Paper 1 Comments

Paper 1 Comments

Quotes:

1. On being followed by security in Barnes and Noble: 

   This type of racism I experienced was not openly racist in any obvious way, but it was clear that my friend and I were being treated differently because we were minorities. In other stores we were browsing we did not experience any issues like the one we did at Barnes & Noble. As stated before I was out in the open, very visible, using a computer, and not close to the CD stands. 

   I believe that this type of racism does not have any effective strategies to deal with it or fix it. When someone is hateful or prejudices towards a racial group it is because they have a personal view towards them that only they can change. People can try to educate them about the racial group or try to tell them why equality is important, but in the end in their heart that person must want to change. Laws can be added to fight against inequality, but that won’t change the way people feel, the way they wanna treat a racial group or view them.

2. I get randomly selected for extra screening at the airport almost every time I fly. When I complain, that brings even more scrutiny and delay to me. "What's wrong, do you have something to hide?" "This is totally random" though since it happens to me all the time, I hardly feel it's random.

3. When I was in elementary school I started to realize the importance of race. Since I went to a school that was majority white people; I was one of those minority kids. I started to notice that I was lesser than the white kids because they would not want to play with me that much. There is one experience in particular that happened to me in elementary school that was very racist but I did not realize this until later as I grew up. What happened was a white male in my class was throwing a birthday party and he invited everyone in the class. But he came up to me personally and I told me that he wanted to invite me but his mom said that she does not want to invite you because your family is Arab. I was pretty shocked and did not see that coming. But I honestly did not care too much about it and tried to forget that it ever happened. 
   I actually have never spoken to my parents about this experience. The reason being is because I did not want them to feel bad for me. They would assume that it hurt me a tad bit and they would have added more attention to the issue. I think that if I brought this situation to the attention of my parents they would have confronted the mother of the white kid and set her straight. But for some reason I was afraid to do that. I just did not want more problems to occur at that time. But by the next day I tried to forget that it even happened. At that time I wanted to act like nothing had happened and it would not bother me at all. 
   The impact of this particular experience just made me feel emotional and as if I did not belong in that school. I felt like no one could understand me because I was the only Arab in my school. I definitely felt sad but I did not let this get in the way of my learning process in elementary school.

4. “You’re pretty for an Indian,” is a comment I am quite familiar with. Whenever I hear this phrase, I begrudgingly smile and nod, forcing myself to be polite because I am being complimented. Normally, this compliment or one similar may boost one’s self-confidence, however, every time I hear this comment, I cannot help but cringe from humiliation. Am I only pretty for an Indian girl? Do I not meet certain beauty standards because I am not white? \
5. Racism is learned from the parents - Around when I was 8 years or 9 years old, I lived next door to an Indian family, and when they first moved to the neighborhood, my cousin and I met a new friend named Sujata. We all became really good friends and would constantly play games/do childish things and what not, but on my 10th birthday party things quickly changed. I looked up to my older cousin’s at the time, mainly because I thought they were really cool and I enjoyed being around them, but something I never seen before happened at my birthday party. We were all playing tag and Sujata showed up a bit late to my party, and out of nowhere my older cousins were all teasing her and making fun of her because she was Indian. Sujata’s feelings were really hurt, and she ran away crying into my house. She then told my parents about the incident, and something even more shocking happened. My mom and my dad came outside and “talked” to my cousins. I can barely recall what happened, but it didn’t seem like they were in trouble or anything. Sujata got really angry and told me “we cannot be friends anymore,” and that not only devastated me, but I  just realized all those times, my mom made “special rules” such as letting her only drink from a certain cup and that she wasn’t allowed to borrow any of my toys, etc. was all because she disliked Indian people. After my epiphany, my cousins went up to me and told me things like “Indian people aren’t cool,” “you should stop hanging around with that girl,” “they smell like shit,” etc. I wasn’t furious at them, but at the same time, I didn’t show it because there was this part of me that looked up to them and it brainwashed me into believing it, and that was the last time I saw Sujata.

6. A time when I experienced racism was when I was out with a couple of my friends. We were going to a mall in San Jose one afternoon. We were driving with the windows rolled down because it a nice hot day. As I was trying to park my car, I struggled a bit because it was a tight squeeze. I then proceeded to back up and try to get in the parking spot once again. There was an older white male getting out of his car and I heard him say quite loudly, “Man, I swear to God that Asian people cannot drive for shit.” as he was shaking his head. Extremely appalled, I looked at all of my friends in disbelief. We could not believe what we had heard. Of course we have all heard that stereotype before, but I had never been personally called out on it. I was not even driving recklessly. I was paying close attention to my driving, making sure I was being extra cautious.

7. Colorism - I played field hockey for the past ten years of my life. I had the darkest skin than anyone in my family because I was always outside in the sun. I began to feel very self-conscious about my skin and compared myself to sister and friends, whose skin was much lighter than mine at the time. Since I tan easily, I wanted to quit playing field hockey in the summer to avoid getting any darker, and looked forward to playing in the winter when there would be less sun. This affected my field hockey skills because I wanted to play less, which led me to not play with passion. I began to start caring less and my dream of playing professional field hockey started to slightly fade away, just because I did not want to be dark skinned.

8. Although I am not Mexican, people always look at me and immediately classify me as one. Because of that I have had my fair share of racist experiences. One that really stood out to me was the time I drove to my friend, Kevin’s house to pick him up so we could hang out. His father answered the door. I told him I was here to pick up Kevin and replied,“Oh, okay, just one moment.” While waiting, I could hear Kevin and his father speaking chinese in the background. Eventually Kevin made it to the door and with a slight laugh he said, “My dad thought you were mexican. He asked me why I was hanging out with mexicans and I told him that you were filipino. He was like, ‘Are you sure?’ and I told him ‘Yea’ and he was cool with it.”

9. I was interning at a small business law firm from October 2014 until August 2015, where we worked in intern groups/teams for the duration of the time we were employed. At the firm, we had the typical intern duties, but were also responsible for a decent amount of leg work behind cases; such as producing memos, gathering information, case studies, and group projects/assignments where we had to give verbal presentations to propose solutions to cases or firm issues. During my internship, I noticed that my groups were always dominantly Asian, and were frequently if not always designated to handle the “logistics” side of the presentations (as my bosses put it). We did a lot of the behind the scenes work (studying the background of the cases or given issue, gathering sources and accurate references, writing the treatments etc.), but were not given the opportunities to present the work ourselves when the time came. I was skeptical at first, but I saw that it would be recurring every so often. I never personally confronted our boss about the trend, but I talked about it with my fellow interns and coworkers who held higher positions within the firm, and the only thing they could say to me was that “we” (referring to the Asians in my groups) were the best at what we did. I suppose that was a backhanded compliment, but technically it was a form of unintentional racism.

10. Walking through the quad of Saratoga High School at lunchtime, you would see a very peculiar phenomenon — one, perhaps, that you would have thought ended half a century ago. In one corner of the quad sits a group of Caucasian sophomores; not a strand of dark hair is apparent. On the walkway to the parking lot, small groups of upperclassmen — five Asian girls, four Indian boys, six Caucasian football players, and two Latina girls — quickly stride off into their cars. In this small school of 1300, where nearly everyone knows everyone’s name, the racial divide is obvious — too obvious.
    But it isn’t just a mere chasm; this segregation at Saratoga High School has created an environment where racism is condoned. Racist comments are tossed around casually — “Woah, there’s a white kid in your AP Physics class?” or “All those Asian kids do is study.” Though none of this racism has malicious intent, it is still, nonetheless, a driving force in the segregation between races.
    In Saratoga, racism thrives on the differences between all the distinct ethnicities. A place that boasts of its “cultural diversity,” “acceptance,” and “welcoming of all races,” Saratoga offers solace for all — but not in the form that you might expect. Of course, the first-generation Chinese immigrants feel very at home — but that’s because all 30+ “fobs” form their own clique, where they are free to clamor away in Chinese all day, marking the Chinese room as their territory.
    Racism has developed immunity to the defenses we have established; it has become more clever, more clandestine — but it’s still there. It may no longer still be in the form of separate water fountains for White and Colored people, but it now exists in the form of stereotypes and cultural clashes.
    Impact: This experience has had the largest impact on me socially, as I too have self-segregated into my group of Asian friends. This is an unfortunate reality, but it is one that has shaped the last three years of my high school career. Nevertheless, I have branched out more since the start of senior year and hope to expand on this in college, which will hopefully provide a more diverse, careful, and culturally accepting student body.

11. This experience happened during Spring quarter 2015. I had gotten my license about a month or two before this happened. There’s an obvious stigma where “asians suck at driving.” While I somewhat agree that some asians may not be the best of drivers, it sucks when a comment is made towards you (so you know where this is heading). I was exiting out of the Stelling garage and making my way to the McClellan entrance/exit. I looked to my left, right, then my left again- my mistake: I didn’t look to my right again and proceeded towards McClellan when I was suddenly bombarded with multiple honks. I remember a brief moment when I looked into my rearview mirror after hearing the first honk that the car was approaching pretty close behind. I honestly ignored it. I accepted at that moment in time that I made a mistake and gone when I shouldn’t have but I just think the reaction I got from the driver was bizarre. I kind of scoffed and got a bit annoyed at the honks.. it was around 10:30-11am and I was like wow, I can’t believe I ruined this girls day already. She must be pretty fucking pissed (pardon my language). I make it passed the stop sign and am stopped briefly until I’m in the clear to turn right onto McClellan. Moments later, the car that went off on my pulls up to the left of my suddenly and the driver proceeds to yell, “FUCKING ASIAN!!!” I honestly scoffed/smiled when she said that because I somehow expected she was going to yell some sort of profanity towards me. Then the light turn green and she and I parted ways.

12. Poor service at a restaurant. Ignored for seating. Sat in a poor section, near bathroom or door. Waitress pays no attention to us. Got our order wrong.

Solutions/Reactions:

Questions:

1. One thing I do not understand well yet is how institutionalized racism works. All I’ve ever really heard about where it happens, but not exactly how it happens. Especially in institutions that must follow the law, but treat people of race differently or give more resources to one group, but not the other.
2. Do you think that white people experience any racism at all?
3. What do you think is the best way to handle a racism situation?
4. Do you think that the media is the strongest and most influential source that promotes racial projects and racist ideas?
5. What do you think is the most harmful and problematic type of racism?
6. Do you think that the law enforcement is racist? Also, do you think the law enforcement teaches criminal profiling or racial profiling?

7. Why does racism continue ?

8. What's the real difference between race and ethnicity ?

9. What's the difference between Latino and Hispanic?

10. When did racism start?

11. Why is that Latinos don't succeed in school as much other races?

12. How does social media impact racism ?

13. Are professors or teachers legally allowed to be racist? I know it's a dumb question but
    sometimes I feel some professors and teachers could be “smiley face racist.”

14. Is it true that most of the population in the United States of America are
    Latinos/Hispanics? and is that going to make the the nation view our ethnicity differently
    or will there continue to be racist towards us? (I say us because I am a Chicana)

15. Why has it become a common thing to just ignore people who make racist remarks? (I am one of the many that ignores those people, but I’m eager to know where ite comes from). Particularly in the USC case, it wasn’t until somebody spoke out (the student body president), multiple people around campus started coming out and telling their experiences.

16. Does meritocracy have anything to do with racial identity? No
17. Some successful people of color will align themselves with whiteness in order to gain privilege. Does that make sense?
18. Is it possible to become depressed after a racial incident?
19. Are Taiwanese a different race from Mainland Chinese since they "think" they are. Are they really the different race since they “think” they are different or they are same race no matter what they think because their phenotype is same and have similar culture.
20. And how many races in the whole world?
21. Are there some new races engendering or the races are settled? The same race be separated for a long time when could they be two different race? Are the Americans different from their European ancestors? If so, and when they became two different race? The day they set foot on the American land or after they developed particular traditions?
22. If they are different races, and the Taiwan Chinese and mainland Chinese are also separated for a long time, do they different or the time is not long enough to develop a new race?