3 posts tagged “equality”
Read this excerpt from pg 172-173 in Inequality by Design: Cracking the Bell Curve Myth / Claude S. Fischer ... [et al.]
"Consider this situation: Members of a minority, many of whom were brought to this country as slave labor, are at the bottom of the social ladder. They do the dirty work, when they have work. The rest of the society considers them violent and stupid and discriminates against them. Over the years, tension between minority and majority has occasionally broken out in deadly riots. In the past, minority children were compelled to go to segregated schools and did poorly academically. Even now, minority children drop out of school relatively early and often get into trouble with the law. Schools with mx`any minority children are seen as problem-ridden , so majority parents sometimes move out of the school district or send their children to private schools. And, as might be expected, the minority children do worse on standardized tests than majority children do. What is this minority?
Koreans in Japan.
Koreans, who are of the same "racial" stock as Japanese and who in the United States do about as well academically as Americans of Japanese origin (that is, above average), are distinctively "dumb" in Japan. The explanation cannot be racial, nor even cultural in any simple way. The explanation is that Koreans, whose nation was a colony of japan for about a half-centry, have formed a lower-caste group in Japan.
Consider another case: immigrants flood into the United States to take low-wage jobs. They are "swarthier" and more "primitive' than most Americans they seem unwilling or unable to assimilate; they are suspected of criminal behavior; and they threaten native workers' jobs. Together with other newcomers, these immigrants provoke a backlash against easy immigration into the country. Objective tests show that immigrants are low in intelligence; and their children do poorly in school. Who does this describe?
Polish Jews in the 1900s and 1910s.
These same Polish Jews, whose descendants now do well both economically and on tests, were scorned when tehy came. Many scholars of teh day believed that the Jes, along with Italians and other "dark" types, were dim-witted. Can race or genes explain what happens in the intervening seventy years or so? No, but social location can. As a peripheral and subservient group in the early twentieth century, Polish Jews were failures, even in school. As they came to be accepted in American society, their position and their "intelligence rose."
Our argument...is that a racial or ethnic group's POSITION in SOCIETY determines its measured intelligence rather than vice versa. Some ethnic groups find themselves in inferior positions through conqeust or capture (e.g., the Irish in Great Britain, Maori in New Zealand, Africans, Mexicans, and Indians in the United States). These are the groups that suffer the most drastic and lasting effects of subordination. Other minority groups enter a society through immigration, often made under economic duress (e.g. Italians in the US, Eastern-origin Jews in Israel, Turks in Germany). These groups typically move closer to equality faster. In either case, subordination leads to low performance in three ways...."
Generic Asian Man: I have more money than you!
Crazy Monster: Oh Yeah? I have more cultural capital than you!
Generic Asian Man: I create your cultural capital!!
Crazy Monster: You little misrecognized structured bitch.
I drew this cartoon during a seminar discussion on Pierre Bourdieu's Distinction. Bourdieu is HEAVY - everytime I read him I become so depressed because I feel like no matter what, the working class, or the marginalized are always fucked. So to counterbalance this - I drew a cartoon, a la Bourdieu - but with a silly side. Would he find it funny? I don't know - but to understand this cartoon if you haven't read his work yet, here's a quick primer.
Bourdieu tried to show that there are more ways than just using money to dominate people - and that people use "culture" to also reproduce their superiority. So he conceptualized this as "cultural capital."
For example, he said public education is a way social hierarchy is reproduced. When the school sends their students on an art museu fieldtrip - this is form of trying to enforce the dominant class's taste of what is considered to be "artistic" and valuable for education. Bourdieu was trying to point out that the contradiction with public education is that it's supposed to INCREASE equality, but instead it PERPETUATES inequality. When teachers and textbooks force into black kids that they need to know about European art and memorize European history, this is one way of reproducing the hierarchy of whites on top, and blacks on bottom. Of course textbooks give Blacks one month for their anti-slavery heros, and a chapter on third world Africa, - and of course we say the West colonized Africa, but one month of heros or 1 chapter of lesson plans is not enough. Even though we are past the plantation days, school classrooms and curriculum ensure that racial superiority stays alive in more subversive ways. It's all one big structure of structured domination! AHHHHH!
Read and Laugh at Crazy Monster #1-4
My thoughts: Asians, Virgina Tech, Condolescences, Racism and etc
Originally uploaded by triciawang 王 圣 㨗.
The Virginia Tech Massacre just unfolded. I was walking to teach my section today when a student approached me and asked if I would like to sign a banner that would be sent to the students at Virginia Tech. I looked over - and it was organized by the KOREAN AMERICAN STUDENTS ASSOCIATION at UC San Diego.I asked the student why I should sign it and how the signatures would support Virginia Tech, and he said “well I'm Asian and you're Asian - and we need to support the students. “
I asked “what does that have to do with being Asian” and he said he said “ we also need to fight racism against Asians - since the shooter was Korean. ”
When I glanced at the banner again, I realized the 20 students signing this Korean Association Banner for Virginia Tech were all Asian. I took a picture and walked away. Then one of the Korean Student Assoc. girls yelled out – “instead of taking a picture you should sign our banner."
As I watched from afar, I noticed that the student who was asking students to sign the banner was only approaching Asian students for signing their banner. Although Asians are the ethno-racial majority on campus, there were plenty of white students around and he didn't ask any of them within the 5 minutes of my observation.
I walked away very upset at what just happened. I felt it was so petty to worry about Asian racism (they did it by cloaking it in "we're concerned for students at Virginia Tech" when this horrific tragedy just happened!
Why is it that this Virginia Tech shooting prompted this Asian Club to address racism – when really there are more immediate issues that this shooting has brought up – like gun control policy, identifying psychological maniacs on the verge of massacring others, emergency planning, effective campus security, and emotional reverberations around other college campuses?
And then immediately I thought of the e-mail that Liane just sent me – it was a press release post from the Asian American Journalists Association, urging the media to refrain from using racial identifiers of “Asian” or “Korean” in reference to the shooter. “There is no evidence at this early point that the race or ethnicity of the suspected gunman has anything to do with the incident, and to include such mention serves only to unfairly portray an entire people. The effect of mentioning race can be powerfully harmful. It can subject people to unfair treatment based simply on skin color and heritage,” said the release.
This press release made me very upset, not because of what they are urging (which is a great idea but a bit too late). First of all racism is not the immediate concern in this situation. What I am most upset about is that the Asian American Journalists are only expressing concern for this specific situation because they fear that they themselves
will face epiphenomenonic racism. The wouldn't have spoken up if the shooter were white or Black. Although there is nothing wrong with being concerned about the potential racism one will face, as it will also upset me when the stereotype of “Angry Asian Man Gone Wild” developing (which my friend Christian sent me this link to show that it already has developed) – what's wrong is that many pro-race equality Asian groups only choose to speak up when it became a fear that Asians will face discrimination themselves. In this case the Korean student group at UCSD was concerned that Koreans would begin to face discrimination.
This is one of the reasons why I find it difficult to work with many Asian-American non-profit, organizations, or collectives that create spaces for equality and community – because ultimately it is too often that Asian activists who fight against discrimination and for representation, are only fighting for Asians. They forget that their are other minorities that are fighting for the same causes and that building coalitions and solidarity with Blacks, Latinos, Queers, Jews and other minorities is a more powerful strategy to fight for equality.
Jewish, Black and Latino organizations are always fighting discrimination when it happens to an individual or group other than themselves. They really take on Martin Luther King’s quote,
"injustice anywhere is is a threat to justice everywhere."
Last summer in NYC, when Miss Jones made the racist comment in their parody about "Chinks" drowning in the Tsunami, there was tremendous support from Black, Jewish and Latino based groups. They organized protests, press conferences and press releases alongside and with Asian activists to admonish Miss Jone's racist comments about Asians. But when a racially motivated attack or injustice happens to someone who is not Asian – who may be white, queer or black - Asian organizations are not there for them.
What Asian groups need to realize, is that if they are really fighting racism/discrimination, then they need to fight equally for all races/ethnicities - otherwise they’re just favoring one race/group when they are fighting – themselves. They speak up when they become worried that they, as Asians, may face similar forms of discrimination that other minorities have faced - especially in the aftermath of a highly public shooting/massacres/murders. Where were Asian groups during post 9-11 Muslim/anyone-wearing-a-turban/dark colored person discrimination period? Where were they when Matthew Shepard was killed for being gay? Or for the Amadou Dialo shooting?
This is not the case for ALL Asian individuals or organization in America – I am reflecting on what I have noticed as a community organizer. I am sure there are individuals and organizations who do speak up, but nationally Asian groups have not made a great media impact when fighting for others – at least nothing comparable to the effort they are now putting into fighting potential racism against Asians in the face of Virginia Tech Massacre
On this last note – I think one of the best Asian American role models I admire is New York City Councilman – John Liu. He is the councilmember for a predominantly Asian population in Queens, NYC. He is a great example of a councilperson who stands up and fights for issues that cut across all income stratas and ethno-racial groups. He always speaks up publicly in the media for any person of color who experiences racism in NYC. He fights for policy changes on issues that effect people in different boroughs, neighborhoods, and classes. He is one of my favorite Councilperson in NYC. He honors his Asian roots while serving his all his constituents of NYC equally.
