The readings for the unit “Strategies For Creating Change” helped me to grapple with the frustrating problem that, now that I feel more aware and informed about social injustices, how do I go about instituting change. Being aware of the problem and not actively fighting it does not make one part of the solution. Just like inaction against racial inequality is still passive racism.

The piece “Working Assumptions and Guidelines for Alliance Building” seemed to especially be applicable. Becoming an ally with a group that is oppresses is a great way for a member of the agent group to fight the oppression that we have helped to perpetuate. It is impossible to fully understand what a member of an oppressed group experiences, but that does not mean that you can learn a lot about their circumstances by listening to them. The most effective change will occur from not only the actions of the oppressed group, but by partnership with the oppressing group.

I was thinking how we, as informed students, could apply these guidelines. The first avenue of action that came to my mind was talking to friends that are members of different target groups. There are also many organizations on campus that represent oppressed groups.

True Colors

The film "True Colors" exemplified how common racism is still today. Theres not much to dispute about racism still existing today after watching how a black man and a white man can be treated so differently in the same situation. It made it pretty clear how common it still is! Often you hear our read accounts of minorities being treated differently from white people, but it is easy to suspect that situations are being created out of nothing or are exaggerated. This investigation shows that racism is still pervasive.

Unfortunately, the racism observed in the film is stubborn and more difficult to stamp out. Even though there are laws against discriminating between renters because of race, it clearly does not stop property managers from preventing African Americans from even applying for an apartment. These situations can easily go unnoticed because there are not usually undercover cameras recording the way that different people treat different races. I wonder if the car salesman even thought about the way he was discriminating against the black man. I was surprised at how even race makes it difficult to spend one's own money

Response to Readings for Tues Jan 20

As I was reading "Linguicism" (19), I couldn't help but think about how the high school that I attended handled language diversity. I attended a very diverse high school. There was a large Hispanic student population (of many different ethnicities) as well as students from countries all over the world. It was quite the melting pot, there were many more languages spoken in the hallways than taught in the classroom.
There were classes called ESOL for those that did not speak English fluently, though I have no idea how they were organized. In regular classrooms, there was never formal bilingual conversations between teachers and students. Posters and announcements were only in English. Yet there were many students that did not speak English as a first language. I can't help but think that students whom did not speak English fluently were at a major educational disadvantage: there was no way one could pass the college-bound courses without being proficient in English. English speaking students and minority language speaking students were not brought together to learn each others language better. As Schniedewind suggests, this may have been a great exercise for many students to improve their secondary language skills. The diversity in languages at the school was not handled ideally, but perpetuated the notion that English is the dominating language.
I also wanted to comment about the reading " Develop Cross-Cultural Communication Skills"
I agreede with Ford that when interacting with people whom are culturally different than ourselves, it is our gut reaction to pull back from the situation. It takes consciousness and practice to see all that can be gained from interacting with people unlike ourselves. I think that the most important aspect to take from this reading is that it is crucial to keep an open mind and hold individuals that you are conversing with in the utmost respect. Don't judge people by what they look like or try to fit them into stereotypes that society holds. I thought it was particularly interesting that one should focus on the interaction and not what was said. Its the relationship that is formed that is what is really important to breaking down the walls we put between us and those whom are culturally different.

Let's Talk About Racism

Our discussion about racism touched on the racism that we all commit: passive racism. Personally, this really touches base with me because though I do not actively participate in racism (at least conciously-I know we all internalize some racism from society) , I realize that I'm a passive racist. There. I said it. It is very hard to admit that you are racist. The term "if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem" would especially apply to racism.

As I think about all the situations that I was in where racist jokes and comments were made and I simply rolled my eyes or turned my attention to a distraction, I think about what I could have done. I could have spoke up! Easier said than done. It's not exactly the easiest thing in the world to tell someone who has had racist views for fifty years that their comments are unacceptable. Not being a passive racist is going to be a battle and take a lot of courage and energy. However, it is far more difficult to be a part of the target group and having to live your life looking out for violence and mistreatment because of your race. We can all be an ally in fighting racism, as well as other social injustices. It is everyone's responsibility to fight racism and its perpetuation through generations. Perhaps the most effective way to prevent being a passive racist is to think about those situations you are likely to be in and how you will act against it.

Response to Readings For Jan 13

I began with reading the selection "How Homophobia Hurts Everyone" and at first I wondered why would a reading focus on how Homophobia hurts people not belonging to the 'homosexual' social group. Aren't the difficulties and inequalities suffered by the target status in this social relationship enough to prove that homophobia is a problem?
However, I never thought of the impact that homophobia has on non-homosexuals. For example, homophobia prevents most heterosexual males from forming close relationships with other males for fear of being targeted as a possible homosexual. The fear of being mislabeled as a homosexual prevents bonds from being formed that are perhaps what is lacking in this society.
Homophobia also perpetuates gender roles, making it another factor keeping us from breaking gender labels and stereotypes about STDs and openness about sexuality. Perhaps in order to reduce sexism, racism, homophobia, biphobia, and other social problems we have to approach them as interwoven problems that cannot be reduced individually.
I was really interested in reading the personal segments of Tuesdays readings because they revealed how social problems effect individuals, "I'm Not Fat, I'm Latina" highlights how mainstream societies prefers a certain physical appearance. Being subjected to another cultures preferred body image threatens ones own heritage and customs. Many ethnic groups are experiencing the pressure to conform to America's stereotype of beauty: there are cosmetic surgery for making Asian eyes appear more European, lightening creams for dark skins, and countless other ways to conform to the mainstream media's idea of beauty.
Another Personal Voices selection that intrigued me was "Pornography and Men's Consciousness". Pornography is a subject that I frankly would rather not think about, so I never considered how it effected woman that are not directly involved in it. However, just like movies and other forms of media influence our perceptions and attitudes, so does pornography. It is a very demeaning form of media that perpetuates treating woman as objects, and this disturbs me. How are we going to fight sexism when there is a thriving industry keeping sexism alive?

Helping Hands Day 1

Today myself and two other fellow SOCI240 students went to our first day of volunteering at Helping Hands in Puyallup. Helping Hands is an organization that supports homeless people. Currently they have 66 units for families to stay in when in need of a home.
Our task today was to organize their food bank. Even though nonparishable items have a long shelf life, they do not last indefinitely. It was our task to go through every item and evaluate if it was past its expiration date or if it looked like it was in bad condition. Even such seemingly mundane tasks must be done at volunteer organizations so that food given to families in need are nourishing and not hazardous. It also allows them to gauge how much usable food they actually have in inventory.

Mickey Mouse Monopoly

The influence that Disney has on our culture is quite significant. I have always associated the company with imagination, fantastic stories, and unending childhood. I did not realize, until we watched the Mickey Mouse Monopoly, that some of the messages within Disney films are negatively portraying social groups, ethnicities, women, and history.

Disney is everywhere, and throughout childhood, American children watch Disney movies and then internalize their messages. This makes since, how many little girls want to be a Disney princess for Halloween? How can we progress from gender roles if the movies we watch as impressionable children reinforce that it is female to bat your eyes, use your body to get what you want, and that one should love an angry and violent beast?


The way ethnic groups are portrayed in stereotypical fashion, and this no doubt contributes to their perpetuation in society. How come there aren't any African princes or princesses? We allow Disney to tell our children stereotypes that we should be breaking free of!

The rewriting of historical accounts also disturbs me. As a company producing fictional stories, they have the right to make movies portraying events in any way they choose. However, the impact is startling. I know from first hand experience that it is difficult to replace the scenes from a movie with what really happened historically. For example, I had watched Disney's Pocahontas before I learned about it in school. I was disappointed that the story I thought to be true was, in fact, not. Even today, I can still remember the storybook version far better than the actual historical accounts. Pretty scary.