Out of the readings for this week, "Defining Racism" stood out to me the most. The line: "It is not our fault, but it is our responsibility to interrupt this cycle"is really interesting to me because of my own upbringing. My Dad is black and my Mom is white, so I have gone through a lot of my life pretty oblivious to any issue with interracial relationships. I've also lived in different countries, and, especially on military bases, you see so many different races all together in one place. It took getting to high school before I heard anything that actually made me realize that different races marrying each other isn't exactly a normal thing everywhere. I feel that my parents did their best to try to "interrupt the cycle," and even though I still have issues with stereotyping, their story has kept my mind a lot more open.
How about you guys? Has race been a dominant thing in your life or do you usually not think anything of it?
I too found that quote very interesting and thought provoking. I feel that the author does a good job at bringing to light the fact that this is something that we must all be aware of and work against in order for it to disappear. Based on my own personal experience, this appears to be getting better. When I think about the circle of friends that my grandparents and parents had at my age and compare that to now, they are very different pictures. When they were my age, their social circle was all white. Now my brother is engaged to a woman from Mexico, my best friend is Indian and I have another brother planning on living in India soon. Nobody in our social circle thinks anything of it, it's completely normal. I believe that, at least in some social circles people are doing their best to "interrupt the cycle," opening the path to a more unified and racism free country.
ReplyDeleteRace has been a dominating thing in my life because I was repeatedly reminded of it. Not a day goes by that I didn't notice I was black! I think people see race as more of a negative because of racism and not just a part of who we are. The color of my skin or ethnicity is obvious, there is no point in ignoring it. What's annoying me right now is this movement of colorblindness or "race is fake". A lot of people take pride in their race and ethnicity and to say it's fake is an insult. I believe we gave race a name and that we are different (i.e. hair texture, eye shape, facial structure).
ReplyDeleteI agree. Race in America can really not be compared to any other country because we really are a salad bowl of different ethnicities. A lot of Americans add American on to the end of their original ethnicity which doesn't make them any less American. Those people, may be born in America, but still want to identify with where they came from. Race in America is something that will always be a huge part of our history and a huge part of our future because we are so diverse and have such a unique history. To try to ignore it or to initiate the term colorblindness to achieve a disregard of racial characteristics is not going to help the progression of race in America. I think that the right idea is behind the term of trying to come together without looking at discriminating but we shouldn't camouflage who we are or where we come from.
ReplyDelete