I never knew that race was not biological before today. I always thought race was always the color of your skin. Really the culture you live in decides what race is. I find it kind of funny that even the U.S. Census Bureau said they were not actually measuring race by their questionnaire. I also used to think race and ethnicity were interchangeable. However, they are really very different. An ethnic group, as described in the video, is a group that shares cultural characteristics. They have a common ancestry. I find it fascinating all the possible ethnic groups there are in America alone. African Americans, Mexican Americans, German Americans are all very different but yet are all Americans. They each have their own cultures. This does not make one culture better than the other. Prejudice and discrimination should not be around. All people are equal. There is no one ethnicity that is better than the other. It is sad that everyone has at least a little bit of prejudice against some other people group. swimmer001
I agree totally with you Swimmer. I didn't have any idea that race wasn't related to the color of your skin until today either! I also think that the fact that we have so many different ethnic groups in America is really interesting. Since different cultures have different norms, one might almost expect America to be even more dysfunctional that it actually is! Somehow, the fact that we are all "american" seems to unite us together, at least to some small extent. We're all different and have different customs, but we still manage to get along. At least in theory, this is how pluralism is supposed to work! Each culture is supposed to maintain it's uniqueness and yet still be regarded as equal under the law. Unfortunately, we know that this isn't always the case and that racism and racial profiling happens all the time. thestig001
I agree, I did not know that race had nothing or little to do with your biology. It is true your race is basically determined on the cultural life you live. To be honest that makes more sense to be able to label yourself by the culture you live, not the color of your skin. It is sad that the majority of us have a little prejudice inside of us. Toby001
Yes, I agree with you swimmer001 because everyone has their own perspective on race and ethnicity and this video has helped me better understand the difference and what it really means. Also I agree that not one culture is better than the other, they are all equal. They have different views that some others may not agree with, but when you are born in a certain culture it is to be obeyed. But just because we may not agree with someone's culture does not mean we should judge them or think of them any less of a person because that is their personal business. Some cultures take it privately and don't want anyone interfering. Summer001
I agree with you I thought race was just a person skin color and everyone went by this as well. to think some place don't care about looks some much as other things player001
Race and ethnicity are all different and have different values but they are all equal. Race is biologically different which is interesting because I looked at race from a different view not as something society has formed. Also scoiety forms differents race and that race can actually change over time. This was interesting because to me I thought race was just a color, nothing more than that, but it is. So, I have learned something new already. Everyone comes from different cultures that require different norms. The norms in each culture should be obeyed and if not in some cultures there could be some type punishment. I wasn't really well educated on ethnicity but this video has informed me on what makes a person formed in a culture. Some cultures are prejudice of eachother and each culture discriminates about the other too. Which this shouldnt happen because each culture is different and has there own beliefs, they are seperate cultures that should not affect any other culture overall. Summer001
I agree with you, Summer001. I used to think race was a color. And I used to think ethnicity was the same as race. The norms of a culture can really change what people think about race and ethnicity. I also agree when you said that each culture is different and each culture is separate from the others. In a way, though, they aren't because humans have to interact with one another. swimmer001
I agree with you completely, summer001. It is not wrong discriminate about other culture, because each culture is definitely different and there are vast differences cultures to cultures. khush001
I do understand that race is different, but I don't think people understand how complex it can be. There are people who could be considered back but where they come from they're a mix of multiple races. I have plenty of biracial friends who are both white and black who consider themselves black. Since ethnicity is what forms a person, I think that's more important than anything else. It's brings the person's culture into play I stead of just the appearance they carry. Because race is so easily seen, it's what ignorant people seem to focus on at times when making prejudice assumptions. Taylojj2
This guy definitely helped me to better understand the differences between prejudice and discrimination and their relationship a lot better. He made it real simple: prejudice is the unfair thoughts one might have about a category or group of people while acts of discrimination stem from prejudice and are the actual actions by which we treat other people unequally. I would be willing to bet that many forms of stratification (race, gender, age) stem from the different prejudices that society has about different races and ethnic groups. I'm not entirely sure what to make of the whole issue of trying to define what exactly makes a race. Ultimately, I think that biological differences probably separate people less than the behavioral differences which different ethnic groups inherit from their respective cultures. Maybe some of the prejudices out there could be eliminated if people focused more on the cultural differences instead of the biological ones, which in most cases, don't affect people's behavior as drastically. thestig001
As far as prejudices go I think we all have them and probably always will. I think most people in society follow norms, if the norms are to respect everybody then they might choose that over the prejudicial thought. And I'm actually okay with people thinking whatever way they want they have the right to. But it's the discrimination that worries me. People taking some form of action against different people for whatever reasons they might have, can be a dangerous thing. What change do these people actually want to come from their negative actions? WonderWoman001
I would say your right everyone has some kind of prejudice, there is always going to be someone who don't like your culture or group that you come from or fit into. grateful001
Back when Human beings were simple civilizations or tribes or hunter gatherer societies, prejudice was the difference between life and death. It was cutthroat barbarism back then. If you saw someone who wasn't part of your group, they needed to die so that your family could live on the scarcity of the resources. Do people seriously expect hundreds and thousands of years of this kind of behavior to suddenly change within the time span of a few generations? There is a concept called Time to Civilization that involves how fast societies change when isolated compared to when they are jump started into a civilization by a foreign power. FreedomUnderGod001
I think that prejudices are learned as well as decided upon after life experiences. People like to reason and label. We want explanations and everything put in neat tiny boxes. This is why certain people do this because of this. My own personal experience as a woman I've dealt with men treating me like I'm not as smart as I am. I'm also in the unique position of actually being born 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Mexican. I favor my father who is Caucasian so most people do not know I'm Mexican at all. Growing up in a town predominantly Caucasian I know my life could have went a lot different had I looked like my Mother. I've always kind of been confused when checking those race/ethnicity boxes on forms because it will usually say Hispanic/not Caucasian. I usually check both anyways. I never knew that race was actually something cultures constructed. I am curious as to why this occurred originally. And what our lives would be like or how different things would be without so called races of people. WonderWoman001
Race is not biological, Interesting. I thought Race was always biological but now that I think about it more after the video, It differs from places to cultures. Race is something that changes or can change for different people at different time. It is not the constant thing how it is defined as. Talking about ethnicity, being prejudice and talking about different cultures is wrong. I take it all on to me for, I don't know enough about my culture yet and I guarantee a lifetime isn't enough to understand one whole culture prejudicing over a different culture is wrong. Each culture has their own limitations and own norms, it is hard to understand them. People need to understand and realize the fact that there are such differences it would make life a lot easier, equal, and liberal. khush001
I agree 100% with you Khush001 there are many cultures and for someone to be prejudice against someone because of their race is wrong. A lot of people do not even know about their own culture or background but want to discriminate against someone Else. Doesn’t make much sense to me, everyone has their own norms and it shouldn’t be up to the ones discriminating to decide if it is right or wrong. LAWS001
I think most of us thought of race as a color up until today, If the U.S. Census Bureau did break the survey down to religions, cultures and ethnicity, it would just get to confusing to the people filling them out. Not to mention add more intstiutional discrimination in a country where prejudice and racism is already all to common. Americans are to focused on color, people can be the same color but yet come from totally different religions and cultures its just not taught in our culture. I also thought race and ethnicity were one of the same and didn't really understand what ethnic cleansing was until todays lecture. grateful001
Authoritarian personality theory claims prejudice is a personality trait of individuals with little education and raised by cold and demanding parents that's half of Americans today. TooTall001
I am German American however I don't speak German and have never been there. I think if at least two generations of our families are born and raised in America we should drop the whole German thing. I have a friend that was born and lived the first 15 years of his life in Africa which would make him African American however he is the whitest person I know so when I hear African American I look at them with a confused look until they say black or white. If you've never been to Africa and you don't speak the language then your just American like the rest of us born and raised here. We all bleed red and evolved from primates. I think that prejudice and discrimination is learned from our families and friends and one day I do believe we'll see past them. TooTall001
I agree with you when you stated prejudice and discrimination is learned from our families. I would even take it a step further and state that it is learned through our culture we were raised in. I think I learned more about discrimination in school then I ever did at home. As education keeps spreading throughout the world I think we will have less prejudice and discrimination. It takes time for education to work on entire generations. SVT001.
I personally see more racism in my parents generations and grand-parents generations. I am happy to report that my children appear to have no instances of prejudice beyond those people who treat them bad, regardless of race or ethnic group. I also hold out hope like TooTall and SVT that we continue to grow beyond our little sub groups and become American only. I was really disappointed when the speaker cited housing discrepancy because of race/ethnicity. No Place for discrimination. Packers001
I think this video did a great job of helping me understand the difference between race and ethnicity. Ethnicity refers to cultural characteristics vs. race which is supposed to be some biological difference. It is interesting to think of yourself when defining your own ethnicity and race. Where in the United States would you fall under? The most interesting thing that I found with this video is how it explained that your culture decides what races actually exist. When looking at the world, the United States has a different view of races then other countries do. This is mind boggling to me. I had previously never thought of race and ethnicity in such detail. SVT001.
I agree with you. It is fascinating to think that race/ethnicity which are things that we think are so easy to identify, can actually be really hard to distinguish. This video did a nice job of opening up a lot of our eyes to the fact that the country or culture we live in is a huge factor in how we see race and ethnicity. glassonion001
Before today I thought I knew the difference between race and ethnicity however, today I learned a lot on this topic. Race does not necessarily have to do with your biology. I basically assumed that the color of your skin determined your race. I think all of this confusion starts with filling out information surveys or applications. I remember filling out a form for the ACT and when it asked for my race the only thing I qualified for was being Caucasian. I also thought your ethnicity was the same thing as your race. All of this new information makes me feel more confident and comfortable talking about others culture, I feel less ignorant. Toby001
This class is really challenging what i thought was truth in America, regarding race and ethnicity. I am, however, finding the information liberating. This information should be made known to everyone, not just college students. It makes a person feel ignorant and foolish for putting so much importance on these labels. Race is flat out irrelevant unless you need a description for sake of clarifying information; for instance, a 6'1 white guy w/ tattoos on his arm stole my car. Ethnicity seems hard to define even for my personal heritage. English/Irish American is my family history, but we have no definable cultural characteristics that tie us to that history, besides Protestantism. Packers001
I totally agree with what your saying. Cultural barriers need to be broken and ethnocentrism needs to be challenged. If this was a class or something that needed to be gone over in high school or even earlier, I wonder how that would change the way our children and their's would grow up? Would race not matter and cultures be more appreciated? I don't know, but the utopic idea is fun to dream about. Arizona001
I also agree with what you are saying about people not realizing the major differences about race and ethnicity. According to this video, Americans are more concerned about race differences than in the rest of the world. And that people in African society is the race of the community of which they live, and they change races in their lifetime. It isn't about dna, just geography. There isn't much of any reason for race to be pertinent information on government applications. And besides that who gives a hoot anyway? What good is it doing our society to be so prejudiced? Rosebudd001
Something similar to what Brazilians think about when they have their children is that as far as i know Mexican Americans and Mexicans believe kind of the similar thing. Like we believe that every family, person, child in every different place in Mexico has different kinds of background of way of speaking, doing things, habits, different ancestors and how they came to be. All based on where they are at. Like in my family we also think that however we come out as we are born has to do with ancestors. Meaning that even if we are Mexican we are also mixed with whatever are ancestors were. It's hard to explain. I just know. There are many different Mexicans. But yeah one's culture defines what race a person is. It doesn't have to do with your hair color, skin color, eye color, basically biological aspects. An example would be how I have family that have naturally blonde hair and green eyes. Or blonde hair with blue eyes. And pale like. Normally one would assume they are white. But in reality they are Mexican. My mom was born with red hair and once again normally one wouldn't think she may be Mexican. She has freckles and her skin color is very light like pale white. One of my friends looks Asian and Filipino but, nawww she Mexican. Same with another friend he literally looks Chinese but, omigoodness he isn't. I at first thought he was Chinese or something until I heard him talk Spanish I was like what?! What you mean como estas? Oh you took Spanish classes alright alright you pronounced good. He was like girl I'm Mexican. I was dumbfounded in not even knowing my own peoples. I can see how most definitely one can't be categorized based on their looks but their cultural background. A last example would be that for me I have been thought to be Italian, Lebanese, Arab, other races and ethnicity. But, they didn't ask about my culture. They figured by my looks. And they were salty :) HollaGurl001
This video is interesting to me because it was the first time that I heard different countries look at what race is in different ways. For example he said that in a certain country (don't remember which one) your race can actually change throughout your life. Here in the U.S. that's unheard of. People get made fun of for that (e.g. Michael Jackson), but it just shows us that different cultures have a different way of looking at normal everyday stuff. I think that we in the U.S. have gotten so caught up in issues about race because it has been ingrained in our culture since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and saw the Native Americans. Our country has always been full of racial prejudices and it is something that we as citizens of the U.S. have to learn about so that these biases can seize to exist. glassonion001
If race is socially constructed, why is it even a part of our vocabulary in America? I hate checking that box when filling out applications for different things. I don’t think it’s anyone’s business what race I am; approve me or not based on the information provided. My grandpa always said that men were the five fingered race and not just a color. In my language, the name for white people translates to “those that fight us”. I’m sure another name would have came about if history was nicer looking. The indigenous peoples of America are lumped into one race but are all culturally individual and different from each other, I’m sure it’s the same with every other color out there. Arizona001
I strongly agree, the emphasis we place on race is far too great. By attempting to slump all sorts of people into groups we can end up losing much of the diversity that makes American culture beautiful. I feel that having a society that focuses so much on socially constructed races ends up isolating many people, making it difficult to comfortably communicate with others about race. Karma001
The idea that Race is only a social construct, not based on genetics or science is absurd. A book I recommend to you is called "A Troublesome Inheritence" by Nicholas Wade. Here is an excerpt of the introduction of chapter 5 in his book, named The Genetics of Race.
"In the case of human races, the genetic differences from one race to another are slight and subtle. One might expect that different races would have different genes, but they don’t. All humans, so far as is known, have the same set of genes. Each gene comes in various alternative forms, called alleles, so the next expectation might be that races would be distinguished by having different alleles of various genes. But this too is not how the system works. There are a mere handful of known cases where a particular allele of a gene occurs in only one race. The genetic differences between human races turn out to be based largely in allele frequencies, meaning the percentages of each allele that occur in a given race. How a mere difference in allele frequencies could lead to differences in physical traits is explained below"
The problem with looking at human beings solely through a sociological perspective is evident in the inherent subjectivity that is applied once one defines race. If you are capable of reading through this book I would highly recommend to do so. If we are to accept that TENS (Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection) then it must necessarily follow that race exists as an expression of these frequency in alleles, resulting in subspecies populations of homo sapiens. Whether or not you Identify as a certain race or not does not change your fundamental genetic composition. When we talk about Race in a sociological context we can talk about patterns in data of how society functions who identify themselves as that Race, but we cannot say that it is only a product of the human imagination. Literally factual biology contradicts this hypothesis.
If you wish to read it, here is a link to a .pdf document containing the entire book. https://atroublesomeinheritance.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/nicholas-wade-a-troublesome-inheritance_-genes-race-and-human-history-penguin-press-hc-the-20141.pdf
I actually did a research paper over a topic relating to what was said in Professor Melendez’s video. When Professor Melendez speaks of discrimination he divides it into two distinct categories: individual and institutional. In my paper I explored a New York Times article recording the conversation help by a panel 10 years after the Birmingham church bombing. The panel focused on social changes observed over the past 10 years and changes that needed to be made in the future (note this summary may not be entirely accurate, it’s been awhile since I read it). Within the course of the panel tension rises between the older members of the panel and the younger members of the panel. The tension was over how we view discrimination, making it an “either or” situation between individual and institutional discrimination. The older social activist in the panel strongly held that discrimination was primarily institutional and not due to the actions of individuals of minority groups (actions encouraging social stigmas). The younger panelists put more emphasis on the role of the individual of a minority group to combat social stigmas, viewing the problem more as a conflict amongst individuals. After going into more details from modern authors I made the conclusion that creating a dualistic view of discrimination sets up individual and institutional discrimination as two extremes which social groups sway back and forth between. I would argue that in order to appropriately respond to discrimination we must understand it as a convoluted combination of the two. Karma001
Prior to this class, I've never thought race could be classified as something as simple as hair color as we mentioned in class today. Every since I was in high school I've always be for diversity, especially in the African and sub-African cultures. I've always looked at any decent of Africa as black but the tricky part for begins when ethnicity comes into play. I don't have many friends with different ethnic backgrounds, but for those I do know I can tell the difference. If ethnicity is something we identify ourselves as, what if we grew up with multiple ethnic backgrounds? We would could probably just consider ourselves both, but this could be confusing for individuals. Taylojj2
I guess that I didn't ever consider that the difference between race, and ethnicity makes any difference. The fact that the government doesn't allow for all races on sensus material, or banking applications is appaling. Who's going to sue the government for discrimination? If an employer pulled that wouldn't that be a class a lawsuit? The fact that there is documented proof that minorities are less likely to get loans is shocking. Really, this should not have a place on such applications. All loan officers check your credit score, and history, race has nothing to do with anything. I also think that is unusual that no one has a clue that discrimination started in this country when we first inhabited this land and started slavery . There is no greater evil, and how are we to mend history? I think that prejudice has everything to do with our ancestors decisions and mistakes . It isn't always about the color of someones skin either, where someone lives, also is a factor of how someone may be perceived and treated. Rosebudd001
I never knew that race can change from culture to culture. How some place might go on hair or eye color not just skin color. Skin color is the way America goes by race and I can understand why , because our norms and beliefs in our society . We highly value looks like if you fat tall skinny have muscles. Then other place might value other things other then what America values like money or religion. I think it's really bad to judge and be prejudice based on someones skin color when you don't even know the person and I think a lot of it know a days ties in with stereotypes. People now a days already make up in there minds what a person is going to be like even before they meet them and I don't think it's right. Player001
Race and ethnicity is one of those areas that people are treated differently. What is a race? Biological difference, being born with this difference. We’re not defining anything scientifically or biologically. You cultural decides what races exists. If you go around the world people do not see race like the people in America do. Your race may change in certain places in the world. The government defines race as white, black, Native American and Asian. Hispanic and Latino which are listed as an ethnic group. Ethnicity is a group that share cultural characteristics. People who come from the same place that share a culture. Why does race matter? People treat different races differently because of what they believe in. Being prejudice and discriminating races are all over and they say that everyone has some kind of prejudice in them. Institutional discrimination is something I never heard of, learning more about it kind of makes me upset I don’t feel like banks should be suspect because of color I always believe everyone needs to be treated equal. It is really sad. LAWS001
I never knew that race was not biological before today. I always thought race was always the color of your skin. Really the culture you live in decides what race is. I find it kind of funny that even the U.S. Census Bureau said they were not actually measuring race by their questionnaire. I also used to think race and ethnicity were interchangeable. However, they are really very different. An ethnic group, as described in the video, is a group that shares cultural characteristics. They have a common ancestry. I find it fascinating all the possible ethnic groups there are in America alone. African Americans, Mexican Americans, German Americans are all very different but yet are all Americans. They each have their own cultures. This does not make one culture better than the other. Prejudice and discrimination should not be around. All people are equal. There is no one ethnicity that is better than the other. It is sad that everyone has at least a little bit of prejudice against some other people group.
ReplyDeleteswimmer001
I agree totally with you Swimmer. I didn't have any idea that race wasn't related to the color of your skin until today either! I also think that the fact that we have so many different ethnic groups in America is really interesting. Since different cultures have different norms, one might almost expect America to be even more dysfunctional that it actually is! Somehow, the fact that we are all "american" seems to unite us together, at least to some small extent. We're all different and have different customs, but we still manage to get along. At least in theory, this is how pluralism is supposed to work! Each culture is supposed to maintain it's uniqueness and yet still be regarded as equal under the law. Unfortunately, we know that this isn't always the case and that racism and racial profiling happens all the time.
Deletethestig001
I agree, I did not know that race had nothing or little to do with your biology. It is true your race is basically determined on the cultural life you live. To be honest that makes more sense to be able to label yourself by the culture you live, not the color of your skin. It is sad that the majority of us have a little prejudice inside of us. Toby001
DeleteThis is America ...we are all equal. All want the best for our families etc. Its sad I wish everyone would get along. Were all human. HollaGurl001
DeleteYes, I agree with you swimmer001 because everyone has their own perspective on race and ethnicity and this video has helped me better understand the difference and what it really means. Also I agree that not one culture is better than the other, they are all equal. They have different views that some others may not agree with, but when you are born in a certain culture it is to be obeyed. But just because we may not agree with someone's culture does not mean we should judge them or think of them any less of a person because that is their personal business. Some cultures take it privately and don't want anyone interfering.
DeleteSummer001
I agree with you I thought race was just a person skin color and everyone went by this as well. to think some place don't care about looks some much as other things player001
DeleteRace and ethnicity are all different and have different values but they are all equal. Race is biologically different which is interesting because I looked at race from a different view not as something society has formed. Also scoiety forms differents race and that race can actually change over time. This was interesting because to me I thought race was just a color, nothing more than that, but it is. So, I have learned something new already. Everyone comes from different cultures that require different norms. The norms in each culture should be obeyed and if not in some cultures there could be some type punishment. I wasn't really well educated on ethnicity but this video has informed me on what makes a person formed in a culture. Some cultures are prejudice of eachother and each culture discriminates about the other too. Which this shouldnt happen because each culture is different and has there own beliefs, they are seperate cultures that should not affect any other culture overall.
ReplyDeleteSummer001
I agree with you, Summer001. I used to think race was a color. And I used to think ethnicity was the same as race. The norms of a culture can really change what people think about race and ethnicity. I also agree when you said that each culture is different and each culture is separate from the others. In a way, though, they aren't because humans have to interact with one another.
Deleteswimmer001
I agree with you completely, summer001. It is not wrong discriminate about other culture, because each culture is definitely different and there are vast differences cultures to cultures. khush001
DeleteI do understand that race is different, but I don't think people understand how complex it can be. There are people who could be considered back but where they come from they're a mix of multiple races. I have plenty of biracial friends who are both white and black who consider themselves black. Since ethnicity is what forms a person, I think that's more important than anything else. It's brings the person's culture into play I stead of just the appearance they carry. Because race is so easily seen, it's what ignorant people seem to focus on at times when making prejudice assumptions. Taylojj2
DeleteThis guy definitely helped me to better understand the differences between prejudice and discrimination and their relationship a lot better. He made it real simple: prejudice is the unfair thoughts one might have about a category or group of people while acts of discrimination stem from prejudice and are the actual actions by which we treat other people unequally. I would be willing to bet that many forms of stratification (race, gender, age) stem from the different prejudices that society has about different races and ethnic groups. I'm not entirely sure what to make of the whole issue of trying to define what exactly makes a race. Ultimately, I think that biological differences probably separate people less than the behavioral differences which different ethnic groups inherit from their respective cultures. Maybe some of the prejudices out there could be eliminated if people focused more on the cultural differences instead of the biological ones, which in most cases, don't affect people's behavior as drastically.
ReplyDeletethestig001
As far as prejudices go I think we all have them and probably always will. I think most people in society follow norms, if the norms are to respect everybody then they might choose that over the prejudicial thought. And I'm actually okay with people thinking whatever way they want they have the right to. But it's the discrimination that worries me. People taking some form of action against different people for whatever reasons they might have, can be a dangerous thing. What change do these people actually want to come from their negative actions? WonderWoman001
DeleteI would say your right everyone has some kind of prejudice, there is always going to be someone who don't like your culture or group that you come from or fit into.
Deletegrateful001
Back when Human beings were simple civilizations or tribes or hunter gatherer societies, prejudice was the difference between life and death. It was cutthroat barbarism back then. If you saw someone who wasn't part of your group, they needed to die so that your family could live on the scarcity of the resources. Do people seriously expect hundreds and thousands of years of this kind of behavior to suddenly change within the time span of a few generations? There is a concept called Time to Civilization that involves how fast societies change when isolated compared to when they are jump started into a civilization by a foreign power. FreedomUnderGod001
DeleteI think that prejudices are learned as well as decided upon after life experiences. People like to reason and label. We want explanations and everything put in neat tiny boxes. This is why certain people do this because of this. My own personal experience as a woman I've dealt with men treating me like I'm not as smart as I am. I'm also in the unique position of actually being born 1/2 Caucasian and 1/2 Mexican. I favor my father who is Caucasian so most people do not know I'm Mexican at all. Growing up in a town predominantly Caucasian I know my life could have went a lot different had I looked like my Mother. I've always kind of been confused when checking those race/ethnicity boxes on forms because it will usually say Hispanic/not Caucasian. I usually check both anyways. I never knew that race was actually something cultures constructed. I am curious as to why this occurred originally. And what our lives would be like or how different things would be without so called races of people. WonderWoman001
ReplyDeleteRace is not biological, Interesting. I thought Race was always biological but now that I think about it more after the video, It differs from places to cultures. Race is something that changes or can change for different people at different time. It is not the constant thing how it is defined as. Talking about ethnicity, being prejudice and talking about different cultures is wrong. I take it all on to me for, I don't know enough about my culture yet and I guarantee a lifetime isn't enough to understand one whole culture prejudicing over a different culture is wrong. Each culture has their own limitations and own norms, it is hard to understand them. People need to understand and realize the fact that there are such differences it would make life a lot easier, equal, and liberal.
ReplyDeletekhush001
I agree 100% with you Khush001 there are many cultures and for someone to be prejudice against someone because of their race is wrong. A lot of people do not even know about their own culture or background but want to discriminate against someone Else. Doesn’t make much sense to me, everyone has their own norms and it shouldn’t be up to the ones discriminating to decide if it is right or wrong. LAWS001
DeleteI think most of us thought of race as a color up until today, If the U.S. Census Bureau did break the survey down to religions, cultures and ethnicity, it would just get to confusing to the people filling them out. Not to mention add more intstiutional discrimination in a country where prejudice and racism is already all to common. Americans are to focused on color, people can be the same color but yet come from totally different religions and cultures its just not taught in our culture. I also thought race and ethnicity were one of the same and didn't really understand what ethnic cleansing was until todays lecture.
ReplyDeletegrateful001
Authoritarian personality theory claims prejudice is a personality trait of individuals with little education and raised by cold and demanding parents that's half of Americans today. TooTall001
DeleteI am German American however I don't speak German and have never been there. I think if at least two generations of our families are born and raised in America we should drop the whole German thing. I have a friend that was born and lived the first 15 years of his life in Africa which would make him African American however he is the whitest person I know so when I hear African American I look at them with a confused look until they say black or white. If you've never been to Africa and you don't speak the language then your just American like the rest of us born and raised here. We all bleed red and evolved from primates. I think that prejudice and discrimination is learned from our families and friends and one day I do believe we'll see past them. TooTall001
ReplyDeleteI agree with you when you stated prejudice and discrimination is learned from our families. I would even take it a step further and state that it is learned through our culture we were raised in. I think I learned more about discrimination in school then I ever did at home. As education keeps spreading throughout the world I think we will have less prejudice and discrimination. It takes time for education to work on entire generations. SVT001.
DeleteI personally see more racism in my parents generations and grand-parents generations. I am happy to report that my children appear to have no instances of prejudice beyond those people who treat them bad, regardless of race or ethnic group. I also hold out hope like TooTall and SVT that we continue to grow beyond our little sub groups and become American only. I was really disappointed when the speaker cited housing discrepancy because of race/ethnicity. No Place for discrimination. Packers001
DeleteI think this video did a great job of helping me understand the difference between race and ethnicity. Ethnicity refers to cultural characteristics vs. race which is supposed to be some biological difference. It is interesting to think of yourself when defining your own ethnicity and race. Where in the United States would you fall under? The most interesting thing that I found with this video is how it explained that your culture decides what races actually exist. When looking at the world, the United States has a different view of races then other countries do. This is mind boggling to me. I had previously never thought of race and ethnicity in such detail. SVT001.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. It is fascinating to think that race/ethnicity which are things that we think are so easy to identify, can actually be really hard to distinguish. This video did a nice job of opening up a lot of our eyes to the fact that the country or culture we live in is a huge factor in how we see race and ethnicity. glassonion001
DeleteBefore today I thought I knew the difference between race and ethnicity however, today I learned a lot on this topic. Race does not necessarily have to do with your biology. I basically assumed that the color of your skin determined your race. I think all of this confusion starts with filling out information surveys or applications. I remember filling out a form for the ACT and when it asked for my race the only thing I qualified for was being Caucasian. I also thought your ethnicity was the same thing as your race. All of this new information makes me feel more confident and comfortable talking about others culture, I feel less ignorant. Toby001
ReplyDeleteThis class is really challenging what i thought was truth in America, regarding race and ethnicity. I am, however, finding the information liberating. This information should be made known to everyone, not just college students. It makes a person feel ignorant and foolish for putting so much importance on these labels. Race is flat out irrelevant unless you need a description for sake of clarifying information; for instance, a 6'1 white guy w/ tattoos on his arm stole my car. Ethnicity seems hard to define even for my personal heritage. English/Irish American is my family history, but we have no definable cultural characteristics that tie us to that history, besides Protestantism. Packers001
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with what your saying. Cultural barriers need to be broken and ethnocentrism needs to be challenged. If this was a class or something that needed to be gone over in high school or even earlier, I wonder how that would change the way our children and their's would grow up? Would race not matter and cultures be more appreciated? I don't know, but the utopic idea is fun to dream about. Arizona001
DeleteI also agree with what you are saying about people not realizing the major differences about race and ethnicity. According to this video, Americans are more concerned about race differences than in the rest of the world. And that people in African society is the race of the community of which they live, and they change races in their lifetime. It isn't about dna, just geography.
DeleteThere isn't much of any reason for race to be pertinent information on government applications. And besides that who gives a hoot anyway? What good is it doing our society to be so prejudiced? Rosebudd001
Something similar to what Brazilians think about when they have their children is that as far as i know Mexican Americans and Mexicans believe kind of the similar thing. Like we believe that every family, person, child in every different place in Mexico has different kinds of background of way of speaking, doing things, habits, different ancestors and how they came to be. All based on where they are at. Like in my family we also think that however we come out as we are born has to do with ancestors. Meaning that even if we are Mexican we are also mixed with whatever are ancestors were. It's hard to explain. I just know. There are many different Mexicans. But yeah one's culture defines what race a person is. It doesn't have to do with your hair color, skin color, eye color, basically biological aspects. An example would be how I have family that have naturally blonde hair and green eyes. Or blonde hair with blue eyes. And pale like. Normally one would assume they are white. But in reality they are Mexican. My mom was born with red hair and once again normally one wouldn't think she may be Mexican. She has freckles and her skin color is very light like pale white. One of my friends looks Asian and Filipino but, nawww she Mexican. Same with another friend he literally looks Chinese but, omigoodness he isn't. I at first thought he was Chinese or something until I heard him talk Spanish I was like what?! What you mean como estas? Oh you took Spanish classes alright alright you pronounced good. He was like girl I'm Mexican. I was dumbfounded in not even knowing my own peoples. I can see how most definitely one can't be categorized based on their looks but their cultural background. A last example would be that for me I have been thought to be Italian, Lebanese, Arab, other races and ethnicity. But, they didn't ask about my culture. They figured by my looks. And they were salty :)
ReplyDeleteHollaGurl001
This video is interesting to me because it was the first time that I heard different countries look at what race is in different ways. For example he said that in a certain country (don't remember which one) your race can actually change throughout your life. Here in the U.S. that's unheard of. People get made fun of for that (e.g. Michael Jackson), but it just shows us that different cultures have a different way of looking at normal everyday stuff. I think that we in the U.S. have gotten so caught up in issues about race because it has been ingrained in our culture since the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock and saw the Native Americans. Our country has always been full of racial prejudices and it is something that we as citizens of the U.S. have to learn about so that these biases can seize to exist. glassonion001
ReplyDeleteIf race is socially constructed, why is it even a part of our vocabulary in America? I hate checking that box when filling out applications for different things. I don’t think it’s anyone’s business what race I am; approve me or not based on the information provided.
ReplyDeleteMy grandpa always said that men were the five fingered race and not just a color. In my language, the name for white people translates to “those that fight us”. I’m sure another name would have came about if history was nicer looking. The indigenous peoples of America are lumped into one race but are all culturally individual and different from each other, I’m sure it’s the same with every other color out there. Arizona001
I strongly agree, the emphasis we place on race is far too great. By attempting to slump all sorts of people into groups we can end up losing much of the diversity that makes American culture beautiful. I feel that having a society that focuses so much on socially constructed races ends up isolating many people, making it difficult to comfortably communicate with others about race. Karma001
DeleteThe idea that Race is only a social construct, not based on genetics or science is absurd. A book I recommend to you is called "A Troublesome Inheritence" by Nicholas Wade. Here is an excerpt of the introduction of chapter 5 in his book, named The Genetics of Race.
ReplyDelete"In the case of human races, the genetic differences from one race to another are slight and subtle.
One might expect that different races would have different genes, but they don’t. All humans, so
far as is known, have the same set of genes. Each gene comes in various alternative forms,
called alleles, so the next expectation might be that races would be distinguished by having
different alleles of various genes. But this too is not how the system works. There are a mere handful
of known cases where a particular allele of a gene occurs in only one race.
The genetic differences between human races turn out to be based largely in allele frequencies,
meaning the percentages of each allele that occur in a given race. How a mere difference in allele
frequencies could lead to differences in physical traits is explained below"
The problem with looking at human beings solely through a sociological perspective is evident in the inherent subjectivity that is applied once one defines race. If you are capable of reading through this book I would highly recommend to do so. If we are to accept that TENS (Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection) then it must necessarily follow that race exists as an expression of these frequency in alleles, resulting in subspecies populations of homo sapiens. Whether or not you Identify as a certain race or not does not change your fundamental genetic composition. When we talk about Race in a sociological context we can talk about patterns in data of how society functions who identify themselves as that Race, but we cannot say that it is only a product of the human imagination. Literally factual biology contradicts this hypothesis.
If you wish to read it, here is a link to a .pdf document containing the entire book.
https://atroublesomeinheritance.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/nicholas-wade-a-troublesome-inheritance_-genes-race-and-human-history-penguin-press-hc-the-20141.pdf
FreedomUnderGod001
I actually did a research paper over a topic relating to what was said in Professor Melendez’s video. When Professor Melendez speaks of discrimination he divides it into two distinct categories: individual and institutional. In my paper I explored a New York Times article recording the conversation help by a panel 10 years after the Birmingham church bombing. The panel focused on social changes observed over the past 10 years and changes that needed to be made in the future (note this summary may not be entirely accurate, it’s been awhile since I read it). Within the course of the panel tension rises between the older members of the panel and the younger members of the panel. The tension was over how we view discrimination, making it an “either or” situation between individual and institutional discrimination. The older social activist in the panel strongly held that discrimination was primarily institutional and not due to the actions of individuals of minority groups (actions encouraging social stigmas). The younger panelists put more emphasis on the role of the individual of a minority group to combat social stigmas, viewing the problem more as a conflict amongst individuals. After going into more details from modern authors I made the conclusion that creating a dualistic view of discrimination sets up individual and institutional discrimination as two extremes which social groups sway back and forth between. I would argue that in order to appropriately respond to discrimination we must understand it as a convoluted combination of the two. Karma001
ReplyDeletePrior to this class, I've never thought race could be classified as something as simple as hair color as we mentioned in class today. Every since I was in high school I've always be for diversity, especially in the African and sub-African cultures. I've always looked at any decent of Africa as black but the tricky part for begins when ethnicity comes into play. I don't have many friends with different ethnic backgrounds, but for those I do know I can tell the difference. If ethnicity is something we identify ourselves as, what if we grew up with multiple ethnic backgrounds? We would could probably just consider ourselves both, but this could be confusing for individuals.
ReplyDeleteTaylojj2
I guess that I didn't ever consider that the difference between race, and ethnicity makes any difference. The fact that the government doesn't allow for all races on sensus material, or banking applications is appaling. Who's going to sue the government for discrimination? If an employer pulled that wouldn't that be a class a lawsuit? The fact that there is documented proof that minorities are less likely to get loans is shocking. Really, this should not have a place on such applications. All loan officers check your credit score, and history, race has nothing to do with anything. I also think that is unusual that no one has a clue that discrimination started in this country when we first inhabited this land and started slavery . There is no greater evil, and how are we to mend history? I think that prejudice has everything to do with our ancestors decisions and mistakes . It isn't always about the color of someones skin either, where someone lives, also is a factor of how someone may be perceived and treated. Rosebudd001
ReplyDeleteI never knew that race can change from culture to culture. How some place might go on hair or eye color not just skin color. Skin color is the way America goes by race and I can understand why , because our norms and beliefs in our society . We highly value looks like if you fat tall skinny have muscles. Then other place might value other things other then what America values like money or religion. I think it's really bad to judge and be prejudice based on someones skin color when you don't even know the person and I think a lot of it know a days ties in with stereotypes. People now a days already make up in there minds what a person is going to be like even before they meet them and I don't think it's right. Player001
ReplyDeleteRace and ethnicity is one of those areas that people are treated differently. What is a race? Biological difference, being born with this difference. We’re not defining anything scientifically or biologically. You cultural decides what races exists. If you go around the world people do not see race like the people in America do. Your race may change in certain places in the world. The government defines race as white, black, Native American and Asian. Hispanic and Latino which are listed as an ethnic group. Ethnicity is a group that share cultural characteristics. People who come from the same place that share a culture. Why does race matter? People treat different races differently because of what they believe in. Being prejudice and discriminating races are all over and they say that everyone has some kind of prejudice in them. Institutional discrimination is something I never heard of, learning more about it kind of makes me upset I don’t feel like banks should be suspect because of color I always believe everyone needs to be treated equal. It is really sad. LAWS001
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