Monday, February 9, 2009

Talking Points 2.9.09

  • Author: Muwakkil
  • Title: Data Shows Racial Bias Persists in America
  • Argument: Muwakkil argues that not only does racial bias still heavily exist in America, but that the majority white population does not realize it. They go on to perform a study about job opportunities with people with white and black sounding names, and further proves through statistics how skewed many whites in power still are to those of color.
  • Quote #1- "The study found that applicants with white-sounding names were 50% more likely to get called for an initial interview then those with black-sounding names." This is very pathetic statment about the state of the social equality in our nation. That just becase your name is Jamal, you must autamatically be a low-income drug dealer with a prison record making meth in your basement? Or, further, that because your name is Mary that you must not be low income, without a prison record, and not making meth in your basement. The study went on to say that even when the black-sounding name's applicant had a more impressive resume, it still didn;t improve their chances. I would be interrested to know who the employers were, what region they were located in, and what jobs they were hiring for, though none of these validate such prejudice in the workplace.
  • Quote #2- "White applicants with prison records were still more likely to be called for a job interview then blacks without them." So, Billy-joe the convicted rapist can bag your groceries better then Lakisha who doubles as a preschool teacher. It is scary to think that employers would be more concerned with skin tone and not history or felony. Again, I am skeptical of the company, job at stake, and region of the country the interview took place in.
  • Quote #3- "...blacks constitute 13% of America's drug users, but make up 58% of those sent to prison for drug posession." So, either cops are letting more whites go for having the drugs that we all know they have, or the cops are focusing their persuit on mainly black-inhabited areas for drug convictions. Also it could be likely that blacks are convicted more once in court and more whites are found not guilty or given lesser sentences for the same crimes.
  • My feeling is that this clearly shows just how much racial bias does still exist in America. People like to say that since we have a black president then there is clearly no more bias but it simply isnt true. While people of color still feel their color when they negotiate society, then we are still inequal. I hate to think that we live in a society where such hue inequalities still exist, but cultures don't change overnight or without will do do so by dominant groups, so we may have a president of color, but he is a huge exception. Just because other countries have had female presidents doesn;t mean they have gender equality. We have to own what we are before we can start to move to where we want to be.

  • Author: McIntosh
  • Title: White Privilage: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
  • Argument: McIntosh argues that white poeple have been carefully taught not not recignise white privilage and that it is wrong. They argue that privilage must be brought down but this can only be achieved by recignizing it, owning it, and working together to stop it.
  • Quote#1- "(Men) say they are willing to work to improve women's status, but that they can't or won't support the idea of lessening men's." Privilage is a balence system, in that one side gets more then the other gets less, and in order to even it out, those with power will loose some and those without it will gain some. This means that in the workplace straight white christain able bodied males will loose some of their jobs, in order for gay latino buddhist disabled (but just as qualified) females to take their place. This scares the people of power to death because they cannot bear the thought of loosing their status, even though it wasn't really theirs to being with but was just handed to hem because they happened to be born straight white christian and male.
  • Quote #2- "(Whites) can walk into a hairdresser's shop and assume someone there knows how to cut their hair." It is all about owning your prejudice and calling it out so you know what you need to improve upon. The things we take for granted in the dominant group far outnumber the things that aren't taken for granted. But, like Delpit said, "the things that make us different stick out like sore thumbs, and the things that make us 'normal' we take for granted."
  • Quote#3- "Obliviousness to advantage is kept stongly enculturated in the US as to maintain the myth of metiocracy, the myth that democratic choice is equally availible to all." This is exactly what Mwukkail is saying that we are kept blind about the inequities and so we don't believe that they exist. We need to bring them out in the open if we ever hope to change them.
  • My feeling is that all forms of prejudice are holding us back as a society, but becasue they won't be obliterated today or tomorrow, or probably in my lifetime, we need to learn how to accomodate to them. We need to learn to speak other people's "languages", relate to people "on their level", own the things that give us undue power, own the things that don't, and work as a unit to speak out against things that hold us down so that we may realize as a society our goal and work to fix it.

1 comment:

  1. Fabulous post, Eva. Clear, detailed and insightful. Now can you make the connections to our other texts? For example, do you hear Johnson here?

    ReplyDelete