that the Human Resource Managers went about dealing with the issue; the first strategy they use is to appeal to the sense of decency and fairness that many privileged people have and the other is the business case often used by corporations and universities.

What most intrigued me about this reading was his discussion of the business case and how it relates to corporations. He argues that implementing diversity programs would cost less in the long run than losing talented and skillful workers who are uncomfortable in their environment. He also states that any attempts businesses make to address diversity are short lived because people are not dedicated to the cause.

While I completely agree with Johnson’s argument I do question how accurate his assumptions are about diversity in the workplace. Ever since Affirmative Action became a requirement I think tremendous strides have been taken to implement diversity programs and considerations into corporations. I recently attended the Owens Corning Diversity Leadership Conference where we addressed many of these same issues. Owens Corning does a fabulous job of creating programs that enhance diversity across their global organization and they do so for many reasons. As a generalization I don’t believe that organizations implement diversity programs ONLY for reasons as stated in the business case. I do agree that organizations are forced to implement these standards to stay competitive but I also believe that after implementation these standards have significantly improved the quality of life for their employees and for their customers. It is becoming a global trend to support diversity amongst employees because it makes the organization better as whole. I think that stating that these are the first programs to get cut in a budget crunch is a false assumption because many organizations now realize the overall importance of these programs to their success.

I really enjoyed this reading. I’m a business major and a lot of the topics that were discussed in this reading I have discussed before in my classes. Johnson also states, “Even when people can see the benefits somewhere off in the distance, they still need something to hold them to the vision and see them through the long journey from here to there. Appealing to lofty principles or the bottom line can’t do it, because those approaches too easily give way to forces and considerations that are powerful in the short run even if they are disastrous in the long run.”

I could not disagree with this statement more. Our society is based on bottom lines and lofty principles. Our economy would not be the same; we would not be such a wealthy and prosperous nation if we weren’t based on those things. Johnson does a great job making his argument but I disagree with some of his statements.

Framework Essay: Dichotomizing

Framework Essay”: Dichotomizing

After reading the section on dichotomizing I believe that the author did a great job in explain the background of the two parts our society has created. He concludes that not only are these two mutually exclusive classes present but also that there is a gap in the views between different generations of people.

He spent majority of this section not necessarily arguing but making sure that the reader fully understood this concept and how it is present in our society today, as well as, the past actions which have shaped today’s views. The authors views are expressed when he states, “from the essentialist position, race is assumed to exist independently of our perception of it; it is assumed to significantly distinguish one group of people from another. From the constructionist perspective, race exists because we have created it as a meaningful category of difference among people” Even after this statement he never takes a stance on he feels. He only further elaborates on the theory’s that he believes shape the way we view the issue of race and how we dichotomize people.

The one issue that I would have liked if he had addresses further is the difference of opinions between the age gaps. I find this very interested and even more important if analyzing how future generations are going to act toward the current issues of race and dichotomy. How are future generations going to improve the current situation? I believe that the issues of race and dichotomy are slowly improving with each decade but will take tremendous strides to improvement with the new generation. In the essay it discusses how today’s youth of different religions and historical periods are producing other distinctions other than the traditional black and white.

After reading my assigned section I feel better educated on dichotomizing, as well as, past believes and values that have shaped this concept. I also feel that this issue will continue to improve but may never be completely nonexistent. Our society will always see differences whether its race, religion, education, sexuality etc. but how we react to those visible differences will be forever changing.

The “Tempest in the Wilderness, The Racialization of Savagery

The “Tempest in the Wilderness, The Racialization of Savagery

After reading The “Tempest” in the Wilderness, The Radicalization of Savagery, I believe that the author concludes that the violence that the English exerted, both over the Indians and the Irish was barbaric. I also feel that he provides relevant information about societal struggles and conflicts relevant to the time period in which these horrible acts took place.

Throughout reading all of these tails about Christopher Columbus and the brutality that was used over the Indians, as well as anyone else who was a different race or religion, what I don’t understand that most is how this was done to human beings appear to have been so innocent. While this may or may not be the case they are certainly portrayed in this reading as very benevolent figures that were more than willing and eager to meet Christopher Columbus and all the men that he brought with him.

The essay begins by stating, “In their first encounters with Europeans, the Indians tried to relate the strangers to what was familiar in their world”. How come the opposite was not true of the Europeans? What is it about the culture, values and religion of the Indians that made them welcoming and humble? What is it about the culture, values, and religion of the Europeans that made them look upon the Indians with such disgust?

I believe that it is these questions that form the base of racial and religious discrimination in today’s society. Even British laws and plays were influencing others views of people different then them. British law was forbidding marriage between the Irish and the colonizers and stated that the new world order was to be one of the English over the Irish. Also as this time, British play writers such as Shakespeare were influencing these views but including personal values and plays in popular plays. By so many people, both in the government and in the media of the time discriminating it was only a matter of time before two dichotomies were created.

The violence that was shown to the Irish was a foreshadowing of the violence that would be shown to the Indians. Shakespeare claimed that the Irish could be “nurtured” and could become civilized. Essentially what the visible difference between the English and the Irish was culture. The same was true of the English and the Indians. Whatever it was that made the English feel they were more sophisticated and cultured than another human being is beyond me but was the driving influence affecting the America’s today.

I like to believe that we have come so far in viewing other people as equals but its hard to not ignore that we have a long way to go. Just a few hundred years ago it was believed that some people were just “natural slaves”. While this may no longer be the consensus today discirimination is still very present in our society and I wonder if we will ever be able to full recover from the division the English and others have created all over the world.

About Me!

Hello! My name is Ashley Timmons and I am a sophomore here at BG! I was originally born in Seattle, Washington but moved to Centerville, Ohio when I was 7. Growing up I always had my heart set on going to Miami University at Oxford but for financial reasons decided to go to BG. I am happy to say that I have never regretted that decisions.

I am very involved on-campus and I am greatly appreciative of everything that Bowling Green has given me. I am a member of the Zeta Kappa Chapter of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and serve as the Public Relations Chair. Along with my involvement in Kappa I am a member of the American Marketing Association and serve as the President of LiveBG.com, a business that we started last year. I also have a Marketing and Public Relations internship with Ameriprise financial in Toledo where I have learned a lot about what I want to do with my future.

I love my family and friends and firmly believe that I wouldn't be where I am today without them. I am a easy-going and fun-loving person that loves to meet new people and is truly excited about life. Anything else you want to know don't hesitate to ask!

Columbus, the Indians and Human Progress

The first thing that caught my attention was in the very first few paragraphs. I find it fascinating to read about the early attempts at consumerism. Columbus explains how the Arawak men and women brought him and his sailors “gifts” of parrots and cotton balls in exchange for glass beads and bells. These early trades were the very beginning of consumerism in America and have established the process of exchanging goods for money that we currently use today.

Another remark that caught my attention was the sentence, “like other informed people of his time, he knew that the world was round and that he could sail west in order to get to the Far East”. Today we would take information such as the world being round for granted because we tend to consider it such common knowledge; While hundreds of years ago it was a fascinating discovery that was known by only a few.

While early on in the reading it gives glimpses of Columbus’ character being rather selfish the reading really emphasis this when they talk about how he claimed to have seen land first and took the reward away from Rodrigo. I always pictured Columbus being a very kind and gentle leader and I am surprised to hear stories of his selfishness and an autocratic leadership. It further emphasis these characteristics when he took some of the Arawak prisoners on his ship so that they could lead him and his crew to the gold. I was horrified to read that he was supplied with an abundance of ships and men on his next voyage which had only one mission; “gold and slaves”. Treating the Arawak people like animals and sending them back to England is just cruel and would never be tolerated in today’s society so why was it back then? Even more disgusting was when Indians were found without a copper token around there neck and had their hands chopped off for not finding enough gold in the three month time period they were given. It’s equally as cruel to read about how after Columbus and his men began killing the Indians it was only a short amount of time before majority of their population and heritage was gone.

Prior to reading this chapter I had such high expectations about who Christopher Columbus was. I saw him as someone to be idled, some that is recognized in classrooms across the United States. When, in all actuality, he was a selfish and greedy killer. He took the lives of thousands of innocent Indians to find gold. Why is a man like this spoken so highly of in classrooms across the America? Why do we glorify a man who holds none of the values and morals that this Country was founded on?

It’s even more interesting to think about how America became such a great and independent country. Was it the same selfish greed the Columbus possessed? Did we follow in his footsteps? And if so, is it fair for us to criticize him when we all take for granted the freedoms we have without truly realizing how we got them?