Qing Xu
HCOM 345
Prof. Nava
5/2/12
Race in Down These Mean Streets “Éste es un mundo brillante, éstas son mis calles, mi barrio de noche, con sus miles de luces, cientos de millones de colores mezclados con los ruidos, un sonido vibrante de carros, maldiciones, murmullos de alegría y de llantos, formando un gran concierto musical (Thomas, Down These Mean Streets, 1998, p. 3)”, is how Piri Thomas describes his birthplace, East Harlem. The diversity of cultures, the vibrant street life, the passion and conflicts of everyday life and media portrayal in movies such as West Side Story make East Harlem an exciting and mysterious place. But hidden under the dirty faces of the children is the struggle in the search for acceptance and belong,
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as a result of U.S. imperial invasion and colonization of the island. They became one of the most impoverished groups and were “systematically perceived and treated as a conquered people (Oquendo, 1998, p. 70)” Puerto Ricans could sometimes pass as whites, like Piri’s family did. However, Piri was treated badly by the school, public transportation, workplace and the government. In an interview conducted by Ilan Stavans, he recalled that in the classroom the “teacher came roaring upon me and said ‘listen, stop talking in that language [Spanish],’ and I said ‘well, I am speaking my mother’s language. My mother’s from Puerto Rico, I was born in this country,’ and she says ‘well you stop talking that, you have to learn English, you are in America now.’ (Thomas, Race and Mercy: A Conversation with Piri Thomas, 1996, p. 345)” He also recalled going to the South with his friend Billy on a bus. The driver ordered all colored people to go sit in the back. When Piri tried to tell the driver that he was Puerto Rican, the driver said, “I don’t care what kind of nigger you are” and reached his hand into his side pocket. To avoid the risk of being killed, he quietly went to the back of the bus (Thomas, Race and Mercy: A Conversation with Piri Thomas, 1996, p. 351). In a chapter of his book titled “How to Be a Negro without Really Trying,” Piri recalls another occasion where he and his fair skinned friend Louie went to a job interview for a sales position. The company hired
to a community of gringos who want them lynched Proud to be a long distance away from the
The Civil War was fought over the “race problem,” to determine the place of African-Americans in America. The Union won the war and freed the slaves. However, when President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation, a hopeful promise for freedom from oppression and slavery for African-Americans, he refrained from announcing the decades of hardship that would follow to obtaining the new won “freedom”. Over the course of nearly a century, African-Americans would be deprived and face adversity to their rights. They faced something perhaps worse than slavery; plagued with the threat of being lynched or beat for walking at the wrong place at the wrong time. Despite the addition of the 14th and
In this paper, I plan to first describe the “Code of the Street” which is a term coined and a book written by Elijah Anderson. I would also summarize and describe two journal articles that test Anderson’s idea of the “Code of the Street” for a more definite explanation. I will tell how the two articles that I have chosen relates to some of the concepts that Anderson talked about in the book. I will then define general strain theory and social learning or differential association theory. Lastly, I will explain how general strain theory and social learning theory or differential association theory explain some of the behaviors that were seen by the individuals in the book published by Anderson. I will point out some of the individual’s behavior and demonstrate whether it may lead to crime or whether the behavior was learned in any way.
This book review was on the book of Race Riot: Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919. It was a long-term study done by William M. Tuttle, Jr. Its objective was to make a comprehensive documentation of the events of 1919 in Chicago. The book dealt with all aspects and perspectives of the event. The author’s objective was to leave no stone uncovered. That every aspect would be talked about in detail. Some important aspects that he arose throughout the book are going to be the focal point of this book review.
American society likes to believe that race relations in our country are no longer strained. We do not want to hear about the need for affirmative action or about the growing numbers of white supremacist groups. In order to appease our collective conscious, we put aside the disturbing fact that racism is alive and well in the great U.S.A. It hides in the workplace, it subtly shows its ugly face in the media, and it affects the education of minority students nationwide. In the following excerpts from an interview with a middle class African American male, the reader will find strong evidence that race plays a major role in determining the type and quality of education a student receives.
Unwittingly or quite knowingly people have built systems of inequalities around race but people have also built identity, friendships, and college mates around it. Nevertheless, several people I recently interviewed never appeared to be certain when race was a good thing or when it was a bad thing to talk about, which in my mind leaves us all struggling with a particularly intimidating question: When should we talk as if race matters?
The abolition of slavery in the United States presented southern African Americans with many new opportunities, including the option of relocation in search of better living conditions. The mass movement of black people from the rural areas of the South to the cities of the North, known as the Black Migration, came in the 1890s when black men and women left the south to settle in cities such as Philadelphia and New York, fleeing from the rise of Jim Crowe Laws and searching for work. This migration of blacks from the South has been an important factor in the formation of the Harlem Renaissance. The period referred to as the Harlem Renaissance, was a flourishing period of artistic and literary creation in African-American culture and
In Anderson and Collins’, chapter on “Why race, class, and gender still maters” encourage readers to think about the world in their framework of race, class, and gender. They argued that even though society has change and there is a wide range of diversity; race, class and gender still matters. Anderson and Collins stated, “Race, class, and gender matter because they remain the foundation for system of power and inequality that, despite our nation’s diversity, continue to be among the most significant social facts of peoples lives.” (Anderson and Collins, 2010) When I was a little girl, I never knew that people were classified in to groups such as race, class, gender. I knew there were people that had a different color of skin than
Race relations are an ever prominent issue in American society. Controversies focusing around race are a commonly seen smeared across the front page of the newspaper or headlining on the evening news. The opposition is usually between a minority group and "The Man," a colloquialism used by many Blacks to refer to the overwhelming power stemming from white racist tendencies. This racial tension can sometimes can cause the oppressed to band together against the oppressor. Many times, the most prevalent link is between the African American community and the Latino community. Here we find two groups of people with very similar lifestyles who find camaraderie between themselves when dealing
Everything is political in some respect. Especially in the media we can see politics being represented in. While watching news, I will observe lots of examples of opinions and political influence mainly on stations targeted toward sharing political news. I expect that most of the black journalists will represent the liberal population and whites will be more widespread. This is because white people are not enclosed in such a bubble like black professionals often are. I feel this way because in our society Blacks Conservatism is it’s own movement because it is so rare. Since the Civil Rights Movement, the black community has usually leaned more to the left , and has predominantly favored liberalism and progressivism. Black conservatism, in contrast, highlights tradition values, strong patriotism, capitalism, free markets, and sometimes strong social
For many years now the people in power or “whites” have passed laws so that other racial groups are kept at the bottom of the social hierarchy. These racial group that are kept at the bottom become racialized and oppressed therefore they become unequal to the people that are at the top of this hierarchy. The racial groups that are kept at the bottom vary from the Native-Americans to the Mexican-Americans and obviously the African-Americans. In this essay I will be comparing how the racialization process has been similar and different between these racial groups. I will also define race and racialization. Furthermore, I will explain how class, gender, sexuality, and citizenship has impacted the racialization process within these groups.
Detroit, once the New York City of its time, nick named the “Motor City” as it contained one of the leading car manufacturing centers of the automobile industry. As a metropolis for the first half of the twentieth century, Post World War II, Detroit became an economic fortress and focal point in American History. Detroit’s economic stronghold placed the city in a position that was once beneficial. From the surging employment opportunities perpetuated by the booming automotive market to the development, and implementation of substandard housing and the casual labor market, Detroit became the land of opportunity that loomed with an air of new beginnings. Today, however, Detroit continues to reap the aftermath of contradictory political
The population of the United States of America has been one of mixed race since its very beginning. Boatload upon boatload of enslaved Africans provided a labor force which would fuel the American South’s economy for many years, until national abolition and the subsequent civil rights movement created a primarily biracial population of blacks and whites. The US has come a long way since those days, and today every child born into the US is taught from an early age the evils of racism and the shameful actions committed by slave-owning US citizens in the past. From textbooks to televisions, the modern USA seemingly works tirelessly to teach its population that discrimination by race is wrong and that all races are equal. This has led to a great national complacence among whites, and a widespread belief that the US has mostly eradicated racial prejudices. But it is not so, and despite a population almost entirely composed of people who would not consider themselves racists, racism still pervades in the US. In many cases modern racism occurs at the hands of whites who almost absolutely are completely unaware of their discriminatory actions. In the films “Frozen River” and “The Visitor” racism was touched on repeatedly and played an evident part in the messages they were trying to portray.
The Internet, social media, and the emergence of terrorist groups in America; what do these three have in common? The mere fact that they are some America’s daily trends of the modern era. Being a child of the millennial age, I strongly feel as if no one has experienced racial tension in America as much as my fellow millennials and I. We see it in news headlines all over, the Internet, and hear about it during our daily commutes. All asking one question; what's your opinion on this racial inequality? Since we are the land of the free, the opinion of the public is highly valued, as well as diverse. Recently, the diversity has become more than just the simple opinions of the people; it's become the issue of racial tension. A tension so deep that it has accounted for many physical altercations, uproars, and unfortunate deaths within the country. How do you put into this detrimental norm of society you ask? Here's what I think.
Yorkville Crossing: White Teens, hip hop, and African American English written by Cecilia Cutler examined the transition of Mike in and out of black culture. Mike lived in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in New York City, Yorkville; however, he attempted to integrate himself into black culture by using African American Vernacular English (AAVE). Cutler describes AAVE origins and culture associated with the way of speaking. The paper begins by arguing that Hatala’s work on Carla was not representative because she was not a native speaker. Cutler dives into Mike’s background to explain where she explains his home life, school life, and contrasted his background from Carla’s. Mike went to an exclusive, expensive private school, and was raised in a good family (Cutler, 1999).