Instructions:

1) Identify four roles in you team,

1)one person writes and reads community agreements,

2)one person facilitates assignment

3) one person facilitates labor and equity, time checker

4) one person presents.

All members still will be expected to contribute towards community agreements.

2) Chat with your team and cowrite a sentence (can be a draft - nothing fancy) that you would like to contribute to the community agreements. Come up with 4 agreements per group.

3)Post sentence on PADLET program. Make sure to add your teams names.

4) Share in discussion

Lupita Enriquez

Brooks Lin

Nina Liu

Joanna Reyes

1. We should respect everyones opinions at all times during this course.

2. We should be open minded to different opinions and be willing to discuss them in class.

3. We should use anti-racist language.

4. Listen to your peers.

1) Be open minded and respect people's opinions. Understand that sociology is really nuanced and seeing other perspectives will help us grow.

2) Be honest and open when you don't know something and don't be afraid to ask questions.

3) Follow up with people to help understand their perspectives and foster discussion.

4) There will be hard conversations so take accountability and come into discussions with good intentions and respect.

Name: Ran Chen, Mia Georgiou, Emily Kagan, Phelicity Solis

1) Be open-minded during discussions and allow people to re-evaluate their stance in discussions.

2) Don't be afraid of giving constructive feedback.

3) Use the reacts emojis so people don't over talk each other

4) Active and respectful listening. When classmates are talking in class don’t be distracted, talk over them, or act in a disrespectful manner. Instead, ask questions and support them as they share.

Our Community Agreements:

1. Keep an open mind: there will be different opinions/views that arise, so being mindful of the fact that people will have different opinions and still keeping the discussion respectful

2. Mutual respect: respect is very important during discussions

3. Using appropriate language: making sure that the language we are using is respectful, neutral, and understanding. Our words have a lot of power.

4. Active listening: making sure to be attentive and listen in every conversation, even if you do not necessarily agree with what is being said

Daniel Flexo, Christopher Arambula,

Callie Creath, Nicholas Shannon

1. Create an environment of mutual respect.

2. Value everyones opinion and input and make sure no feels shamed or excluded.

3. Be Open Minded: Let’s be willing to hear one another out and try to see the conversation from different points of views

4. Be present and attentive in class.

1. Be respectful and openminded of other's opinions.

2. Be considerate and nonjudgmental of other's circumstances.

3. Effectively and actively listen to your fellow classmates.

4. Be mindful of language.

1. Breaks/Music after the break to bring students back in

2. Be respectful

3. Acknowledging people's responses

4. Being open-minded

community agreements:

1. Everyone should be collaborative

2. Be attentive and listen to others

3. Communicate with each other and assume the best intentions of each other

4. Form your own opinion and try to not just follow the "herd"

Mercedes Villegas

Kinnari Bapat

Tab

1. We will respect others in a professional way to keep a safe environment where everyone's opinions will be heard

2. We will be open-minded by actively listening to each other and having positive conversations

3. When difficult feelings arise in challenging conversations, we will take a moment to evaluate whether we feel uncomfortable or unsafe

4. To better maintain a safe and comfortable environment we will avoid gendered, and discriminatory language.

1) Primal Scream- Everyone unmutes and screams at full volume (alternative, everyone unmutes and says hi)

2) Listen and be respectful of other opinions

3) No Ragebait- (Saying opinions just to piss people off that you don't actually believe)

4) Be open minded :)

1. Coming to class with an open mind and welcoming all input. Be respectful of peers with differing beliefs.

2. Being engaged with what the Professor AND our peers are saying (active listening).

3. Using gender neutral language. Using academic language that accommodates gender identity and triggers, and is respectful.

4. Respond positively and practice humility, even if you think a question has an obvious answer. (All questions are welcome.)

Build off Each Other: At the beginning of class, have everyone share how they are feeling through sharing emojis in the chat.

Mutual Respect: Listening to other people's opinions with an open mind. Allowing people to finish their points without interrupting them.

Informational Consent: Include trigger warnings before discussing sensitive topics to ensure a comfortable and safe environment.

Uplifting: Provide positive feedback to peers. After a presentation, leave positive reactions in the chat (emojis, nice words, etc).

1. Be respectful that people will have opinions that differ

2. Actively listen to others and don't interrupt them

3. Show up to class with radical empathy

4. Post a heart emoji if there is something you like during class

1) Groups of 4 - assign roles.

Pick on social issue to focus on.

2) Using a sociological immagination along with master narrative lense answer the following questions:

• What is historical component that has lead us to this social issue?

• Who is mostly affected or most vulnerable in this social issue and why?

• What are some larger social structures that you can guess play a role in this social problem?

• What are some assumptions that are made of this social phenomenon that might not capture the entire story? Who benefits and who doesnt benefit from this narrative?

Assign following roles:

• Notetaker - Responsible for writing down main takeaways from group discussion, as well as documenting everyones name on sheet of paper. Incharge of submitting written answers for group.

• Facilitator - Responsible for getting discussion flowing, asking questions to group, and identifying main take aways for each members response.

• Time Keeper - Responsible for reminding group of time. In charge in making sure people are sharing equitably - and that labor is divided evenly.

• Presenter - Responsible for sharing back to the course when we return to larger discussion.

1. There is a large history of racial segregation, redlining, and the war on drugs that has led certain areas to be over policed and has caused deep inequalities within communities. The gap between the upper and lower classes within our country keeps growing exponentially, and the middle class continues to shrink (Reaganomics). The cost of housing has grown exponentially, which is also a large component.

2. Racial minorities, veterans, formerly incarcerated individuals, and mentally and physically disabled individuals are largely affected by this issue. This is often due to a lack of resources and support systems provided to these individuals

3. Segregation, redlining, Reaganomics, and Real Estate empires are causing a housing shortage.

4. Society tends to assume that homeless people are just "lazy" or made the wrong choices in their lives, without considering broader socioeconomic implications that may have led them to this situation.

1.) Many people have lost a sense of community when it comes to climate change. People believe it's not a personal problem. Additionally, lack of representation has resulted in legislation not being passed in hopes of preventing further damages.

2.) Third world countries not having access to funds to reduce the damages of climate change. But also all countries are beginning to struggle with the effects of climate change such as California with forest fires, extreme heat, and drought.

3.) Government overturning previous legislation that once helped to reduce climate change. Additionally, misinformation that only benefits oil industries. Media has been used to make climate change seem "fake" or not as serious of an issue than it actually is. Influencers not promoting a clean way of life which has resulted in a loss of hope in people. Prioritizing the consumer over the planet.

4.) Third world countries that don't have access to clean water. And everyday people that are struggling while millionaires continue to live "care free". People with power control our ability to make a difference. Bacteria from trash in our water sources have contaminated our food, but people with money don't struggle with these issues because they can afford higher quality food. Everyday people that lose their homes to fires that don't have the funds to rebuild what was taken.

(Youth Mental Health Epidemic)

1. Historical component:

• Covid 

2. Most affected or most vulnerable:

• People who have less access to mental health resources tend to suffer more due to mental health problems 

• Men are shamed if they seek mental health help

3. Larger social structures that play a role in this social problem:

• There's stigma surrounding mental health tends to be a barrier for those who want to seek help 

• Capitalism leads people to not have the time and resources to seek mental health help.

4. What are some assumptions:

• Assumption is that mental health isn’t real and that people fake it. As well as you have to be in the worst mental state to seek help

Mercedes Villegas

Callie Creath

Drew Dacany

Ran Chen

(Homeless Crisis) 

1. Historical components that have contributed to the homeless crisis include a lack of affordable housing, mental health support, and jobs. It can also be contributed to minimum wage no longer being enough money for individuals to afford housing or resources.

2. Individuals who are the most affected and vulnerable to the homelessness crisis include individuals who don’t have access to higher education, healthcare, emotional and financial support from their families.

3. The lack of equity in housing markets, healthcare systems, criminal justice systems, and education systems all contributed to increasing homeless populations. 

4. A common assumption will be the idea that homelessness is due to personal failure, such as laziness or addictions. The lack of attention to correct these assumptions benefits property owners who want to avoid these systemic reforms. 

1. US deprioritized healthcare during the Cold War, everything was taking a backseat to military spending.

2. All types of youth face mental health issues, but for different reasons. Young men have difficulty facing toxic masculinity, and young women face issues with body image in the media.

3. Massive stigma surrounding mental health, especially within different cultures and regions. Furthermore, there's a large class issue in terms of access to healthcare. For example, a family could want to help their loved ones but due to medicare funding cuts they cannot receive help.

4. There's an assumption- and almost expectation- for people struggling with mental health to face their issues by "pushing through" it. One point that our group felt called to talk about is race within healthcare.

Discussion: Climate Crisis

1. Historical Component:

Industrial revolution brought a lot of oil drilling and introduced a ton of CO2 into the environment. The large spike can be seen and is dated as the start of the industrial revolution.

2. Who's Mostly Affected:

Developing countries struggle to control CO2 emissions, while also needing to emit if they want to join the world landscape and economy. Wildfires are also a large issue for pollution, farming and require education and government intervention to take proper precautions. Wildlife and animals are largely affected as they do not have a say or power in what we do in regards to their health.

3. Larger Social Structures:

Sending jobs and work overseas cause economic impacts negative and positive to those countries. Politics as we see are split in the United States and many levels of people in power controlling these 'strings'. Much of this can only be handled by our vote getting out and using our voices as individuals we need to group together for a message.

4. What Are The Assumptions:

Who benefits are the large companies, and the economy. Living beings are affected the most, our planet as a whole is damaged. While looking out for the interest of our own 'pockets' we are damaging our physical wellbeing and futures of all animals and beings.

1. We have seen that COVID has had a significant impact on the youth’s mental health as well as technology development.

2. The most affected group in this social issue is the youth’s 

3. Huge corporations, such as those that have developed technology, have played a significant role in this social problem. 

4. Some assumptions are that “it is just a phase” or “a mood”. This has overlooked youth mental health so many times, especially by guardians.

Topic: Climate Crisis

1. The industrial revolution and capitalism led to the mass production of products.

2. Low-income communities are especially affected. Many factories and packing facilities are located in lower-income areas. The factories are also a major source of jobs for people living in that area.

3. Many of the jobs are gendered and require low skill; for example, men tend to be associated with manufacturing and machinery-related work, while women usually take jobs in garment production. Factories uphold the gender division apparent in many industries to continue manufacturing.

4. A lot of assumptions are placed on the individual, how each person should be held accountable for using less products made by factories, instead of holding the factories themselves accountable. Greenwashing also is a way to brand items in a way that seems sustainable but continues to generate waste. Oil refineries like Shell benefit directly from fossil fuel consumption, at the cost of all of its consumers.

• Topic: Youth mental health

• Generational cycle of trauma

• Most vulnerable groups: 

  • low-income families – they have fewer support systems in school and at home

  • People of color

  • LTBGQ+ – Lack of support from the government and even families

  • Due to a lack of educational access

  • Lack of resources and stigmatization – lack of access to insurance

  • Passing of a new bill – “Big Beautiful Bill”

1. What's the historical context?

-1800s, children seen as useful to work/make money for family

-transition away from kids playing in the street starting in 70s

-COVID affecting mental health

2. Who is most affected?

-Small children

-Young adults

-Depends of family culture and occupations

-kids raised with phones

-social media harms self esteem, constant comparison

-less wealthy schools often lack programs on phone use/mental health

3. Larger social structures that play a role

-family culture

-access to healthcare/therapy

-education system

-capitalism: not profitable to health people

4. Assumptions

   -you problems are individual

   -"you'll get over it"

   -it's a new thing

   -some people are "treatable" and some aren't

   -people with mental health issues don't benefit

   -the pharmaceutical industry benefits

Discussion: Youth Mental Health Epidemic

1. A historical component that's contributed to this issue is the Covid pandemic, specifically with isolation and increased usage of technology. Factors like sleep disturbances, cyberbullying, and rabbit holes of negative content generated by algorithms all contribute to declining mental health.

2. The group mostly affected are the youth in question, and we identified youth with less support (community, family, educational, etc) as being more vulnerable and affected disproportionately.

3. Larger social structures like corporations prioritizing profit over people, along with the current administration cutting funding to programs that support youth mental health contribute to the epidemic.

4. One assumption that is made is that youth mental health is individual, rather than a byproduct of social structures. This assumption is exacerbated by generational divides, with the attitudes of older generations that mental illness is a sign of weakness perpetrating feelings of shame among youth. Additionally, the current administration pushes the notion of mental health being an individual issue, so that they are under no obligation to provide more support for an issue that they falsely paint as not societal.

Assign following roles:

• Notetaker - Responsible for writing down main takeaways from group discussion, as well as documenting everyones name on sheet of paper. Incharge of submitting written answers for group.

• Facilitator - Responsible for getting discussion flowing, asking questions to group, and identifying main take aways for each members response.

• Time Keeper - Responsible for reminding group of time. In charge in making sure people are sharing equitably - and that labor is divided evenly.

• Presenter - Responsible for sharing back to the course when we return to larger discussion.

Questions to discuss in small groups of 4 people:

• Marxism helps us think about how social issues - in this case Class Inequality - is interconnected to other social structures. With this in mind, in this next activity analyze one of these social issues and draw connections between other social structures that allow for these issues to persist and grow.

  • Select one social issue to focus on:

    • Mass Deportation and Anti Immigrant Sentiment

    • War on Drugs and Criminalization of Black Americans

  • Watch Video associated with the topic of your choice.

  • Identify what social structures are connected to this social issues? Example - Marx saw a clear connection between what was taught in schools and how workers were exploited.

  • Analyze how this social structure influences, supports or creates an environment/ narrative/ideology where this social issue can take place? List these examples.

  • Connecting it back to Marx, how do or don't these social structures protect the interest of the ruling class/those in power?

1.) People are being racial profiled and then forced into free labor for private companies in prison. Private companies are profiting off of these people with no limitations, and no restrictions against what they can force on people who are imprisoned. Even when Biden stopped private companies they just moved to deportation firms.

2.) Immigrants are criminals and poor people are criminals. Criminals deserve to be treated the way they are. They deserved to have ankle monitors and this forces them to remain in the cycle.

3.) Prisons are used to target minority groups to keep immigrants, and people of color away from the rest of society. In doing this, white majorities can make profit off of them and remain in power. Or lack of support in low income areas that result in destined future of being criminal.

1. Detention centers, especially private prisons, are more of a criminal issue rather than a social structure. Capitalism is embedded in the prison system and mass incarceration has become a business model.

2. Simmilarly to how Marx described the labor structure, we connected that capitalism is like a pyramid; it requires people at the bottom who can be exploited. They are using citizen status as a way to exploit them for cheap labor as well as spreading a narrative that immigrants are criminals.

3. This creates fear-mongering, which signals to others that its okay to be treated this way. In the case of private prisons, they began to realize that their lack of resources and poor conditions were wrong, which led them to lose money. However, they eventually recognized that they could use the fear they instilled in people to profit from immigrants once again.

Issue: Mass deportation

1.) Some social structures connected to these issues are government policies, racial hierarchy, and black and Latino communities, which are often targeted, and capitalism exploits minorities. Citizenship and media are also factors. The media can emphasize stereotypes. Our social media is censored based on the current administration.

2.) The social structure influences labor exploitation, and undocumented workers take dangerous or low-paying jobs out of necessity for work. It influences and creates a hostile social environment. The events of 2020 gave individuals the confidence to display their racism publicly because we had a president who was comfortable doing so (ex., blaming COVID on asian individuals, hostility towards Hispanic people, defending police brutality, and vilifying the BLM movement)

3.) These social structures connect the interests of the ruling class because vilifying minorities protects the interests of people in power. Trump manipulates everyday Americans into thinking he will lower inflation or taxes, but he only does this for wealthy individuals, which keeps the wealthy in power.

War on Drugs

1. Race and class. Predominantly POC and low income neighborhoods being targeted. Political affiliation, Nixon era specifically using drugs to target POC, criminalize drugs instead of a specific race. Prison-industrial complex profits when society over-criminalizes specific groups, trickle down of an industry into culture/society.

2. Low-income neighborhoods using the drug industry as a way to create income with little eduction and opportunity. Those in poverty suffering from unique struggles without access to mental or community care, drugs being a way to mediate those stressors. Crack vs cocaine being another examples of the little ways to demean.

3. Drug usage and the failure to take care of those on drugs or the conditions that cause an addiction could be seen as proof of a capitalistic failure. People didn't pay attention until it was used as a way to manipulate the lower class, Marx frequently argues that the class struggle is the ultimate one. The war on drugs seems to be another capitalistic scheme to produce profit for police, jails, and politicians.

Mass deportation and anti immigrant sentiment

1. A lot of people and banks fund these prisons so they have a vested interest in prisons making money. Private prisons make money based on the incarceration of people so they are motivated to increate more people. Singling out a community to imprison makes an easy target for incarceration and funds these prisons

2. Creating an environment where a certain group is singled out to be incarcerated creates an ideology that that group deserves to be in prison which leads to private prisons to have an excuse in incarcerate more people. For example now it is the incarceration of illegal immigrants.

3. Since private prisons are funded by the people in power and the money from incarceration goes back into the pockets of the funders they are incentivized to maintain a structure where more people are incarcerated and more money is made. For example people on the Supreme court have funded these private prisons.

Topic: War on Drugs and Criminalization of Black Americans

1) The structures surrounding different classes were heavily involved, especially with the different punishments given based 5 grams of crack for 5 years vs 500 grams of cocaine for 5 years. Racism set up black people to be more heavily criminalized for doing drugs compared to white, middle-class people. The crack epidemic was devastating towards these black communities, not just through addiction, besides through these media fueled hysteria and harsh government policies.

2) People who use drugs are dehumanized, making it so we see this as an issue that doesn't need to be fixed. Might be why there was such a lack of response to the issue from people in power. Police forces already being based in racism benefitting from the crack epidemic by getting more funding/military power to continue to perpetrate bias against black people. The War on Drugs turned a public health issue into a criminal one, targeting African American neighborhoods with militarized policing and mandatory minimum sentences.

3) Cocaine seen as a "higher class" drug versus how crack was seen feeds protected higher class citizens to the detriment of black citizens. Reagan saying how the lower class was becoming worse under his presidency. The criminalization of crack versus cocaine led to an increase amount of incarcerated black citizens that the prison system benefitted from monetarily through cheap labor, essentially another form of slavery.

Focus: Mass Deportation and Anti Immigrant Sentiment

1) Incarceration is deeply tied to capitalism, though the motivation is to use prisoners as a means of profit.

2) Instead of only having criminals in prisons, immigrants are also placed into cells, so prisons increase their profits. Having a record of previous incarceration makes it more likely to be incarcerated again, thus landing one back in the prison system. They are just trying to fill up the prison as much as possible without a care for reason.

3) Marx believed in the abolition of private companies. The ruling class profits while suppressing anyone who is in prison or immigrant.

Group 8

War on Drugs: The Systemic Incarceration & Criminalization of Black Americans

a) What social structures are connected to this issue?

• criminal justice system--> laws were made to seem "neutral" but were clearly targeting Black communities

• heavy policing of Black and Brown communites, police entity

• media-- shaped a narrative and targetting minorities

  • villainizing Black and Brown mothers

  • pushing fear-based narratives that painted Black Americans as dangerous drug users

• On top of that, underfunded schools, unemployment, and segregated housing all contributed to setting up certain communities to be overpoliced and underprotected

b) How do these structures allow this issue to persist?

• The 100:1 sentencing rule for crack vs. powder cocaine meant Black people were getting way harsher punishments

• Police were constantly patrolling Black neighborhoods

• There was no investment in public health approaches like addiction treatment or rehab, no crisis intervention

c)

• According to Marx, the ruling class benefits from keeping power and control over working-class people.

• Mass incarceration was a way to control poor Black communities and strip people of their rights.

• It also created a prison labor system that profits off of incarcerated people

  • --literally using them to produce license plates or uniforms for pennies

• Instead of addressing poverty or inequality, these systems just reinforced them. It protected those in power by shifting blame onto individuals rather than questioning the bigger structures causing harm.

Lupita Enriquez

Max Chi

Jina Gurung

Isabelle Benavidez

Topic: Mass Deportation and Anti Immigrant Sentiment

1. Government, social media, schools, economic division are social structures connected to mass deportation and anti immigrant sentiment. Private prisons have been used as a form of immigrant holding institutions.

2. The individuals who are in control/own these institutions are people in power who we learned in the communist manifesto are also the higher economic class. Automatically making them in control over government laws that they are able to use to their advantage to make more profit.

• Judges who were payed off to convict students to be sent to these private institutions

• Use of ankle monitors

• Prison guards lost benefits, making environmental conditions for the workers and prisoners inhumane.

3. It helps the oppressed, stay as the oppressed while they remain in power.

   They are able to keep making profit, and generalizing a group to remain as the "other."

Juliana, Drew, Christopher, Austin

1. The media and news used Black Americans as a target to spread how big the drug problem in America was, creating a social issue out of it. With this fuel and racism, they were able to pass harsher laws on drug abuse.

2. The news reports villainized black Americans and created names for those on drugs influenced how people saw the community as a whole, labeling them all as addicts. People also looked up to the police, as their supposed to protect us, so seeing the police go against the minority created this ideology that Black Americans were a threat.

3. Social structures that protect the interests of those in higher ruling power would be using mass incarceration to skew votes, using the incarcerated to up their population numbers without allowing those in prison to vote or be represented. Black Americans and the lower-income communities were used to aid mass incarceration as the "cheaper" drug in low-income communities only required 5 grams of crack cocaine to be arrested, compared to 500 grams of powder that was predominantly used in white communities.

Topic: War on Drugs and Criminalization of Black Americans

• Identify what social structures are connected to this social issues?

  • the criminal justice system (police, court, etc.)

  • Media outlets that shape public perceptions of drug use

  • Policymakers who maintain harsh drug laws

• Analyze how this social structure influences, supports or creates an environment/narrative/ideology where this social issue can take place? List these examples.

  • Policing practices like stop and frisk--targeted drug raids focused on Black American neighborhoods; increases police arrests (including physical abuse from police)

  • Sentencing laws impose cruel punishments for drugs more common in Black communities (like cocaine)

  • Private prison increases high prison populations and strict drug laws

• Connecting it back to Marx, how do or don't these social structures protect the interest of the ruling class/those in power?

  • maintain racial and class hierarchies by oppressing marginalized groups and keeping them politically and economically powerless

  • provide cheap labor through prison work programs

  • media or empowered people distract the public from systemic economic inequality by framing crime and drugs as individuals/communities and not addressing the main cause

  • these systems help the rich and the powerful to stay in control by blaming black people for crime and keeping them in prison the system protects the interests of the wealthy