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In module 1 we were introduced to this class and what it was going to be about. The concept at the heart of this class is structural racism. The video I am posting with this reflection is a ted talk that does a great job explaining that core concept. Structural racism is a term that describes how racism is not just interpersonal but is built into the structure and systems of this country.  I was very excited to take this class because not only am I a sociology major fighting against racism is what gave me my political awakening . Standing up against inequality is one of my passions. Structural racism is a complex topic and it has its tendrils that reach into many different structures and systems and is made to keep certain classes and people of certain colors down.Over the last several weeks I have learned my concepts but most intriguing to me was learning that feelings and situations and thoughts I have are shared by many and have defined terms to describe them and that has made feel less alone and better about myself and my life experiences.

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Understanding structural racism | Luiza Lodder | TEDxYouth@EAB

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In module two we discussed what race was and how it is a social contract. How it has little to no basis in actual biology but rather a series of phenotypical features and social constructs that vary from place to place and varies wildly over time. The video I am sharing is from Vox media and they have a great series of videos that delve into topics that are relevant to this class. In tithes video it the speaker demonstrates how race is not a real thing and why and how we came to use it as the basis for the systems in our societies. As usual power and greed is at the heart of the matter.

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One of the main concept of module three was the idea of xenophobia. Xenophobia is the dislike of people, cultures and customs that are from outside of your country. I chose to share a report from the DW about the rising tides of xenophobia in South Africa because it illustrates that it isn’t a problem exclusive to the united states. Most countries in the world have xenophobia at som level with places like North Korea and Russia being towards the extreme ends. This is something that I have experienced a lot in my life being a first generation American fro India. I always felt like an outsider to some extent but after 9/11 I felt completely unwanted because of the extreme level of xenophobia that was being practiced in the united states towards my group. More recently we have seen a sharp rise in xenophobia towards east asians as backlash to covid. It is interesting to me that in my life time whenever the US has an issue with another country or people of certain ethnic backgrounds stuff only gets uncomfortable and or dangerous for the people of those communities of they are ethnic or people of color. The Russians have been our biggest adversaries for generations now and we are at an other point in history where they are our most dangerous rival again but I’m not seeing a lot of videos of Russian Americans being yelled at or attacked or having their homes and businesses vandalized. I by no means want Russian Americans to face those hardships but the racism is clear.

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The roots of South African xenophobic violence | DW News

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In module 4 we learned about the racism people of color face in everyday life and racism micro aggressions. I think this report done by MSNBC is well done and shows you what everyday racism looks like. The report begins with the the story about Trinity Bethune. Trinity is an African American woman who went to a dealership to buy a car. When she was leaving the dealership took a picture of her with her new car and posted it with the racist comment “Bye Bon Quicha”. This to many white Americans his just a harmless joke but to us people of color its a clear message that we are still seen as the other or lesser. The joke they tried to use worked on two levels. One was the joke meme from the movie Friday where the protagonists where happy to be rid of a local crackhead and said “bye Felicia” this is a racist stereotype of black Americans being drug addicts. On top of that even though they knew her name was Trinity its surely all over her paperwork they made up the name Bon Quicha to once again make fun of her being black. Bon Quicha is again a reference to a racist joke in the US where white Americans feel that black Americans have weird ethnic names instead of all being called Jerry and Jane. The issue of racist micro aggressions is common place here in the US. Just yesterday in my families store a costumer came into the store and declared “Man its hot outside” I said yeah its over 100 today and his response was “Yeah man its hot but you guys are used to that right. Lol” This was a racist micro aggression where he otherized me and he assumed that I am middle eastern (I’m not I’m Indian and from a part of India where the climate is similar to central California but with more rain) and played on the trope that middle easterners are desert dwellers. I just moved passed it because that what you have to do to get by and I can’t afford to lose customers.

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The Microaggressions That Black People Face In Everyday Life | Zerlina.

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In module 5 we learned about white privilege. White privilege is a hot button issue in the united states. White privilege is a term that describes the inherent advantages white people are born with because of their race in our society. Many white people hate the term because they feel it unfairly makes it sound like their life was easy. I have heard things like “I grew up in a home with dirt floors how dare you say I am privileged.” The human ego gets in the way a lot and people who think like this fail to realize that the term is a true fact but it doesn’t mean if you were white your life was easy. It shows that you were the preferred member of a society that has help built into the systems for you so that your life may not be easy by any means but it is likely easier than a person of color. Not only do people of color face the same hardships that our white counterparts people of color face more and that is all that we are trying to say. Please recognize that the privilege you  have exists. It doesn’t mean you don’t work hard. The video I am sharing with this post is a very interesting look into white privilege through a play.

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Experimenting with White Privilege On Stage

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The term I selected for module 6 is the authentication dilemma. It is a term that refers to a serious dilemma many minorities go through especially those of us where are first or second generation. It’s the concept of not being seen as truly authentically American by Americans because of our ethnic background and at the same time we are not seen as being authentically our ethnic identity by those from that group.I’ll use myself as an example. I am a first generation Indian American. I have always felt as if I had one foot planted in the culture of my forefathers and the other in the American culture I was born into. So when I was out of the house I felt like I had to be more per formatively “American” especially after 9/11 when my national allegiance was being questioned constantly and at the same time I felt out of place in places where members of my community gathered because I wasn’t a “real Indian” because I dressed and spoke with more of a hip hop influence and over the years my ability to speak Punjabi had withered away.

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The term I have selected from module 8 is anti-immigration. The term anti immigration is self explanatory but it is insidious and racially motivated. The video that I attached above is a great look into the history of racism and immigration policy. Just as you can be sure that the sun will rise in the morning you can be sure that every election cycle immigration is a ho0t button issue. I don’t have ay issue with debating immigration policy because it is an important topic. We cannot completely have open borders not only because of safety issues or drug runners but because its the lower class that would be most affected by it economically and lower class minority communities are the most affected economically. We can’t completely shut down the borders because immigration both legal and illegal are key to the functioning of the American economy. We recently saw that in Florida where governor De Santis went after illegal immigrants in order to set the stage for himself as hard on immigrants because that’s an important racist dog whistle in the republic party and the states food production and trucking slowed down to a halt. These are important industries and they heavily rely on illegal immigrant and to most reasonable people his policy decision blew up in his face but as we have seen over and over again for the right wing outcome doesn’t matter. All that matters is the people they don’t like feel the pain that they want them to feel.

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The truth about America's history of anti-immigrant anxiety

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The term I selected from module 7 is embodiment. In the scope of sociology embodiment refers to how race and embodiment are connected and how someones race affects how others perceive them and value them. Race is not actually a real thing. It is a social construct that separates people based on physical characteristics and nationality. These physical characteristic are used against minorities in the US where if you do not meet the white ideal of beauty which is Eurocentric that you are not beautiful. An example from my life that I have heard from multiple partners as a complement is that “You are so handsome because you have a normal nose and not a big honker like most Indians.” It always makes me feel weird and I usually respond with a tentative thank you just to move on. A negative physical characteristic stemming from my ethnic background I have heard a lot is “You are too hairy or I don’t like hairy Indians.” These sorts of stereotypes and Eurocentric views on beauty have been harmful to my ego as a man but it is was worse for girls and women who in our patriarchal culture have their worth directly connected to their beauty.

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Beauty Standards: How Do They Affect People of Color?

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The term I selected for this module is broken window theory. Broken window theory states that the broken down neighborhoods filed with litter, graffiti broken windows, abandoned homes and buildings etc contribute the crime levels in the area. Attached is a video by a great YouTube channel called the infographic show and they made a video specifically about broken window theory and how New York City fixed windows to try to reduce crime. At the heart of they theory is the idea that if you live in a nice respectable neighborhood you are more likely to be respectful of the neighborhood and if you live in a rundown neighborhood the more likely you are not to care for or respect the neighborhood leading to more crime.

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How New York City Stopped Crime By Repairing Windows