Susan Madrak| BIO | I'M A FAN OF THIS BLOGGER
By The Color Of Their Skins
Posted September 20, 2007 | 02:20 PM (EST)
Read More: Jena 6, privilege, racism, Breaking Politics News
I had the local Fox affiliate's morning show on as I got ready for work this morning, and they made a brief mention of the Jena 6 rally in Louisiana today. They said participants were protesting "uneven" treatment by local police, saying it was racial.
"Uneven"? Yeah, I guess you could say that. There was no mention whatsoever of the fact that a black teenager was charged with attempted murder for beating someone with a sneaker in a schoolyard fight, and certainly nothing about the nooses hanging from a tree on school grounds after black kids asked why they couldn't sit there.
And I could just picture those all-American Fox viewers, turning to each other and saying, "There they go again."
You know who "they" are, don't you? Those colored folks. The ones who don't know how to behave.
I was shocked when a Taser incident involving a white college student was given so much attention this week with so little context: Namely, that minorities are unjustly submitted to indignities and even death for specious reasons all the time, and that they are quite familiar with Taser guns.
It's not so important when it happens to black people because of the unspoken assumption most white people are still privileged to hold: "They must have done something to deserve it."
I know better. I grew up in a working-class, blue collar Philadelphia neighborhood.
The boys in my neighborhood (including my own brothers) were forever being beaten up by cops; it was a fact of life. I know that whatever rationale the cops claimed, they really beat them up for some variation on the same reason: Because I can and there's nothing you can do about it. "Deserved" it? Yeah, if you can call not being able to read a cop's mind and know just how quick of a hair-trigger he had that minute a crime. Excuse me, officer, but have you gotten laid recently? Any money troubles? Kids okay?
And so white people - people who never had to worry about real-life police brutality - just tune it out. It doesn't seem logical to them, that cops and elected officials would simply treat a black kid differently for no reason other than the color of their skin. After all, they're always so polite to them.
We're still so very far from a world where we're judged on the content of our character and not the color of our skins. But still, it gives me hope to see so many college students from all over the country (including Philadelphia's Temple University) headed to Jena to stand in peaceful protest at today's rally. Kudos to those kids for standing up for their civil rights!
As for me, well, I'm just embarrassed that all these years later, we're still here.
I chose this article for a media device because all I could think of was the case of Emmett Till that we learned about from the Eyes on the Prize film. This article is by a woman who is just sick of all the injustice in the world, specifically toward people of color. She uses the Jena 6 case and another case involving a taser to show how much or how little attention white people get. In the case of Jena 6 the white people involved are hardly mentioned and when a white college student was brutalized with a taser, they got a mass amount of attention compared to blacks that have been victims of taser guns.
It was the whole seventh paragraph that really stood out and reminded me of Emmett Till; “The boys in my neighborhood (including my own brothers) were forever being beaten up by cops; it was a fact of life. I know that whatever rationale the cops claimed, they really beat them up for some variation on the same reason: Because I can and there's nothing you can do about it. "Deserved" it? Yeah, if you can call not being able to read a cop's mind and know just how quick of a hair-trigger he had that minute a crime.”
That account of her and her brothers childhood is almost exactly what happened to Till. Emmett had said “bye” to a white woman and the next day he was missing, granted in the Emmett Till case the ones who did the beating were not cops, but they were white. In this womans story the boys didn’t know why they were beaten they just were; and same goes for Emmett Till, he was from another part of the world and put into the middle of Mississippi where the same things he does in the north are not acceptable. So, basically both Emmett and this author’s brothers were beaten for being black, unfortunatly though Till was beaten to death. The author also says “After all, they're always so polite to the,” meaning black people are always so polite to white people in fear of being beaten. Which brings me back to Emmett Till, he was just being polite to the white woman and he was killed over a simple “bye.”
At the very end of this article the author says “I'm just embarrassed that all these years later, we're still here,” this statement just sums up my thoughts entirely. Now, when we look back in time we tend to forgive people for being so racist as well as the older generations, we just say “oh, that’s how they were raised”. But I am here to say that it should be unforgivable for anyone to be racist, after so much time we shouldn’t still be in this situation. I will admit, it has got much better than it was but it still is a big part in our lives.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
american eagle commercials
As I was reading McBride’s “Why I Hate Abercrombie” I questioned myself if commercials really do portray the “all American look” and in the short time between reading the article and doing some homework I saw about 5 commercials that fit the same standards as McBride discusses. And that is why I decided to use these commercials as a media device. One of the commercials was for American Eagle, one of A & F’s competitors, although I was unable to find the exact commercial I saw on television. I did find two other American Eagle commercials on YouTube that work just as well to convey my point.
For one the sheer name; American Eagle denotes that the company is all about America and excluding those who don’t belong, and on another point the clothes probably aren’t even made in the US. The first commercial I have posted has a bunch of young people, probably in their 20’s, playing volleyball on the beach. Just this scene makes me think of what McBride said on page 66; “Abercrombie has worked hard to produce a brand strongly associated with a young, white, upper-class, leisure lifestyle.” Abercrombie has a quarterly that emanates this image and American Eagle has used a commercial to do so. It is very evident that everyone is white in the commercial, with the exception of the girl with a darker complexion, which is probably just a tan anyway. Everyone is out on the beach having a good- old time, the “leisure lifestyle” and more than likely they are in the upper class category. Being in good financial standing would be the only way these young adults would be able to take a day off of work or school, whatever the situation may be.
I had to find a second commercial to corroborate both McBride’s positions and mine. I had to see if the advertisements really are supposed to give the label an “all American” underlying factor. The second commercial just has two white, young lovers driving to, guess what, a beach. Both commercials take place on a deserted and serene beach and neither of the two had any people of color in them, which gives off the impression that only young white kids can go to the beach, making that underlying factor of being “all American” come forward.
Another one of McBride’s statements really jumped out at me, “there are those who will not grasp, or will feign confusion about grasping, the coded nature of the whiteness that A & F so clearly employs.” (76). This sentence embodies our whole culture, people either really don’t see how advertisements are affecting us or they just pretend that they don’t.
I was surprised that I could actually see what McBride said about A & F in something I see everyday. I really can’t believe that our world is still thinking in the ideals of white privilege, after all the civil rights movements and such and our society still can’t except a black man as “all American.”
For one the sheer name; American Eagle denotes that the company is all about America and excluding those who don’t belong, and on another point the clothes probably aren’t even made in the US. The first commercial I have posted has a bunch of young people, probably in their 20’s, playing volleyball on the beach. Just this scene makes me think of what McBride said on page 66; “Abercrombie has worked hard to produce a brand strongly associated with a young, white, upper-class, leisure lifestyle.” Abercrombie has a quarterly that emanates this image and American Eagle has used a commercial to do so. It is very evident that everyone is white in the commercial, with the exception of the girl with a darker complexion, which is probably just a tan anyway. Everyone is out on the beach having a good- old time, the “leisure lifestyle” and more than likely they are in the upper class category. Being in good financial standing would be the only way these young adults would be able to take a day off of work or school, whatever the situation may be.
I had to find a second commercial to corroborate both McBride’s positions and mine. I had to see if the advertisements really are supposed to give the label an “all American” underlying factor. The second commercial just has two white, young lovers driving to, guess what, a beach. Both commercials take place on a deserted and serene beach and neither of the two had any people of color in them, which gives off the impression that only young white kids can go to the beach, making that underlying factor of being “all American” come forward.
Another one of McBride’s statements really jumped out at me, “there are those who will not grasp, or will feign confusion about grasping, the coded nature of the whiteness that A & F so clearly employs.” (76). This sentence embodies our whole culture, people either really don’t see how advertisements are affecting us or they just pretend that they don’t.
I was surprised that I could actually see what McBride said about A & F in something I see everyday. I really can’t believe that our world is still thinking in the ideals of white privilege, after all the civil rights movements and such and our society still can’t except a black man as “all American.”
Saturday, November 10, 2007
ethnic news watch media blog
SEEING CLEARLY NOW.
Leo Mosley has achieved new insight since he was shot and blinded by two White assailants in 1985.
By Reginold Bundy
Two teenage bikers had just left a group of friends and were strolling through McKeller Park in South Memphis. One of the youths was gangling with cold black hair that curled past his shoulders. He had run away from home a few weeks earlier. It was September, 1985, a Friday evening, and they were on their way to a friend's house, having spent most of the day drinking beer and smoking dope. The gangling teenager had a gun with him, a little .22 caliber pistol he'd allegedly found during a break-in. Earlier that day, the two youngsters along with two other pals, had attacked a middle-age man sitting innocently on a bench. Really beating him up. Now, as the two walked along, a young African-American came into view, jogging through the park.
Leo Mosley was out for a Friday-evening jog, his way of unwinding after a demanding week. Less than 10 minutes into his run, the 23-year-old sixth grade teacher from Whitehaven, was stopped short by the two teenage boys standing directly in his path. The taller kid was aiming a gun at him.
"Don't you know we don't allow any niggers in this park?" he screamed. "Your money! Your money!" he said in a violent roar.
Mosley was wearing a T-shirt and running shorts. "I don't have any money," he explained, breathing hard. He pivoted slightly to his right in an instinctive effort to continue running and heard, "You're dead nigger, you're dead." He felt blood pouring through his eyes and down his face, heard footsteps retreating.
Calmly, but obviously shaken, Mosley pulled off his shirt to mop up the blood in his eyes, which he assumed was the reason he couldn't see. He was walking, asking for someone to call the police or an ambulance, and then he became aware of the sound of footsteps running toward him. Somebody told him to lie down. It seemed like an eternity before he heard the sound of sirens and muffled voices around him.
Suddenly he felt his body being lifted and carried to the awaiting ambulance. Then he heard a man say, "He's going into shock." Mosley replied, "No, I'm not, I'm just relaxing." Two days later at the hospital, he learned from doctors that a bullet had entered his left temple, severed his optic nerve, and exited through his right eye. He was told he would never regain his sight. Apparently, if he hadn't made that pivot to the right, he would have not been blinded. He would have been dead.
Mosley, who had moved to the Whitehaven area just two months before school started, had heard that McKeller park was off-limits to Blacks. It wasn't a written law, but it was well known that it was occupied by White leather-jacket bikers and hot-rodders who would day-after-day hang out, drink beer, smoke dope, and prank around in their vehicles. And they were allegedly White power extremists who hated Blacks and Jews, especially Blacks.
That was 10 years ago, and after seven operations and a binding contract with God, Mosley can see again, not as clearly as he once did, but with the aid of special prescription glasses, he manages quite normally. He has been able to return to a profession he believed he had lost -- now in Jackson -- and Mosley gives all the credit to God. He now reads the Bible an hour every day.
When this writer caught up with Mosley at his home, he was reading aloud a Proverb:
"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
"My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain they foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood: And they lay wait for their own blood: they lurk privily for their own lives."
Police never caught Mosley's assailants, though they have since cleaned up McKeller Park. But Mosley isn't bitter about it, nor does he bear any anger towards the shooter and his companion.
For seven years, Mosley was forced to live in darkness, the victim of a racially motivated shooting. But the bitterness that should be erupting within him appears to be cradled snugly away, somewhere within his subconscious. Perhaps it has disappeared altogether.
"I have learned to be a good Christian," he asserts. 'Whoever they were, they must someday face a far greater judge than myself. I no longer feel the hatred I once felt towards them (the assailants). I now only feel sorry for them, and pray that they someday see the ills of their ways."
Mosley admits that for two years following the shooting he was all but forgiving. He wanted revenge, and prayed hard and often for them to meet with some kind of crippling accident. He pressed police constantly and even once accused them of "shielding the two White youths."
But then one day his mother, Alicia, and his young wife, Estelle, brought him the Bible.
For nearly a year, it sat unopened on Mosley's bedside table. He says he can't explain what prompted him to open it and begin reading, but he did, and from that moment on, he gave himself to Christ.
Paraphrasing Isaiah, Mosley says, "They that wait on the Lord shall mount up with wings like an Eagle."
It was from that Proverb Mosley gained his most faith, and he recalls uttering those very words when his bandages were removed for the last time.
"It was like the Lord had given me a second chance and provided me with a new path," he insists. Now I wait on the Lord."
Mosley admits his spiritual transformation and forgiving nature -- even under these circumstances -- came as a surprise to close friends.
His grandfather had been suspiciously slain in the Mississippi Delta region when he was only seven, and his grandmother and mother had accused White supremists of the killing.
"I grew up disliking and mistrusting Whites," reflects Mosley who graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Tennessee State University. "And I was usually arrogant to those Whites I came in contact with. I guess I finally realized that my grandfather and I weren't the real victims. The people who committed the atrocities and the people who believe as they did are.
"Now I can confidently say that I am at peace with myself, and all other living things. I am certain that's not the case with those who shot me, or even those who killed my grandfather."
------ Ethnic News Watch
In September of 1985 a man, two intoxicated teenagers attacked Leo Mosley, luckily he was only blinded, he could have been killed. Mosley had just moved to the neighborhood and didn’t know that the park he was in was deemed “whites only.” Two white boys approached him and one held a gun to him and yelled obscenities. When Mosley came to he was in the hospital and learned that a bullet had passed through his temple and left through his eye. The doctors said if he hadn’t jerked away, the bullet would have killed him. 10 years and 7 operations later, Mosley can see again all be it not as clearly as before. During his stay in the hospital Mosley became a good Christian and still reads the bible everyday. He attributes the fact that he can forgive the boys to his new founded religion. Although Mosley admits that he did want revenge for a little while but now he just feels sorry for the boys. On an insight to his past, Mosley tells the reporter that he had grown up disliking whites because of what they did to his grandfather.
I chose this specific article from Ethnic News Watch because of a line in Zinn’s “Drawing the Color Line.” The quote is as follows, “while the whites received lighter sentences, Emmanuel the Negro to receive thirty stripes and to be burnt in the cheek with the letter R, and to work in shackle one year” (27). This quote stood out to me because of what Mosley said in the Ethnic News watch article said: “Whoever they were, they must someday face a far greater judge than myself. I no longer feel the hatred I once felt towards them (the assailants)”. This is a quote from the man who was shot in response to the fact that his assailants have never been caught. The reason Zinn’s quote reminded me of this article is because in both cases the whites were not punished as severely or at all. In this article the boys who attacked Mosley were never caught, therefore never punished. And the white servants who ran away in Zinn’s article received much less punishments then the black slaves who ran away.
Its hard to believe that “white privilege” is still part of the judicial system. Even though the Mosley’s attackers couldn’t be found, it could be argued that because he was black the police didn’t take him seriously, as he mentions in the article himself. No one should be privileged over another person for any reason. However though some people are more privileged than others in terms of money, but that shouldn’t transfer over into race. The story itself was pretty scary, actually. Many people have been attacked in a park at night, and it’s a very real danger.
Leo Mosley has achieved new insight since he was shot and blinded by two White assailants in 1985.
By Reginold Bundy
Two teenage bikers had just left a group of friends and were strolling through McKeller Park in South Memphis. One of the youths was gangling with cold black hair that curled past his shoulders. He had run away from home a few weeks earlier. It was September, 1985, a Friday evening, and they were on their way to a friend's house, having spent most of the day drinking beer and smoking dope. The gangling teenager had a gun with him, a little .22 caliber pistol he'd allegedly found during a break-in. Earlier that day, the two youngsters along with two other pals, had attacked a middle-age man sitting innocently on a bench. Really beating him up. Now, as the two walked along, a young African-American came into view, jogging through the park.
Leo Mosley was out for a Friday-evening jog, his way of unwinding after a demanding week. Less than 10 minutes into his run, the 23-year-old sixth grade teacher from Whitehaven, was stopped short by the two teenage boys standing directly in his path. The taller kid was aiming a gun at him.
"Don't you know we don't allow any niggers in this park?" he screamed. "Your money! Your money!" he said in a violent roar.
Mosley was wearing a T-shirt and running shorts. "I don't have any money," he explained, breathing hard. He pivoted slightly to his right in an instinctive effort to continue running and heard, "You're dead nigger, you're dead." He felt blood pouring through his eyes and down his face, heard footsteps retreating.
Calmly, but obviously shaken, Mosley pulled off his shirt to mop up the blood in his eyes, which he assumed was the reason he couldn't see. He was walking, asking for someone to call the police or an ambulance, and then he became aware of the sound of footsteps running toward him. Somebody told him to lie down. It seemed like an eternity before he heard the sound of sirens and muffled voices around him.
Suddenly he felt his body being lifted and carried to the awaiting ambulance. Then he heard a man say, "He's going into shock." Mosley replied, "No, I'm not, I'm just relaxing." Two days later at the hospital, he learned from doctors that a bullet had entered his left temple, severed his optic nerve, and exited through his right eye. He was told he would never regain his sight. Apparently, if he hadn't made that pivot to the right, he would have not been blinded. He would have been dead.
Mosley, who had moved to the Whitehaven area just two months before school started, had heard that McKeller park was off-limits to Blacks. It wasn't a written law, but it was well known that it was occupied by White leather-jacket bikers and hot-rodders who would day-after-day hang out, drink beer, smoke dope, and prank around in their vehicles. And they were allegedly White power extremists who hated Blacks and Jews, especially Blacks.
That was 10 years ago, and after seven operations and a binding contract with God, Mosley can see again, not as clearly as he once did, but with the aid of special prescription glasses, he manages quite normally. He has been able to return to a profession he believed he had lost -- now in Jackson -- and Mosley gives all the credit to God. He now reads the Bible an hour every day.
When this writer caught up with Mosley at his home, he was reading aloud a Proverb:
"My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. If they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse:
"My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain they foot from their path: For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood: And they lay wait for their own blood: they lurk privily for their own lives."
Police never caught Mosley's assailants, though they have since cleaned up McKeller Park. But Mosley isn't bitter about it, nor does he bear any anger towards the shooter and his companion.
For seven years, Mosley was forced to live in darkness, the victim of a racially motivated shooting. But the bitterness that should be erupting within him appears to be cradled snugly away, somewhere within his subconscious. Perhaps it has disappeared altogether.
"I have learned to be a good Christian," he asserts. 'Whoever they were, they must someday face a far greater judge than myself. I no longer feel the hatred I once felt towards them (the assailants). I now only feel sorry for them, and pray that they someday see the ills of their ways."
Mosley admits that for two years following the shooting he was all but forgiving. He wanted revenge, and prayed hard and often for them to meet with some kind of crippling accident. He pressed police constantly and even once accused them of "shielding the two White youths."
But then one day his mother, Alicia, and his young wife, Estelle, brought him the Bible.
For nearly a year, it sat unopened on Mosley's bedside table. He says he can't explain what prompted him to open it and begin reading, but he did, and from that moment on, he gave himself to Christ.
Paraphrasing Isaiah, Mosley says, "They that wait on the Lord shall mount up with wings like an Eagle."
It was from that Proverb Mosley gained his most faith, and he recalls uttering those very words when his bandages were removed for the last time.
"It was like the Lord had given me a second chance and provided me with a new path," he insists. Now I wait on the Lord."
Mosley admits his spiritual transformation and forgiving nature -- even under these circumstances -- came as a surprise to close friends.
His grandfather had been suspiciously slain in the Mississippi Delta region when he was only seven, and his grandmother and mother had accused White supremists of the killing.
"I grew up disliking and mistrusting Whites," reflects Mosley who graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Tennessee State University. "And I was usually arrogant to those Whites I came in contact with. I guess I finally realized that my grandfather and I weren't the real victims. The people who committed the atrocities and the people who believe as they did are.
"Now I can confidently say that I am at peace with myself, and all other living things. I am certain that's not the case with those who shot me, or even those who killed my grandfather."
------ Ethnic News Watch
In September of 1985 a man, two intoxicated teenagers attacked Leo Mosley, luckily he was only blinded, he could have been killed. Mosley had just moved to the neighborhood and didn’t know that the park he was in was deemed “whites only.” Two white boys approached him and one held a gun to him and yelled obscenities. When Mosley came to he was in the hospital and learned that a bullet had passed through his temple and left through his eye. The doctors said if he hadn’t jerked away, the bullet would have killed him. 10 years and 7 operations later, Mosley can see again all be it not as clearly as before. During his stay in the hospital Mosley became a good Christian and still reads the bible everyday. He attributes the fact that he can forgive the boys to his new founded religion. Although Mosley admits that he did want revenge for a little while but now he just feels sorry for the boys. On an insight to his past, Mosley tells the reporter that he had grown up disliking whites because of what they did to his grandfather.
I chose this specific article from Ethnic News Watch because of a line in Zinn’s “Drawing the Color Line.” The quote is as follows, “while the whites received lighter sentences, Emmanuel the Negro to receive thirty stripes and to be burnt in the cheek with the letter R, and to work in shackle one year” (27). This quote stood out to me because of what Mosley said in the Ethnic News watch article said: “Whoever they were, they must someday face a far greater judge than myself. I no longer feel the hatred I once felt towards them (the assailants)”. This is a quote from the man who was shot in response to the fact that his assailants have never been caught. The reason Zinn’s quote reminded me of this article is because in both cases the whites were not punished as severely or at all. In this article the boys who attacked Mosley were never caught, therefore never punished. And the white servants who ran away in Zinn’s article received much less punishments then the black slaves who ran away.
Its hard to believe that “white privilege” is still part of the judicial system. Even though the Mosley’s attackers couldn’t be found, it could be argued that because he was black the police didn’t take him seriously, as he mentions in the article himself. No one should be privileged over another person for any reason. However though some people are more privileged than others in terms of money, but that shouldn’t transfer over into race. The story itself was pretty scary, actually. Many people have been attacked in a park at night, and it’s a very real danger.
"Jews need to be perfected"- ann coulter
Ann Coulter is known for getting herself into trouble when she opens her mouth, now she has really done it. While on “The Big Idea” with Donny Deutsch, Coulter was asked what her perfect world would look like and she said it would be like New York during the republican national convention. Then she said everyone should be Christians, knowing that Deutsch is Jewish and obviously offended him. Coulter goes on to say “Jews should be perfected”. After the commercial break, Coulter tries to explain herself and says “Christians are perfected Jews”. Coulter continually says that her statements aren’t offensive and she’s not filled with hate. The story is kind of old but I remembered it after I read “How Jews Became White”. I saw the story on the news or “The Daily Show” I don’t remember which but either way, it doesn’t matter.
I decide to search for the clip online and was able to find it on YouTube. After watching it again I knew it would be perfect for a media device, and I could relate it to “How Jews Became White”. We all know that the Jewish people have endured much discrimination but they have become part of what is considered the “white” race. I don’t think Ann Coulter would say they had been “perfected” yet but they were surely on their way. Coulter talks about religion and this article talks about race, in the article Jews are immigrants that become “white” and in many peoples minds “perfected”. Jews and other Europeans “got to be” white, when the census didn’t have a box for them. Brodkin says, they were “securely white by submersion in an expanded notion of whiteness” (43). Jews were then able to move up to middle class, making them even more white. Anti- Semitism falling from grace and the economic opportunities after the war, all helped the Jews to become white. There isn’t anything directly related to the Ann Coulter clip in this article but I felt that it correlated. In the article Jews became white and for most of the world during that time period that meant, that you were “perfect”. And Ann Coulter wants everyone to be Christian, and if we were all were the world would be perfect. It was more of the underlying components, the unspoken but thought of that connects these two items together.
Even though there was direct connection between the two I still felt strong enough that I could connect them. Overall though, I was completely and utterly appalled by Ann Coulter. As Donny Deutsch said, “you’re an educated woman, how could you think that?” I don’t know how anyone could say such a thing without the least bit of remorse, especially with someone who is Jewish right across from you. This behavior she was displaying reminded me of the time of slavery, that was the only time I can remember when people had such utter disrespect toward another person. There are still racism and discrimination issues going on in today’s world but I think Coulter’s was definitely the worst, as of late.
I decide to search for the clip online and was able to find it on YouTube. After watching it again I knew it would be perfect for a media device, and I could relate it to “How Jews Became White”. We all know that the Jewish people have endured much discrimination but they have become part of what is considered the “white” race. I don’t think Ann Coulter would say they had been “perfected” yet but they were surely on their way. Coulter talks about religion and this article talks about race, in the article Jews are immigrants that become “white” and in many peoples minds “perfected”. Jews and other Europeans “got to be” white, when the census didn’t have a box for them. Brodkin says, they were “securely white by submersion in an expanded notion of whiteness” (43). Jews were then able to move up to middle class, making them even more white. Anti- Semitism falling from grace and the economic opportunities after the war, all helped the Jews to become white. There isn’t anything directly related to the Ann Coulter clip in this article but I felt that it correlated. In the article Jews became white and for most of the world during that time period that meant, that you were “perfect”. And Ann Coulter wants everyone to be Christian, and if we were all were the world would be perfect. It was more of the underlying components, the unspoken but thought of that connects these two items together.
Even though there was direct connection between the two I still felt strong enough that I could connect them. Overall though, I was completely and utterly appalled by Ann Coulter. As Donny Deutsch said, “you’re an educated woman, how could you think that?” I don’t know how anyone could say such a thing without the least bit of remorse, especially with someone who is Jewish right across from you. This behavior she was displaying reminded me of the time of slavery, that was the only time I can remember when people had such utter disrespect toward another person. There are still racism and discrimination issues going on in today’s world but I think Coulter’s was definitely the worst, as of late.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Gingers
Ginger isn’t just a spice but a racialized term to describe redheads, specifically in Great Britain. In the U.S. I have never heard of anyone being discriminated against because they had red hair, but over seas they down right hate redheads. I originally saw this story on the news and was able to find it on Youtube. The story is about all the ridicule that redheads in Great Britain endure, accompanied with a few short interviews.
I have two reasons for choosing this story as a media device. One reason is that my boyfriend is a “ginger” and as a kid he was teased for it but he has never been discriminated against because of his hair. I also was so shocked by such arrogance from the people of Great Britain. The second reason is because I think it relates to the reading “Yellow” by Wu.
“Yellow” is a short autobiographical interpretation of his race, Asian. Wu talks about how he is either stared at or is simply just invisible, to everyone except family. Its that statement that really stands out to me when the first women is being interviewed, she says that when redheads see each other on the streets they give one another a nod or wink. Like Wu the redheads are in search of their own kind, so they don’t feel like such a minority. The women also said that just on her way in to do the interview she was yelled at, by some random person that didn’t like her red hair, which would be an example of just being stared at.
Then there is a blonde model in a magazine talking about her redheaded baby, she says “ I lover her anyway, even if she is a ginge! When people are horrible about people with red hair, its as bad as being racist”. Little does she know that it is racist, people with red hair are generally Irish and/or Scottish. Which brings me to another idea from Wu. Wu talks about the fictional character becoming more real than the actual person, in the case he mentions, a person can only understand their Asian friend after reading a book. In the story of the gingers, characters on television, like Willie on the Simpsons, become what all redheads are. Willie is the epitome of the Scottish stereotype, but because that’s what people know, all redheads automatically become angry Scottish people. Just like Wu’s friend became the character from a story.
Nearing the end of the story, Nightline interviewed a woman who sued her boss because he was sexist and “gingeriest”. Even though a cutesy word was used it means racism. This woman won her claim and received 35,000 dollars but she felt compelled to dye her hair so she wouldn’t have to face the ridicule anymore. She was basically forced to change who she was, just so she could live her life.
I couldn’t believe the hatred that exists toward redheads, here in the states we have issues but Great Britain’s issue with redheads is utterly menial and trivial. I can think of many times when someone was discriminated against because of the color of their skin but none because of the color of their hair. However, there is a stereotype against blonde women that they are stupid, but I can’t recall a time in history where they were literally yelled at on the streets.
I have two reasons for choosing this story as a media device. One reason is that my boyfriend is a “ginger” and as a kid he was teased for it but he has never been discriminated against because of his hair. I also was so shocked by such arrogance from the people of Great Britain. The second reason is because I think it relates to the reading “Yellow” by Wu.
“Yellow” is a short autobiographical interpretation of his race, Asian. Wu talks about how he is either stared at or is simply just invisible, to everyone except family. Its that statement that really stands out to me when the first women is being interviewed, she says that when redheads see each other on the streets they give one another a nod or wink. Like Wu the redheads are in search of their own kind, so they don’t feel like such a minority. The women also said that just on her way in to do the interview she was yelled at, by some random person that didn’t like her red hair, which would be an example of just being stared at.
Then there is a blonde model in a magazine talking about her redheaded baby, she says “ I lover her anyway, even if she is a ginge! When people are horrible about people with red hair, its as bad as being racist”. Little does she know that it is racist, people with red hair are generally Irish and/or Scottish. Which brings me to another idea from Wu. Wu talks about the fictional character becoming more real than the actual person, in the case he mentions, a person can only understand their Asian friend after reading a book. In the story of the gingers, characters on television, like Willie on the Simpsons, become what all redheads are. Willie is the epitome of the Scottish stereotype, but because that’s what people know, all redheads automatically become angry Scottish people. Just like Wu’s friend became the character from a story.
Nearing the end of the story, Nightline interviewed a woman who sued her boss because he was sexist and “gingeriest”. Even though a cutesy word was used it means racism. This woman won her claim and received 35,000 dollars but she felt compelled to dye her hair so she wouldn’t have to face the ridicule anymore. She was basically forced to change who she was, just so she could live her life.
I couldn’t believe the hatred that exists toward redheads, here in the states we have issues but Great Britain’s issue with redheads is utterly menial and trivial. I can think of many times when someone was discriminated against because of the color of their skin but none because of the color of their hair. However, there is a stereotype against blonde women that they are stupid, but I can’t recall a time in history where they were literally yelled at on the streets.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
jimmy johns commercial
This is a commercial for Jimmy Johns sandwiches. They are very popular in Bowling Green, because they are cheaper then Subway and they deliver. Jimmy Johns calls themselves the worlds best delivery service. Their sandwiches are very good too. They have many commercials but there are a few out on the air that are a bit questionable. The commercial I picked is one of the worse ones, I believe.
The commercial is taking place in a conference room and what looks to be an intern is giving a presentation and the boss is not pleased with any of the ideas. Then the intern gets an idea and calls Jimmy Johns delivery and then his boss is happy. It is a regular commercial, something we see everyday but it has racial connotations behind it. Every person in the meeting is Japanese and male, and they end up ordering food from an American company whose specialties are sub sandwiches. This was the only thing that made the boss happy. But what I really noticed was that all the men looked and dressed exactly the same. Everyone had a gray suit and one even had dark rimmed glasses. And that is why I decided to use this device; I wanted to analyze the stereotypical depiction of the Japanese men.
This commercial reminded me of the in class discussion we had about the Indians mascot art piece, “Welcome to Cleveland”. The whole collection of the artwork was about stereotypes. The main idea was from the Indians mascot, and then the artist used that same basic face and changed it to the stereotypical view of other races. A few of the races that were part of the work were the Irish, Polish, and of course the Japanese. The Japanese drawing has glasses; lines for eyes, a go-tee and a hat that makes him look like a tourist, all ideas of the “typical” Japanese person. This same stereotype can be seen in this commercial. Granted everyone in this commercial actually is Japanese, the producers applied the known stereotypes to further the idea that they were Japanese. There is a few times in the commercial you see the boss’s obvious distaste for the presenters ideas and he shakes his head and squints his eyes to show it. The squinting of the eyes just reminds me of “Welcome to Cleveland” because that is exactly how the Japanese character was drawn. Yes, Japanese have smaller and different eyes then we do but they certainly aren’t squinting all the time and they definitely don’t look like lines.
Normally, I find commercials to be funny, but this one was just offensive to me. Even if I had never taken an ethnic studies class I would still find this offensive. I understand that Japanese are different from us Americans but that is obvious, you shouldn’t have to make them “seem” more Japanese by adding in the stereotypes. And that just reminds me of when blacks had to paint themselves black so they would look blacker, so that the audience could see it without an ounce of thought. Pushing stereotypes unto people is just wrong, especially when you can clearly see what race they are, there should be no reason to add in “what is known” about them, just to make a commercial, or in the case of black face, a performance.
this is the url for the whole collection
http://www.chgs.umn.edu/museum/exhibitions/moccasins/index.html
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