Kezia Skariah AAPsych by

1.6 Who am I, First Experience With Race & Sense of Self Brainstorm

kskariah — 2024-02-13 11:06:43 UTC

WHO AM I?

I am a young woman who is learning her way through life. I pretend that I know what's going on and I know what I am going to do with my life. People think I am confused because when I graduated last year I stayed unemployed for a while but now that I have a job I decided to continue to take classes. I wish I could be someone who has it figured out and could do something that I am passionate about with my life. I feel more pressure on myself because when I first announced that I would study political science, I was the first of my Indian family and friends to be majoring in the humanities, so people were confused how my parents could "allow" me to pursue such a major. Being in a state where I am not sure what to do next makes me feel that I am confirming everyone's beliefs that I made the wrong choice. I know people in my local Indian community look at me differently because of this which is why I try so hard to pretend I have a plan in place.

FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH RACE ACTIVITY

I was fortunate enough to be raised in an area full of people who looked like me, so I never really noticed when someone treated me differently because of race because I did not realize that there would be any reason to do that. However, the first time I noticed something would be when I was about 8 years old and shopping with my mom. To me, we were just buying normal things (and we were), but for some reason, the man behind us in line was making a lot of comments about what we were purchasing (ex. we were buying sweaters and he said it was probably because our dad was too cheap to pay for heating). I was honestly just confused because I didn't understand why a stranger cared so much about what we were buying and why they were even talking to us. Later on, when at home, I talked to my parents about it and they said because of stereotypes about Indians (like how we are taking all the jobs), some people feel resentful and will take it out on strangers when having a bad day. To be honest, it was never a moment I dwelled on too much because, as mentioned before, I was lucky to have been raised in an area where I barely dealt with racism. However, this experience did show me that just because I did not deal with racism or thing about race on a regular basis, there would still be others out there who would treat me differently.

POSITIVE SENSE OF SELF

I would definitely say that one's sense of self definitely affects one's views with their experiences with race. I think that in general, when you are in a bad headspace, it is normal to interpret actions through a negative lens. In this past year, my view of myself has went down because I was disappointed with how things were going in my life. While going down a negative spiral, I also worried that people would start looking at me and associating me with negative stereotypes because of the direction my life is going. I started becoming more aware about how I was perceived and more worried about how my actions would be interpreted. It's been interesting viewing the world with this mindset considering I never really cared about what others thought of me before.

I would say that someone who positively identifies with African American Psychology would have a strong sense of self. However, I would also say that even if they positively identified with Western Psychology. I believe the purpose of psychology is to have a better understanding of the mind, and each person can choose which they identify with. As long as they have a positive relationship with their psychology, then that is what matters to have a strong sense of self.

2.3 African Centered Psychology

kskariah — 2024-02-15 13:14:00 UTC

THEME 1: UBUNTU

I do think the concept of Ubuntu is alive today in African American culture. Especially being a part of the same culture, people feel it is important to look out for each other. For example, looking at African American celebrations that take place, the spirit of Unbuntu is very clear.

Even if things like music and attire may vary between African Americans and Africans, the spirit is still the same and prevalent for both.

THEME 2: CONCEPTS OF AFROCENTRIC PSYCHOLOGY

A concept that is very present in the African American community is spiritness, which is basically being full of life. This is believed to be the spark behind why humans are the way they are. I believe that this is most prevalent because the readings say that spritness means to be "full of life." You can see this everyday in African American communities in a similar way that the spirit of ubuntu is prevalent. Just in daily interactions and activities in general you can see how there is a divine spark.

Human authenticity is less present in African American communities for the reason that society has forced things to be that way. It was very clear that the African American community is heavily judged, and African American parents raise their children to be aware of the biases that the world may have against them. Because of this, people may present a less than authentic version of themselves to prevent unnecessary judgment (like code-switching). For example, in workplaces, African American women may be discouraged to wear their hair naturally as it can be viewed as "unprofessional." Because of this bias against this natural hair type, African American women are forced to hide this part of their authentic selves.

THEME 3: PRINCIPLES OF NGUZO SABA

A principle of Nguzo Saba that I found interesting is Ujamaa, which is the concept of supporting each other's businesses so everyone can grow together. I definitely saw a lot of this in the past few years, especially after the Black Lives Matter movement saw a peak in 2020. Whenever I opened TikTok I would see black creators shoutout African American owned businesses. And when influencers show off their big hauls of these products from African American owned businesses, it influences others to spend their money at these businesses as well. This definitely brings value to the African American community as it allows grow their businesses to do more and hopefully fulfill their dreams.

3.4 Three Self-Assessments, Racial Identity Development, and Identity Resource

kskariah — 2024-02-21 15:27:41 UTC

3.1 MULTI DIMENSIONS OF ETHNIC SELF IDENTIFICATION

For the Natal Measures category I choose to select natural parents. Natural parents are such a big part of someone's background. Natural parents show cultural background and how a child was raised. However, even if a child does not live with their natural parents, they are still important because the natural parents still represent the child's ethnic identity. For example, I have a friend who was adopted by a Japanese family, but her natural parents were Chinese. So even though she has been raised in Japanese culture she was always curious about her Chinese identity because it was still a part of her despite being adopted.
For the Behavioral Measures category I chose to select friendship and acquaintance affiliative patterns. When one is outside their home, these are the people that they spend the most time with. The people that one spends their time with has a big impact on who they are. Even though my parents are the ones who raised me, a lot of my opinions come from conversations that I have had with friends, classmates, and other peers. The people that you grow with have a big impact on you.
For the Subjective Measures category I chose to select value preferences. I truly believe that values are what defines a person as values are what you believe in your heart. Even if you may act one way or have friends that have certain beliefs, it is your values that define who you really are.
For the Situation-Contextual Measures category I chose to select spirituality. Outside of the people you spend time with, the beings that you believe in have the next most influence on you. Spirituality has a big impact on one's life because that is the basis of one's values and how they view life. There are people who I know who believe in a different religion from their parents, and the difference in values is very clear.

3.2 MULTI-GROUP ETHNIC IDENTITY MEASURE

My multi-group ethnic identity measure score is 33.
Because the score ranges from 1-48, that mean my score is in the upper half. This means that even if I might not have the strongest relationship with my culture, it is still pretty prevalent in my life.
I think this means I have a strong bond with my ethnic group because I definitely think a lot about how my ethnic identity will affect my present and future life. One of the biggest things I consider when thinking about raising a family is hoping to find someone of the same ethnic identity who can help me raise my children to value their own ethnic identity.
I am surprised that my score was as high as it was because whenever I speak about my ethnic identity with others, I always talk about how there is a disconnect. But seeing how high I scored here, I guess the disconnect was not as big as I thought it was.

3.3 ROSENBERG'S SELF-ESTEEM SCALE

My score on the Rosenberg's Self Esteem Scale was 16.
With a range of 1-30, my score being 16 shows that I am in the middle, not necessarily thinking either very positively or negatively about myself.
I think the biggest factor for this is my stage in life right now. I am a recent college graduate, but I am finding it so hard to find my place in life right not. I was unemployed for about 6 months after graduating which definitely took a toll on my self-esteem. And while I am fortunate to be working a job now, it is something that does not even require a degree, which makes me feel worse because now I feel like I wasted four years of my life. This period of uncertainty in my life is definitely what is having a toll on my self-esteem.

3.4 RACIAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT

I am in the marginalization stage.
I am in this stage because it is hard for me to find ways to practice my culture. Because there are so few people here from the same place as my parents, it is hard to find a community where I can grow in my culture. Furthermore, being Christian also puts me back as Hinduism is such a prevalent part of Indian culture. A lot of Indian culture centers around Hindu celebrations and symbols, but as a Christian, I cannot participate in these. So because of this, I really have nothing to show for my Indian culture rather than some clothes and eating the Indian food that my mom cooks.
Because my parents never celebrated any Indian holidays, they decided to celebrate American holidays with my sister and I. This was our assimilation because our house was valuing celebrations of the majority culture. I have passed through assimiliation.
I learned that there are many different stages people may be in even though they all might be minorities. Everyone is at a different stage of their journey and it is important to be empathetic to that.

3.5 FIND YOUR RACIAL IDENTITY RESOURCE

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667

This resource talks about the oppression that Indians in American face. It discusses Indian Americans and their relationship with their culture and their ethnic identity. It is interesting to see the great variety of answers.

4.4 Race and Racism: Types of Racism

kskariah — 2024-02-22 14:59:53 UTC

THEME 1

A prominent type of cultural racism I have seen and experienced in colorism. There is a common belief that people with lighter skin tones are more appealing than others. Another type of racism that I've seen a lot of is symbolic racism. I see people use the model minority myth to blame African Americans for not being able to be at the same level of success as them. When I try to explain that African Americans are dealt a bad hand from the start, they refuse to believe it because they know of others who were able to work their way up. I definitely sometimes have internalized racial inferiority. Because I tend to be socially anxious, sometimes I blame my feeling of being left out on my race and that I am not appealing because of it. I need to not be so hard on myself and always think people are judging me for my race.
I do not believe that we live in a post-racial society. The reading mentions how the results of the 2016 election disproves the idea of a post-racial society because of how racially divisive the election was. Additionally, when just looking at the world, there are many example to be seen of the mistreatment of African Americans which is definite proof that the country has not moved on past racism.
I believe that race is a mix of social and biological constructs. First of all, everyone's race is decided by the racial background that they were born into. It does not matter what race your friends, community, or peers are, that does not change your family history. However, despite biology being a big defining factor in race, there are social aspects as well. The social aspects have to do with how you're raised and how your race affects your life.
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-century/ This article from Harvard argues for race being a social construct. It acknowledges how there might be some truth to the biologically arguments but those are rooted in racism. It says that race is a social issue intertwined with science.
Something that stood out to me is the section on Black Lives Matter in the reading. I found it interesting as when the movement peaked, it was all over the media; I am interested in reading about specific stuff that I have seen. Black Lives Matter is significant as it is an example of how people have reacted to racial discrimination. I think it is cool how so many people of different races and walks of life came together to fight for this cause.

4.4 Race and Racism: Racial Microaggressions

kskariah — 2024-02-23 16:12:17 UTC

THEME 2

One of the -isms in this was racism, clearly. People are being treated differently because of their race, which is mostly a social made construct. Color-ism is another relevant -ism as that's when people believe some are better because of the color of their skin. An example of racism in this audio is people asking where someone is "really" from which might be a genuine question but can come off as demeaning. Another example was calling an African American "articulate," which implied that that was out of norm for people of her race.
I do not believe that we live in a post-racial society. The reading mentions how the results of the 2016 election disproves the idea of a post-racial society because of how racially divisive the election was. Additionally, when just looking at the world, there are many example to be seen of the mistreatment of African Americans which is definite proof that the country has not moved on past racism.
I believe that race is a mix of social and biological constructs. First of all, everyone's race is decided by the racial background that they were born into. It does not matter what race your friends, community, or peers are, that does not change your family history. However, despite biology being a big defining factor in race, there are social aspects as well. The social aspects have to do with how you're raised and how your race affects your life.
https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-century/
One thing that stood out was how many people may be well-intentioned but that does not change the fact that what is being conveyed is racist. I always think about people who are purposely mean when I think of racism, but I forget that people who are ignorant can also be guilty of racism as well. People do not realize when questions they ask have a negative history and that is not good.

5.5 Kinship and Family

kskariah — 2024-02-27 12:51:24 UTC

What makes a black family unique is how there is a history of slavery; there is so much long lasting trauma from that time in history that it even affects families to this day. Even post-slavery there was a lack of family stability as this was the time where people were migrating to the north. But after all this, African American families today are very strongly bonded and tightly knit. There is a strong sense of loyalty toward each other and there's a strong community that comes together to support each other.
A strength of the black family is kinship care. It is unfortunate that there are times that parents are unable to take care of their own children. But despite that, it is nice to see family members step up to take care of these kids. This makes sure that the family is still together and the children are able to learn an accurate version of their history. On a similar note, a challenge of the black family is adoption. African American children are less likely to get adopted meaning they are in the foster care system and without a family for longer. And even if an adoption happens, if it is a transracial adoption that is still a big challenge. Transracial adoption is hard as it is hard to teach a child what it means to be black in America if the parent has not experienced these struggles themselves. One example of a disconnect in transracial adoption is when white parents adopt a black child and have no experience working with thick hair so they have no idea how to take care of their child's hair. This can lead to headaches, tangled hair, matted hair, and general unkemptness. If the parents can't even understand something as simple as hair, imagine how much harder it will be to understand racism that they've never experienced.
Racial socialization is basically how African American parents raise their children understand the role race places in how others view them and their interactions. This can affect families because heavy and deep conversations are being had at a very young age. It should not be normal for a child to have to learn about how the world mistreats them, and typically white families don't. However, because of how the world is, racial socialization is necessary for African American families so their children know what to expect. Hopefully, this forms a bond of trust with the parents as the children know that they have people that understand the struggles that they are dealing with.
Since slavery, one event that had a big impact on African American families was The Great Migration. This is when families were moving from south to the north. With so much changes, families were becoming dependent on social welfare. This was negatively impactful in the sense that it hindered them from achieving self-sufficiency. However, the migration did urbanize black families. There were many changes happening to black families at this time.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/african-american-families This article talks about different things that influence African American families. This article touches on how African culture affects how African American families live in America, how urbanization changed the makeup of the black family, and how the prevalence of poverty led to many hardships for black families. Reading this article helped me better understanding of the unit because not I know of more influences that affected the African American family and how they were affected.
Something that stood out to me was the closeness of the African American extended family. As someone who does not have many family in the area, I am envious of the idea of being surrounded by a community of family members who all check in on you and help you out. This is also significant to the unit as it shows how tight-knit the families can be. When the readings describe extended family, it also includes people like neighbors and church friends, showing that African Americans do not just view blood as family. This shows not only loyalty between family members, but community members as well.

5.6 Outline and Resource

kskariah — 2024-02-29 04:58:07 UTC

Name: Kezia Skariah

Date: 28 February 2024

Psych 110

Racial Autobiography Outline

Introduction Paragraph: Definition of Race
1. Introduction Statement: In a time where everything in the news seems to be racially motivated, it makes one wonder: what even is race?
2. Is race biological or social?: While at surface value, race may seem like something biological, when further looking into its core one will realize that race is mostly just made up of social norms.
Body Paragraph 1: Self-Assessments/Scores/Analysis
1. Main point 1: On the multi-group identity measure test, a test that measures one’s bond with their ethnic group, I scored a 33 (on a scale of 1-48).
  1. Supporting Detail: I have a strong bond with my ethnic group because I definitely think a lot about how my ethnic identity will affect my present and future life.
2. Main point 2: On the Rosenberg’s Self Esteem Assessment, a test that measures one’s self-esteem, I scored a 16 (on a scale of 1-30).
  1. Supporting Detail: This shows that self-esteem is something that I struggle with a lot and how it is hard for me to look at myself in a positive light.
Body Paragraph 2: Summary of Stages of Racial Identity Development & Life Examples
1. Main point 1: I have passed the assimilation stage of racial identity development.
  1. Supporting Detail: This is the stage where one values the majority culture over their own, which I have moved past.
2. Main point 2: At this point of my life, I am in the marginalization stage in regards to my racial identity.
  1. Supporting Detail: This means that I feel I am losing touch with my racial identity but also feeling a disconnect with the culture that I am living in as well.
Body Paragraph 3: Post Racial Society Critical Analysis
1. Main point 1: A post racial society is the idea that society has moved past racism and it is not a problem anymore.
  1. Supporting Detail: People believe that racism is a thing of the past and something that they don’t need to be bothered with.
2. Main point 2: I do not believe the idea of a post racial society to be true.
  1. Supporting Detail: When you look at the world around you and what is going on in the news, it is very clear that the world still sees race and treats people differently because of it.
Conclusion Paragraph
1. Summary statement: Even though society may want you to believe that racism is not a problem anymore, there are many examples proving that that is not the case.
2. Closing Statement: We live in a very racialized society; the sooner we realize the better so we can move forward in a way to help people in regards to the problems that come up due to racism.

Racial Identity Resource: https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667

6.5 Education and Work

kskariah — 2024-03-01 15:06:53 UTC

THEME 1:

I think the one thing that has lead to low numbers of African Americans in STEM is how it is just something that is not very encouraged. I think it is very interesting that the speaker brought up how we'd never excuse illiteracy, so why do we excuse inability to do math or sciences. How we are raised greatly affects how we are today, so if we are raised to not value STEM and learn that it is ok to know math or science then they just never feel the urge to go that route. Love for STEM is something that needs to be nurtured just like any other passion for a child.
Teachers play an important in fostering interest in STEM. For many students, their first exposure to STEM will be through their teachers. This means teachers hold the responsibility of presenting the subject in a way that captivates attention and makes students interested and engaged. They also have the responsibility to make sure their students understand the subject. If a student feels incompetent, that can also lead them to be disinterested.
Implicit bias can affect how educators teach because they can assume that someone may not like something or may not be "cut out" for something based on their biases. This is harmful because a student who might have an aptitude for STEM subjects might be held back because of the lack of nurturing from a disbelieving teacher.
If African Americans are raised in a society that does not believe that they can succeed, it leads to them having a mindset to think that they do not deserve what they have when they do. It is hard to believe in yourself when everyone is telling you that you do not deserve it.
One strategy that could be implemented to counter these struggles would be to have diverse teachers. If young African American kids could have African American adults teach them the importance of STEM and encourage them, that would be a great way to foster interests.
I thought it was interesting how the speaker compared interest in reading to interest in STEM. Even if it might seem like a simple concept, it truly wasn't something I thought of before. If we just encouraged practicing things like math and science the way schools encourage reading and writing, there probably would not be as many people disheartened by the STEM fields. On a similar note, access to the sciences should be just as accessible as to reading.

Racial Autobiography Paper

kskariah — 2024-03-01 18:52:20 UTC

7.6 Intersectionality, Bias, and Microaggressions

kskariah — 2024-03-06 14:30:08 UTC

Psychological consequences of experiencing subconscious racial slights as a person of color can be feeling less than without understanding why. A version of this is imposter syndrome: when one feels like they are not good enough and not deserving of what they worked hard to achieve. It makes sense someone would feel as if they are undeserving if everyone treated them as such.
When microaggressions are thrown at a person of color stereotypes are perpetuated because it is hard to respond to microaggressions in a way that don't make people look even more down on you. When I say this, I mean that a person enacting microaggressions is doing so already with a negative view of the person and the race they are. So if this person were to respond to this insult in self defense or by reporting it, the person who committed the first offense would likely be even more upset because of their bias. Furthermore, I have seen people of color angrily respond to racist insults, but for some reason onlookers will be more focused on the angry response rather than the insult triggered by the response in the first place. This then further perpetuates that the minority is abrasive or dangerous even though the anger just came from a need to defend oneself.
Some people overlook extra struggles people can face because of intersectionality. This particularly affect women of color a lot as they have to deal with both sexism and racism. So men of color or white women will think they fully understand the struggles of women of color because of the struggles they themselves deal with, but that just is not the case. This means the struggles of women of color are undermined by everyone around them.
Intersectionality can affect one's sense of self as intersectionality of race and gender issues can lead to the struggles that women of color experience being looked and a belittled. If someone feels like the problems they are experiencing are not a big deal it may make them feel even worse about themselves and like they are weak. Microaggressions can affect people the same way as these tend to be swept under the rug, so whenever someone is told that they are overreacting over something that is "no big deal," that also lowers sense of self. Every time someone is treated differently because of their race, it is normal for their sense of self to go down.
https://www.womankind.org.uk/intersectionality-101-what-is-it-and-why-is-it-important/ This is an article that further explains how intersectionality and what it means in regards to women's rights. This talks about why it is important to learn about intersectionality in the fight for women's rights.
I think a strategy that can be useful to address microaggressions is asking "what did you mean by that?" I have come to realize that a lot of people who are racist don't like to consider themselves as racist, so when put on the spot they will be forced to rethink their words and what the actually mean. When being forced to explain a bigoted thought, sometimes people will realize how wrong they were for saying something like that.
I thought it was interesting to learn that having a bias is a part of our natural selves. I thought it was something that was nurtured as you grew up. But knowing this means that everyone is guilty or likely to have biases. It is probably better to think this way rather than biases being a thing that only some people have because of how they were raised because now we know that everyone should be reexamining themselves to see what biases that they have.

9.5 SWOT

kskariah — 2024-03-12 08:01:26 UTC

A strength of the black community is the focus on meeting the needs and wants of the community. This is a strong type of support that should be valued by every type of community. It gives many types of relationships from different types of people. This definitely originated from oppression and how black people would be the only ones who cared about each other as actual human beings. And even though racism may not be as extreme today, it is admirable to see members of the black community support each other. An example of this is how people promote trying out local black businesses. This is a great way to support black business owners of the community in a place and time where it is mostly white-owned businesses that see major success.
In my opinion, most of the weaknesses of black neighborhoods stem from a racist society rather than the actions of black people themselves. Typically when people think of negatives of the black community, they think about poverty; however, it was actually past racist actions of the government, banks, and society which led to black people being at a financial disadvantage. An example of government actions that have had long lasting effects on the black community is redlining. In order to combat the lasting effects of racist policies like this it is important for the government to realize their wrongs and their responsibility in helping to reverse the damage. Financial support needs to be given to these communities to help them thrive.
One way black neighborhoods could play a role in the progressive movement of the black community is to continue stepping up for each other. In order for any progress to be made, the people in the community itself needs to support each other. Another solution is to implement programs specifically catered towards children. Because children are the future, it is imperative to set them up to succeed to ensure stable futures. If we can ensure that today's children will grow to be responsible and financially stable adults, then we know that future children will be able to have security because their parents are able to provide that for them. Furthermore, another possible solution is developing community infrastructures together. It is important that the people in the community who know the community problems best and first-hand have say in what changes need to happen in order to continue the progressive movement in the black community.
Unfortunately, as long as black people are discriminated in such a way that they are only comfortable living in communities which each other, negative stereotypes about African Americans will continue to spread. As long as society continues to view black people as lazy, reckless, and/or not trying to succeed, it will be hard to gain support. Furthermore, another way black neighborhoods can have a negative effect on the progressive movement of the black community is the "Broken Windows Theory." This theory discusses the idea that when people live in a rundown "dirty" place they are less likely to maintain it and keep it clean. And since black people were discriminated in such a way that they were forced to live in more rundown areas, they are less likely to make the neighborhood like those of wealthy and affluent others who are able to afford to choose a nice community to live in and to take care of it. Another example of a threat to the black progressive movement is how change can be limited to their communities. If progress can only be worked on in individual communities, it is hard to share successful methods with other communities.
https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2022/04/14/black-americans-place-and-community/ I found this an interesting article that adds more to the conversation as it discusses how black communities impact the identities of black individuals. It discusses how black people feel about many issues that were discussed in the readings and why they feel it is important to them. I like how this provides a new perspective to this unit's material.
It was really interesting to learn about all the ways the government's part in segregation has impacted the current makeup of black neighborhoods. While I always knew that there were problems and that the government was involved, I am always appalled to learn about more ways that the government negatively treated black people. I knew that there was segregation, but did not know about redlining and how that further enforced segregation. It truly is shocking to me to continue to learn more information about how grossly the government treated black people and their communities.

9.6 Discussion: Thesis, Direction and Resources for Critical Analysis Project

kskariah — 2024-03-13 09:31:00 UTC

10.5 Self Reflection

kskariah — 2024-03-15 11:00:47 UTC

Something interesting I learned from the readings is how different African American men and women are. One might think that because they are of the same race that the same statistics would apply to both, but there is actually quite a bit of variation. For example African American women are more likely to be upwardly mobile and have higher education. This leads to African American women looking for men who are financially stable and have a formal education while men tend to focus on honestly and sensitivity. Seeing the difference in values provides more context as to why there are many out there who would rather date outside of their race so they are more likely to find someone with similar values.
The long-standing stereotypes that objectify black women leads to people believing that African American women are of lesser value. Additionally, it leads to difference in values because someone who likes the stereotypical image of black women that's shown in things like black women may pursue black women with this image in mind even though in real life black women are not like this image in their heads. This can negatively affect the psyche of African American women themselves as well because people might treat them as less than because of stereotypes. This may even lead to a version of imposter syndrome,=.
I'd say the biggest contributing factor to the rising number of single black females is education. This is not to say that getting education is bad, as that 100% is not true. However, when one is educated, typically the standards for their partners raise. It is normal for successful women to want to date successful men. At the same time African American men are more likely to date outside of their race than women, which even further narrows the dating pool; especially considering that there are more educated African American women out there than there are African American men.
I think the biggest contributor to the stigma around the LGBTQ community is the lack of open conversations about it. 77% of queer black youth say that they have heard family members speak negatively of the LGBTQ community, which shows how normal it is to speak negatively of this group. Some youth say that if they saw more support for the LGBTQ community that they'd feel more comfortable. This shows an unfortunate cycle in which people foster an unwelcoming environment where queer youth don't feel comfortable which leads to them growing to not be confident in their sexualities and making it hard for them to be the people who make the change needed in their communities. With the constant judgement, it is hard to see change.
https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2023/02/16/black-americans-firmly-support-gender-equality-but-are-split-on-transgender-and-nonbinary-issues/ I found this article interesting as it present both sides of the issue and how different people think. This is significant to the materials learned as it shows the relationship that the black community has with the queer community.

11.5 Cognition, Language and Learning

kskariah — 2024-03-19 22:59:29 UTC

THEME 1: Codeswitching

Codeswitching is when changes the way they communicate depending where they are or who they are with. In a world that views African Americans in a negative light, codeswitching can help with their success in life as people will view them more positively. The unfortunate reality is that people view African Americans negatively, so even if it may be upsetting to need to codeswitch, it helps to have people think that you are not the negative stereotypes that they have in their head.
Codeswitching threatens diversity as it does not allow people to stay true to self. If everyone codeswitches to be the most "palatable," everyone will be exactly the same. Doing this takes away what makes someone unique, making diversity not even exist.
Codeswitching can affect someone's mental health because they may be confused in how they view themself considering how often they change how they present themself. Not only are they presenting themselves differently, but each time they codeswitch, they also get treated differently. This confusion on sense of self can negatively effect mental health.
https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-costs-of-codeswitching This page is interesting as it discusses both the negatives and positives of codeswitching. It shines light because it talks about how common it actually is.
Having more open discussions about what codeswitching is and its effects. If people avoid this subject, there will be lack of progress. There needs to be discussions on why people codeswitch, if codeswitching is actually necessary, and the effects of codeswitching on individuals and communities as a whole.
Something that stood out to me is how African American Vernacular English should be valued as its own dialect rather than "just slang." This is something I've never considered, since I've always heard this vernacular referred to as slang, that is what I thought of it as. But it makes a lot of sense for it to be considered its own dialect, especially because 80% of African Americans speak it.

12.5 Religion and Spirituality

kskariah — 2024-03-22 08:29:57 UTC

THEME 2: The Yoruba Faith

Yoruba Orisha is an ancient religion from West Africa. It is significant as it has been rising in popularity among African Americans in the past few decades. Yoruba has its own traditions which have an impact on African American culture.
This faith provides a connection back to Africa as it is a religion that originated from there. This religion had a rise during the black nationalist movement because of its connection to African culture.
The Yoruba faith believes health and spirituality goes hand in hand. They believe the better your health, the better your destiny is. They believe they have to appeal to their gods more for better health.
https://www.vox.com/2020/7/31/21346686/orisha-yoruba-african-spirituality-covid This is a good and relevant resource because it talks about the impact of the Yoruba faith on African Americans in recent years. 2020 was a very politically charged year and shed light to a lot of troubles for African Americans, so they were able to find solace in this faith.
I was very surprised seeing the data on Slide 4 of Professor Phillips lecture because it showed that a greater percentage of African American participate in the Christian faith than white Americans. Because this is a predominantly European religion, I did not expect that. I definitely thought it was interesting that African Americans had higher percentages than white Americans in most of the categories listed.

Critical Analysis Project

kskariah — 2024-03-22 17:47:01 UTC

13.4 Self Reflection

kskariah — 2024-03-26 09:11:39 UTC

OPTION 1: Choose your own theme:

The theme that stood out to me most this unit was how Black Americans die younger. It stood out to me as I never considered the physical effects of racism.
This theme affects the African American community as it directly affects their life spans. For example, gaps in health care access in these communities have direct effects on how long they are able to live.
There needs to be more access to healthcare and prenatal education. If communities are unable to care for the babies and mothers are uneducated on the best ways to care for their babies, then the children in these communities will struggle with starting life on the right foot.
https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/what-is-driving-widening-racial-disparities-in-life-expectancy/#:~:text=As%20of%202021%2C%20provisional%20data,77.7%20years%20for%20Hispanic%20people. This article is interesting as it talks about the same themes discussed previously but applies it to more recent years discussing how black families were effected during COVID. The pandemic had an effect on what the leading cause of death was.
Something that stood out to me was "vicarious traumatization," this term is used to describe when people who have not experienced something feel traumatized by the pictures they see. It is disheartening to learn that police brutality stories are so bad that even people who weren't there are getting traumatized.

13.5 Outline for Film Analysis Project

kskariah — 2024-03-26 11:29:09 UTC

14.5 Health, Illness and Disability

kskariah — 2024-03-29 08:21:21 UTC

THEME 1: Minority Health Disparities

The outcome of institutionally racist policy choices is that low-income minorities are unable to access the healthcare that they need and are more susceptible to health conditions. An example of how negative effects can be seen is how black individuals have a shorter life span that those of other racial groups.
The intersectionality of multiple different issues affects the African American community greatly. It greatly hinders them because even if they are able to overcome something, they still have 2 other issues holding them back. It feels hopeless when so many things are stacked against you.
A strategy that I feel would help is to increase access to healthcare so even people who are struggling to come up with money can still be able to take care of themselves. Another solution is to build hospitals in low-income areas so that it can be a part of the community. This both helps to build trust and makes healthcare easier to access. The final strategy I'd suggest is to provide education for healthcare providers themselves to discuss common biases and why they should learn to push those aside. These biases do not only affect African Americans. Women's health issues get overlooked because women are viewed as sensitive and the health issues of overweight people are overlooked because their issues are dismissed as just being a side effect of being overweight. Doctors should learn to not just brush aside issues they feel are unimportant.
https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/health-equity/impact-past-racist-policies-are-seen-today-health-inequity This discusses this history of racist policies in regards to healthcare and how its impact lasts even to today. This gives a deeper view into the issue.
I was surprised to see how many people distrusted the healthcare system, I always thought it was a slim minority. This shows that there needs to be more education on why it is important to take care of one's health and how to do so. If someone does not want to go to the hospital, they should at least practice health promotion activities.

15.6 Film Analysis Feedback

kskariah — 2024-04-04 01:29:48 UTC

15.5 Psychological Adaptation and Mental Health Discussion

kskariah — 2024-04-04 12:57:12 UTC

THEME 2: Choose your own adventure

A theme that stood out to me in this unit was racial trauma. Even though I already knew that racism can negatively affect one's mental health, I did not realize how bad racial trauma could be. There's a lot of research on this topic, meaning I learned a lot about it.
Racial trauma negatively affects the psyche of the African American community. Effects of racial trauma that are listed in the reading are increased vigilance and suspicion, increased sensitivity to threats, increased psychological and physiological symptoms, increased alcohol and drug usage, increased aggression, and narrowing sense of time. Because of the lack of awareness on this topic, the hurt from this can go unnoticed leading emotional wounds to fester into something bigger and more damaging on the psyche.
The first strategy that can help is education. If people are educated on the idea of racial trauma, they will know if they suffer from it and how to help other members of the community if they see someone else suffer from it. Another strategy is to nip the problem in the bud by implementing anti-racist policies and making sure people in authority positions do not have racial biases. A third strategy that could be used is implementing the coping mechanisms discussed in the readings which could be used to help those struggling with racial trauma. As long as there are people struggling, it is good to provide resources to help said people.
https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/types/racial_trauma.asp This resource talks about how racial trauma is basically a form of PTSD. I find this really interesting because it links racial trauma with something I am more familiar with.

13.5 Outline for Film Analysis Project (updated)

kskariah — 2024-04-04 18:05:12 UTC

16.3 Final Recording of Film Analysis Presentation

kskariah — 2024-04-04 18:47:12 UTC

15.6 Film Analysis Feedback (updated)

kskariah — 2024-04-05 14:23:50 UTC