-A photo of a close friend of mine and I, back in middle school days. It seems relevant giving the different skin tones and hiding of our faces.
Race identification and segregation has been around for centuries, continues to thrive today, and will still be relevant for years to come. Despite the more recent ideas of racism, more specifically white racism, being eliminated due to a changing society and the heighten of its awareness, it is changing but still present today. Through a study group, held in my apartment over the past couple of days, of different race and gender covering “whiteness” and their perception of race, I have found that at least among the “black race” and “white race” there are very similar ideas of the way society functions. However, there are different ways of recognition and experience of racial related aspects of life, including privileges or behaviors.
To begin, even from the start their stories of when they had first recognized their skin color, I found likeness in the answers of the three females and two males of the “black” racial identity and likeness in the response of the male and two females from the “white” racial identity. The people of the “black” race, all identified with noticing that they were not “white” when they found themselves different and as a minority in their earliest classroom or group setting. Both of the males had almost identical stories, mentioning they were in a class at a young age and noticed they were the only “black” child or at least one of very few, placed among a predominately white school. The females noted they also first noticed in a class setting, but that it was more of noticing that another person or persons that looked different than they did. One female specifically mentioned that her teacher was “asian” and that she recalled thinking “she looked different”. The similarity between the stories of the same race and differences from the two races show that the issue of “whiteness” is quickly established at a young age. It is also established through academics and the teaching of different races. Like mentioned in the text, “I Just See People”, children are exposed to things such as white males being the normal for presidency, or shown that its normal for white people to be in power positions. One of the “black” females in my study group pointed out to me how she was taught in that way, saying, “Up until the point President Obama was elected, I thought it wasn’t possible”. “The president had always been white, so the next one would be too,” she said, “I had actually decided that if I could vote, I would have voted for Hilary Clinton, just because I thought she had a better chance.” On the other hand, the “white” male and females from the study group pointed out that they never really noticed until they had been taught in history class about slavery and that up to a certain point, skin color was just another attribute, like the color of your hair or eyes.
As well as similarities among stories of the same race, I also kept hearing a similar phrase among the men and women of the “black” race group, being “I have to work twice as hard as a white person to be just as successful”. There was a common theme between them about privilege, pointing out that they were raised by their parents to know they would be expected to work twice as hard to become who they were going to be. They also mentioned that as soon as they began in the work force or joining certain school related clubs or organizations, they were aware of how much better they had to present themselves or work to maybe not even get hired or accepted. One of the “black” males stated that he had once been class president two years in a row, then on the third year his opponent was a “popular, white football player”, who didn’t work as hard as he had, and won the election by a landslide. Another female commented that when she applied for the job she recently worked at, she remembered a “white” boys mom and dad coming in and simply asking for the job for their son, and him receiving it, when she had to do everything herself and go through a long application process. On the contrary, the “white” male and females asserted that they had never had any problems with the hiring process but that they hoped their getting hired was based upon skills and talent, not race. They also ended up being in agreement that the system of hiring should not have any aspect of race included, but that “it is just how society unfortunately worked.
On the other hand, despite the acknowledgment that it is harder for “black” male and females to be hired, there was a common statement in that the idea of “white privilege” was changing and isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. Everyone that I interviewed brought up the idea that the population and people were changing. Social class was mentioned for everyone, that despite the knowledge of rich “white” males in power, there are a lot of rich “black” people in power as well, President Obama being the main example. Everyone agreed that there is a higher ratio of educated “black” people and that roles are crossing over, being that there were very many uneducated, poor white people in the “ghetto” just as there are now many educated, black people in the richer neighborhoods. All of the students were also in accordance with the idea that despite the huge change in today’s world, there were just some things that never will change, such as the differentiation of races. Also, that those ideas won’t change because of society and how the media represents the different races in different lights.
Furthermore, in the text “The Persistence of White Racism”, the author notes that the media constantly displays other races than “white” as not being rich or in power or in other bad lights. The black race is shown as poor or as some type of criminal and the same for the hispanic or latino races. The same was discussed among the people of my study group; they believed on the news, for instance, white rich men were never getting very much display for doing something wrong when they are sure it happens. A few of them gave examples from their home towns, explaining that they feel like they constantly see the news displaying the “ghetto” part of their town, someone getting shot or robbed, and how it was usually of someone who was not “white”. On the other hand, they claim to know that bad things happen in the richer neighbor hoods, and while they do believe there are several “black” or “hispanic” people living there, they believe it is less likely for a rich white male to be blamed or to have his face on television for all to see.
In any case, it was apparent that while the experience of “whiteness” was different among the two races, that when it came down to clear racial segregation, both groups agreed that society has been changing, specifically to most recent years; but that there is an ongoing problem and it needs to be fixed. Nevertheless, the problem may be that the experience of each race is different, in that “white” people are less likely to recognize the differences and that other races are aware of them but satisfied with the direction that racial segregation is going. One black male in my study actually stated that he thought “it is up to the other races now”. He believes that since things are changing in our racial world, that it is the job of races other than “white”, who now need to step up and work against the privilege of “white” people, so that there becomes even more and more of a recognition to the problems in our media and society. The author of “White Privilege” said, “To redesign social systems we need first to acknowledge their colossal unseen dimensions. The silences and denials surrounding privilege are the key political tool here.” Based upon the study, I believe the key is to recognize and work against what the media says, to give the term “whiteness” less power. It seems that although there is still a struggle that appears on a day to day basis, within the media, that the average “white” person, the average “black” person, and the average any other race of person, all want a more equal world, where race may not even be seen at all.
“I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live”-Ecclesiastes 3:12
Pues, Yo he visto España mas! Yo tengo muchos amigos mas, y comé muchas comidas de españa! Me encanto ESPAÑA! :) I’ve only been here for so little time, but I already am having an amazing time and I feel this is completely where I’m supposed to be.
Only downside is that i’ve already fallen three times…sometimes being as clumsy as I am can be bothersome haha However! Since Toledo (in spain To-lay-th-o), I have seen many more beautiful places in Madrid and seen many amazing parts of the Spanish culture. FIRST I want to start with my university Antonio de Nebrija. It seriously has SUCH a beautiful campus, I love it. I’ve only been taking my intensive spanish studies classses, but I’m excited to learn about cool spanish culture and things in the classes to come! Here’s a nice view from the window of my classroom :)…
Then I want you guys to see the Royal Palace, which I’ve only seen outside of, but it is SO beautiful! and here is a picture…
Not the best picture to give the royal palace justice, BUT it’ll do. Entonces! I have also since then tried Churros y Chocolate, the best desert I’ve had here. SO DELICIOUS. Another picture for visuals…
Ahh and then I come to my favorite place for a snack so far in Madrid, porque la comida buena, El Mercado de San Miguel. I had amazing Sangria there and a yummy small tapa, so perfect. Pictures? no? si!
In the same area of Mercado de San Miguel is Plaza (Pla-th-a) Mayor :) It is a very pretty area, with many talented performers/artists. I was SO close to buying this beautiful original art from one of them but I figured I needed to save my money and buy all of the souvenirs later. I did a little bargaining with the seller though, with the help of my friends, I was pretty proud of us! Here is a SWEET picture of a street performer who makes HUGE bubbles. Not an amazing talent, but we were definitely all amused…
I also learned because of this picture that bubble in español is burbuja. ¡Que guay! haha The NEXT adventure I went on was Vogue’s Fashion Night Out with mi amigas, it was pretty sweet. We got free delicious, and seemed expensive, drinks while walking around NICE fashionable stores. They did it big for this night, including models dancing in windows, prizes, drinks, and EVERYONE was dressed so cute. For example…
Next we have Retiro Park, which is seriously one of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen in my life. I loved it SO much, take a look for yourself…
IIsn’t it so beautiful?! It so is. Well there’s last but certainly not least! Last saturday night I attended a beautiful Flamenco show, with dinner before hand. I seriously have never seen such a passionate dance live before..I recommend it to EVERYONE! You have to check these out…
I probably spent more than I should have there, but I felt like it was SO worth it. Other than those exciting things I’ve seen, there are other many things that are enjoyable about España…The coffee especially amazing, the food, the wine, the daily venture in and out of metros only to see new parts of madrid, and the people :) Man, this 4 months is going to FLY by.
¡Hasta Luego!
It’s day three of España and I am loving it! I had my first mojito and spanish wine the past couple of days, so good. Also, today we took an excursion to Toledo, which is beautiful. It’s such an old town with a lot of history, I loved it! I’m making good friendships with the people I am in the program with and it just keeps getting better. Be praying for me these next couple of months, I’ll need it! More updates later, I hope you enjoy the pictures :)
¡Holá!
It is my first day in Madrid, España and it has been a tiring one. I haven’t Slept much at all and I got zero sleep on the flight. However, I met tons of cool people today and will be spending pretty much the rest of the semester with them. Hablar español es muy difícil Pero, I can’t wait to be able to speak it! I’m going to try and blog as much as possible during my semester here in Spain and some of them might be in full spanish because I’m going to try my hardest to get my mind set in Spanish mode. Until then, i’m really tired and I have a test in the morning and lots of exploring to do.
Buenos Noches Mis Amigos,
Krystyne
I love a good role model. Check it out!
Record breaking Tornadoes swept through Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia,and other southern states the last couple of days. The count of people dead keeps rising, as family and rescuers search through what’s left of their homes and town.
When storms like this happen, my mind is ALWAYS blown. They’re so uncontrollable and powerful, and they happen in only a few minutes or even seconds. I’m praying for all the families that are affected, whether they’ve lost loved ones or the place they called home. I can’t imagine the devastation they’re feeling right now. The Photos and videos alone are heart breaking.
I’m reminded, as I look through all the photos, videos and read all of the articles, of how BIG God is and how little and fragile we actually are. It’s very easy to kind of forget those things sometimes, but when I see these MASSIVE tornadoes rip buildings and nature to shreds, I think of how we don’t have as much control in this world as we think.
God is SOOO in control and it amazes me at how in control he actually is with things like tornadoes; which is something we can’t have ANY control with. Here is this huge damaging, destroying, windy mass that barrels through our lives and takes a lot of what we deem important to us out of our hands.
So when I think about how HUGE, and powerful and in charge God really is, and I think about how insignificant we really are, it amazes me how he really cares about us and loves us. I’m honestly, so so so grateful of it and I am humbled by it. I am humbled by these massive storms and more importantly by an even more massive God, whose got it all figured out.
Praise God, even through all of this mess.
The all mighty and powerful,
the controller of the uncontrollable.
“Your’s LORD is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” -1 Chronicles 29:11-13
Jare told me about this song today. I really like it.
