An Assignment from the Desk of Mr. Plasker

The country has grown a lot in the past 60 years.  Computers have become the main source of communication.  Telephones have not only lost their cords, but also become small and mobile.  However, technological advances have not been the only field to flourish.  The country’s acceptance has also grown by leaps and bounds.  Nowadays, companies are run by people of all races.  Minorities can walk down the street without the fear of being harassed or worse.  For the most part, all people, regardless of race, have an equal say.  So the country that exploded slavery is now has equality as its motto?  I think not.  Our country has come a long way since the days of slavery, of that there is no doubt, but there are still plenty of exhibitions of racism, regardless of the laws given to all men and women.

            Most of the racism seen today is subtle.  A sideways glance here or there.  A slight step away from somebody on a line.  There are plenty of instances of racism going on everyday that people don’t always recognize.  Neighborhoods, for example, are often dominated by one particular race.  Realtors have even admitted to choosing different neighborhoods to display based purely on the race of the shopper.  In an article on race, the author said, “Cab drivers are often more likely to stop for a white or affluent looking person than one of color or low income. This is most likely because the cab driver is looking to earn extra money through its rich guests” (Richmond 1)  This, itself, is a racist statement.  The author is making the assumption that a person of color is going to be less affluent than a white passenger.  The fact that the cabby is looking for the most money (a practice that cannot be criticized from a business point of view) has nothing to do with the race of his fares.  In fact, in an article designed to point out racism in the country did just that, albeit inadvertently. 

At other times, however, racism can be blatant.  Recently, comedian Michael Richards went off - while doing a stand-up comedy act – on an African-American heckler, spewing racial slurs and offensive comments.  He had now joined the club of pariahs that includes popular and often controversial radio-talk show host, Don Imus.  Equally as blatant is the shocking statistic that African-American males are roughly ten times more likely to be stopped and hassled by police than white males (Jones).  These heinous outbursts and statistics rear their ugly heads every once a while to remind us that racism is not a thing of the past.

Although our country has made great strides, people are still being persecuted for their race. Nobody should become so comfortable with the topic of racism to think that it does not still exist.  

Read the following blog, including comments.  Your mission is to continue the argument with a blog post of your own.  The post does not have to answer the original question.  You may use a topic brought up in the comments as well.  Refer to the following while writing your post: 

- John's Blog (Immigration's Affect on the US Economy)

- My Delicious site (Contains multiple links to websites regarding mexican immigration).

- Listen to the following debate on iTunes held by students at Wake Forest University (Immigration: Recasting the Debate - Podcast). 

- This article found on EBSCO (An interesting article regarding the present immigration situation and Obama's plan for immigration).

- Students also may choose to respond to one of the quotes from the novel (below).  

"For a long moment, they stood there, examining each other, unwitting perpetrator and unwitting victim" (Boyle 8).

- Shows how hesitant Delaney was after hitting Cándido.  Obviously, Cándido was shocked that he was hit, but just as shocked and taken aback was Delaney, who didn't know whether to rush the man to the hospital or to listen to the immigrant and leave him near death on the side of the road.

"The coyotes keep coming, breeding up to fill in the gaps, moving in where the living is easy. They are cunning, versatile, hungry and unstoppable" (Boyle 214).

- This is Delaney's take on immigration.  Handling his guilt with anger at immigrants, he compares them to animals and then calls them an unstoppable force.

"…Well did you ever stop to think what happens when they don’t get that half-day job spreading manure or stripping shingles off a roof? Where do you think they sleep? What do you think they eat? What would you do in their place?” (Boyle 146).

- Once again, displays Delaney's nativism.  He is clearly trying to rally other people to his cause because if others agree that the immigrants should have been there, he thinks that will exonerate himself of the inner guilt he feels.

"They were joggers, nonsmokers, social drinkers, and if not full-blown vegetarians, people who were conscious of their intake of animal fats. Their memberships included the Sierra Club, Save the Children, the National Wildlife Federation and the Democratic Party. They preferred the contemporary look to Early American or kitsch. In religious matters, they were agnostic" (Boyle 34).

- This quote acts in Delaney and Kyra's defense.  It shows just how "good" these people are.  Given this quote, one could ask, "How could such good, community-minded people possibly be related to such a heinous crime?"

Racism = Ignorance, Ignorance = Bliss, Racism = Bliss? I Think Not.

How many times have you heard someone say, “If you’re living in this country, you should be required to speak English!”  Usually this phrase follows a messed-up order at a drive-thru or some other communication breakdown.  Whether fueled by a feeling of nationalism or simply out of racism, the remark carries the same weight.  Unfortunately, Mexican-Americans or Mexican immigrants often bear the brunt of these criticisms – resulting in resentment of Mexican immigrants across the country.  In an article on ScienceBlog.com, the author (unknown) approaches the often taboo topic of nativism with an under-used strategy: education.  In order to quell the rants of the opposition, “Why Mexican Immigration is Not a Threat to American Identity,” provides this fact: “Hispanics acquire English and lose Spanish rapidly beginning in the 2nd generation; appear to be as religious and at least as committed to the work ethic as native-born whites.”  Now, the expected response to this statement would be, well what about the first-generation immigrants who come over here and take the jobs of honest American citizens?  The answer is simple.  They are not a grave threat to American jobs.  Most immigrants are taking the jobs that Americans in general refuse to “stoop down too.”  This includes mopping train station bathrooms and other jobs where the employees are underpaid, and overworked to toil interminably in awful conditions.  Now tell me… Does that sound like something you should be jealous of?

Another argument against Mexican immigrants is the ghetto-like areas they sometimes create in neighborhoods.  Yes, this is true that they can take an area and over-crowd it, while not paying taxes.  However, these areas generally are impoverished prior to their Latin-American takeover, so if anything, if the workers who are move to these neighborhoods can get earn a steady living, they can put money back into the town through the purchase of food, shelter, and entertainment.  There are times, though, when Mexican immigrants will use a policy sometimes employed in war: “The closer you are to danger, the farther you are from harm.”  Nobody in the overwhelmingly nativist wealthy communities is expecting immigrants to settle in their lands, so they suspect nothing.  In Tortilla Curtain by T. C. Boyle, a pair of Mexican immigrants employs this policy and sets up camp in the foot hills of Topanga Canyon.  Ironically, the fact that they are close to danger ends up ringing all too true in the first few pages of the noel.  As the comments (on the article) progress, they follows a very interesting pattern that is surprisingly similar to the book.  In the article, the first couple comments are the agreeing bigots, the ones who can’t stand to see anyone who is not like themselves.  They say such ignorant things as, “If the immigrants to this country are not willing to speak the language we are under no obligation to accommodate them.”  This is similar to the book where Delaney is mentally fighting back his guilt from hitting Cándido.  He justifies his guilt/fault with anger, switching from one primal emotion to another.  Then the bigoted comments begin to wane as the more informed and intellectual commentors offer their piece.  Just like the latter comments are there to create understanding, Delaney and his family struggle slightly with the plight of the immigrants after the wake-up call that landed on his hood.

Such racism as seen towards Mexican immigrants is caused by nothing so much as ignorance, unfortunately a wide-spread disease in our country.  It takes one frustrated, unemployed man to say something about the Mexican immigrants taking Americans’ jobs and a rebellion is created, complete with angry mobs fueled by nothing so much as their empty stomachs.  I see something like this as an opportunity to better ourselves.  If a white worker gets fired in favor of a Mexican immigrant it is most likely due to some fault of the original worker.  So, rather than hating the man who took your job, better yourself so the boss can realize what a mistake he has made.

"Why Hispanic Immigration is Not a Threat to American Identity." Science Blog. March 31, 2007.  http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/why-hispanic-immigration-not-threat-american-identity-12910.html

Friday Night Lights Takes An Unexpected Turn

Friday Night Lights is one of the most intricate shows on television.  Though underrated and underappreciated, its diverse content matter keeps even the most hyperactive viewer entranced.  However, this episode was the first that touched upon an often-taboo topic: homosexuality.  Sure, there have been plenty of shows that mention homosexuality, or even have a gay character.  The difference here is that not only is a homosexual a pariah at best in a football-jock-dominated small Texas town, but the gay person was a girl.

The situation is such: after being hurt from a prior relationship, the show’s most timid character, Landry, is quick to find a new girl, perhaps too quick.  Because he rushed into his new relationship, he failed to notice any signs that the girl he was trying to date was in fact a lesbian.  However, this ignorance was not completely Landry’s fault.  He has grown up in a traditional society where homosexuality is a nearly unheard of, un-discussed, un-thought-of topic.  Why would he naturally assume that a girl he has met and (in his mind) been flirting back and forth with is a lesbian.  In fact, even after their first kiss, he still does not realize his err.  Homosexuality is such a foreign topic to him that it takes her telling him for him to realize.

Although this has been the first touch on homosexuality for the show, it has gone about it the right way.  Unfortunately, there are still plenty of people in the world who are entirely uncomfortable with being around a gay person.  The show cast a very comfortable and endearing character to first introduce its not-as-accepting viewers to the fact that homosexuals are normal people and do not deserve the persecution they often face.  It is not only the casting that makes this episode a success, but the reaction Landry has to this admission.  His reaction is not so accepting that it’s unbelievable, but at the same time, once he had some time to think it over, he treated her the way she should be treated: the same.

 

Real Men Wear Pink

Real Men Wear Pink.  

Plenty of stereotypes exist regarding women.  They are the chef/maid/primary caregiver in a family.  They are dainty.  They are delicate.  They must love the color pink.  However, what some women do not realize is that men face equal and opposite stereotypes.  After having two baby boys, the author realized just what types of stereotypes boys face (Breedermama).  Even though she herself was a girl, she was hesitant to buy pink diapers for her son.  What makes pink a girly color (Breedermama)?  Realizing her insanity, she purchased the pink diapers – breaking the stereotype.

But was pink always associated with girls? The answer is no.  A couple centuries back, mostly in the mid to late 1800s, boys and girls actually had reversed roles.  Pink was seen as a cousin of red, a strong color symbolizing war and bloodshed, and thus associated with males (Adams 7).  On the other end of the sexual spectrum, females, wishing to emulate the Virgin Mary, dressed in blue in many of her portraits.  My favorite color has always been green – generally accepted as a masculine color for Caucasian men (Adams 11) - however, growing up I had a pink changing table and a few pink stuffed animals.  Thus, while some studies appear to show that girls gravitate towards pink because of its warmth and motherly feeling, I must add an addendum.  People in general, gravitate towards pink because of its warmth.  Boys and men are meant to separate themselves from women and thus it has become commonly usual for boys to like blue rather than pink.  However, this is a close-minded stereotype whose roots mainly stem from wars where soldiers sent off to war would wear darker colors – blues and greens – for both practical and camouflage reasons.  Slowly, but surely, the general public’s opinion on color stereotyping became more and more emphatic even rising to the classless level of labeling male homosexuals with pink in concentration camps and various other places (Adams 8).  Similarly, though on a much less severe scale, Breedermama struggled with buying her son a pink diaper, most likely afraid of other people labeling her son as a feminine boy. 

This is an old-fashioned phobia that is sneered at even by its ancient roots.  Instead of wizening up and reducing our headstrong beliefs on manliness, men are simply

perpetuating the Gender-color stereotypes that have infected each new generation like a virus.  There have been attempts made by clothing stores, Hollister and Abercrombie-like stores, to break this “color barrier,” but few strides have been made.  Everybody always looks to the past for guidance (using precedent in law, successful military campaigns as the blueprints for invasions, and even basing Olympic performances on those of past athletes) so why don’t we take a piece of our own advice and look to the past?  This is one instance where we want “history to repeat itself.”  

Diversity: Society's Rules

What makes us think that you have to be a guy to play mud football? Or you have to be a girl to play with Barbie dolls?  Society sets rules on its people based on sex.  Other than public scrutiny, there is nothing stopping you from doing things.  Your DNA is not modified at birth to say, “I am a man and I must watch football every Sunday, while eating Buffalo Wings and I must yell at the inanimate television anytime the ref makes a bad call.”  Jamaica Kincaid wrote a poem titled, Girl, in which she lays out the rules that her daughter must follow in order to become a respected female member of society.  Similarly, our class developed poems in which we laid out the rules a person must follow in order to be (in my case) Slade (below).  This is not the first blog to attempt to cover the broad topics of diversity and society's rules. Check out the links below to get a different perspective:

• This 25 year old learns the true value of diversity.
• This mother writes of her experiences in the behavioral differences in girls and boys.

Slade

Everyone should call you by your last name, in fact you don’t even have a first name; if you are not acting up a little bit in class, then class is too boring; wait until the last day to do your work, but make sure you get it done and done well; work as much as you would like so you can always money in your pocket; drive well and aggressively, but not too fast, and keep an eye out for those state troopers; 87; listen to good music – that means no country or screaming; study when you have to, but don’t spend your whole life studying; hang out with your friends as much as possible and don’t do anything too stupid; eat Five Guys as much as possible (or as much as your wallet can allow); attend every basketball game you can and make sure to be wearing your Cowboy Crazies shirt; do not wake up any earlier than you absolutely have to; make sure you don’t miss 24 on Monday nights, or Entourage on Sunday nights; the owner of the nearest Chinese restaurant should know you by name; Burger King must get half their business from you; your iPod should be eclectic but specified – nothing goes on your iPod that you don’t want to ever listen to; Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers should be a meal at least once a week; if you are not working out at least five times a week you are going to become that fatass everyone tells you that you should be; a password-locked unattended computer is a crime; if someone falls asleep, the hamsteak comes out; Your Spanish teacher’s blood pressure must be borderline heartattack; this is how to make Yada’s car smell; this is how you pass someone on the other side of the road when they are going too slow.