Racism in our culture

Going along the lines of what we talked about yesterday, how 1 and 3 black men are in prison and how prisons are just part of our culture, reminded me of a psychology study where neutral faces of white and black men were quickly presented and either a picture of a gun or a hammer was shown for a split second after and participants had to say if it was a gun or a hammer. The results supported the hypothesis that people thought the image was a gun 75% more when it was presented after a picture of a black man versus a white man. I just thought that this provides more evidence that in our culture, black men are stereotypes as aggressive and most likely to commit a crime.

Faulted System

The system that Mauer outlines in the chapter is full of inconsistencies. First, to disenfranchise a felon for life does not make sense especially when "99 percent of felons have not been convicted of electoral offenses." The worst part about this is that in some states electoral offenses are only misdemeanors. As a result, those who do get caught tampering with votes or the electoral process are not subject to disenfranchisement, yet someone convicted of a petty one time drug offense may not be able to vote for the remainder of their lives.

Often times, these felons' votes are valuable. The amount of felons who are unable to vote is so significant that Mauer claims "disenfranchisement policies have affected the outcome of seven U.S. senate races from 1970-1998." Assuming that the majority of these felons would have voted democratic, "disenfranchisement prevented Democratic control of the Senate from 1986 to 2000." I just think that this is kind of crazy to think about.

Perverse Incentives

Corporations are money making machines. If we assume rationality (which is a basic economic premise), corporations respond to incentives due to their focus on maximizing profit. Prisons are a great example of this occurrence, yet, in this case, it is a PERVERSE incentive that drives the desire to put more people in prison for longer. Moreover, this perverse incentive is linked to our ideas on race and classism. It is a good starting point to think more about what perverse incentive structures exist in regards to race? Certainly predatory pricing falls under this category. Any other thoughts?

Racially-Themed Parties and Post-racial White America

I saw this great article, and given our conversations in class about 'themed' parties, this seemed appropriate as the phenomenon appears to be a larger trend. The findings of this study (that 'color-blind' white students tend not to be offended by racially-themed parties) argue that eliminating race from people's view allows for desensitization to the offensiveness of racialized stereotypes. What do you think?

Definition of ghetto

• formerly the restricted quarter of many European cities in which Jews were required to live; "the Warsaw ghetto"
• any segregated mode of living or working that results from bias or stereotyping; "the relative security of the gay ghetto"; "no escape from the ghetto of the typing pool"
• a poor densely populated city district occupied by a minority ethnic group linked together by economic hardship and social restrictions
  wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

This is the definition of ghetto. I've always wondered why young people today use the word ghetto to describe something that is old or crappy? Saying things like "that's so ghetto" is usually in reference to an object that is broken or a person that acts like a stereotypical black person. I know that words and their meanings change over time but the way the word is used today usually implies something to do with the stereotypical black community.

Any thoughts?

Racism as a Pathological Condition

I would like to start off by saying that I disagree so fervently with this position that it made me angry to just read the Zack's words on the page. I am personally of the opinion that people frequently blame all sorts of things that are really under their control on a medical "condition" in order to escape culpability for their actions. Some common examples are: Tiger Woods and his "sex addiction", the millions of people who all of a sudden need adderal in order to do school work, etc. I would also like to say that these things certainly are real conditions, but in my opinion only exist in a fraction of those people who claim to suffer from the illness. Call me an existentialist.

Because of my VERY strong opinion on the issue of free will, I was enraged when I read the account of racism as a pathology that runs from the bottom of pages 47 to the top of page 48 in Thinking About Race. ("If racists are judged to be emotionally disturbed simply because they are racists, this lifts their moral responsibility for the harm done . . .). However, this reminded me of a cartoon a friend, who knows my nearly cathartic opinion on the topic of moral responsibility, sent to me.

Here's the link!

In Response to "What is Good Hair?"

Chishala's post "What is Good Hair?" reminded me of a song called "I Am Not My Hair" by India.Arie and Akon. I think the song also relates the documentary we watched in class about beauty in African American women. I will post both the lyrics and the youtube link--- let me know what you think. Based on what we saw in the video/your understanding, do you think it's an accurate representation or just the experience of one woman?

Link: I Am Not My Hair

[Akon]
Uh-huh
See I can kinda recall
(Little ways back)
Small tryin' to ball
(Always been black)
And my hair I tried it all
(I even went flat)
Had a Gumby curly top and all the crap, now (ohhh)
Was tryin' to be (appreciated)
Nappy headed brothers never had (no ladies) (no ladies)
Then I Hit by the barber shop (real quick )
had the mini little (twist) and it drove them crazy (drove 'em crazyyy)
And then I couldn't get (no job)
Cause corporate wasn't hiring (no dreadlocks) (oh-no)
Then I thought about my dogs (on the block)
Kinda understand why they chose to (steal and rob) (uh-huh)
Was it the hair that (got me this far?) (uh-huh)
All these girls these (cribs these cars) (uh-huh)
Hate to say it but it (seems so flaw)
Success didn't come 'til I (cut it all off) (uh-huh)

[India.Arie]
Little girl with the press and curl
Age eight I got a Jheri curl
Thirteen then I got a relaxer
I was a source of so much laughter
Fifteen when it all broke off
Eighteen when I went all natural
February 2002 I
Went on and did what I had to do (oh)
Because it was time to change my life
To become the woman that I am inside
'97 dreadlocks all gone
I looked in the mirror for the first time and saw that
HEY...

[Chorus]
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your ex-pec-tations no no (heyy)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within

[India.Arie]
Good hair means curls and waves (no)
Bad hair means you look like a slave (no)
At the turn of the century
It's time for us to redefine who we be
You can shave it off
Like a South African beauty
Got it on lock
Like Bob Marley
You can rock it straight
Like Oprah Winfrey
If its not what's on your head
It's what's underneath and say
HEY....

[Chorus]
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your ex-pec-tations no no (heyy)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within

[Akon]
Who cares if you don't like that
With nothin' to lose posted with the wave cap
When the cops tryin' to harass
Cause I got waves
Aint seen nothin' like that in all my days (noo...)
Man, you gotta change all these feelings
They be judging one another by their appearance
Yes, India I feel ya girl
Now ahead, talk to the rest of the world
Cause, cause, cause

[India.Arie][Bridge]
(oh, oh, oh)
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better person?
(Whoa, whoa, whoa)
Does the way I wear my hair make me a better friend? nooo...
(Whoa, whoa, whoa)
Does the way I wear my hair determine my integrity?
(Whoa, whoa, whoa)
I am expressing my creativity...

[India.Arie]
Breast Cancer and Chemotherapy
Took away her crowning glory
She promised God if she was to survive
She would enjoy everyday of her life ooh...
On national television
Her diamond eyes are sparkling
Bald headed like a full moon shining
Singing out to the whole wide world like
HEY...

[Chorus 2x's]
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am not your ex-pec-tations no no (heyy)
I am not my hair
I am not this skin
I am a soul that lives within

(source: http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/i-am-not-my-hair-lyrics-india-arie/531ba18215ef78ce4825710b002a28b2)