1/30 Response to Racial Privilege

Because of the focus on the black (and recently Latino) and white paradigm, often times Asians are left behind in any forms of benefit. In Peggy McIntosh’s article, White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Napsack, she seems to emphasize on the fact that many of the whites’ privileges comprise of social benefits, which result from being the dominant race and culture in America. She states, “I could freely disparage, fear, neglect, or be oblivious to anything outside of the dominant cultural forms. Being of the main culture, I could also criticize it fairly freely.” Although there are privileges for the whites, there are also privileges for the underrepresented, blacks and Latinos. These privileges are a result of America’s compensation to these underrepresented populations. An example of a privilege is affirmative action in universities as well as the work place. However, Asians benefit from neither the social comfort and dominance of white culture or the attempts of America to create an equal society by serving the underrepresented.

The reason for such a lack of representation of Asians in America’s focus may be a result of the lack of representation of Asians in American government. Unlike, other communities, the Asian community lacks a voice in politics. As a result, recent Asian immigrants suffer from many social injustices such as those in regards to an access to proper healthcare. For example, many members of the Korean community suffer from the lack of health insurance. Expensive prices for health insurance, undocumented immigrants’ fear, and the fact that many business-owning Koreans do not qualify for health insurance cause the lack of health insurance. As a result of not having health insurance, many Korean Americans do not have regular visits to a doctor, regular screenings, and follow-up care.

Datum's Article 1/24

I found this article interesting for many reasons. First Beverly Daniel Datum points out how many students reactions to the topic of racism, classism, and sexism. At first, I disagreed with Datum, who believes that many students still think of those topics as taboos. However, after reading her explanations to the resistance of why her students refused to acknowledge and learn about those topics to the student’s full potential, I see that problems still exist.

In the novel, Blink, by Malcom Gladwell, he explains how most people are racist and prejudice to some degree. He explains that peoples’ racism and prejudice is not blatant but hidden in our subconscious. In a psychological test, which showed flashing pictures of both whites and blacks, performed by Harvard, the results showed that a large majority of people had a tendency to favor Whites, regardless of the test taker’s race (even if he himself is black). In this way, people have prejudices formed through subliminal messages and experiences from American society.

In support for Gladwell’s theory, Datum states, “the African American has absorbed many of the beliefs and values of the dominant White culture, including the notion that ‘White is right’ and ‘Black is wrong.’ Though the internalization of negative Black stereotypes may be outside of his or her conscious awareness, the individual seeks to assimilate and be accepted by Whites” (10). Another example is found by one of Datum’s student’s comment in reaction to Cleopatra being black. This student may not be racist but has a subconscious prejudice that non-blacks are most beautiful. Through a class such as the one taught by Datum that analyzes the roots of our racism, I believe we can undo the prejudices society and experience has placed in our minds.

Jan23 Asian American representation in film

This image is from a scene from X-Men 2. The character Lady deathstrike is played by Kelly-Hu, an actress of Asian descent. In this image, Kelly Hu plays the role of a “dragon lady” as she is portrayed as being dangerous yet seductive. As shown by her stance in the image, her character is depicted as a kung-fu specialist. While other characters have special abilities such as controlling the climate (storm) or psychic powers (Jean grey), Lady deathstrike has blades as a nails and kung fu. Her attire further exemplifies her “dragon lady” characteristic. She wears tight leather in black, accentuating her body and her exotic nature.