- Heterosexuality - I more privileged than those who do not identify as heterosexual, to openly discuss my relationships without fear of judgement or other negative repercussions.
- Education - I have been given the great privilege of having access to higher education. There are other young people my age who have not been as privileged to take advantage of this opportunity.
- Economic Status - I enjoy middle class privileges and have a higher likelihood of rising in socioeconomic status.
- Religion - I am a Christian and while I do believe that is becoming less and less accepted in society, all of my major religious holidays are listed on the calendar and observed nationwide.
- Gender? - I am less likely to be deemed as aggressive or violent than my Black counterparts.
*I can honestly think of more ways in which I am not privileged than privileged.
The Sorting Race Activity
When I first heard that we were going to be doing this activity, I was pretty excited. As an anthropology major, I have a fascination with people and their cultural backgrounds. I think I somewhat expected myself to be pretty good at this activity, while at the same time, I knew there would be some tough ones. Honestly I have to admit that I sort people all the time. I always wonder what someone's race is, especially when their features make it hard for me to tell. But in addition to that I also wonder about other markers, such as their culture, heritage, and even the languages they speak. I believe one of the reasons I do this is because of my own racial/ethnic/cultural identity. In anthropology we learn that race, ethnic, and cultural identity are not interchangeable as many people often assume. Racially I am Mexican American (1/4), White (1/4), and African American (1/2) or multi-racial; and this is just the simplified version of my racial background. Ethnicity is what a person ascribes to. In my case, I identify as African American. Culturally, I would say that I am a blending of African American and Mexican American, although I have been more engrossed in the African American community. But anyways, enough about me and back to the sorting activity. These were my results.
American Indian : 2/4 correct
Asian American: 2/4 correct
Black: 3/4 correct
Latino/Hispanic: 0 correct
White: 2/4 correct
As you can see there were some that gave me some challenge, although many of the ones who I had a hard time in guessing expressed mixed ancestry.
Basically this led me to what I have always known - you can't tell what race or ethnicity someone is just by looking at them. To some extent, I believe culture may be more obvious as there are various cultural markers that people could choose to wear (as in clothing objects and other accessories).
Facts from "Is Race Real?"
- Race and freedom were born together....
- It is almost a paradox to imagine that this was indeed the case. The fact that while the founding fathers were framing a nation built on "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," they were at the same time that excluding black people (and other non-white people) from partaking in this reality. Thus race and freedom seem to be twins. Oh the irony.
- Race is not biological, but racism is still real.
- This fact presents that race is more of a social construction rather than a biological identity. With this being the case it seems that to discriminate against someone based on what you perceive to be their race requires a conscious effort because you analyze that person, and come to determinations and judgements about that person, solely based on their skin color and physical features
- Colorblindness will not end racism.
- Something that really stood out to me from this fact was that they said, "pretending race doesn't exist is not the same thing as creating equality." Wow. This is so true. Just because you deny a factor such as race existing doesn't mean that people are still not discriminating against people who appear to be different. This reminds me of a book that I read for another AFR class, "Negras in Brazil," by Kia Lilly Caldwell that basically proves this whole point. Brazil is supposedly living in a society that is "color blind" or doesn't acknowledge race. They are supposedly multicultural and cite that a Brazilian identity is a mixture. Yet there are stereotypes that negatively affect darker Brazilians.
I had similar privileges such as gender, heterosexuality and higher education. I also had difficulty trying to figure out what privileges I had because I never really acknowledged I had them. I also had the same conclusion where you cannot tell one race from another by just physical appearance.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar problem trying to find ways in which I was not privileged as opposed to having privilege. One of your privileges that is also one of mine that I didn't think of was religion. Also, your anthropological perspective is very interesting. Also, I agree with your last statements, it's easier to see someone's culture as opposed to guessing their race.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that as a minority woman, it is very difficult to find privileges but I do agree we are seen as less aggressive than the African American male. Interesting that you didn't point out your skin tone as a privilege though. As a light skinned woman myself, I have recently recognized the way in which my complexion can often play into my advantage.
ReplyDeleteI had a similar experience with the Race game.
I agree that many African American couples married or plan to be married should seek counseling. As we have seen from our discussions in class there are serious underlying reasons as to why black marriages fail at higher rates than those of other races and tend to never get married. I feel that if we could have more black couples enter into counseling at whatever levels their relationships are at if need be we will see positive results within the black relational patterns.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that you stated that black couples should seek counseling before getting married because I know that in black churches that this is often a requirement before a preacher will agree to marry you. If counseling was continued in the black relationship, maybe once a month or every other month, I believe that this could greatly impact the black household. It would give the couples the opportunity to dissect issues with a outside perspective and also express feelings in an open and safe environment.
ReplyDelete