Takaki Chapter 6

Chapter 6 starts out talking about hoe the Irish did not want to leave Ireland but were pretty much forced to go to America and felt it was a necessity for their lives. It talks about how much they didn’t want to leave their country and would of done pretty much anything to not have to. They complained over and over again of being pushed out of their country by strangers from England. By 1700, the Irish only owned 14 % of Ireland. English colonizers were also forcing the Irish to become Christian. The Church of England became Protestant while most of the Irish were Catholic. The Irish attempted the “ethnic strategy” of settling in cities, educating children so they wouldn’t follow in their parents footsteps, assimilated to white culture, learned English, became unionized, possessed suffrage, and worked toward citizenship. The Irish were forced to do the more dangerous work. Those who did domestic work were paid more, had more steady and stable jobs, and stayed with the same family for long periods of time. During British colonization Ireland was poverty-stricken, the rich people took over, there was less work for the Irish, and their substance agriculture moved to a commercial agriculture. Blacks were considered more valuable then Irish. If a black was killed it was viewed as a significant loss. The Irish were given the worst of the worst jobs.

Eventually the Irish were able to assimilate to all aspects of the “white culture”. Would it have been the same if they weren’t fair skinned. Blacks still face discrimination today and hear racist comments but very rarely do you ever hear negativity toward Irish or those of Irish decent. We as Americans have even taken it as far as adopting the Irish holiday of St. Patrick’s Day. Why in a country where we brag about everything being based on equality and equal opportunity still passing judgment on skin color? So I guess my question is would we still be discriminating against Irish today if they had some outward marking that labeled them as Irish such as the blacks have their skin color that is what people first notice of them and make assumptions? The Irish came here to make a new life for themselves and work hard which helped in their success but didn’t most African American’s do the same? Yet they still are not treated completely equal. There is something wrong with that picture it seems to me.

Takaki Chapter 10

Takaki Chapter 10 starts out talking about the migration of Japanese and other Asian cultures to Hawaii and eventually on to the mainland of the United States. Between the harsh taxes and the economic hardships they were facing in their own countries made them want to look for a new life elsewhere. At first it was mainly men that were moving and starting a new life in North America but eventually women started coming too and joining the men in their new life. Japanese women were allowed entry into the United States because they were considered family members. Japanese were the first to start what they call a “picture bride”. These were when the families of those still in Japan would arrange a marriage between a son who was already in the U.S. and a daughter in Japan and they would exchange pictures which would be the only time they see each other before they become husband and wife.

When reading this I felt that even though the Japanese were considered cheap labor and worked under conditions most American’s wouldn’t dream of working under is it really fair to bring them here to work when there have always been so many American’s out of work? It seems to me that if we were bringing them here to work they should paid and treated just as American’s would who would be working those same jobs and also be paid the same. I don’t find it fair that American’s take it upon themselves to decide to pay them less and have them live under such conditions as living in dormitories when they are doing the work that they can’t find anyone else to do. It seems to me they should be paid more or at least get a better life. They had to of felt like they were pretty much damned if they do and damned if they don’t. They only had two choices for their lives stay in Japan and face harsh taxes and economic hardships or come to America for a life of hard and brutal work.

I found this piece very interesting and it definitely shows yet another part of history that is rarely heard of or talked about. However why does it always seem that its Caucasian Americans that are being talked about as racist or taking part in racist activities?

"Drawing the Color Line" Zinn Chapter 2

In this chapter Zinn starts out questioning how racism started and if it is possible for blacks and whites to live together without hatred. Black slaves became the answer for the Virginians that couldn’t force Indians to work for them. If all the slaves were black it made it impossible for them to escape and disappear into the crowd. Zinn argues that African slavery lacked two elements that made American slavery the cruelest form of slavery in history. Those two elements were the frenzy for limitless profit that comes from capitalistic agriculture and the reduction of the slave to less than human status by the use of racial hatred. Zinn also talks about how there was only one fear greater than black rebellion in the new American colonies and that was that discontented whites would join black slaves to overthrow existing order.

I think Zinn makes it pretty clear in his article that there is no way to live without racism and hatred. I would have to disagree with this because I think if we teach our children that everyone is equal and its wrong to hate people based on how they are different from ourselves then eventually we could all live together in perfect harmony. There may always be hating for other reasons but I truly believe we could eliminate hate on the basis of race.

This article didn’t really have too much of an effect on me. I basically just felt like it was a deep history lesson that most of the time gets left out of books. I also felt it was giving excuses for those that enslaved African Americans and traded them. Saying they were starving and needed food and help on their farms and plantation but I think that’s just an excuse because they could of hired help or at least been more civil with those they had working for them. They didn’t have to treat them like they were property to be beaten and punished if they didn’t do exactly as they were told. They could of let them live and eat freely in payment for them helping out on their farms and plantations. They didn’t have to beat them and treat them as less than humans.

PPD Chapter 8

In Chapter 8, Johnson discusses the many different ways people use to “get off the hook”. One of the biggest ways being viewing the problem as not theirs. With problems dealing with racism, sexism, and many other oppressed problems many individuals deny, resist, or drastically minimize the problems. Some problems have become culturally accepted while others have cause civil rights movements. When we deny the reality of oppression you also deny the reality of privilege that underlies it. People often draw on negative cultural stereotypes of each other. The result being that oppression is blamed is those experiencing it. We can’t work on solutions to a problem if the problem is going unrecognized.

Johnson talks a lot about people denying the reality of the problem. However, I believe that placing the blame on others is a bigger concern. When people find other places to blame these problems it only makes the problem that much worse. People not being willing to take responsibility for their own actions and placing the blame elsewhere only encourages these problems to persist and doesn’t allow for any positive changes. People should learn to take responsibility for actions and words they speak and not always shove it off as someone else’s problem. Deal with it and move on without taking hate out on innocent people.

While reading this chapter I thought of the many different people in my life that would fall under these ways of trying to get “off the hook.” There are so many people that try to say “oh I’m not racist” on one yet then they turn around on the other hand and say “I just don’t want my kids around black people”. I don’t believe anything gets under my skin and makes me angry then that statement. Going into the Education field I see how much influence adults have on children and how are we ever going to put a stop to racism when kids hear remarks such as that. Children learn what they live and if they live with hate they feel the other thing they know how to do is hate too. Children should especially be taught to treat everyone the same and accept everyone for all of their differences. That will be the only way we can put a stop towards the hate and violence against those in society that differ from the norm or majority.

PPD Chapter 4

We as individuals make privilege happen. Johnson states that racism leads to sexual violence and harassment against people of certain races in different organizations. Privilege leads to organizations not working out and open to being shut down. Privilege also can lead to a lack of diversity in an organization which many people think alike and this results on failure of the organization. Johnson provided some very surprising statistics on men versus women in the work force. One of the most interesting to be that families with college-education householders that are also of an ethnic group other than Caucasian are two to three times more likely to live below the poverty line than those Caucasian families.

Johnson states that “sometimes” racism happens openly and on purpose. I would have to disagree that it is only sometimes. Anytime one is about to speak they go through the thought process of what they are about to say. If they are in doubt about what they say might offend someone then they probably shouldn’t be saying it. I truly feel that we as people need to be more careful about what comes out of our mouths and how it might hurt someone. While it is true as young children we learn to know what to say and when it is appropriate this needs to be even stronger as we grow into adulthood. However, I also believe that we need to be able to be open and honest with our questions and concerns about those who are different. We can first say we don’t mean to offend you or hurt you in anyway when beginning a conversation in which you plan to ask questions about their differences.

While reading this chapter I found myself trying to think of many different ways in which people make power and privilege obvious in everyday life. Johnson points out a gesture as simple as whether you look at someone or not when you talk to them. I had never before considered that to be a way of showing privilege and power but now I see where someone could be offended if you don’t look at them when you talk to them. It made me much more aware of how I can avoid offending people and made me be more careful to not hurt feelings unintentionally. If all people could just be a little more careful and think before they speak a lot less unintentional hurt feelings would go on.

PPD Chapter 2

In every group in society there is privilege and oppression. Johnson explains that two of the biggest problems with privilege and oppression are power and privilege and our lack of ability to talk about those issues because of discomfort in being associated with a group. People view difference as a means of separation and grouping. Differences only describe one trait about an individual, not the individual as a whole. Privilege and oppression are directly related and you can’t have one without the other. Johnson also talks about privilege as a paradox, which is when individuals get privileges based on the way others perceive them and by being placed in a privileged group.


My argument with Johnson for this chapter would be on what the biggest problems are. I would have to say I believe the biggest problem is that certain groups having a feeling of being better than other groups and if we could eliminate the feeling of superiority then power, privilege, and oppression wouldn’t be such a problem. This seems to be a difficult mindset to get some individuals out of but as a nation if we teach our children everyone is the same and should be treated the same no exceptions then eventually it will be a more universal belief.

When reading this chapter I really came to realize how right it was about privilege not being able to make one happy. You could join every privilege group humanly possible and as much as you believe it will make you happy, it still won’t. I think people try way too hard to be parts of groups they believe to be privileged only to realize they aren’t and happier than they were before. So many different factors contribute to one’s happiness there is no way that just having privileges over others can fully satisfy all one’s needs in order to be happy. I also find it pretty sad individuals actually still believe in this day and age that they have superiority over certain others just because of one characteristic. It makes me realize how lucky I was to be raised believing that just because someone is different than myself that makes them no less of a human than my family and me. If all families could raise their children to accept everyone’s differences we could definitely improve privilege and oppression.

Essentialist vs. Constructionist

This articles sums up how different people view different situations and how they believe they effect those situations. In the story of the baseball umpires three main ways to view balls and strikes are identified. The first one being balls and strikes exist independently in the world no matter how he calls them. Second umpire views them as independent but open to interpretation. Finally, the third umpire perceives balls and strikes as having no meaning until the interpreter gives them one. I believe one of the most important things the author points out about the differences in essentialist and constructionist is what question they would be more likely to ask. An essentialist would ask what causes people to be different while a constructionist would ask about the origin and outcomes of the classification system.

The author then goes on to discuss how many believe that just like race or ethnicity, a person’s sexual orientation is something they are born with. They have no choice as to what sex they are attracted to. The author tells the story of Chris Yates and how his family dealt with him being gay because they thought he chose to be only to later come to realize it was something in his genes that made him that way. The author then goes on to talk about names and whether we as individuals name ourselves or if those around us name us. I was very surprised to hear the story of the two females that took offense to the use of women and girl. I had never even considered either term to be able to be taken offensively.

While reading this article the question that came to mind was can really everyone be solely put into one category or the other of being an essentialist or a constructionist? Throughout the whole reading I was trying to put myself in each situation or think which would I more likely fit into and it seemed to me that in I went back and forth a lot between which I would be like. I didn’t seem at all to fit into one any more than the other.

I really enjoyed reading this article. I found it very interesting and felt I could definitely pin point people in my life that fit a lot of how I perceived each category of people to be. This article kept my attention a lot better and I definitely felt like I could relate to it quite a bit more.