Shame & Maria

In this blog I will discuss, scenes within Chinese Girl in the Ghetto that highlight the main character's struggle in maintaining her racial integrity. The passage on page 107, describes the interaction between Chinese kids in her class amongst the other races and their choice of having pride in their heritage. She questions why they don't stand together to defend their culture's integrity within the classroom. This conflict spreads beyond the school and classes because it leaves a lasting impact on the communication when these cultures continue to collide in the years to come. "Physically, we were usually no match for those who discriminated against us. Culturally, we were predisposed to be less confrontational than our non-Asian peers." (Ma 107) The racial project that her people are inferior in the aspects of fighting is proven to be embedded within her mind. Entering into such conflicts with that mindset causes Ma & her fellow Asian classmates to stand down and continue to accept the ridicule from their peers. Although they know they could potentially stand up for each other in times of need, when the situation occurs, they all respond with the common answer of  ""I'm sorry I could not defend you, but I don't know you and I was not going to risk my own safety for you.""(Ma 107) Even though she participates in this act herself, Ying hates her people's choice, she believes it brings them shame.
On the other hand, on page 111, the passage shows a fight between Ying and a Hispanic girl who confronts her. Aside from the usual American disrespectful jargon used within an argument, the girl spews racial slurs at Ying and that becomes the breaking point. After receiving the shouting from her counterpart, the punch given by Maria was finally the last straw in Ying's internal struggle of disproving a racial project. The idea that Asians don't retaliate to physical abuse from their classmates was broken in this situation. Unknown to Maria, the Hispanic girl in the fight, Ma wasn't your typical Asian student that accepted being bullied. Coming from constant fights with her older brother, Ying was more than prepared for this moment.
From both of these instances, we see the main character's pride of her ethnicity shift amongst these moments. After seeing her people continue to be placed low in her school's social ladder, a spark is lighted within Ying that allows her to break the norm and defend herself.

Untouchable paragraph

In Anand's The Untouchable, the British imposed their way of life on the Indians through the form of presenting an extravagant, refined lifestyle for them to idolize. Upon entering the life of the Indians, the British promoted their culture as the right way to live on earth. The interaction between these two cultures is a significant display of racial formation in world history. British's caste system set in place has created racial projects within Indian culture that exist to this day. The constant negative portrayal of Indians by the British has an immediate effect on how the main character, Bakha, views the world around him. Throughout Untouchable, Bakha is torn between his admiration for the lavish British culture and his loyalty to the Indian culture he was born in. This on-going struggle is showcased throughout Anand's novel in Bakha's experiences and shortcomings. Moments such as the hockey stick gift given to Bahka from Mr. Singh represent the socialization of British life into his society through a break in the paradigm of the caste system. The norm within this society expressed that communication amongst seperate castes wasn't socially accepted. Bakha's conflict is a depiction of the effect on the younger generations within the colonial Indian way of life.



The constant negative portrayal of Indians by the British has an immediate effect on how the main character, Bakha, views the world around him. Throughout Untouchable, Bakha is torn between the socialization by the lavish British culture and his pride towards the Indian culture he was born in. Socialization is the lifelong process by which individuals develop their human potential, acquire an unique personality, and by which culture is passed from generation to generation. Due to the society around him, Bakha develops racial project concepts about his own race. He is considered an untouchable which guides him to the belief that his life isn't heading in the right direction. While internally embracing the stereotypes of these castes, Bakha assimilates to the ideology of the British. He adapts to British culture with hopes of sculpting his future in their image.

Cluster Connections

During this semester, I've noticed that the topics brought up in each of my classes relate amongst each other. This race and culture cluster has broadened my vision of our society today and society's of the past. A common question brought up in each class has been "What is race?". Based on our in-class discussion mixed with my prior knowledge, I believe this question depends on the person answering. Having growing up in various cultures, we all share differing views of what race means to us. To me, race is an idea used to define and to draw inferences about groups of people because of their skin color. I also believe that this concept has separated the world over time rather than bringing everyone together. Racial formation has led to colonization throughout the world. With races set in place, certain ones believed in their own people as the superior race in comparison to others. For example, we've been analyzing the situation between the English and Indians in history. In English class, the book our class is reading is called "The Untouchable" which demonstrates the life of an Indian within the caste system while under English rule. The impact of this system and another instance of the English and Indian relationship was showcased in "Bend it like Beckham" which we watched for Anthropology class. In both, the main character, being Indian, idolizes British culture although they were socialized into English culture and way of life. The information received from the readings and the film, gave me a better understanding of the interaction and history between these two races. These classes have expanded my vision on race and connections between certain races over time.

New Twitter Handles

The information I saw on the twitter accounts that I recently followed were somewhat interesting. They seem to all focus or relate to rights for immigrants in the United States. Each handle serves as an advocate for equality. Some specifically focus on rights for those who are currently in prison. I think these twitter handles are useful for the fact that our news is keeping up with our evolving society. Having this information provided on a social network gives people an alternative to grabbing a newspaper or watching Channel 7. I think one major downfall of this method is in the personal accounts because the tweeter's social life becomes too involved and it partially takes away from the informational aspect of the account. Otherwise, I believe the use of twitter is important to spread such information due to the fact that our world is technologically-oriented.
On the @BAMN (By Any Means Necessary) account I recently followed, they represent a protest group fighting for integration and immigrant rights. They post their events and connect with other twitter handles to spread their message and voice.

Slavery still exist?

Society is forever changing. Constantly expanding, introducing new practices, developing new concepts. Even in this growing society, the age old saying "History repeats itself" can be still be applied to our world today. In Slave and Citizen, Tannenbaum states the idea that slavery still existed after the Emancipation was passed, and it still continues today. "Their professional standing must overcome their racial origin"(Tannenbaum 114). He believes that slavery will be over, and races won't exist once the Negro conforms to white culture. According to this belief, slavery is still going on in 2013, and will continue to exist, until African-Americans only follow the guidelines of a white/American lifestyle. In order to advance in US society, the African-American today must act in a manner that is acceptable to the norms set by the settlers who participated in the slave trade. The fact that this statement may be slightly true, is uneasy. Essentially, there aren't instances of people working on plantations for severe hours with no pay in today's world, but the middle and lower classes still produce hard work on difficult tasks but don't receive the proper reimbursement for their duties. In my eyes, America is viewed as a country giving all it's citizens a chance to succeed, but after deciphering Tannenbaum's statements and looking at our society now through a different lens, it's pretty evident that America was built upon a stratified vision. This makes me wonder, will slavery truly end?

Slave and Citizen Summary

Tannenbaum's thoughts in Slave and Citizen support his belief that American slavery and slavery in Brazil were completely different. Both societies used slavery for economic enhancement but as far as their methods in the treatment of slaves they were worlds apart. Although located in the same hemisphere, and time period, when it came to ethics and moral views these nations did not see eye to eye. In America the slave was considered to be an uneducated Negro, but in Brazil, they were deemed slaves because they had fell upon hard times. Common idea is that slavery is a form of degrading other human beings for fiscal matters. But in this era, slavery was depended on for economic stability and progression in both countries. Tannenbaum doesn't disagree with that idea. His argument focuses on the practice and conditions in which slavery was applied.
A slave in America had a slim opportunity for freedom, or to advance in the culture. To most people in the U.S., they were considered property valued as much as cattle and other livestock. A vast majority of the labor that English settlers performed when they first arrived in the New World, was now the Negro's duty. No scheduled hours. No pay was recieved. Still, the Negro's hard work served as the backbone for much of the nation's goods and economic climb. Even with this role, slaves were given little to no respect for their efforts.

My classmates tweets

On twitter, I found Jairo's tweet concerning moral consciousness interesting because it truly sums up the deeper difference between American thoughts behind slavery and South America's beliefs. It gives a similar view as "Double Consciousness" by WEB Dubois.
A certain tweet that sparked my interest was by Paul questioning if today's society can be considered "reconstructed slavery" because we still have social/economic classes that are unappreciated and fufilled financially.