In my opinion there were not
many privileges that stood out to me during the exercise. I experience have
more disadvantages than having privileges. For example, when asked to step
forward or backward about my race/ethnicity as to the question if my ancestors
were forced to move to this country. I
stood still because I was not sure how to respond to that question even though
my ancestors were not forced to come to the United States, they willing wanted
to come here because it was the land of opppunitiy. Although I did feel we were
forced to move here because if did not feel we had enough oppunitites in Mexico
than why would we moved to another country? Although question that stood out to
me was, did my have family own more than 50 books. I though to more, surprising
there or myself who would own 50 books was various people who step forward. I
felt a little dumb for not stepping forward because I felt they had a better
educational experience than I did. Knowing about structural privilege is
important in achieving social justice because this will help you view and know
the privilege you and as a whole race. I believe knowing the privileges and disadvantages
will open your eyes to exactly what it is white individuals view your race as
and you can show them your race is worth more than what they assume. In “Black
Girl Dangerous’ blog post about reverse-racism” the list she makes is an
accurate representation of ‘reverse racism’ because it justifies what whites
have done throughout to other races throughout history. The things on the list
make the claim different compared to the affirmative action in reverse racism
because the blog states actions white people did to other races whereas the
another one talks more about discrimination rather than doing what whites did
to others.
word count: 405
Hi Mariela,
ReplyDeleteThank you for bringing up the ambiguity around the forced movement question! I think it highlights some of the complexities around immigration. Many scholars have noted the 'push/pull' dynamic- namely, that there are both factors 'pushing' people to immigrate out of their country of origin as well as 'pulling' them to their new destination. In this way, the question of 'force' does get tricky, however I think it is important to remember that for the Mexicans living in the 'Northern Mexican Territory' prior to 1848, they were 'forced' to move into the United States after that territory became transferred to the United States. That doesn't necessarily mean that every person of Mexican descent had this experience, rather that Mexicans as well as people of African descent and Indians have been forcibly re-located by the United States. Just something else to complicate that question further ;)
Also, the goal of the exercise on Wednesday was for people to be aware of the privileges and penalties they have in society- remember, these advantages and disadvantages are no indicative of a person's ability to still be successful or smart. Rather, it just shows that people are in different positions to do so. Thanks!
--eas