Theories of Difference: Part I

            This week, I tried to read each of the readings and watch each of the TED talks with the following question in mind: “How does this individual decide they are different from others?” It’s kind of funny that there are so many differences we’ve been trained to spot—and decide whether they are “good” differences or “bad” differences—when in reality, like Professor Sepp said, we are generally more alike than different. I was reading the comments on Lee Mokobe’s TED talk, and the general consensus among the commenters was “we are all people.” It seems so simple, but it’s such a difficult concept for people to grasp.

            V.F. Cordova’s “America” contributed to the idea that dominant, privileged groups in society (namely white people) do not like to talk about their privilege. It reminded me of Johnson’s “Privilege, Oppression, and Difference” and the idea that we don’t talk about how some groups have power and some don’t because we don’t want to make the dominant group uncomfortable, and, furthermore, “In American, we ban hostile voices” (Cordova, 45). This is one of the many themes I’m seeing develop throughout the readings.

            In Some’s account of his grandfather’s funeral, Some himself talks about the differences—he described the way in which mourning and grieving was encouraged, whereas in Western societies being openly sad at funerals is looked down upon. I think that prior to this class and even prior to the Cordova reading, I would have read this account and thought that it was “primitive.” Now I get that questioning and prodding at other people’s cultures is condescending, and just because it’s not like mine doesn’t make it inferior.

            I really wish I could have read the rest of “There Lived a Little Boy Who Was Misled”! Though it is about growing up in West Baltimore, it reminded me a lot of some of the kids I mentor in the Dove Springs neighborhood. They’re mostly Hispanic and working class and they are fully aware that that’s their identity, and they have ideas about what it means to be Hispanic and working class based on what society tells them it means—even as sixth grade students.

            The thing that stuck out to me most in “The Possessive Investment in Whiteness” was the idea that not only does our government play a huge role in perpetuating racism and classism, but even policies that are “race-neutral” incentivize being white (such as decreasing minimum wage—it seems like it would have a negative impact on all minimum wage employees, but in reality, due to discrimination, most minimum wage employees are minorities). I think this is why education is so important. I know that it’s going to take a lot of voices—including privileged voices, to bridge the “gap between white perception and minority experience.”

            I’ve seen Mia Birdsong’s TED talk a few times, and it seems like every time I do I get something new out of it. I love that she is speaking out about this idea that hard work always leads to success, and if you aren’t successful, you must have not worked hard enough. The first time I heard this talk, it was a part of the TED radio hour. The episode is called “A Case for Optimism” and it features people who believe that the future is bright. It’s encouraging to know that Mia Birdsong believes that there is hope for our society.

            I think that Lee Mokobe sums up the danger of attaching stigmas to certain identities best when he says that we are “talking people into coffins.” His poem was definitely eye-opening, and I read later that he is the co-founder of Vocal Revolutionaries, an organization that lets youth use art to speak out about issues and lobby for change. How cool is that! Here is the link to the site if anyone is interested: http://vocalrevz.weebly.com.

References:

Cordova, V. F. (2007). America. How it is: The Native American philosophy of V. F. Cordova (40-45). Tuscon, AZ: Tucson University Press.

Some, M. P. Grandfather's funeral. Of water and the spirit: ritual, magic, and initiation in the life of a Shaman (56-73). Penguin Books.

Coates, T. (2008). There lived a little boy who was misled. The beautiful struggle: a memoir. Spiegel & Grau.

Lipsitz, G. (1998). The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

Birdsong, M. (2015). The story we tell about poverty isn't true [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/mia_birdsong_the_story_we_tell_about_poverty_isn_t_true.

Mokobe, L. A powerful poem about what it feels like to be transgender [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/lee_mokobe_a_powerful_poem_about_what_it_feels_like_to_be_transgender?language=en.

Identities

I would identify myself as quiet, determined, female, and white—among other things. I wasn’t comfortable with my identity until college. Generally, I think my identity stays the same wherever I am—maybe because I don’t necessarily have to fear discrimination in my everyday life.

            When I started watching the Human Rights Campaign video, I couldn’t believe I had never heard of Lana Wachowski, but felt better when she talked about wanting to live under the radar! I can’t imagine how hard it is for kids who are in the same position that she was in: being forced to choose between the boy line and the girl line and wondering what is wrong with them when they can’t pick either. No kids (or adults) should ever have to feel like they don’t belong or don’t have a place in our world, and I think that’s why we need to do a better job of recognizing that people don’t need to fit in one box or the other—they can be on a spectrum, like iO Tillett Wright talked about. I really like the idea of “visibility” and I think it’s important as social workers to let our clients know we see them and they are not invisible, and their identities are valid just like everyone else’s. Furthermore, Wright’s idea of highlighting, rather than erasing, differences reminded me of The Atlantic’s article about schools we read last week. Eliza Byard, the director of the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network, said differences in people are valuable because they teach us to listen and articulate our beliefs. This planet would be such a cool place to live if we could eliminate the idea that differences (or disabilities, like Stella Young pointed out) are bad, and that people that have identities different than what we’re used to are scary!

            Beverly Daniel Tatum’s essay made me really think about my personal identity. I realized that before today, I never would have identified myself as “white,” because it definitely is something that, as a member of that dominant group, I take for granted. I could, however, relate to “He Works, She Works, But What Different Impressions They Make” as a woman. Just the other day, I was thinking about what it would be like if in my future career, I had an assistant or a secretary that was a male and I just could not picture it! I think that’s a testament to how we’ve been socialized to believe that they are “boy jobs” and “girl jobs.” However, it’s encouraging to see more and more women in positions of superiority (one of my favorites being Michelle Obama—who is not just seen as Barack Obama’s wife, but as her own person: a leader, a lawyer, and a writer.)!

            Finally, in “The Dangerous Consequences of Growing Inequality,” I was once again reminded of Park Avenue and the issues that arise from a tiny percentage of the United States controlling an enormous part of the wealth. This seems like a common theme, and it’s one of the main issues that I, as a social worker, would like to address in whatever job I have one day.

Sources:

            Adams, M., Blumfeld, W., Castañeda, C., Hackman, H., Peters, M., Zúñiga, X. 

(2013). Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. New York, NY: 

Rutledge.

HRC. (2012, October). Lana Wachowski Receives the HRC Visibility Award. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crHHycz7T_c

Wright, T. (2012, December). Fifty Shades of Gay. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/io_tillett_wright_fifty_shades_of_gay

Young, S. (2014, April). I'm Not Your Inspiration, Thank You Very Much. (Video). Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much.

Structures and Institutions

I volunteer with middle school kids in a pretty impoverished neighborhood in South Austin. This Tuesday, one of the girls I mentor asked me if I could take her to a dollar store so that she could buy a Valentine’s gift for her parents—they didn’t get to go out to eat together because they were afraid of being deported. Wow. Talk about a reality/major privilege check. This is all I could think about when I read “Privilege, Oppression, and Difference.” When is the last time I had to worry about something like that? When is the last time I acknowledged I don’t have to worry about things like that? As a white person, I definitely experience “the luxury of obliviousness.” I’m thankful we’ve been learning about privilege and inequality and what we can do about it as social workers.

I really enjoyed the Atlantic article “Can Schools Be Fixed?” I have heard people say that “education is the great equalizer” and that kids could break out of the cycle of poverty if they just went to school. But of course, this can’t happen if the schools themselves are unequal! The article is right: segregation is holding kids back. I listened to an episode of “This American Life” about desegregation (here is the link: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/562/the-problem-we-all-live-with). I was shocked to learn that desegregation actually peaked in the 1980s! Since then, schools have become increasingly segregated and unequal. As for how to address this problem, I noticed a few points that were frequently mentioned by the professionals in the Atlantic article. First of all, there should be a bigger investment in teachers! Placing more value on our teachers—giving them the resources they need, treating the profession more seriously, etc—would make a tremendous impact. Secondly, standardized testing was discussed a lot. I work at a summer camp and before kids come, they are asked to fill out a survey. One of the questions asks them about their biggest struggle that school year. This past summer, ¾ of the kids answered “standardized testing!” I think standardized testing caters to one kind of intelligence, and kids that don’t have that are being left behind (I think this is definitely an example of structural discrimination). Finally, of course, there is the problem of segregation. I hope that lawmakers see this article and can use it to implement change, because schools have the potential to make a serious impact on kids’ lives.

I was fascinated with the idea of our “individualized” society, and how we value our personal selves more than our social selves (and sometimes don’t even realize we have social self!). I understand how this loss of collectivity is disastrous in times of tragedy—when I was reading this, I kept thinking about what we read last week about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Was anyone else blown away by Fields and Fields comparison of how we talk about race today to witchcraft? This piece made me hopeful that one day we will realize that the way we categorize people based on what they look like (or who they’re attracted to, or their abilities, etc.) is a little crazy. Additionally, the idea that racism is not an emotion, but rather a double standard, really stuck out to me. I like thinking of it this way because sometimes people are really stuck in the way they feel and it’s hard to change someone’s emotions. But maybe double standards can be done away with through education. It won’t be easy, but it’s a change that needs to happen!

“Dropout Nation” was pretty interesting to me because I tutor kids that have a high chance of dropping out of school before they graduate. I was really impressed by the school’s staff and their willingness to go so far for the kids to try and help them succeed. Again, it comes back to making sure every school has awesome teachers (I liked that “Human Capital” was one of the facets of the Apollo 20 project). However, the main thing I got out of this video was the principal saying that you can’t take their anger personally—their anger is about their life situations, not you. I think I’ll definitely be able to apply this to my volunteer work, because it’s easy to be discouraged when you feel like a kid is angry with you.

These assignments gave me several ideas about changes we can make in schools. I hope I’m able to help implement them one day.

Sources:

Fields, K., & Fields, B. (2012). “Introduction.” Racecraft: The Soul of Inequality in American Life. New York, NY: Verso.

Johnson, A. (2006). Privilege, Power, and Difference (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Koughan, F., & Vargas, K. (2012, Sept 25). Frontline: Dropout Nation (Video). Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/dropout-nation/.

Wong, A., Green, A., & Zhou, L. (2015, Dec 30).  “Can Schools Be Fixed?” The Atlantic.