Week 4: Pre-Reading Responses

- A privilege is a special right or an advantage that one could have that no one else, or very few also have. For example, it’s believed that the rich have the privilege of having people’s “benefit of the doubt” in situations most people wouldn’t. In most cases, the rich would never be suspected of doing anything criminal. If they were shopping, they would be greeted nicely and asked if they needed help. However, if someone didn’t appear as rich looking, then when they shop they might be spied on or have the store keeper constantly beside them because they don’t have the benefit of the doubt. Because they are poor, they must steal.

- White privilege: The privileges that those of the white race have.

- Structural inequality: Inequality that can be found in society’s structure.

- Advantage/Disadvantage: An Advantage is simply that—an advantage. It’s something that gives one person more of an edge, or a better position than others. Disadvantage, simply put, is the opposite of advantage. A disadvantage is something that puts one person in a worse position than others.

- I would define racism as discrimination of someone because they are a certain race.  I do think that racism can be linked to my definition of privilege. After all, I see examples of where being of a certain race can make one more privileged than another person who is of another race. For take example, if you were to my shopping example, one group would come out more privileged than the other. For instance,  whether we may like to admit or not, someone who was black would be suspected of stealing far more often than someone who had a white skin color. Those who are white are often given the priviliege of having the “benefit of the doubt.” .

-I believe that people of color can be racist as well. Although quite often many people believe that only whites are racist against blacks, it’s not true. Racism goes both ways. Racism is discrimination, and I know lots of people, both of color and who are white, who discriminate others because of the color of their skin. Unfortunately, I have met a few people of color who constantly state that all white people are evil, that even if they smile, it’s because they want something from you. Truthfully, I find this to be racist because they are discriminating those who are white and who could very well be the most un-evil person on the planet.

- Compared to colonial America, I think racism is less extreme, at least it is physically. Back then, blacks were kept as slaves and were beaten and tortured. Although there may still be cases of physical harm, most of it can be seen in the work force, or by looking at demographics of the average income by race, etc.

Word Count: 472

Week 3: Pre-Reading Responses

	My List	The Census
Major Races	White, African American, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Hawaiian, Native American, Indian, Samoan, Filipino, Mexican	White, Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian Indian, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Other Asian, Native Hawaiian, Guamanian or Chamorro, Samoan, Other Pacific Islander, Some other race
Major Ethnicities	Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, African American,  Indian	Hispanic, Spanish, or Latino Origin or Not of Hispanic, Spanish or Latino origin.

- The census seems to have included more into their list of races probably because they were able to do a survey of what people identified as a race across the United States. Also, when I compare the list of races and ethnicities, some of the ethnicities I listed were classified as a race in their list. This is probably due to the fact that the definition of race and ethnicity is still a tricky thing to understand. What I think is a race, can be an ethnicity or vice versa.

- If I were person 1 I wouldn’t know what to mark for number 8. At first, I was pretty sure that I would have marked no; however, I took a second and thought about it. The Philippines was colonized by Spain and therefore most Filipinos were given Spanish last names, as well as having lots of Filipinos mix with Spaniards. With that said, it’s quite possible that I have Spanish ancestry. Because I’m unsure, I would mark no since I don’t strongly identify myself as a person with a Spanish origin.

- For question number 9, however, was a bit easier for me.  Because my father was full Samoan and my mother was full Filipino, I identify myself as someone who is half of each, meaning I checked the boxes next to those two races.

- I think the census does have a part in influencing the racial and ethnic categories that we use on an everyday basis because it offers the main basis society will judge off of. To clarify, filling out the census is what everyone must fill out. When reading the census, each individual is forced to identify themselves as one of the categories given. Although there is some leniency, where someone could fill in their claimed race into the boxes given, most people would try to fit themselves into one of those categories. After filling out a census, one could start identifying themselves as one of those categories outside of the census because they might believe that the census reflects what the rest of society thinks a race is and that they have to fit into one of those categories.

- I believe that over time the census has changed. As the demographics of the population changed, the categories of the census must have changed too in order to keep up with the times. For example, they probably didn’t add Chinese and other races until a sufficient amount has immigrated into the US. Also, I think the terms used for certain races have changed as well. For example, Blacks are sometimes referred to as African American or before used to even have to identify as Negro.

Word Count: 521

Week 2: Post-Reading Responses

Growing up, and maybe even now, my definition of race was severely influenced by how society defined race. I learned to categorize people into a certain race because of their hair texture, their eye color, their skin color, simply by watching other members of society do it. Even my parents sorted people into races—because that’s what we were taught to do.

Race is simply a concept contrived by society—meaning that it’s only superficial. In reality, race is not biological at all. There is not a single gene in either your or my body. Frankly, I believed that race was biologically handed down from my line of ancestry. I believed that because my father was full Samoan and that because my mother was full Filipino, I thought that I inherited some type of gene that determined those races—I thought I was half of both of those races. Before the readings, I thought I was sure about what race and ethnicity was, however, now I feel as there is more to race than simply the color of one’s skin.

But race is a tricky thing to define. There are so many different definitions of race and ethnicity that most people think that the two terms are interchangeable. Because there isn’t one set definition for either word, many people become confused at the mention of either word. But one thing is for sure—society believes that race is biological.

Many believed that race determines certain traits that can be carried out to offspring. For example, the film explained how sickle cell, which was once considered as a trait only blacks carried, was revealed to be a trait that could be found in anyone who had ancestors that lived in places where cases of malaria happened frequently—including places where non-blacks lived. Besides health traits, many scientists and common citizens alike believed that because race was a biological thing, it affected many traits such as one’s learning ability, musical ability, athleticism, etc. In my school, many students (including me) thought joking about races and how a certain race does certain things well was perfectly ok. For example, at my school most of the students in Calculus, and most of the students involved in choir, band and orchestra were Asian. This played along to the racial stereotype that Asians excelled in math and were quite musically talented.

Although many times we as society believe that we could correctly identify someone as a certain race and in turn could determine what they are capable of physically, and mentally, in reality, it’s not as easy. As shown by the mini buzfeed experiment, many expressed shock and confusion as some “races” of mixed celebrities were revealed. However, the shock was to be expected. After all, as mentioned before, society was the one to teach us how to identify people’s races. If they had a dark complexion, they were black; if they had small, chinky eyes, they were Asian. In buzfeed’s list, Kid Cudi is revealed to be half-Mexican, something that most people would find shocking simply because he looks “just black”—meaning that only his dark complexion is what people see and thus identify him as only black. Another celebrity, Chad Michael Murray was revealed to be a quarter Japanese. We thought because he looked white, that he couldn’t be anything else other than white. But race isn’t measurable. It doesn’t matter what number you are according to the skin scale, you can be as white as printer paper and still belong to a race that supposedly consists of only dark complexions.

Word Count: 597

Week 2: Pre-Reading Responses

-Race can be defined by the action of dividing people into groups based on their similar physical characteristics, such as having the same height, hair color, eye color, skin complexion, etc., that came from their genetic ancestry.

-A few common racial classifications are White, African Americans, Latino, Pacific Islander, and Asian. According to stereotypes, Whites are classified as Whites by their pale skin, blonde hair and blue eyes; African Americans are classified as African American by their dark complexion; Hispanics are defined by their tanned skin, and their curly/wavy dark brown hair; Asians are classified as Asians by their yellow skin, small eyes, and straight black hair.

-A group of people will be classified as a race when they share the same general line of ancestry. They also share the same physical features such as hair color, eye color, and skin complexion. You can also be born into multiple races, as a result of having two parents of different races.

-I don’t think racial categorizations are universal. From experience, I think they change from  area to area. For example, when I lived in Vallejo, California, when you think of an Asian, you would automatically think of a Filipino. After all, Filipinos are the primary Asians in Vallejo; however, when I came to San Francisco, because there are a lot of Chinese, all Asians are thought to be Chinese. Even though the two cities aren’t too far from each other, the views are different.

-I would define ethnicity as a population of people who identify with each other because they share a common ancestry as well as other things such as having shared cultural traits and a  shared group history. I also think that they generally live in the same area. I think some ethnic groups even share common religious beliefs and language, though that may not always be the case. For example, although many Americans, share the same historic background of having a their ancestors immigrate into America, they don’t all believe in the same religion.

-I often confused the two terms when I was younger, and often still do now; however I think the Race focuses on grouping people based on their physical attributes whereas ethnicity focuses more on a social grouping of people based on their shared nationality and beliefs.

-Whenever I fill out a job application or a survey I would usually fill in the bubble next to “Two or More Races” because that’s what I identify with. I was born half-Filipino and half-Samoan. That’s all there is to it. As for my ethnicity, I would say I’m quite American. Although there are a few traditional cultural things I practice that belong to my Filipino and Samoan culture, most of the things I do are the common practice of other Americans.

- There were times where a few have guessed my race wrong. According to the persons who guessed, it was because I didn’t look a certain way like my race is “supposed” to. However, there were times when people were able to guess correctly. According to those guessers, they said that I looked like the race I am. (This is confusing to me as well, I guess that different people characterizes races differently.)

Word Count: 537