White Privilege

As I decided to truly think of white privilege and how it applies to my life, it was a somewhat challenging thing to do. I have never been a racist person; however, any non-colorblind person could tell the physical differences between a Caucasian male or female and a person of another ethnicity. Throughout my life thus far, I have been able to recognize the increasingly drastic difference in thought toward race and overall mentality toward life evidenced through my parents, grandparents and myself. With each generation comes a new level of tolerance and understanding in terms of race and the thoughts we hold about those different from us. After becoming aware of privilege, the fact that I fall within the racial majority has allowed me to see the ways that I am treated as opposed to someone of a different heritage. To read further into white privilege, I consulted, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_privilege. In this web site, I was able to see more about the entire idea and concept of white privilege. The following are ways I noticed privilege in my daily life the past week:
1. As I was shopping with my friend who was African American, I noticed that the store employees seemed more eager to help me, which should not have been the case seeing as she was the one who wanted to buy something and not me.
2. While eating with some of my Caucasian female friends, I noticed a table of racially-mixed students staring, possibly making fun of us because we sounded like “valley girls.” I say the word “like” all the time and naturally tend to come across that way.
3. My father works with an African American man who has worked at the same company with him since he moved there. Every six months, they change offices to get a new change of scenery based on their level of production. My dad got an office with a window and was allowed to choose, whereas the other man was selected last. Although it cannot be proven that it was because of race, it certainly seems that way to me.
4. On OU’s campus, I also am able to tell a difference, not necessarily directly related to white privilege, but the fact that there are significantly more Caucasians than there are African Americans. This leads me to believe that clearly, stating the obvious, whites tend to receive more educational benefits.
5. At the pre-school I work at an African American lady that works with me always makes comments on my “blonde free-flowing hair” as compared to hers which is more stiff. That makes me uncomfortable because I cannot change that about myself.
6. In the neighborhood where I am from in Dallas, TX, there is also a very racially-driven community feel, which is sad. Racial profiling on the part of police officers is very noticeable. I.e. I was in a car wreck once and the officer was trying to help me and virtually ignored the Hispanic man.
7. Also, I have seen neighbors around me be unkind and talk down to their yardmen and other workmen that are helping them. I highly doubt they would be able to fix whatever job it is they are helping them with if it was not for them.
8. Lastly, as I was eating dinner last night, the table next to mine was having a gender and race discussion about the differences between the U.S. culture now versus in the 1960s. Although I have to agree that it has drastically improved, there is still a very long way to go before we have complete equality and racial acceptance.
The media definitely feeds racial discrimination through news stories depicting crimes committed by lower class minorities and other ways similar to that. Also, images of African American women and as “divas” and Hispanic women as “Jenny from the Block” do not help end the stereotypes. I think the majority of society has modernized itself enough to the point that the one drop rule is becoming less and less. I may have some French ancestry, but I do not walk around telling people that I am a French person.
At the end of the Tim Wise video, he discusses the importance of people having the responsibility to recognize the current situation and change our behavior toward thinking about race. Based on my level of awareness, if we teach future generations that there is no difference between people based upon their race, then the future seems promising for racial equality.

Comic Book Character Memin

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/07/09/mexican.comic/index.html

This was a very interesting article to read from CNN. I had never really heard of a cartoon character igniting such controversy before. As I read the article, I was able to understand the problem that people of the African American heritage would have with the appearance of the main character Memin. Additionally, I became thought of the supposed dislike between Latinos and African Americans. If a hispanic person is able to create a comic like this then they are aware enough of the backlash that could come from black people in the United States as a result. 

It is incidents such as these that prevent our country from moving ahead as one nation. Although people will always be able to recognize a difference in skin color, it does not mean that everyone needs to look at the person "inside" differently.

Obama: Reject the Politics of Division

http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=news-000002690214

Personally, this article truly spoke to me. At the beginning of President Obama's campaigning, I was skeptical; however, although I did clearly know he was an African American, that is not what made me a skeptic or would have dissuaded me from voting for him or not. Although, throughout his campaigning, I began to see a side of him that you can really only see in someone running for president when their real human side begins to come out as they get even more passionate about their policies and the issues they speak so vigorously about. From his election and the positive and negative things I heard about this man, I began to see the significant differences between my parents, grandparents and I. Sure I could see the physical differences between President Obama and I, but I have never been one to look down upon anyone, not even the little pre-schoolers I teach. You would be surprised to see how uncorrupted and unbiased those young children are, as well as how much an adult could learn from a child's innocence. 

In the article I read, "Obama Urges Americans To Reject 'Politics of Division' Based on Race," I was was absolutely taken aback by the words he spoke because, to me, it seems he summed up his entire campaign's aims all in one speech. Although President looked up to Reverend Wright as a spiritual advisor and friend, he should not have been held accountable for his words. From the get-go of his campaign, President Obama was up-front when he said, "My father was a black man, and I consider myself a black man;" however, his ultimate goal as a president of this country was not to be bitter and strike back at the white generations before us, but to unite this entire country as a whole, no matter your race or ethnicity. I respect that wholeheartedly because this country does need that right now. Everyone needs to get past the racism of the past, blacks and whites alike, because until we can act as one, we are never going to be one. Just as President Obama said in this article, if we focus on one distraction, there are only going to be more that will take us further and further from our ultimate goal of unity.