Sumblog 5

For this week’s sumblog I will continue to discuss the issues discussed in class on Wednesday. Stereotypes, prejudice, discrimination and micro aggressions are sadly still very evident in society today.  I believe that none of these are justified and struggle to find reason behind these actions.  I recently watched a movie called “I hope they serve beer in hell,” and in this movie one of the main characters is at a bar with some female friends.  He continually makes misogynistic remarks and sexist phrases.  Finally his friends end up leaving the bar because he says, women may be able to vote but they will never be equal.  Its small micro aggressions that really don’t have a place in our society.

Another concept we dove pretty deep into was double consciousness or “two-ness.”  First described by W.E.B. Du Bois, it is the idea of not feeling accepted into either group, the majority or the minority.  This is a very interesting topic in that even the President of the United States cannot escape it.  The controversy about the presidents original birth certificate is still a debated topic in our nation today.  There is still a doubt among a small proportion of people that he was actually born in the United States, however that number is dwindling. 

Finally, another idea I would like to focus on would be the idea of “passing” or ability to be perceived as a member of a social group, not their own.  I  believe that we are taught this from a very young age and it is an essential part of our society if you would like to be perceived as “normal.”  Over and over we strive to be accepted by social groups that are widely accepted or popular in our society and this may result in losing touch with your own ideals.  Below I have posted a link on the example I used for double consciousness:

http://www.storyleak.com/obama-birth-certificate-confirmed-forgery-according-top-experts/

Sumblog 4: Personal Narrative.

As white, male, middle class American attending a University I am almost a template of a privileged person in the United States.  We demonstrated this in our discussion in class last week as we outlined what would be the criteria of a privileged American.  As I have experienced privilege I have also had my fair share of experiences of oppression.  Both situations have contributed to who I am today and wouldn’t change a thing. 

The experience I am writing about today involves both privilege and oppression.  When I was in high school my family went on a vacation down to Florida which is the example of how I have been privileged.  When we were down there we sat on the beach, went swimming in the ocean, and enjoyed fishing off the dock.  I will never forget this experience and is an example of how I am privileged in my life today. 

However while we were on this vacation, my brother and I walked down a boardwalk and made it to a much more diverse part of town.  On this one particular block I remember looking around and realizing that we were one of the few people that were not Hispanic American.  When we walked into a relatively crowded “hole-in-the-wall” restaurant we were immediately stared at.  When we finally made it to the counter we were unable to order because we couldn’t communicate with the owner because everything was in a slang dialect of Spanish.  Because of this we were unable to order food and it gave me a completely different perspective walking back to the hotel.

This experience in my life demonstrated the privileges and oppressions I have experienced based solely on a change in geography.  When I look back I feel blessed because it opens my eyes to oppressions that other races go through when they visit a town such as Stevens Point and I hope through this narrative that I am able to open others eyes to the oppressions of others and appreciate their privileges.