Reverend Douglas Vandoren: Speech Analysis

Prior to beginning my readings on white racial identity, I did not pay much attention to my white race. If someone had asked me to describe my appearance I would have said short blond hair, blue eyes, average stature, etc. One of the last things I would have noted was the color of my skin. Growing up in overwhelmingly white communities, I never thought to use the color of my skin to differentiate myself from others. Over the course of this dialogue I have learned that my white racial identity is one of the most defining aspects of my appearance in this society. There is a certain level of privilege that I am afforded based solely on the color of my skin. According to Peggy McIntosh, “White privilege is like an invisible weightless

We have all sat through multiple history classes and learned about slavery, segregation, and the Civil War. We have all seen brutal movies and presentations based on racial injustices and the lack of equality. So often, we forget that these issues are still so present in our community. Slavery is illegal in the United States but other forms of racial profiling, insensitivity, and racism continue to be a recurring social barrier. Racism is still very much alive. The United States is “equal” yet somehow segregated. There isn’t quite a quick fix to this problem. Clearly, this has been an ongoing issue and requires major progression in our personal global

Prior to taking this course, I was taught, and therefore was under the impression, that prejudice is a preconceived notion about a group and that racism is essentially the same thing, except that racism also encompasses the idea that the group is lesser. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva states that “for most whites, racism is prejudice; for most people of color, racism is systemic or institutionalized” (Bonilla-Silva, 2010). Quotes like this force me to reflect, both on how I see myself and how others see me. Reading that quote, I felt like I related more to ‘most whites’ because I believed that racism was essentially prejudice for so long. I remember once while doing a cross the line activity, I hesitated before moving when the facilitator said “step forward if you are a person on color.” Technically, yes, my skin is pigmented in a way that would qualify me as a person of color but there is a connotation with that phrase that I felt didn’t relate to me. My first reaction to that phrase is the thought of someone who has struggled, someone who faces racism on a regular basis, someone who is treated differently because of the color of their skin. In my opinion, the more others acknowledge a part of your identity, the more apparent that part of your identity is to you, and I don’t often feel that people acknowledge my identity as an Asian American. I’ve been called a coconut more times than I can count. Brown on the outside but white on the inside. Sure I look brown, but I don’t ‘act

Cornel West spoke at Texas A&M University-Commerce as a guest speaker on September 28th in order to discuss why race matters in 2016. He talked about different subjects including race in politics, social justice, social economics, police accountability, and prominent social justice warriors. Filling the shoes of Martin Luther King Jr., Dr. West kindly educated the students and faculty by discussing the current racial justice movement, what the movement stands for, and what they intend to do. The insight that Dr. West offered helped me better understand the difficulties of racial tension, and what we can do to stop both racial and social injustice. What I found particularly interesting about his speech was the way that he captivated the audience.

In her 2012 TEDx Talk, “How Studying Privilege Systems Can Strengthen Compassion”, Peggy McIntosh discusses how race is a privilege system and how white people are given an advantage without even realizing it. In her lecture McIntosh says, “These privilege systems, which locate us above and below the hypothetical line of social justice, were invented and we were born into them. And we all know both sides and that is the reason for compassion, about the sadness of having been born into systems that gave us such… such different ‘politics of location’”. Here, it seems that McIntosh’s main goal is to inform people that we are born into a privilege system because of our skin color and the only way that we can prevent a social hierarchy we must be able to recognize that we are all different. I think that the human population should be able to identify that people are different and have compassion for the differences in society our world today could have little to no race issues. After listening to McIntosh’s arguments, I support the ideas she makes throughout her works and I find that privilege systems are still prominent in today’s society.

I began by speaking about transforming social arrangements by using education and communication to change to an inclusive view. I took a close look at a program my father and I participated in, The Indian Guides. I feel my father did not understand the racist underpinning of the program and its symbols. I did come to realize how detrimental color-blindness can be as it ignores racism. Later I explored the painful story of 3 individuals that suffered heart attacks. The success or failure of their recovery was linked to their class position. The ability to obtain health care in this country should never depend on class or socioeconomic strata. Care and wellness education should be available to all. Toward the end of the term I faced the power of words and images. These symbols can have a tremendous impact on the division of race, gender and class in society. Today I can choose to be part of those striving for an equitable society or part of the color blind

In “Good Friday Letter,” Cesar Chavez asserts that, “The color of our skins, the languages of our cultural and native origins, the lack of formal education, the exclusion from the democratic process, the numbers of our slain in recent wars- all these burdens generation after generations have sought to demoralize us, to break our human spirit” (2). This statement mainly encompasses on the idea of race, specifically non-white people or people of color and the struggles they have gone through generation after generation of discrimination, separation, manipulation and being voiceless in the public arena. Even though as a society with the creation of to give more opportunity to people of color, somehow we still have practices or pedagogies that have become innate. Holding us back from making our people of color feel not welcomed in this country.

I identify as a white female. I never thought about why I identify as white, partially because I never had to and as Tim Wise says, “Being white means never having to think about it” (Wise 1). My family is not entirely sure of our racial ethnicity, I know my mother is Jewish and my father is Christian, and by looks we are “white.” All born with blonde hair, blue eyes, and I am very pale. No one has ever questioned my looks other than telling me I need a tan. I never had to think about my racial identity or ethnicity because I am accepted as white. The idea of White Privilege is

I have always thought about myself as just a person. After taking this course, I think of myself as a white person. To me, being colorblind and attempting to look at everyone as just a person, were ways I avoided being racist. This course, taught by Dr. Bianca Williams, has enabled me to change my views on racism and race to a move correct outlook. I now understand that it is my duty to be able to acknowledge my race and other identities and the privileges that come with being a white, middle class, heterosexual person. I used to think that interpersonal racism was the main problem in the United States, but after this course realize that institutional racism is the problem. This course, coupled with readings from Devon W. Carbado on his piece titled “Privilege”, Beverly Daniel Tatum’s article titled “Talking about Race, Learning about Racism”, Brittney Cooper’s article on “The Politics of Black Women’s Hair” and Audre Lorde’s article called “The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism”, I have shifted my views on race and racism to a more constructive and correct outlook.

This week’s readings focused on a topics associated with the white population of America. Some of these topics included the privileges white individuals are often unknowingly accustomed to (McIntosh,1) as well as the lack of responsibility and motivation many whites feel when it comes to eliminating racism. This is a social problem because it constructs biases that often times negatively affect the interactions between whites and individuals of color. This potentially leads to many issues including racism, hate crimes, and the unequal treatment races.

When white Americans choose to self-educate about systemic racism they can become allies in the fight to dismantle racist structures in our society. Systemic racism is a theory that “takes a look at how individual, structural, and institutional forms of racism intersect, overlap, and create a deep-rooted form of prejudice and discrimination that advantages a cultural group at the expense of others in all institutions of a society - economics, political representation, the criminal justice system, employment, and many others.” (Luther College 2015). This includes discrimination affecting credit, schooling, justice, residential location, etc. It can be eradicated in the next century, but not without white people acknowledging that it is a real issue that cost lives. It is not the duty of the oppressed to make a liberty sales pitch to their oppressors. However, it is the responsibility of those benefiting from the oppression of others to become educated, listen, and use their privilege to combat injustice. Asian, Latino, Black, and First Nations people respectively do not experience white supremacy in the same ways. Throughout this essay I will focus on the systemic racism targeted at Black people, using the term “People of Color”, coined by Black Feminists in the 1970s, abbreviated to PoC, to refer to them.

Being considered a white person in the United States is almost a blessing. White people are automatically given a certain amount of “white privilege” once they are born. When walking down the street, applying for a job, or university there are very little obstacles a white person will face. A non-white person is seen as threatening walking down the street, and less likely to get a job, or into a university than a white person. When a white man walks into a room people will just call him a guy, but if a black man walks into a room people will automatically refer to him as a “black guy”. This has nothing to do with how he is dressed, how he talks, or how he behaves, but all on the color of his skin. In the U.S., we are brought up to believe white is natural, and if

Almost everyone has heard the famous hymn, “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” but not all understand the true meaning when it says, “Red, and yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world.” The moment sin entered into the world, perfection no longer existed. This loss of perfection changed the way humans viewed each other. It made one ethnicity view another ethnicity as inferior, and in doing so, created what people now know of as racism. For centuries, racism has been a part of society, shaping the way humans view each other, but with the aid of Young Women 's Christian Association (YWCA) - Stand Against Racism, racial discrimination and injustice can be eliminated.

Growing up white, I never fell victim to racism or segregation, and sadly, I believe I was ignorant regarding these issues until I reached college. My sister and I were raised in the lower-middle-class by a single mom; But, we were fortunate to be born into a large family that has always supported each other in times of need. Being raised in the middle-class society, I never went without. My mother raised me in a nurturing way, but also believed in tough love in order to create a resilient young woman ready to tackle the world. Through my college education, I have recognized that I was born with white privileges that were given to me rather than something I earned. Coming from a large, tight-knit family, one of the most