Month: September 2020

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Blog Posts ENG110

Blog Posts Project 2

A Response To “The Pressure to Cover”

By: Jackson Schuyler

Yoshino’s article was a stark reminder of the state of the world today. We live in a time and place where we are most often outwardly tolerant or at least attempt to appear so. Yet when doors are closed, or settings changed from group to individual these views and ideas seem to disappear or be reworked in some capacity. Where someone accepts someone else purely in public but shuns them in private. Or where in the case of this article where someone will be viewed or treated differently if they chose to be themselves, and not a cookie cutter definition that is expected of them. Often people who don’t fit into the average social norm or structure are expected to act in a certain way. To fit into a box that others can relate to or work with based on and defined by broad stereotypes or misconceptions that are associated with them. Some examples of this being the idea of the Gay best friend or the Gay guy being attracted to every man, or the Gay guy being extremely feminine and so forth. Things that often dehumanize and or boil people down to a single trait or characteristic, with no little to new regard to the individual and who they are. So often you see something like what is talked about in this article. The Idea of “Covering” which is the idea of trying to cover yourself. Or what is viewed by society as “shortcomings” or negative parts of who you are. Which boils down to more often or not attempting to constantly disprove and or go against, preconceived traits or characteristics that are associated with one’s background. He puts this idea into fantastic light with a conversation he has with his colleague. With putting it in a way of how this can affect one’s life if one does not “Cover” properly.

“When I began teaching at Yale Law School in 1998, a friend spoke to me frankly. “You’ll have a better chance at tenure,” he said, “if you’re a homosexual professional than if you’re a professional homosexual.” Out of the closet for six years at the time, I knew what he meant. To be a “homosexual professional” was to be a professor of constitutional law who “happened” to be gay. To be a “professional homosexual” was to be a gay professor who made gay rights his work. Others echoed the sentiment in less elegant formulations. Be gay, my world seemed to say. Be openly gay, if you want. But don’t flaunt.” (Kenji Yoshino).

Before I read this article, I had a similar idea to this which I called being “Marketable”. What I mean by this is the same as “Covering”. With “Marketing” being when someone is diverse or different in some form but never in a non-acceptable manner. They are non-conventional in some way yet never enough to alienate the public or make one uncomfortable with their level of difference. Being able to check off the box for individuality and difference, yet still fit into the societal standards enough to be appreciated by a wide audience as possible. With them still being able to be “Marketable” and still reach a wide and broad demographic as possible. With one of my favorite examples being Ellen, as we all know Ellen Degeneres is lesbian and has been married to her partner for years. Yet have you ever seen a photo of her with her wife or have you seen her speak up on LGBTQ+ issues or problems? Another example is Pete Buttigeige who I’ve heard more about his time in the army than the fact that he is the only gay candidate for president that I know of in recent history. I’ve never in my time following this election have I heard him speak on LGBTQ+ issues or problems, I’ve never even seen his husband in any capacity, and I struggle to even find photos of him online. These are examples of “Covering” or “Marketable”, these people are open with who they are yes, but they downplay it and minimize it till it’s almost nonexistent. I’ve experienced this firsthand I’m gay, yet I would say that I’m heavily covering for it. I do so because it is essential to be successful which is sad but the reality. I know that if I was open with my sexuality on a broad level I would most certainly not be where I am today. Hiding my true self and even lying to others has and most likely will be better for me for the foreseeable future. Often people are viewed as one thing or have one thing define them. Like having the fact that your gay be your personality or effect every decision in your life. This simply is a ludicrous idea to even consider, so much more than one thing influences a person and their actions and to assume otherwise is simply false. Yet this idea also applies to race and gender, with them also containing limiting and dehumanizing expectations that they are often expected to uphold too. Yet with the example of those above and this article I know that I am not alone in this. I also know that this applies to those who lie outside of the LGBTQ+ community, with people having “Cover” for things such as their race and or gender. With this being far harder for other individuals who face harder “Covering” expectations and experience far harsher backlash if they don’t submit to these cruel standards. Yet at theirs seemingly a light at the end of the tunnel, with this articles publication and many movements and attempts to normalize and standardize things. Things that would have been thought of unheard of to do in public such as having a man wear a dress and or having a same sex couple be able to hold hands in public have become in a small way normalized. Which not leaps forwards, but crawling progress is progress, nonetheless. I hope with the future people can have a far better level of understanding and acceptance. Where an individual’s worth won’t be assumed by how they present or carry themselves. But by how they act and are as a person with no consideration being given to irrelevant or uncontrollable qualities that are their defining characteristics. I just simple hope for a future where we don’t have to “Cover” or “Market” ourselves to be successful, and have people be judged by more than one part of their being.

Sources:

Yoshino, K. (2006, January 15). The Pressure to Cover. Retrieved September 26, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/15/magazine/the-pressure-to-cover.html

A Response to “What Does It Take to ‘Assimilate’ In America”

 By: Jackson Schuyler

Lalami tries to define the word assimilation with its most modern interpretation. Using the current global standard and even the practical application of it, to fully define the word and its implications. The way Lalami goes about defining it is not only practical, it is precise and profound. Rather than simply choosing what the word means on a local or national scale, she instead focuses on it in a global context. Making a fantastic effort to get create profound basis of how this word can be applied in different situations and contexts. With it not having a simple one size fits all definitions of it and its applications. She starts this with a discussion of the words literal roots as she slowly shifts to its current standard of definition.     

“What does assimilation mean these days? The word has its roots in the Latin ‘‘similar,’’ meaning to make similar. Immigrants are expected, over an undefined period, to become like other Americans, a process metaphorically described as a melting pot. But what this means, in practice, remains unsettled. After all, Americans have always been a heterogeneous population — racially, religiously, regionally. By what criteria is an outsider judged to fit into such a diverse nation? For some, assimilation is based on pragmatic considerations, like achieving some fluency in the dominant language, some educational or economic success, some familiarity with the country’s history and culture. For others, it runs deeper and involves relinquishing all ties, even linguistic ones, to the old country. For yet others, the whole idea of assimilation is wrongheaded, and integration — a dynamic process that retains the connotation of individuality — is seen as the better model. Think salad bowl, rather than melting pot: Each ingredient keeps its flavor, even as it mixes with others.” (Lalami).

Lalami begins to discuss the most common example that one thinks of with assimilation, that being the American melting pot standard that we often think of. Yet she also points out that this is not a flawless and or even particularly constant example. When one moves to a new place they most often pick up or attempt to change their habits and actions to better fit in with the local culture and norms. This is not a foreign concept; it is only human nature to fit in. In a broad sense, it can be considered like changing yourself to fit in with a group of friends. With you trying to do something to gain their respect or impress them.  Not only that, but also being put to a larger group or even a society. With the same key concept of trying to make a stark change to fit in or be accepted, with the cost of losing a part of yourself. She touches upon this idea of the loss of oneself to fit in. How often this is simply seen as the false golden standard of assimilation and even at times its goal. As it is often seen as the changing of one’s identity to fit in or be a part of the local social standard and or norm. Or as she brings up that it can be even more extreme with the complete loss of one’s identity.

“But for those who believe that assimilation is a matter of identity — as many on the far right do — nothing short of the abandonment of all traces of your heritage will do. The alt-right pundit Milo Yiannopoulos, an immigrant himself, told a campus group in January that ‘‘the hijab is not something that should ever be seen on American women.’’ The perception that visible signs of religious identity are indicators of deep and sinister splits in society can lead to rabid fears of wholly imaginary threats. Several states have passed anti-Shariah measures, in fear that Muslims will seek to impose their own religious laws on unsuspecting Americans. The fact that Muslims make up 1 percent of the U.S. population and that such an agenda is both a statistical and a Constitutional impossibility has done nothing to temper this fear. It is no longer a fringe belief: The white nationalist Richard Spencer told a reporter that he once bonded with Stephen Miller, now a senior White House adviser, over concerns that immigrants from non-European countries were not assimilating.” (Lalami).

This is often the harsh and horrible reality of assimilation, most often a simple changing of oneself and their actions is never enough. With the only acceptable goal being the total loss of one’s past and customs with a full embrace of the new culture and its norms. This happened to my family who were immigrants that were Irish and Dutch, with us losing all semblance of our heritage or past. I could not tell you a single tradition or holiday from these cultures or even anything about them in any form and this could be said for the rest of my family for the most part. The only part of my heritage that I have is that I own a claddagh ring, which in Irish culture symbolizes loyalty, friendship, and love. All of this would make me be a “successful” example of assimilation, which to make you consider the harsh reality of it. Is the complete and total loss of one’s past and culture a worthy price for one’s wide acceptance? I do not think it is and I even believe it to be ultimately un-American in nature. As we often but great value in individuality and freedom of thought and expression. But once again in true American fashion this only applies to the few. I have seen examples of this in my life at my high school. We had only a few diverse students from foreign backgrounds, with those from European origin being far more accepted and popular than those from a Non-European origin. When those from Europe had their differences brought up or mentioned they were placed on a pedestal and considered unique and even exotic. With them receiving a large amount of positive attention and praise. Yet in contrast those from Non-European origins had to hide their true selves and if they ever expressed it, they were met with harsh and cruel judgment. Often being bizarre and weird with their differences although being comparable to those from Europe, they were instead met with open hostility and severe judgment. This is not uncommon to see and is even often the norm. Therefore, I prefer the metaphor that Lalami gives of a salad bowl over a melting pot. Where individuals keep their differences yet still mix, and do not simply all conform to a single norm or standard. Differences even if they are often looked at as a hazard or hindrance are what make us strong. Having different and unique perspectives increases both efficiency and problem solving, both things we need in spades currently. That is why I solidly hope that this “Salad Bowl” idea that is put forward by Lalami gains more traction. I think it will do wonders to help create a more accepting society where differences are not seen as a hindrance but instead as an asset.

Citation:

Lalami, L. (2017, August 01). What Does It Take to ‘Assimilate’ in America? Retrieved October 02, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/magazine/what-does-it-take-to-assimilate-in-america.html?mcubz=0

Response to “The Open Secret of The Anti-Mom Bias at Work”

By: Jackson Schuyler

This article by Goldstien puts an idea into our collective consciousness that we rarely consider, the discrimination against mothers. One might be taken aback by this; they may think to themselves that this is preposterous, but it is a serious issue. Most assume that mothers are held in a high regard in society and given great leniency and consideration. While these views may be present in day to day life, they most assuredly do not take place in one of the most important places someone can be, the workplace. This harsh reality is fantastically articulated by Goldstien by her opening of her article.

“Last fall, I was in a meeting with a leader in women’s health, discussing re-entry-to-work programs for new mothers when, out of the blue, she began complaining about a former employee. This employee on their small team had gotten pregnant, the woman said, and it was a problem: “She was way too focused on her pregnancy. It was distracting her. I didn’t think she was going to be committed enough to the job, so I had to let her go.”

I looked at her, stunned. This woman — a mother herself — who worked on a range on initiatives to support women was openly and casually admitting to illegal discrimination.” (Goldstien).

This paints an apt picture of the situation, where the telling an employer of pregnancy is often considered a career suicide of sorts. With the false notion and the bizarre assumption that the birth of a child will lead dereliction of duty in a new mother’s carrier. With one of the most shocking parts having this discrimination coming from someone who was in a position of understanding and personal experience on the issue. One would assume a woman and a mother would consider and empathize with the employee that she let go rather than ruling her unfit to work. But sadly, this does not occur both here and in wide practice. New mothers often unjustly lose their professions and entire careers, simply by telling a fellow employee or superior that they are pregnant. With a paradigm shift in view occurring where seemingly all other traits and values of the individual being thrown to the wind. As their usefulness and skills are now seen as void, simply because they will have a child at some point soon. Now to say this is wrong and immoral should go without saying. These are blatant and exceedingly cruel examples of gender-based discrimination, as this is where someone’s job and income are most often needed most. But as one would assume as this is such a blatant example of gender-based discrimination why is it allowed to occur? The answer to this is both yes and no, there exists legal standards and mandates that forbid discrimination such as those found in Title VII. Yet these things still occur often in high frequency and are often met with stark resistance and backlash when questioned. Goldstien gives some examples of such situations where legal action was taken. Thankfully, cooler heads prevailed, and such injustice was struck down.

“Lawsuits indicating the scale and scope of this type of discrimination abound. In a case in Illinois, a woman took her employer to court after he flat out admitted that he preferred to work with people without children. He then denied her promised compensation after she met her sales goals, which he had given to others who weren’t parents. She was eventually fired when she had to reschedule a meeting because of a sick child. (She filed a discrimination claim and won.)

In a case in Colorado, a woman was told openly that she was passed over for a promotion because it was thought that she wouldn’t want to relocate or work the 50 to 60 hours a week the promotion required. She was told it was because she “had a full-time job at home with her children.” Her company made this determination without consulting her to find out what she actually wanted. She won her case, too.” (Goldstien).

Still with all of this considered and the fact that it is indeed illegal to discriminate in such a manner, why is it still a serious ongoing issue? Well I cannot say that I have the answer to this problem. But we can certainly understand how it has been allowed to fester and linger as it has. This issue is complex. It is not only an issue of sexism in the workplace but also on the issues that exist in workplace culture and attitude. Goldstien best articulates the major reasons for this issue’s longevity as follows.

“There’s widespread evidence that bias against mothers is a systemic problem beyond a few bad bosses. Research regularly shows that mothers are routinely viewed as less competent and committed to their jobs, despite evidence to the contrary. A study published in the American Journal of Sociology has found that in instances when job candidates were equal in every way except for a subtle indication that the candidate was a parent, being a mother reduced the chance that a candidate would be offered the job by 37 percentage points.

The recommended salary for mothers who were offered the job was $11,000 less than for childless female candidates. (Researchers have found that this hiring and pay bias doesn’t affect fathers at all. In fact, fathers tend to make more money than their childless male counterparts.)” (Goldstien).

This article puts forth a lot of ideas and information and not all of them have defined solutions or answers. But such is reality even if a legal action or solution is put forward to stop and issue, it most often remains in lesser form. Actions such as this are a fantastic start but just be pursued further. To propagate real change behaviors that perpetuate and enforce the issue and its implantation must also be dismantled. As real inclusion can only take hold when one’s mind is open and willing to change, and not be held back by past ideals and structures that put others underfoot. We as a collective must realize one thing, a woman and her worth is not defined by her kids or her family. Nor is her potential for success and effectiveness held back by these factors.  Once these things become the norm then we can have a more inclusive environment in both our work and society.

Sources:

Goldstein, K. (2018, May 16). The Open Secret of Anti-Mom Bias at Work. Retrieved October 05, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/16/opinion/workplace-discrimination-mothers.html

Response to Yoshino Excerpts

By: Jackson Schuyler

The excerpts that I read were extremely informative and precise in nature. The style that he wrote this in was extremely descriptive, but at times wordy but was able to convey its purpose through its raw emotional weight and content. With him including deep personal examples and or experiences that made the piece more comprehensible and relatable. As one can easily understand and empathize with his work and its contents. Truly understanding the struggles and turmoil these issues inflict on their victims. Once I finished reading this piece, I was left with one major thing in my mind. Covering and its effects. These excerpts have set me down a path of connection and realization of how much I have had my life impacted and affected by covering. I have a deep personal experience with covering and its effects with what it can do to someone. So, I cannot think of a better concept to write about for the upcoming paper. I can produce a work that is like Yoshino’s where it draws from personal experience and hardship. Using them to paint a solid and relatable view of an issue and its cost it can have on individuals.

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Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 6

Control sentence-level error (grammar, punctuation, spelling).

At the beginning of this semester my work was only passable, with it being plagued with spelling and grammatical errors. This was often fixed by bringing it through a better word processing program most of my spelling errors were fixed. This also helped to fix my mistakes with punctuation and grammar, which are things I tried to improve upon in future work. My most glaring problem was by far sentence structure, with solid attempts at reworking and formatting them so they have a more streamlined structure and flow. But sense this is an area which I’ve had consistent trouble with, I continued to strive to make improvements. With a renewed effort and a focus on improving this for future papers and blog posts.

When comparing my work at the start of this semester to the end and considering the promises I made and my goals I say I was able to improve. Still, most of my errors still lied in the format and sentence structure, with some minor spelling and grammar errors mixed in. These were resolved through a combined effort of rereading and peer review, with me taking the initial step to look over my work to change what didn’t make sense to me. With me than having a peer look over it again and tell me what and what didn’t make sense to them, where then I would base off of their feedback make changes. Below is an example of this process showing the comment and then changes that I made after their feedback. With using this technique I’ve been able to sharply improve my content from what I produced at the start of this semester. My work is now far more considerate and profound in depth and reflection where at the start of the semester my work was often lacking and shallow in some places.

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Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 5

Document their work using appropriate conventions (MLA).

At the start of this semester, I needed to make some major strides in my intext citations. I often had to redo them as they were done incorrectly, with them being done in the wrong format. But this was more of an issue for in text citations than general citations. This error occurred because the software that I used for citations had APA as its preset so on occasion citations would be put into APA instead of the desired MLA. But this could quickly be rectified with minimal effort. On the part of in text citations I struggled with far more. The style of in text citations that were used in this were nothing that I’d ever used before. So, I often found myself reverting to the format for in text citations I used in high school out of habit. But I’ve been able to work on this as the semesters have gone on with me almost overcoming this nasty habit. But I still find myself slipping from time to time, yet now I’m quicker to catch any such errors. The same can be said for my other citations which I will be more likely to correct in the program rather than when it’s in the paper. With all of this considered I would have to say that I firmly believe that I’ve seen a slow but steady improvement in my skills using and incorporating citations. Yet as with most things I still have room for improvement and future upward movement in my level of competence with this skill.

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Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 4

Be able to critique their own and others’ work by emphasizing global revision early in the writing process and local revision later in the process.

At the beginning of this semester my reflections on others’ work were in my view severely lacking. With any real reflections being local and not global, with this not helping them to further develop and flush out their ideas. This is certainly something that I’ve always struggled with as I’ve always been reserved in the critique of others’ work as I feel as if I may overstep and do more harm than good. With this resulting in my critics most falling into the realm of local, which really only has so much benefit. But over the semester I have made an extreme effort and luckily been able to improve. With me being able to help further develop their idea through meaningful feedback as I come out of my shell. With me being able to critique the paper’s contents over its spelling and grammar. I’m feeling that I was able to give more profound and meaningful feedback that could allow for proper improvement of their ideas and concepts. Which is certainly a stunning improvement when compared to the work that I did during the beginning of this semester. Although I do still feel as if I’m lacking in some regards. My critiques are certainly better and help to improve the content and narrative, but they can be sparse at times. I often find myself making a few large and precise comments on what they could possibly add or integrate, as opposed to a large number of more general yet still constructive comments. Yet this is something that is not necessarily a downside as most of my critiques are more meaningful and precise. Such as the comments I made on the following paper.

With all of this considered I’m still happy with my improvement in skill, as I’m far better and giving more meaningful feedback than I was at the start of this semester.

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Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 3

Employ techniques of active reading, critical reading, and informal reading response for inquiry, learning, and thinking.

For all the annotations that I’ve used for both my papers and blog posts, I often held one idea in mind always when reading and reflecting upon them. That being “How can this relate to me?”. Now I don’t mean this in a self-centered or self-absorbed manner, where I’m placing myself at the center of the universe. I do this to attempt to make my work and writing as personal and relatable as possible. To try to avoid a superficial and surface level skimming of the material with a simple regurgitation of key points and facts, with nothing added to it other than a simple yes or no to its ultimate point. I rather attempt to make a connection and investment in the piece often attempting to connect it to my life and or aspects of it. An example of this is attempting to relate my life experiences to that of Lins daughter which I do in the first annotation above. Or the example from the second image where I consider my heritage and its effect on me just as Lin was doing. When you consider a piece and its ideas and the possible relations and or connections that it may have to your life you have an eye-opening moment of sorts. Where your able to break down the barrier or level of disconnect between you and the subject you’re writing and its contents flourish. Your paper can escape the doldrums of regurgitation and become far more personable and engaging and even relatable to the reader. Or even at times make your position on a topic or argument more profound and hold more traction. For example, below here are some examples of how I’ve attempted to implement personal connections into my essays and paper to either strengthen a point or connect to its content.

“These are examples of “Covering” or “Marketable”, these people are open with who they are yes, but they downplay it and minimize it till it’s almost nonexistent. I’ve experienced this firsthand I’m gay, yet I would say that I’m heavily covering for it. I do so because it is essential to be successful which is sad but the reality. I know that if I was open with my sexuality on a broad level I would most certainly not be where I am today. Hiding my true self and even lying to others has and most likely will be better for me for the foreseeable future. Often people are viewed as one thing or have one thing define them. Like having the fact that your gay be your personality or effect every decision in your life. This simply is a ludicrous idea to even consider, so much more than one thing influences a person and their actions and to assume otherwise is simply false.” (Jackson Schuyler).

 “I’ve had some personal experience with all of this. I should first mention that I’m gay, but not gay presenting or outwardly gay. I’ve come out yes, but this information is not exactly in the public domain so to speak nor hopefully will it ever be. I try to hide myself away for fear of what backlash I may receive for being the way I am, not meeting the role that society expects of me and thus being a failure in its eyes. I’ve tried to change myself to be someone else. I tried to speak with a deeper voice and wear more straight looking clothes, to try and compensate for my hidden difference yet I’ve never felt happy doing this. All I feel I’m doing is putting a painting over a hole in the wall, yes it will hide it but at the end of the day the problem is still there. Yet I know my situation is not unique by any means there’s probably millions of others just like me in this work going through a similar personal conflict of trying to express themselves.” (Jackson Schuyler).

With these personal connections and points I’ve been able to make my writing more personal and even enjoyable. It’s always better to read a well formatted and engaging piece of literature than it is to read a boring surface level reflection. Yet also by doing this I’ve become a better writer and reader. Through these connections and reflections, I feel far more engaged and considerate of the contents. With me often catching more meaning from it and seeing other points of views and or points. This has also helped me to further question and inquire about the text with me more often finding myself more inquisitive and reflective on the work and its contents. I’ve used this level of personal reflection to try and fully fulfill all the key points of Learning Outcome Three. With me becoming a more engaged reader and writer because of it, with seeing a sharp increase in quality and complexity of my work.

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Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 2

Be able to integrate their ideas with those of others using summary, paraphrase, quotation, analysis, and synthesis of relevant sources.

This semester gave me a great deal of practice for improving my use of quotation and its integration into texts. I was partially excited about having this opportunity as this has always been something that I’ve struggled with a great deal in the past. This is certainly reflective in my earlier work this semester which can be described as fairly adequate. Yet my skills were still able to extract and developed and ideas from a text. With one of the best examples being as follows from my first paper.

“Yet thoughts of this nature don’t go through one’s mind when this occurs, we just think of what we know which most often is the societal standard. We see it as out of place and thus see a need to put it back into its place. In this thinking a great deal of harm can be dealt to both self-expression and one’s wellbeing. Yet this did not keep Abbe from expressing himself in a way he felt appropriate.

 “As before—even worse than before—Abe suffered taunts and teasing for his style of dress and his love of style. But he did not back down; he doubled down. He flew the freak flag of his Tigran Avetisyan shirt high. And though I couldn’t fathom the impulse driving my kid to expose himself, every day, to mockery and verbal abuse at school, I admired him for not surrendering,”(Chabon).

 Abbe instead decides to put his foot down and doubles down on his true self and his freedom of expression. Not allowing fear and the thoughts and judgments of others limit his own personal happiness. Yet with Abbe it should be considered that he comes from a position of privilege and thus is given a certain amount of leeway with things of this nature.” (Jackson Schuyler)

This although able to certainly reflect upon the ideas and develop them in reference to a larger concept still poses a certain level of lacking. With it feeling slightly stilted and robotic with it feeling more like a regurgitation of the quotes content rather than a true reflection or usage of its ideas. I think my progression made in this field is best demonstrated by my usage of outside materials in my second paper. One of the best examples of me being able to implement this properly is as follows.

“But as one would expect this is hardly the case with the assimilation in its true form best being put into context by Lalami. “What does assimilation mean these days? The word has its roots in the Latin ‘‘similar,’’ meaning to make similar. Immigrants are expected, over an undefined period, to become like other Americans, a process metaphorically described as a melting pot. But what this means, in practice, remains unsettled. After all, Americans have always been a heterogeneous population — racially, religiously, regionally. By what criteria is an outsider judged to fit into such a diverse nation? For some, assimilation is based on pragmatic considerations, like achieving some fluency in the dominant language, some educational or economic success, some familiarity with the country’s history and culture. For others, it runs deeper and involves relinquishing all ties, even linguistic ones, to the old country.” (Lalami). To simply abandon your past and heritage is a reality that is often faced by almost all who come to live in the US. But full abandonment of one’s culture and past are often hard and next to impossible to fully do. This is where covering enters to fill the void and need for assimilation. Covering enters as a “happy” medium in this situation allowing for the appearance of assimilation but not the total loss of one’s self. This is what in part has created the following and level of general acceptance and application seen around it. Having covering as a sort of necessary evil to fully fit into the societal norms. Without the complete loss of oneself and or their past.” (Jackson Schuyler)

This I feel was able to far better reflect upon and develop the ideas that was put forward by the source. With it being able to be contextualized and set into a larger and more precise context. That can allow for it to use in tangent with other source and ideas to make the paper and thusly its argument stronger. With this considered I would have to say I’ve been able to improve my skills in integrating sources, but once again more practice would be needed to get a full mastery.

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Learning Outcomes

Learning Outcome 1

Demonstrate the ability to approach writing as a recursive process that requires substantial revision of drafts for content, organization, and clarity (global revision), as well as editing and proofreading (local revision).

On the idea of revisions of my work I’ve made strides from the point I was previously before this semester. With me leaving this semester with pieces that were objectively better than that I was producing when I started. But to say I’m happy with this improvement is not necessarily the case. My skills for revising this semester were in my opinion lacking to say the least on my part but the lack of contrary feedback. My pacers have always held a high level of grammatical error, I’m by no means a talented or articulate writer. Most of my pieces are crude and simplistic in my opinion. This is something that I’ve come to terms with thought, so often I always want my feedback to be on my contents rather than my flow or grammatical proficiency. As these are things early rectified in post in a word processing document such as the one, I’m using to type this. That is why I was delighted to hear about the focus on global editing that this course would have. Yet sadly most feedback I received was on local revisions over global certainly helping me to write and tell my ideas. But left me feeling that my content was beginning to stray behind. With this considered my changes between drafts are primarily in the grammatical sense as follows when comparing a sentence from paper three. With the rough draft reading as follows: “With this considered a happy medium must be achieved, allowing for the proper understanding of other mentions through the relation of one’s struggles with others. But not to an extent to where you begin to surround yourself and burden yourself with their problems and or issues. A proper balance of both understanding and separation is required to have empathy be fully effective.”  With this then being compared to final draft. “With this considered a happy medium must be achieved, allowing for the proper understanding of others through the relation of one’s own struggles to another. But not to an extent to where you begin to surround yourself and burden yourself with their problems and or issues. A proper balance of both understanding and separation is required to have empathy be fully effective.”. 

Although these changes are necessary to make the piece better I still always feel as if my content could be consistently improving as well.

First Draft of Essay Three:

Empathy and Its Implementation

Jackson Schuyler

Understanding another’s emotions is a task that can never have a single definitive solution. People are different, their thoughts,ideals,emotions and self expression all vary. With them all being shaped by their experiences in life, with all of the actions and events that have occurred along the way going to ultimately shape the person. If you were to pluck two people from random parts of the world, say for example a man from middle class suburban America and then a person from rural Peru. Now make them look at each other then explain or try to assume what the other is feeling or thinking. You would be hard pressed to get a clear answer from either party. What one may think may be incomprehensible or absurd to another, or even the reason behind it and the emotional connections and expression. Although one may think a certain way doesnt mean youll be able to have others change their point of view or understanding to simulate it. Even though this is so complex it is still essential in all basic human interaction and relationships. To be able to understand how another is feeling is what allows all conversations and relationships to form and blossom. So without this basic understanding of emotions very little practical interactions could function or even occur. Yet what allows these things to take place?

Enter the idea of Empathy, now when one thinks of empathy one thinks of children learning the importance of understanding their classmates emotions. Learning the rhythm “Empathy, empathy put yourself in the place of me.”. Although the concept may seem juvenile and as something that’s been learned in mastered in one’s youth this is not necessarily the case. All skills can be expanded and improved even empathy, having a better understanding of others’ feelings and thoughts can greatly improve how you interact and treat others. Helping you to be able to better understand one’s struggles to give help or advice or even learn how directly or indirectly how your actions affect others. Although how does one go about improving this skill, In an article by Emma Patte she interviewed five experts on the subject of empathy and understanding and what Doctor Brene Brown said on the topic was particularly enlightening.

“I may not know what it’s like to be separated from my family at the border, but I know powerlessness and grief and rage and despair,” Brené Brown Said (Pattee,2020)

She puts forward an interesting idea of how it is next to impossible to truly put ourselves in the direct place of others. We can never truly understand or comprehend others emotions and feelings as their entire life has shaped them to act and react in that way. With the only proper method of replication and understanding to be to know their entire life. She instead suggests the idea that we have all felt similarly to what others may have felt, and the best way for ourselves to understand another’s suffering would be to use our own as a comparison. Although she does make note of a possible downside to doing this and mentions what one should avoid if they attempt to do this.

“Dr. Brown said it’s important that you don’t take on someone’s emotions to the extent that it becomes a burden, or that you co-opt their experience. “What’s the use of both of us both being in that dark place? There’s no help there,” she said. Dr. Brown uses the example of a friend calling with a marriage problem: “I have to touch in myself a place that understands that feeling, and then communicate back to you in a powerful way that you’re not alone without taking on and owning your pain.” (Pattee,2020)

Understanding another emotion is not an absorption of their pain, it’s a comprehension and acknowledgment of it with the hope of finding an ideal solution. The taking on of another’s pain and emotions can be detrimental to one’s own health this can best be demonstrated by what Leslie Jamison says in her piece on Morgellons disease “The Devils Disease” ,  she over the course of the paper see her health and mental state degrade as she tries and connect with those suffering of Morgellons. She enters as a skeptic as this disease has a high level of controversy around it as no doctor has ever diagnosed it, but patients claim to have symptoms, physical effects and proof. She enters and writes of what she thinks as follows as she has entered attempting to understand why this is occurring to so many.

“But my willingness to turn Morgellons into metaphor — a physical manifestation of some abstract human tendency — is dangerous. It obscures the particular and unbidden nature of the suffering in front of me. I feel how conveniently these lives could be sculpted to fit the metaphoric strictures of the essay itself.” (Jamison,2019)

So she begins to consider others and what they are experiencing more, with her hearing more stories and first hand experiences. With her then putting herself in their positions thinking of how it would affect her and how similar experiences have put her into a similar situation. With her ultimately starting to come down with the disease herself for a brief period of time. Yet the tool it has had on her mental health and outlook is arguably more harmful; she ends her essay on these thoughts.

“I want to follow humbly; I want to believe everyone. But belief isn’t the same thing as compassion, or sorrow, or pity. It wasn’t until the seventeenth century that the words pity and piety were completely distinguished. And what I feel toward this disorder is a kind of piety — an obligation to pay homage, or at least accord some reverence to these patients’ collective understanding of what makes them hurt. Maybe it’s a kind of sympathetic infection: this need to go-along-with, to nod-along-with, to agree.” (Jamison,2019)

She is able to gain a proper understanding and truly be able to articulate even in brief the struggles of others, yet at what cost. She exerts this far worse for ware worried stressed and in a condition comparable to those she was interviewing. So this raises the question of the extent that empathy should go to and if so what is too far or too short.

With this considered a happy medium must be achieved, allowing for the proper understanding of other mentions through the relation of one’s struggles with others. But not to an extent to where you begin to surround yourself and burden yourself with their problems and or issues. A proper balance of both understanding and separation is required to have empathy be fully effective. Where one is able to regulate the emotional connection to others and their suffering, being able to open themselves enough to understand and relate but not make the problem or emotion become theirs.As this will ultimately prevent them from being able to provide assistance and will find themselves in the exact position as the individual their trying to help.

Work Cited:

Pattee, Emma. “5 People Who Can Help You Strengthen Your Empathy Muscle.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Oct. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/10/04/smarter-living/5-people-who-can-help-you-strengthen-your-empathy-muscle.html?ref=oembed.

Jamison, Leslie, et al. “[Essay]: The Devil’s Bait, by Leslie Jamison: Harper’s Magazine – Part 2.” Harper’s Magazine, 9 Feb. 2019, harpers.org/archive/2013/09/the-devils-bait/2/.

Final Draft of Essay Three:

Empathy and Its Implementation

Jackson Schuyler

Understanding another’s emotions is a task that can never have a single definitive solution. People are different, their thoughts, ideals, emotions, and self-expression all vary. All being shaped by their experiences in life, with all the actions and events that have occurred along the way going to ultimately shape the person. If you were to pluck two people from random parts of the world, say for example a man from middle-class suburban America and then a person from rural Peru. Now make them look at each other than explain or try to assume what the other is feeling or thinking. You would be hard-pressed to get a clear answer from either party. What one may think may be incomprehensible or absurd to another, or even the reason behind it and the emotional connections and expression. Although one may think a certain way doesn’t mean you’ll be able to have others change their point of view or understanding to be similar. Even though this is so complex it is still essential in all basic human interactions and relationships. To be able to understand how another is feeling is what allows all conversations and relationships to form and blossom. So, without this basic understanding of emotions very little practical interactions could function or even occur. Yet what allows these things to take place?

Enter the idea of empathy, when one thinks of empathy one thinks of children learning the importance of understanding their classmate’s emotions learning the nursery rhyme “Empathy, empathy put yourself in the place of me.”. Although the concept may seem juvenile and as something that’s been mastered in one’s youth this is not necessarily the case. All skills can be expanded and improved even empathy, having a better understanding of others’ feelings and thoughts can greatly improve how you interact and treat others. Helping to make you to be able to better understand another’s struggles to give help or advice or even learn how directly or indirectly how your actions affect others. Although how does one go about improving this skill? In an article by Emma Patte she interviewed five experts about empathy and understanding and what Doctor Brene Brown said on the topic was particularly enlightening.

“I may not know what it’s like to be separated from my family at the border, but I know powerlessness and grief and rage and despair,” Brené Brown Said (Pattee,2020)

She puts forward an interesting idea of how it is next to impossible to truly put ourselves in the direct place of others. We can never truly understand or comprehend other emotions and feelings as their entire life has shaped them to act and react in that way. The only proper method of replication and understanding is to know their entire life. She instead suggests the idea that we have all felt similar to what others may have felt, and the best way for ourselves to understand another’s suffering would be to use our own as a comparison. Although she does make note of a possible downside to doing this and mentions what one should avoid if they attempt to do this.

“Dr. Brown said it’s important that you don’t take on someone’s emotions to the extent that it becomes a burden, or that you co-opt their experience. “What’s the use of both of us both being in that dark place? There’s no help there,” she said. Dr. Brown uses the example of a friend calling with a marriage problem: “I have to touch in myself a place that understands that feeling, and then communicate back to you in a powerful way that you’re not alone without taking on and owning your pain.” (Pattee,2020)

Understanding another’s emotion is not an absorption of their pain, it’s a comprehension and acknowledgment of it with the hope of finding an ideal solution. The taking on of another’s pain and emotions can be detrimental to one’s own health. This can best be demonstrated by what Leslie Jamison says in her piece on Morgellons disease “The Devil’s Bait”.  She over the course of the paper see her health and mental state degrade as she tries and connect with those suffering of Morgellons. She enters as a skeptic as this disease has a high level of controversy around it as no doctor has ever diagnosed it, but patients claim to have symptoms, physical effects, and proof. She enters a meeting meant for victims of Morgellons, and writes of what she thinks as she attempts to understand why this is occurring to so many.

“But my willingness to turn Morgellons into metaphor — a physical manifestation of some abstract human tendency — is dangerous. It obscures the particular and unbidden nature of the suffering in front of me. I feel how conveniently these lives could be sculpted to fit the metaphoric strictures of the essay itself.” (Jamison,2019)

So, she begins to consider others and what they are experiencing more, with her hearing more stories and firsthand experiences, with her then putting herself in their positions thinking of how it would affect her and how similar experiences have put her into a similar situation, with her ultimately starting to thinks she’s down with the disease herself for a brief period. Yet the toll it has had on her mental health and outlook is arguably more harmful; she ends her essay on these thoughts.

“I walk among the young and healthy and I am more or less one of them. I am trying not to itch. I am trying not to take my skin for granted. But I can’t quiet the voices of those who no longer feel they belong anywhere. I spend a day in their kingdom and then leave when I please. It feels like a betrayal to come up for air….Then it starts happening, as I knew it would. After a shower, I notice small blue strands like tiny worms across my clavicle. I find what appear to be minuscule spines, little quills, tucked into the crevice of a fortune line on my palm.” (Jamison,2019)

She can gain a proper understanding and truly be able to articulate even in brief the struggles of others, yet at what cost. She exerts this far worse for wear, worried and, in a condition, comparable to those she was interviewing. So, this raises the question of the extent that empathy should go to and if so, what is too far or too short.

With this considered a happy medium must be achieved, allowing for the proper understanding of others through the relation of one’s own struggles to another . But not to an extent to where you begin to surround yourself and burden yourself with their problems and or issues. A proper balance of both understanding and separation is required to have empathy be fully effective. When one can regulate the emotional connection to others and their suffering, being able to open themselves enough to understand and relate but not make the problem or emotion become theirs. As this will ultimately prevent them from being able to aid and will find themselves in the exact position as the individual they’re trying to help.

Yet is it necessarily true that empathy can be a good and proper tool for understanding and progress, if it’s used incorrectly it can be detrimental to the user and then intended recipient of the good will. Hollow words and symbolic gestures are meaningless without sincerity and action, to simply nood your head, give a blank and broad smile and pretend you understand is ultimately useless. Effort and a sincere effort that must be made to understand others and a simple surface level understanding and level of pity is simply ill equipped to make a proper positive impact.

Work Cited:

Pattee, Emma. “5 People Who Can Help You Strengthen Your Empathy Muscle.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 5 Oct. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/10/04/smarter-living/5-people-who-can-help-you-strengthen-your-empathy-muscle.html?ref=oembed. Jamison, Leslie, et al. “[Essay]: The Devil’s Bait, by Leslie Jamison: Harper’s Magazine – Part 2.” Harper’s Magazine, 9 Feb. 2019, harpers.org/archive/2013/09/the-devils-bait/2/.

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A Response To “My Son, The Prince of Fashion”

This article was an interesting piece of self-inspiration and expression through the gaze of fashion. Now I will be fully honest and admit something, I am by no means a fashion inclined individual. I know nothing of it or its inner workings, I wear Grateful Dead shirts and cargo pants with hiking boots every day without fail and maybe if I feel Like “living it up” I’ll throw on a tasteful wool cardigan. So, as one can see if it wasn’t evident, I’m not a fashionable individual nor am I a trendy one as I dress as someone who belongs on a commune. My critique of this article may not be coming from the eye of an expert and more from that of an outsider looking in but attempting to make sense of the complex inner workings of a worldwide industry.

This article which I feel at times may be more of an advertisement for clothes for the detail it tells of the struggles of self-expression and self-definition. Which is the focus of this article, Abe does through the clothes he wears. It is an interesting concept rarely considered with how much we can express about ourselves both subtlety and unsubtly from what we wear. How certain articles of clothing may affect others outward opinions of both for better and for worse. For example, Abe gets treated poorly for what he wears at school.

“There had been teasing; one of his two little snap-brims would get snatched off his head now and then, and tossed around the playground. But the teasing had never exceeded Abe’s ability or willingness to withstand it, or the joy that he derived from losing himself in clothes. And his stubborn persistence had established a pattern that was thereafter repeated as his taste grew more refined and sophisticated: Little by little, one by one among the other boys in his class,”(Chabon, Bissinger, & Toledano, My Son, The Prince Of Fashion 2016).

Chabon acknowledges his sons differences and his mistreatment by others. Giving us some more in depth detail as to the reason why he continues to wear what he wears.

“As before—even worse than before—Abe suffered taunts and teasing for his style of dress and his love of style. But he did not back down; he doubled down. He flew the freak flag of his Tigran Avetisyan shirt high. And though I couldn’t fathom the impulse driving my kid to expose himself, every day, to mockery and verbal abuse at school, I admired him for not surrendering,”(Chabon, Bissinger, & Toledano, My Son, The Prince Of Fashion 2016).

But Chabon makes note of even thought his son encounters difficulty and harassment. He still carries on regardless and doesn’t allow for others to bring him down

This article to its credit does do an adequate job at articulating the struggles that Abe goes through with his own style of fashion. How people have reacted harshly and treated him differently for simply the way he dresses and presents himself. Yet he sticks to his guns and decides to endure all of this to continue expressing himself in this manner. Which is the core and essence of true self-expression that being the lack of care for what other individuals think of your decisions and actions. Now when I say actions and decisions, I mean primarily the presentation of oneself and actions and nothing on a broader scale. He did what made him happy and what he wanted to do to feel distinct and unique. I like this article as it does not simply portray self-expression as all sunshine and daydreams, but with conflict, exclusion and even persecution when trying to express oneself. That’s why people often struggle with this so much. We are constantly seeking the approval or validation of others, we at times forget to validate ourselves. We fear what the world will think of us, that’s why true self-expression can only be achieved by putting your needs before others. Now I don’t mean this in a selfish sense, I mean this purely in consideration for what will bring you the most joy. If you want to wear a pair of pink pants but you fear a backlash, just do it. Don’t allow fear to control your actions, allow yourself to make decisions motivated by your wants and desires. If what you’re doing is in no means hurting or harming anyone then criticism is unjustifiable. Actions that you partake for yourself that make you happy are your business and your business alone. 

Sources:

Chabon, M., Bissinger, B., & Toledano, P. (2016, September 27). My Son, The Prince Of Fashion. Retrieved September 01, 2020, from https://www.gq.com/story/my-son-the-prince-of-fashion

A Response to “Bad Feminist”

This article was an interesting view into feminism and the bizarre level of social taboo surrounding it. The author of this article Gay often describes the wide misconception of feminists.

“Essential feminism suggests anger, humorlessness, militancy, unwavering principles, and a prescribed set of rules for how to be a proper feminist woman, or at least a proper white, heterosexual, feminist woman—hate pornography, unilaterally decry the objectification of women, don’t cater to the male gaze, hate men, hate sex, focus on career, don’t shave. I kid, mostly, with that last one. This is nowhere near an accurate description of feminism, but the movement has been warped by misperception for so long that even people who should know better have bought into this essential image of feminism.”(Gay et al., Bad Feminist 2012).

She often mentions this idea of the “aggressive” or “militant” feminist. The kind of feminist that one may see screaming at protests on the news or burning bras in the street. The feminist that we see portrayed in a negative light on the news as being radical “men hatters”. But to say that this all feminists and the ideas of feminism are like this is simply inherently false. To let the actions of a few, speak for the many is simply unjust, but is also harmful to the ideal. It is like how after the war in Iraq we have this view of most Muslims being sympathetic to the enemy and being terrorists. Which is simply blatant false lies, that make gigantic assumptions and infer things to be facts with no coherent evidence. Based solely on the actions of a limited number of individuals that for worse effect the collective who are completely unrelated and innocent.     

She also mentions the fear that occurs when being labeled as a feminist as it now has a false negative connotation in the general mind of the public.

“I sometimes cringe when someone refers to me as a feminist, as if I should be ashamed of my feminism or as if the word feminist is an insult. The label is rarely offered in kindness. I am generally called a feminist when I have the nerve to suggest that the misogyny deeply embedded in our culture is a real problem, requiring relentless vigilance.

A more direct reprimand came from a man I was dating, during a heated discussion that was not quite an argument. He said, “Don’t you raise your voice to me,” which was strange because I had not raised my voice. I was stunned because no one had ever said such a thing to me. He expounded, at length, about how women should talk to men. When I dismantled his pseudo-theories, he said, “You’re some kind of feminist, aren’t you?” His tone made it clear that to be a feminist was undesirable. I was not being a good woman. I remained silent, stewing. I thought, “Isn’t it obvious I am a feminist, albeit not a very good one?”

I’m not the only outspoken woman who shies away from the feminist label, who fears the consequences of accepting the label.” (Gay et al., Bad Feminist 2012).

This idea that often women would rather try not to present themselves as feminist because of fear of social backlash is sad. The true core ideals of feminism are ones every functioning human should try to support. It is not this false narrative of female superiority that is so often put into perspective. It is the idea that both (yes both, not one over the other) genders are created equal and thus should be treated equally in every aspect of life. Yet rarely do people view feminism in such a light, they instead view it as a bizarre beast of men hatting and female domination, which is simply false. From this negative connotation that is in the popular collective one becomes hesitant to use this label. One even may feel pressured to limit their self-expression on this issue, as they fear the backlash. Which is sad, not only is this limiting one’s ability to freely express themselves, it is also restricting the flow of ideas. If a subject is considered social taboo or socially unacceptable, how can a progressive discourse occur that can make improvements upon the issue? To try and relate this back to the previous article I read about Abe and his fashion, Chabon talks about Abe’s resolve to keep being himself even in the face of harassment and discrimination.

“As before—even worse than before—Abe suffered taunts and teasing for his style of dress and his love of style. But he did not back down; he doubled down. He flew the freak flag of his Tigran Avetisyan shirt high. And though I couldn’t fathom the impulse driving my kid to expose himself, every day, to mockery and verbal abuse at school, I admired him for not surrendering,”(Chabon, Bissinger, & Toledano, My Son, The Prince Of Fashion 2016).

These two articles overlap, they both involve reluctance to express oneself due to social backlash, but in the case of Abe he can be himself and feel better. But in the case of Gay she doesn’t she want to be a feminist but doesn’t feel that she’s “hardcore: enough. She puts it in a manner as simple as this.

“I am, therefore, a bad feminist. I would rather be a bad feminist than no feminist at all.”” (Gay et al., Bad Feminist 2012).

So, at the end of the day I do not really know the correct solution to her issue. I firmly believe everyone should believe in feminism in some capacity or at least its core ideals. But if expressing these views in public or private brings backlash to the speaker then I cannot say. Feminism is often seen as a political issue even though it is far broader in scope. Politics is a nasty thing to discuss. People often believe firmly in their own views and rarely budge when a disagreement occurs. Or worse, get violent or angry when one does. This atmosphere around the topic of feminism makes it a hard thing to discuss. I firmly believe that if you cannot openly share your political opinions in your social circles then there is something wrong. If a constructive and civil conversation cannot occur then something is fundamentally wrong, but once again this is idealistic and almost never the case. This is disheartening to say the least, as this topic should be discussed and one’s views and opinions should not be restricted by this concept of social taboo when it comes to fundamental human rights. I think there may be no real way to reverse this either, an attempt on reeducation of the ignorant may work well but who is to say they will listen. Even if one tried to reinvent the image of feminism it would most likely be met with backlash by both sides. It is up to the individual to choose if they want to express their feelings on this topic. As the citations and possible consequences vary heavily from situation to situation. 

Sources:

Gay, R., Vaidhyanathan, S., Petrusich, A., Bradley, R., Kolbe, L., & Alison, J. (2012, September 22). Bad Feminist. Retrieved September 02, 2020, from https://www.vqronline.org/essay/bad-feminist

Chabon, M., Bissinger, B., & Toledano, P. (2016, September 27). My Son, The Prince of Fashion. Retrieved September 01, 2020, from https://www.gq.com/story/my-son-the-prince-of-fashion

A Response to “Raising a black son in America”

This article was a horrifying reminder of the state of our country. How even though our country has been able to land on the moon and split the atom, we still fundamentally fail to respect our fellow man. To say America is not racist would be ignorant, now more than ever with the importance of Black Lives Matter and the need for fundamental police reform shows this. But even when this was written these issues were still key. The article that Hennick writes is a sobering reminder of our failures as a society. 

“It’s impossible right now to know what sort of impact race will have on Nile’s sense of identity, or how it will circumscribe his ability to move through the world as he pleases. It is my whitest, most naive hope that my son will never have to worry about racism at all. I hope that we’ll make progress quickly enough that racism won’t affect him, or that he’ll be light-skinned enough that it won’t affect him, or that he’ll always be well dressed and well spoken enough for it not to affect him. I make up all sorts of reasons — the diversity of our community, the liberal politics of our state — that racism won’t touch my son in the way it’s touched virtually every person of color who’s ever lived in America.

My wife has no such illusions. She’s certain that, in just a few years, we’ll need to have difficult conversations with Nile about how other people may see his skin color and his gender and perceive him as a threat. She’s certain that we’ll have to tell him not to play hide-and-seek after dark, so that he’s not mistaken for a burglar; that we’ll have to tell him to keep his hands visible when he’s in a store, so that he’s not mistaken for a thief; that we’ll have to teach him to move slowly and say “yessir” and “nossir” when he interacts with police, so that he’s not mistaken for someone who must be shot before he shoots them.”(Hennick, Raising a black son in America – The Boston Globe 2019).

The idea that even in 2016 when this article takes place, that a mother and father need to explain to their son rules for his survival in society is beyond words. The need for him to always act innocent when he’s simply doing day to day tasks, shows a failure of our country. The fact that he will be forever judged for the rest of his life purely by the color of his skin, something which he has no way to change or control is profoundly upsetting. The idea that he has to profoundly change his character and himself to be treated with the bare minimum of respect by society should seem like something out of a horror story of some dystopian future but sadly this is a simple fact of life. The other articles that I read hardly can compare any real similarities to this. With Gay’s “Bad Feminist” she often mentions how certain situations can be difficult when one has feminist ideology. But one also could keep it in or hide it as sad as that fact may be as not all are accepting of the ideals of feminism. Yet one can’t stop being Black, you can’t hide it or change it. This is met with that same reality as feminism as not all are accepting of it, likewise not all are accepting of African Americans. Which is a disgusting fact of life in our country. With racism and all its horrors being on full display in our current day and age how is one supposed to deal or cope with that when they’re a primary target of this blind and unjustified hatred. Another example being the article by Chabon “My son the Prince of Fashion” he mentioned his son being bullied for the way he dresses and presents himself. But once again he can change and or stop that. But once again you can’t stop being Black. As Chabons son was bullied, so too could Nile but not for the way he dresses but for the way he looks and his heritage both things that can’t be changed. I sincerely hope that this doesn’t happen but as the incident that occurs at Fenway represents these things can happen anywhere. Even in Boston which is often considered a liberal and or progressive city by those on the outside. But as a man from New England I know my history I know the ugly past of Boston and how still today it’s one of the most racist cities in the U.S. I have a saying about Massachusetts and Boston in general “It’s one of the few places you can vote Democrat and still be horrifically racist.” Now I won’t lie to you and say that everything is doom and gloom in the world. The work that’s being done by Black Lives Matter is monumental in the idea of equal treatment and legitimate progress in our country. But as one can assume this may not be enough, we need to change ourselves and move away from the idea of simply tolerating others to accepting them and treating them as respected equals in all manners of life.

Sources:

Hennick, C. (2019, December 04). Raising a black son in America – The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 05, 2020, from https://www.bostonglobe.com/2019/12/04/magazine/raising-black-son-america/

Chabon, M., Bissinger, B., & Toledano, P. (2016, September 27). My Son, The Prince Of Fashion. Retrieved September 01, 2020, from https://www.gq.com/story/my-son-the-prince-of-fashion

Gay, R., Vaidhyanathan, S., Petrusich, A., Bradley, R., Kolbe, L., & Alison, J. (2012, September 22). Bad Feminist. Retrieved September 02, 2020, from https://www.vqronline.org/essay/bad-feminist

A response to “Want to Be Less Racist?”

The article written by Moises focuses on the idea of harmony that exists in Hawaii or what he often referred to as the “Aloha Spirit”. His interest in this work was spurred on by his pre-existing interest in the topic of mixed-race identity. This leads him to the work of Doctor Pauker, a Hawaiian native that uses her home island as a major part of her research into the topic.

“I first came across Dr. Pauker some years ago while researching mixed-race identity formation. The question of how people from mixed backgrounds create their identity has, until recently, mostly been ignored by psychologists. The assumption has been that mixed-race people likely have a difficult time because they are from (at least) two cultures but inhabit a world that often requires total allegiance to one group or another. And there is some truth to this. Researchers have documented how the unique challenges encountered by mixed people can, depending on the social context, negatively affect their mental health.” (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

With his continued research into this topic he finds more evidence that goes against the initial ideas in his research. With the research put forward by Dr. Pauker and her colleagues indicating that multiculturalism, if cultivated in a positive environment, can be an extreme advantage. Which she indicates in her research as follows. 

“But Dr. Pauker belongs to a small group of psychologists, many of them mixed themselves, who have begun to explore the advantages of being multiracial. For instance, Sarah Gaither at Duke, a frequent collaborator of Dr. Pauker’s, has discovered that, when reminded of their multiracial heritage, mixed-race individuals score higher on tests that measure creativity. This is probably not because they are inherently superior in some way, but because the very thing that’s so difficult for them — the need to navigate multiple worlds — may actually enhance mental flexibility.

Plenty of research indicates that diversity has many benefits. Diverse groups are better at problem-solving; in mock trials, diverse juries give fairer verdicts; diverse companies are more profitable; researchers argue that diverse countries have stronger economies. And the United States is not only becoming more diverse, it’s also growing more mixed. Mixed-race people are among the fastest-growing segments of the population — between 2.6 percent and 6.9 percent of the population, depending on the study. By 2060, the segment is projected to double.”(Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

This goes against the ideas put forward by his initial findings indicating that there are clear advantages to being from a multicultural background. This being the enhanced consideration of multiple issues from unique perspectives which is hugely applicable and important in our modern society. He then begins to discuss the false idea of racism being part of human nature. How with the advancement of society the root foundation that shaped racism being the fear of the unknown and those who are different to us. We have moved beyond the point of warring tribes and kingdoms and have become nations with set ideals and truths. We also now have the capacity to learn and educate ourselves. We are able to make the unknown known and the foreign familiar. Really dismantling the weak leg that racism has stood on for hundreds of years. He ties this breaking of barriers, the deconstruction of preconceived notions and ideas to what he is observed in Hawaii. With this idea able to be learned at a quick pace by those from the mainland which is demonstrated by Dr. Paukers work.

“The statistic hints at what the white mainland students are going through. They are escaping, probably for the first time, what sociologists call “white transparency.” Whiteness stops being invisible to them; they suddenly perceive themselves as having a color — a race. And if they’re going to have friends, they’re forced to socialize with nonwhites, which means pushing past their preconceptions.       

All of this is likely humbling and occasionally painful. But pain can mean growth. “It’s sort of like when you go and exercise,” Dr. Pauker told me. “Unless you tire your muscles out and experience some pain and discomfort, you’re not going to get any benefit.”

it brought to mind something James Baldwin said decades ago: Racism exacts a toll on those who are racist, distorting their humanity and hindering their ability to be fully self-reflective beings. That’s surely no consolation to the victims of racism, but Dr. Pauker’s findings seem to confirm Baldwin’s thesis. The mental rigidity required to harbor racist ideas ends up bleeding over into other cognitive domains.

“In lots of circumstances, rigidity is helpful,” Dr. Pauker told me, because it conserves mental energy. In theory, racial categorizing is supposed to work like a shorthand, helping us determine how to interact with people while expending minimal energy figuring out who they actually are. The problem, though, is that our perception of race and what it means is based on a model of the world that’s almost always incorrect, and often entirely fabricated.

Dr. Pauker’s studies have important caveats. White students who have come here from the mainland are, almost by definition, already an open-minded, adventurous bunch. Maybe it’s not so surprising that for them, spending time in a nonmajority-white place would change how they think about race. The real trick would be to get a white supremacist to enroll here and see if there was the same transformation.” (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

This goes back to the idea pressed by Moises when he mentions the level of diversity and inclusivity that is present in Hawaii. This could someday be used as an example or a possible model for how to better educate ourselves on how to integrate people from diverse cultures into a large setting. With the hope of creating a more accepting and diverse thinking based on race like what is seen in Hawaii. He points to the need and possible success of this idea to how racist attitudes and behaviors can be unlearned. If one enters a diverse environment, such is made evident in the work by Dr.Pauker above with exchange students and their time in Hawaii. He also goes to mention how this ideal setting that is often portrayed in Hawaii is not always the case and cracks do form. With racism and intolerance still being present on the island but not to the extent that we see on the mainland. He also talks about this idea of a perfect Hawaii being a stereotype at times and even being a mythical thing rather than something grounded.

Mentioning how the cooperation and acceptance of others stems at its roots from the need to function cooperatively in a setting with limited resources and space, the idea of to not simply take but to give. Not this ethereal concept referred to as the “Aloha Spirit” which natives think of more as marketing gimmick and even as something harmful as it’s more of a character of the true ideals held by the people of Hawaii. 

In the end, Moises poses the idea that we should attempt to learn from Hawaiian culture and apply it to how we interact with others in our diverse world. Without losing sight of the traditions that it stems from and how it is not a flawless system but can still be improved upon. He also promotes the idea of visiting Hawaii and participating in something like the experience had by the white exchange students. He believes that if applied properly it would do serious good for one’s view of themselves and the world adding “That if one wants to be less racist, then they should move to Hawaii.” (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

Sources:

Velasquez-manoff, M., & Winter, D. (2019, June 28). Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/opinion/sunday/racism-hawaii.html

A response to Dr. Pauker in Velasquez article “Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii”

A study conducted by Dr. Pauker that is mentioned prominently in Velasquez article “Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii”, is a study that contains relevant and startling information about the youths’ view on race and its stereotypes in the United States. This is not something that she has a simple interest in, its one she is seen the horrors of firsthand. She was born in Hawaii to a Japanese mother and an Italian Irish father. When it came time for her to go to college the study Psychology she chose to go to Dartmouth as she was keen on seeing somewhere other than her home island. But sadly, upon her arrival she was met with a horrific level of racism.

“She encountered a barrage of questions from fellow students. What was her ethnicity? Where was she from? Was she Native Hawaiian? The questions seemed innocent on the surface, but she sensed that the students were really asking what box to put her in. And that categorization would determine how they treated her. “It opened my eyes to the fact that not everyone sees race the same way,” she told me.

Back in Hawaii, being mixed was so common as to be nearly unremarkable. Many of her friends were some mixture of East Asian ethnicities, white, Filipino, Hawaiian and more, and for the most part, everyone hung out with everyone else. The Dartmouth student body, on the other hand, seemed self-segregated. The nonwhite students primarily stuck with their own race — blacks sat with blacks in the cafeteria, Asians with Asians, Native Americans with Native Americans. (Dartmouth, which was around 75 percent white then, has since doubled its share of nonwhite students.)

For the first time in her life, she wasn’t sure where she belonged, and she found herself wondering: Does it have to be like this?” (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

From her horrifying experience with racism in Dartmouth and Boston, she began to reflect upon things of this nature. In particular how minorities were viewed in such a more accepting light in Hawaii when compared to Dartmouth. From her experience in her field she came to the conclusion of testing children ages 4-11 as this is when they start to form an essential view on race. Essential View on race being “ideas about human beings’ unchangeable essence, their inherent inferiority or the threat they supposedly pose — makes racism possible.” (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)  She decided to conduct an experiment to better measure and compare the subtle and unsubtle racial bias and stereotypes that are held by Americans and how it is shaped in youth. Her research was based on the findings  on the youth in surrounding communities of Dartmouth.

“She found that between ages 4 and 11, upper-middle-class children from mostly white neighborhoods around Boston increasingly viewed race as a permanent condition and expressed stereotypes about other racial groups: that blacks were aggressive or, on the flip side, good at basketball; that Asians were submissive and good at math. These children came from public schools in liberal areas. They probably weren’t deliberately taught these stereotypes at home. But they absorbed them from the American ether nonetheless.”  (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

She then repeated this same test and procedure for kids in the area around Honolulu, which gave her the following findings.

“Dr. Pauker repeated the study with middle- and upper-middle-class grade-school students in and around Honolulu, and was not entirely surprised to find that in Hawaii, the children, including those who were white, tended not to express the same essentialist ideas about race. They were not race-blind. They recognized skin color, hair texture and other features commonly associated with race. But they did not attribute to race the inherent qualities — aggression or book smarts — that their mainland brethren did. “They didn’t believe that race was biological,” (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

The final finding that she discovered showed that in the area around Dartmouth kids had horrifically harsh racial stereotypes. This stems from a number of reasons. The high level of white people in the area but it is somewhat surprising as these kids came from very liberal schools and communities. Which makes the fact that these hateful and harmful ideas were able to seep into the minds of the youth all that more unsettling. But when compared to those tested in Honolulu a complete shift is observed. She mentions how most kids didn’t attribute race to certain characteristics or stereotypes as those in Boston did. They were still able to identify it, but they were not able to assign traits or stereotypes. These findings, although seemingly surprising to one not familiar with this subject, came to no surprise to Dr. Pauker who summed up her final thoughts in a neat hypothesis.

“She had a hypothesis to explain the difference. Whites dominated in the Boston area schools, but were a minority in Hawaii, and always had been. Hawaii also had the highest percentage of mixed-race people by a long shot in the country. (Among them was our first mixed-race president, Barack Obama, who was born there.) Mixed-race people, who make up nearly a quarter of Hawaii’s population of 1.4 million, serve as a kind of jamming mechanism for people’s race radar, Dr. Pauker thinks. Because if you can’t tell what people are by looking at them — if their very existence blurs the imagined boundaries between supposedly separate groups — then race becomes a less useful way to think about people.”  (Velasquez-manoff & Winter, Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii 2019)

Source:

Velasquez-manoff, M., & Winter, D. (2019, June 28). Want to Be Less Racist? Move to Hawaii. Retrieved September 08, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/28/opinion/sunday/racism-hawaii.html

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