Race and Racism | voxygen.net

Page 1 of 612 3 4 5...»Last »

Currently viewing the category: "Race and Racism"

Cultural Identity Activity

By ~LS~ On August 25, 2010 · Add Comment · In Feminism, I have to work?, Pedagogy, Politics, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, Feminism, Gender, Generations, Louisiana, Pedagogy, Race, Sexism, Teaching, Teaching Activities

Since teaching at BRCC I have struggled with introducing issues of racism and other identity categories into the classroom. Given the diversity of the campus population, I’m not sure why. As I posted previously, the responses to racial topics are completely unpredictable.

Last semester, for instance, my students claimed that black people really do like fried chicken. Although part of that discussion was intentional provocation on some of the students’ part, I think many genuinely bought into the stereotype.

Perhaps my difficulties derive from the increasing hostility in conservative rhetoric toward people of color. The “love it or leave it,” English-only mentality is surprisingly prevalent. Although many, many white students don’t fall into this category, there are enough of them to make conversations tense and uncomfortable.

If the students of color (predominantly black, though we’re seeing a rise in other minorities) aren’t comfortable enough to [...]

Read Full Article →

Black doll white doll

By ~LS~ On August 24, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, Pedagogy, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: Pedagogy, Politics, Race, Teaching, Teaching Activities

Today in class I showed a clip from A Girl Like Me, a documentary made by a 17 year old young woman who revisits the Black Doll White Doll test. The test asks black children to choose between a white doll and a black doll, asking questions such as “which doll is the prettiest” (they pick the white doll), “which doll is the nicest” (they pick the white doll), and “which doll is the most like you” (they flounder and then pick the black doll). Watching black children struggle with those questions is very sad. I show this video in class when we talk about the relationship between perception, the self, and communication.

What always amazes me about this video is the responses that it provokes. Sometimes students completely shut down and getting them to talk is impossible. Sometimes students [...]

Read Full Article →

A day of lessons in stereotypes

By ~LS~ On March 25, 2010 · Add Comment · In I have to work?, Politics, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: BRCC, For Wordies, Pedagogy, Race

Today has been an interesting lesson in stereotypes.

Lesson one:

I had a guest speaker from Deaf Services in BR come to my Interpersonal Communication class. He was dynamic and interesting and the students loved him. Before his visit, I decided to learn a little more about Deaf culture the capital D is important to people in the Deaf community). I’ve been fascinated about it ever since a friend of mine demonstrated the way that sign language is not a literal interpretation but a more poetic one. She did this by signing a song. I’ve learned a long time ago that it’s your responsibility to educate yourself about others who are culturally different rather than to expect them to translate for you. I think the most memorable statement came from Audre Lorde who said that white women expect women of color to “stretch across the gap of ignorance.” So in [...]

Read Full Article →

Whoopi and Disney

By ~LS~ On November 21, 2009 · Add Comment · In Humor, Pop Culture, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: Humor, Pop Culture, The View, Whoopi

I adore Whoopi. Ever since I saw her Direct From Broadway show on HBO many years ago. I haven’t seen the 2oth anniversary version, though I would really like to. In the orignal HBO special, her character Fontaine, who is a junkie, goes to the Anne Frank house. It is a profound piece about race and humanity that I wish I could see again.

I was excited to see Whoopi join The View, which is one of my favorite shows to watch when I’m not really watching TV. I was terribly disappointed in her “rape rape” comment about Roman Polanski, for which she’s being skewered all over the net, and deservedly so. Still, I think she’s got an incredible talent for raising people’s consciousness through comedy.

I remember when she was filming in Sister Act and she was at war with Disney over the script. [...]

Read Full Article →

Tea party protest signs and some other stuff

By ~LS~ On September 17, 2009 · 3 Comments · In Politics, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: News Media, Obama, Political Humor, Race, Rhetoric

We’ve all seen the tea bag party’s stupid, misspelled protest signs these days. No surprise there. We all immediately recognize the painful hypocrisy of those misspelled signs that demand we make English America’s “offical” language. We all also recognize by now the anti-anti-war protester of a few years ago who called us all “morans,” which some thoughtful person has turned into a motivational poster. The illiteracy of the tea baggers party is just depressing — it just underscores that these people are victims taken advantage of by astroturfing corporate interests. So depressing. Now, to be fair, the left has its fair share of misspelled posters. My fave: “Will sombody please give Bush a blowjob so we can impeach him.” Misspelling aside, the sentiment is funny. Anyway, these tea party folks are working against their own interests, which makes [...]

Read Full Article →

The Glenn Beck Boycott

By ~LS~ On August 19, 2009 · Add Comment · In Politics, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: News Media, Politics, Race

As everyone knows by now, ColorOfChange.org is sponsoring a successful boycott of Fox New’s Glenn Beck. Right on!

I don’t know -why- I read AOL’s “Politics Daily” blog on occasion, but I do. The audience is heavily conservative, so the comments are vitriolic, vituperative, and vigorous (I needed another v-word for balance). They make me point-laugh. So, yesterday, Carl Cannon wrote some stupid bullshit about the boycott, claiming that it’s censorship and not good citizenship. Well, after reading pages of comments, I got totally frustrated and I actually posted a comment. I suppose it’s just a means of blowing off steam. It’s buried 5,000 comments in, so I doubt a soul will read it. But it was fun and it made me feel better. So here’s what I wrote:

I know I’m stupid to post here given the [...]

Read Full Article →

Cultural Identity Activity

Black doll white doll

A day of lessons in stereotypes

Whoopi and Disney

Tea party protest signs and some other stuff

The Glenn Beck Boycott

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Catch me if you can!

Cultural Identity Activity

Black doll white doll

A day of lessons in stereotypes

Whoopi and Disney

Tea party protest signs and some other stuff

The Glenn Beck Boycott

Categories

Archives

Tags

Blogroll

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Catch me if you can!