White Supremacy in Colonies

In Messay’s book brokered boundaries, he talks about the living conditions and ideology after they came to the U.S. Many of them are unable to adapt the American culture and suffer from the discrimination. Therefore, generally these immigrants live in the lower class in American society, and they have less power to dominate in the Country. Also the same situation happened on the early generations of Chinese immigrants in the U.S, and the Arabian immigrants in France. It is really hard for immigrants fit the society and get the respect from others in the early times. However, during 19th, groups of immigrants are different from them. Those people came from the rich western countries like Britain, France and Spain, and they moved to their countries’ colonies in developing countries. In Magaret Duras Book, the Lover, she talks about a poor French family in Vietnam. Even though their economic situation is bad, but their race still have the high social status in the colony. Therefore, I believe that the powers will decide the immigrants’ status in the country.

By the late 1880, France government controlled Vietnam and other southeast Asian countries, and these areas were considered as French Indochina. These colonies were developed fastly, and they turned to be the most lucrative colonies for France. Therefore, more and more French people moved to Vietnam to search economic opportunities or work for the government. The female main character Jane’s family moved to Vietnam from France, and her mother worked in the local schools. In their lives, we can see the segregation in Vietnam and the differences of the social status among races.

Having strong political power can ensure the race’s to have the privilege in the country. Even though French people were new to Vietnam, because they had the absolute power on politics, they could make the regulations by themselvs. They had the right to enact policies and laws, so all rules are made for benefit French people. Therefore, They have the superiority in the colonies, and the society was divided into several levels. White was considered as the top class in Vietnam. For instance, in The Lover, it describes the segregation situation in French Vietnam colony. There were reserved seats for the white on public transportation, and French kids went to different schools from the local students. All these rules provided white people advantageous , so they lived better than the local citizens.

Economic is also an essential factors to determine immigrants’ social status. Under the protection of the French government, the white people in colonies can have a better economic conditions than the local citizens. Most profitable business were run by the white people, and they could find high salary jobs much easier. In addition, when the white people in colonies were in the poverty, the government will give them necessary assistances on economy. In the Lover, the main character Jane was from a very poor French family in the colony. However, their lives were much better than the local Vietnams. Her family still had a maid to serve them, and they had enough food to eat. Like she said in the book, “we are poor, but we do not need to starve, because we are whites.” The whites in the colony live have the power to dominate the society, because they are rich, and money helps them to live in a high standard. Thus, the social status of French people is high in Vietnam.

Political power and economic situations are crucial factors to develop the race’s social status. The colony provide more opportunities to the dominant race, and they are above the local people as well as other races. Therefore, the white people in Vietnam had the superiority in the society.

http://alphahistory.com/vietnam/french-colonialism-in-vietnam/

A Positive Relationship: More Than A Mascot.

Possibly the most fascinating case out of all the name controversy is probably the relationship between the Seminole tribe and Florida state's mascot's Chief Osceola and Renegade. This mascot tradition began on warm Saturday morning in 1978. The tradition included Chief Osceola on his Appaloosa Horse riding to midfield and then planting the burning spear his was carrying in the turf. Insuring that the Chief was accurately depicted always has been a essential part to the integrity of the mascot. Florida State makes efforts to ensue that the depiction is accurate as possible and thus have gained tremendous support from the Seminole Tribe of Florida, although they have not earned the support of everyone.

With that said the Seminole Tribe of Florida was more than impressed with the tradition that Florida State put they decided to honor Chief Osceola and Renegade. Student Drake Anderson, who currently plays the role of Chief Osceola , alongside leader and former Mascot Allen Durham with six members of the Osceola and Renegade team traveled to the tribe's Brighton Indian Reservation for a parade in which they would be honored, that took place on Feb. 18 2012. Allen Durham had this to say about his experience visiting the reservation, "In order to preserve the dignity of our portrayal of Osceola and Renegade, we normally don't make any appearances outside of Florida State football games," said Durham, who portrayed Osceola while he was a Florida State student. "But certainly with the Seminole Tribe requesting it, we were absolutely honored and most definitely said 'yes' to this very special request."

I think this is a case of the best way to handle earning the right to to use a mascot that involves sacred traditions of another ethnicity's culture.

Stand Your Ground and Richard Combs

As the nation is still reeling from a number of highly publicized police shootings that resulted in, what many consider, the unjust deaths of black civilians, (now) former Orangeburg, SC officer Richard Combs was indicted in the shooting and killing of Bernard Bailey during an interaction over a traffic ticket.

Bailey
(source)

Combs
(source)

Media outlets have exploded recently over events involving the deaths of a number of black citizens. In August, unarmed teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed at the hands of a white officer. Despite controversy over whether the shooting was justified, a grand jury failed to indict him. Recently, NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo was not indicted for using an illegal chokehold on unarmed black citizen Eric Garner, resulting in Garner’s death. Despite video evidence, a grand jury also failed to indict Pantaleo. There have been a number of highly publicized shootings of black civilians in the news, including 12 year old Tamir Rice.

(source)

Unfortunately, the death of Combs took place in May of 2011. Many such incidents were not as highly publicized. Many still aren’t. However, recent events combined with, what one may hope, is a growing awareness of injustice and racial disparity in the US Justice System have lead to greater and greater public attention of such incidences. That being said, despite public pressure, the failure to indict Pantaleo left many pessimistic.

(source)

As such, the indictment of Combs stand in contrast to recent trends in such cases.

Combs, apparently, had gone to city hall to contest his daughter’s traffic ticket. The Associated Press writes that:

When he showed up, the chief tried to arrest Bailey, a 6-foot-6 former prison guard.

Prosecutors said Bailey marched back to his truck, and Combs tried to get inside to turn off the ignition. The two briefly fought, and Combs shot Bailey, 54, twice in the chest.

Combs tried to claim a “stand your ground” defense, saying he got tangled in the steering wheel and was scared for his life should Bailey drive away. 

Apparently, Combs’ indictment is one of three this year alone wherein white officers shot unarmed black men in SC. The state has a past of civil rights violence, and racial issues that have carried over very blatantly into the present.

Comb’s attempt to enact the “stand your ground” defense is a prime example of why many feel the laws are dangerous and possible contributors to racial injustice. The ability to shoot somebody based on “fear” is subjective, the idea that a person’s first reaction to being scared is to shoot a terrifying one. Combined with racial stereotypes that provoke discomfort and nervousness, or general dislike, this could easily lead to a number of racially fueled deaths, such as in the case of George Zimmerman and Trayvon Martin.

One resident of the small town stated that people may develop a more aggressive attitude about the case, should Combs not be found guilty of murder.

Sources:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/allegations-of-police-misconduct-rarely-result-in-charges/

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/sc-cop-charged-murder-unarmed-man-shooting-27362718?page=2

http://thetandd.com/news/judge-no-stand-your-ground-defense-in-shooting-ex-eutawville/article_8e06fc66-7b60-11e4-b9a8-1ba299f9a3f8.html

Is race too offensive to be taught?

This year, Alan Barron, a middle school history teacher, resumed his job after being put on administrative leave due to his controversial method of teaching race. During one of his classes, he showed the class a video of white entertainers putting on blackface for their theatrical acts. A school administrator observed his class and took offense. After Barron was called to the main office, he was taken out of school. He spent two weeks in an administrate gulag, which is a place where you are discouraged from expressing your opinions. This is because his teaching methods went against the education bureaucracy. During, an interview however, Barron pointed out that as a history teacher, sometimes you need to teach things that happened that are offensive. He named off Racism, the Crucifixion, wars, and Japanese-American internment during World War II as things that were offensive, but also as things that all happened, noting “You don’t skip history because it might offend.” And apparently, the parents of the students he was teaching agreed. After the students reported to their parents what had happened to him, they got upset because they all knew he was a good teacher and didn’t want to see him go. One mother, whose daughter and husband were black, and whose father was from Iraq, said that she wasn’t offended, and that Barron shouldn’t have gotten in trouble for showing something that happened. This led to the idea that schools are just ignoring certain parts of history that might offend. After all the parents got together to protest, Barron was allowed to return to teaching.

All of this really makes you wonder- why did the school want to skip over parts of history that might want to be considered offensive. Like it or not, the students need to learn that some bad stuff has happened in the world at some point, and it’s better for them to learn it early so they can better prepare themselves for taking on the world later in life. We can’t just act like everything in life is perfect no matter how much we want to believe it. I don’t think it was right for the teacher to be sent to the gulag because he was just doing his job. I hope this is something that doesn’t happen that often, because people shouldn’t get in trouble for teaching events that they had no control over.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-06-05/news/ct-kass-met-0605-20140605_1_history-school-administrator-segregation

Black Performer in France:Josphine Baker

Josephine

Josephine Baker played a huge role in both American and French Music. She was a phenomenal woman who broke down racial barriers and assisted in expanding the need of Black musicians around the world.  Unfortunately, Baker had given up on America because of the racist laws in the South and the Music industry's ignorance regarding African American artists.  Baker grew up in St, Louis Missouri in the early 1900’s beginning her career as a performer. She toured with circuits around the South which was a hard time for African Americans living in the South. After joining a musical group that performed in Paris France, Baker loved the fact that she was  free to walk the streets  of  Paris without facing any form of racism from her French counterparts(Kear,1996)

Her career also  skyrocketed in France when she was offered both singing and acting contracts playing the main character in numerous French movies and musicals. 

Baker with French fans

Compared to the lesser roles that she was given in the American film industry, the French industry made Baker a superstar in numerous movies. One French movie that gave its first leading role to a Black women was Zou Zou, where she falls in love with a white male character. This was a surprise to her because she would never have been given this role in the racist American film industry. Ultimately, Baker was in love with the French and she even assisted the French Resistance by smuggling secrets written in invisible ink on her sheet music during the Second World War. As a result, she became the first American-born woman to receive the highest French military honor, the Croix de Guerre. When asked about the difference between France and the United States, she stated, “The French people adopted me immediately, they all went to dark beaches to get dark like Josephine Baker” In this example Baker is illustrating the fact that France was a better place for her to live as a Black women because her skin color and race was not looked down upon (Kear,1996).

As she continued to play a huge role France's musical and film industries, "Place Joséphine Baker" in the Montparnasse Quarter of Paris was also named in her honor.  Her name has also been incorporated at Paris Plage, a man-made beach along the river Seine "Piscine Joséphine Baker". Bakers's experiences in France, reflected that of many other African artists who were welcomed by  the French with open arms compared to the racist attitudes they  faced in United States.

http://www.biography.com/people/josephine-baker-9195959

Kear, Jon. "Venus noire: Josephine Baker and the Parisian Music-hall'."Parisian Fields (1996): 56.

War on Drugs: Past to Present

Before President Nixon’s official declaration in 1971 that began the War on Drugs, the federal government had a history of criminalizing drug users based on their race.  In the late 1800’s, middle-aged white women were known to use opium, as did their counterparts in China.  After a wave of Chinese migration to the United States, viewed by whites as a threat to jobs, opium use was criminalized in western states where, “The legislation was aimed less at the drug than at the people deemed to be the primary users-Chinese immigrants (Fraser, “Tolerance,” 427).  The fear was irrational because the jobs that the Chinese took were low paying and ones that Americans refused to do. In 1910, as a result of a “political upheaval in Mexico,” there was a mass migration by Mexicans to the United States (The Mysterious History of ‘Marijuana’, Thompson).  Since Mexicans were notorious marijuana users and because they, too, were seen as an economic threat, the government criminalized marijuana use (The Mysterious History of ‘Marijuana’, Thompson). 

These examples demonstrate that the United States has long used drug prohibition to target specific minorities. Today, people of color are the target. President Nixon’s announcement began the surge of people incarcerated for drug crimes.  The chart below displays the United States Prison Incarceration Rate from 1968 to 2013 and describes specific policies enacted during this period responsible for the incarceration rate’s exponential growth. 

 One major consequence of the War on Drugs has been the disproportionate numbers of people of color incarcerated for drug offenses. Studies report that black and white people use drugs at a similar rate, yet blacks, 13% of the US population, make up 37% of people arrested for a drug offense (A Look at the Racial Disparities Inherent in Our Nation's Criminal-Justice System, Kerby).  Not only are black people more likely to be arrested as the chart below indicates,  the U.S. Sentencing Commission reports that, “Sentences imposed on Black males in the federal system are nearly 20 percent longer than those imposed on white males convicted of the similar crimes” (U.S. SENTENCING COMM’N, REPORT ON THE CONTINUING IMPACT OF UNITED STATES V. BOOKER ON FEDERAL SENTENCING (Jan. 30, 2013)

         

The higher proportion of incarcerated black people dates back to 1986 when the Anti-Drug Abuse Act was passed (Congress passes bill to reduce disparity in crack, powder cocaine sentencing, Abrams). The act designated $1.7 billion to “fight” the War on Drugs, which included the addition of mandatory minimum sentences (Thirty Years of America’s Drug War, PBS). It was expected that, having a specific time length set that one would spend in jail for their crime, would serve as a deterrent to others thinking of committing that same drug offense. In effect, judges lost their power to sentence someone based on their own judgment and understanding of the situation prison (What are Mandatory Minimums, FAMM).  

The penalties for crack cocaine were much higher than for powdered cocaine. Crack was relatively inexpensive, easy to produce, and quite powerful which describes its popularity in low-income and urban areas. The media perpetuated an image of a crack user as black, poor, and dangerous, even though, “most of the users were white, but the only people who knew this were statisticians” (Gray 2000:107). “During the Reagan era, the cocaine problem, as defined by the network news, became increasingly associated with people of color” (Gray 2000:106).

Powdered cocaine has virtually the same chemical structure of crack, but because crack is smoked and not snorted, it has a higher potency. The Nixon administration saw crack as more harmful than powdered cocaine and, as a result, someone who was sentenced for the possession of crack cocaine served the same amount of time as someone who had 100 times the amount of powdered cocaine (Congress passes bill to reduce disparity in crack, powder cocaine sentencing, Abrams).  This didn’t change until August 2010, when President  Obama signed the Fair Sentencing Act and eradicated “the five-year mandatory-minimum sentence for first-time possession of crack” (Congress passes bill to reduce disparity in crack, powder cocaine sentencing, Abrams). Instead of a 100:1 sentence disparity, the bill lowered it to 18:1. 

While lowering the crack and powdered cocaine disparity is important and a step in the right direction, it has not changed the over-incarceration of people of color, who    are subjected to racial inequity at each step of the criminal justice process. They are more likely to be stopped (racial profiling), “searched, arrested, prosecuted, convicted and incarcerated for drug law violations (Race and the Drug War, DPA). Race cannot and should not ever be the basis to assume guilt. Local law enforcement should not just communities of color for drug raids. The video below is a perfect example: it tells the story of a Drug Enforcement Agency agent told not to enforce drug laws in white areas. 

I find this ludicrous.   This country is far from achieving racial equality even though many seem to think otherwise. If we want to our illusion of equality to be a reality in the near future, as Fredrick Douglass, the African-American social reformer and abolitionist of the Civil War era, would say, we must “Agitate…Agitate…Agitate.” 

The Natural Hair Movement

“We live in a society where racism is often subtle, consisting of such micro-aggressions that collectively attempt to kill black women's spirits.”- Ama Yawson, Huffington Post 

To give some general background information, the natural hair movement is a movement designed to show and express that the natural hair of black people (though shown more through women) is perfectly fine the way it is, and does not need to conform to the ideal of straightness to be beautiful or seen as not dirty. It is also about women enjoying their natural hair, without having to worry about chemicals or procedures to ‘fix’ it. While some people worry that it has become an elitist way to look down on back women who choose to wear weaves or chemically straighten their hair [link] many women find it liberating and enjoy the community they have found in embracing their natural beauty.

"At its base level, the natural-hair movement is practical. It’s a vehicle for women to access bloggers, websites, and their peers to learn how to best care for and style their locks. But, that’s just the basics. The real “movement” of the movement has always been about black women finding self-acceptance." (Link)

Image Link

While there is a lot of positivity in the movement, I would like for focus briefly on the negative feelings that some people have. Some women feel like the natural hair movement is just a way for people to feel elitist. In the article linked above, the woman says that the people who used to look down on her natural hair are now the same people who look down on other black women for not having their hair in its natural state. She also points out that to a lot of people, "hair is just hair" and doesn't have any higher political implications. While all of these points are valid, and even true to individuals, the problem is also that for a lot of people, hair is not just hair, and something that has been used to make them feel bad about themselves or to portray them as "lesser." It has also been used as a tool to give unequal statuses to black women, and a way to portray them as 'other.' 

"Beauty is subject to the hegemonic standards of the ruling class." -Tracy Owens Patton

In her article, Patton talks about the ways in which Euro-centric beauty standards (such as light skin, straight hair, and a smaller figure) can be damaging to women who do not fit these standards, since they are portrayed as the only way for women to be beautiful, and thus, valuable. She states that "Women of color looking for answers through an introspective gaze or through their communities in order to counter White hegemonically defined standards of beauty is not a new occurrence.Historically and into modern times African American beauty has been disparaged. As much of the literature on African American women and beauty has pointed out, African American women have either been the subject of erasure in the various mediated forms or their beauty has been wrought with racist stereotypes." The natural hair movement is a way to fight back against these stereotypes and to show that black women's hair is perfectly fine the way it is. It is a way for women to set their own personal beauty standards and to try and take back power. It seems to be especially important for women to have this power because even today, their is still prejudice regarding something that should be as simple as hair and letting anybody choose to wear it how they want.

Image Link

Recently, there was also a news story about another little girl who was threatened with expulsion because according to her school's dress code, her natural hairstyle of locks was deemed a "fad hairstyle." Video can be found in this article. While there are many reasons a girl can be sent home from school, (due to sexist standards in dress code) hairstyles specifically wore by young black girls fall on this list, even though these 'hairstyles' are just their natural hair.

Debunking the myth of what is beauty would require Euro American women to say "the hell with what men think" and African American women would have to say "the heck with what all of White culture thinks"- Wilson and Russell 1996, 85

  

Sources:

Kenneth. "I Hate the Natural Hair Movement - Curl Centric™." Curl Centric™. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Patton, Tracey Owens. "Hey Girl, Am I More than My Hair?: African American Women and Their Struggles with Beauty, Body Image, and Hair." NWSA Journal 18.2 (2006): 24-51. JSTOR. Web. 22 Nov. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/4317206?ref=no-x-route:693717b1204f58362f4112988cf00336>.

Reporter, Daily Mail. "Bullied 12-year-old Girl Is Threatened with Expulsion from School for Refusing to Cut Her Natural Afro Hair." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 26 Nov. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Klein, Rebecca. "Tiana Parker, 7, Switches Schools After Being Forbidden From Wearing Dreads." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 05 Sept. 2013. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

"Is #TeamNatural For Black Girls Only?" Refinery29. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Nov. 2014.

Gender, Race and Economic Inequality

The wages of working women and particularly the wages of women of color lag behind the pay of their male counterparts. For women of color there is a double pay gap. As a group, African American women earn less than white women, this reality means they need to work longer to earn the same pay, and even longer to match the earnings of white men. The gender and race based wage gap affects families of color with long term consequences that affect wealth accumulation.

The relationship between race, gender and class has to be understood in the concept of today’s modern society, where this intersectionality of social characteristics creates a complex relationship between women of color in the different socioeconomic classes. Economic inequality in itself is a natural phenomenon, as we all compete for resources, and where a historical heritage of advantage has put certain groups at the top of the social ladder and some others at the bottom. This inequality does not only refer to material conditions, but to beliefs, attitudes, social relationships, and lifestyle.

Gender inequality comes from women’s disadvantaged position in society as a whole, where a process of social reproduction of traditions reinforce the type of social relationships and lifestyles we have. Racial inequality limits women through beliefs and attitudes, and they are caged in categories that are maintained by social inequality. Class inequality is advanced in highly capitalistic societies, where the upper classes exclude the working class from the means of production, leaving them in a disadvantaged position of dependence.

It is known that African American Women have lower employment rates than white American women. African American women exit full time employment at higher rates than white women because they are much more likely to be laid off or leave because the type of jobs (sometimes temporary or abusive) that are in the market for black Americans.

Structural factors can explain this level of labor inequality. African American women tend to be placed in a secondary labor market, where layoffs are more common and discrimination is prominent. Individual characteristics and lack of commonly valued social capital (in the context of the social trends of course) are another important factor to take into consideration. For example, African Americans on average have a lower number of years of formal education, making them less desirable for full time positions in more stable job markets. Finally, family structures can also play a role in the level of unemployment of African American women in comparison to white women. For example, black women are more likely to be single moms and have on average more children than white women.

As women’s earnings become increasingly important to their families, closing the gender-based wage gap is crucial to gaining access to wealth accumulation in communities of color, which are still deprived of economic security.

Works Cited

Savas, G. (2010). Social Inequality at Low-wage Work in Neo-liberal Economy: The Case of Women of Color Domestic Workers in The United States. Race, Gender & Class, 314-326.

Reid, L. L. (2002). Occupational Segregation, Human Capital, and Motherhood Black Women's Higher Exit Rates from Full-time Employment. Gender & Society, 16(5), 728-747.

Duffy, M. (2005). Reproducing Labor Inequalities Challenges for Feminists Conceptualizing Care at the Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class. Gender & Society, 19(1), 66-82.

NFL Quarterbacks

 

 

 

Since American football has become an American pastime, the racial inequality throughout the quarterback position continues to be an issue in the NFL. Since the National Football League was founded on August 20, 1920, there has only been two African American starting quarterbacks, who have won Super bowl rings throughout the forty eight years of existence. Because there is no significant physical advantage to being either black or white, then it makes society question why Doug Williams of the Washington Redskins, and Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks are the only two. In our lifetimes the percentage of black quarterbacks has consistently been below twenty five percent of the starters in the league. Racism has been an issue in the NFL for as long as can be remembered. Whether it be racism between coaches and players, or between players themselves, African Americans have struggled to be seen as equals to Caucasian players regardless of ability.

 

 

The issue starts well before potential NFL quarterbacks even reach high school. Because football positions are each so specialized, kids are being trained earlier and earlier for their specific positions. The quarterback position is unique in the way that the quarterback has to have a beyond excellent understanding of the game itself. They must be able to read hundreds of types of defenses, and be able to communicate what they see efficiently and effectively to the rest of their offensive line. The quarterback is usually seen as a leader on the field, seeing as they are the ones calling the shots whether they receive orders from the coach or not. This ability to both lead successfully, and communicate the intended goal effectively, takes more than simply raw athleticism. A great deal of educational skills are needed to be able to be an effective leader, so we see a great deal of African American quarterbacks lose their potential at being successful at the quarterback position due to the lack of education in minority lower class neighborhoods. Kids who are not regularly attending school are not learning the same lessons about responsibility and holding one’s self accountable. This vicious cycle of kids not being able to live up to their potential ability at the quarterback position is heavily due to the inequality in education in America. For example, private school quarterbacks are able to receive one on one attention, which results in some members of the staff are paid is simply to make sure the teenager is as successful as possible in the future. This investment in these kids’ ability to know the game and control the offensive side of the ball, builds reputations amongst specific schools, making them more attractive to future quarterbacks. Because these high school teams build such a reputation for being quarterback powerhouses, big college football teams then have an easier time recruiting because they know how vital quality education is to being a successful quarterback. Russell Wilson and Cam Newton, both elite African American quarterbacks starting for their teams this year, each attended very well respected schools athletically but more importantly academically. University of Wisconsin and Auburn University respectably provided the two young quarterbacks with the knowledge and tools to become successful leaders in the NFL.

 

 

               

 

Wilson winning the Super bowl in 2014 was a massive step for African American quarterbacks in the NFL. This was the first Super bowl victory lead by an African American quarterback since 1988. Reinforcing the fact that African Americans cannot only be successful at the quarterback position, but can lead their teams past some of the most defensively stout teams in NFL history. By closing the wealth gap in our country, kids of all ethnicities will be put in more of an even playing field for athletics. The direct correlation between socioeconomic status, education level, and athletic potential is apparent across all sports. By creating a more even playing field there will be less debate regarding if someone truly deserves the recognition that they are receiving for the accomplishments they have done. It would allow for truly the best quarterback to be seen by the whole country, rather than just the ones who were able to get themselves in the system of creating competitive advantage.

 http://www.shmoop.com/nfl-history/race.html
http://www.footballperspective.com/the-history-of-black-quarterbacks-in-the-nfl/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/football-insider/wp/2014/02/07/a-black-quarterback-won-the-super-bowl-and-hardly-anyone-mentioned-it/ 

 

 

 

               

Ethnic Plastic Surgery in New York

There seems to be a common belief that ethnic plastic surgery is primarily used as a way for someone of a minority group to “Westernize” their look, or to look more white. This, however, appears to be a misconception, as it is not always the motivation behind having the procedure. In fact, most clients and surgeons, seem to believe that is rarely the goal. Practitioners and recipients insist that ethnic plastic surgery is not about looking white. 

The demand for surgical enhancement has, however, been exploding around the world. New York has developed many niche markets that allow their many immigrants to get work done that is carefully tailored to their cultural preferences and beauty ideals. For example, in a clinic in Upper Manhattan that caters to Dominicans, one of the most popular procedures is an operation to lift women’s buttocks. One of the doctors says, “They all like the curve.” In Flushing, Queens, there are many Chinese patients who want their upturned noses to be flipped down. Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, caters to many Russian women looking to have their breasts enlarged, and in Chinatown many Koreans have their jaw lines slimmed. There are specialized clinics that reshape Asian eyelids, and Latina silhouettes, which does seem to provide some perspective on the aspirations and/or insecurities of immigrants in New York in the 21st century. 

Dr. Kaveh Alizadeh, president of the Long Island Plastic Surgical Group, said “When a patient comes in from a certain ethnic background and of a certain age, we know what they’re going to be looking for.” He added, “We are sort of amateur sociologists.” Alizadeh, who is himself an immigrant from Iran, admits that these results can seem like stereotyping rather than science. However, he and many other doctors that work in ethnic communities say that they are able to scan the appointment books and notice trends, such as Egyptians getting face lifts, Italians reshaping their knees, or Iranians getting nose jobs. 

None can question the surge in demand in immigrant neighborhoods. Roughly 750,000 Asians in the U.S. underwent a cosmetic procedure, from surgery to less invasive work such as Botox, in 2009. This is roughly 5% of the Asian population, and more than double the number of 2000. About 1.4 million Latinos had a cosmetic procedure in 2009; almost 3% of that population, and three times the number in 2000. Four percent of whites had cosmetic work in 2009. 

More clinics have opened in immigrant enclaves in New York, and preexisting practices have expanded to keep up with the demand. In some ways, the “extreme makeover” has become a tradition among the city’s immigrants. 

In the early days of plastic surgery, about a century ago, European Jews underwent nose jobs, and Irish immigrants had their ears pinned back in order to look “more American.” Victoria Pitts-Taylor, professor of sociology at Queens College says that “The bulk of those operations were targeted at assimilation issues.” Motivations today appear to be far more varied and complex. People are reshaping themselves more to the tastes and trends of their home culture, rather than striving to fit in a new country. Dr. Jeffrey S. Yager says, “My patients are proud of looking Hispanic.” He has tripled his office size since opening in Washington Heights, a largely Dominican neighborhood in Manhattan, in 1997. “I don’t get the patients who want to obscure their ethnicity,” he says. 

While all of these different offices have a lot in common, their core businesses are very different, as they are catering to different groups. Probably the most popular procedure among Asians is the “double-eyelid surgery,” which creates a crease in the eyelid to make the eye look rounder. 

Although this is hugely popular in many Asian countries, there are some who criticize the operation, saying that it is a throwback to medical procedures that were meant to obscure ethnic features. Many Asian doctors say that it has nothing to do with assimilation, and that it simply has to do with the fact that one trait of beauty is large eyes. Most plastic surgeons do, however, agree that American pop culture has strongly influenced how immigrants and their children think they should look. 

Writer and director Elena Rossini has made a documentary to be released soon called “The Illusionists,” which is a critique of high standard beauty, and explores how Western capitalist influences are bringing men and children and the whole world into this destructive fold, and as well as focusing on the impacts of Western women. It talks about how it separates modern individuals from traditional individuals, based on the surgeries they have or have not had, and the body becomes a gendered, raced, national project. The first four minutes have been released, which you can find with the link to the webpage I will include here, as it has some interesting notions about how “the taking of a Western body” has become linked with the notion of joining globalized culture. 

http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/tag/raceethnicity-beauty/

Ethnic plastic surgery is evidently not always about trying to look more white, or trying to assimilate, but it is also undeniable that American pop culture influences the way that immigrants as well as Americans view their bodies and their faces, and what the “ideal” for beauty might be.


Sources:

1. Dolnick, Sam. "Ethnic Differences Emerge in Plastic Surgery." The New York Times. The New York Times, 18 Feb. 2011. Web. Nov. 2014. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/19/nyregion/19plastic.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0>.

2. "Is Race Plastic? My Trip Into the 'Ethnic Plastic Surgery' Minefield." The Cut. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://nymag.com/thecut/2014/07/ethnic-plastic-surgery.html>.

3. "Sociological Images." Sociological Images RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. Nov. 2014. <http://thesocietypages.org/socimages/tag/raceethnicity-beauty/>.

4. "Weekend Reading: "Ethnic Plastic Surgery"; Women, Work, and Race; and More - The New Yorker." The New Yorker. N.p., n.d. Web. Nov. 2014. <http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/weekend-reading-ethnic-plastic-surgery-women-career-race>.

The Lover: Racism in the Colony

         Around the beginning of the 20th century, many powerful western countries build the colonies in other undeveloped continents. Most of the time, the governments encouraged their citizens to move to the colonies in order to assimilate people there and also to control the new places easier. In Marguerite Duras' fiction the lover, it describes a tragical love story happened in the French Colony Vietnam. From this story, we can find out that the identity of the hierarchy of the race is solid as well as fix, and race as a important factor that hinders lovers to end up together. 

            Duras describes a complicated relationships between a high school white French girl Jane and a rich Chinese’s businessman Tony. The girl came from a very poor French family in Vietnam. She lived with her mother and two brothers. Her mother only cared about her big brother, even though he was addicted to drug and gambling, and she nearly spent most of the family’s revenues on paying his the debts. Their family needed money, and the family members wanted their younger sister using her beauty to save the family. At that time, Jane was fifteen years old and attended a local boarding. Tony fell in love to him, after he saw Jane on her way to school at Ferry. They had an affair immediately, when they met each other. The relationship between them was not a romantic story. Jane had sex with Tony for getting money to support her family, and Tony had a fiancee to get marry soon. However, they realized that they loved each other deeply later. When Jane’s family knew about their relations, they didn't stop her to be with him, but she can get money from Tony, but they felt shame about their sister having a relationship with a Asian man. Tony’s father forced him to marry a rich Chinese girl, and he would cut Tony off if he kept the relationship with Jane. The wealthy and decent Chinese family would not allow their son to marry a white woman. Both of them could not conquer the hinderance among race and social status, so their broke up in the end. Tony married the woman that his family want, and Jane went back to Paris.

            Colony is a place that combing races together, but in this area different races people are segregated. People from different races belong to different hierarchy in the society. Depending on Duras’ description, we can see clearly how race plays in the colony. On the ferry, there were seats that reserve for white people, and white families could avoid from starving, although they may as poor as the local families. Also, most whites living in the colony had the deep belief that other races are lower to the. For instance even though Tony was very rich and from the powerful family, at the first time he was very nervous to talk to Jane, because he was not white. Jane’s family looked down to him, although he gave money to them. When he had dinner with Jane’s brothers, they didn’t give any respects to him. They even mocked their sister about having the relationship with a Chinese man. At the same time, the wealth Chinese family also turned to believe that the young white girl as a slut, and they would not never allow the only son to marry a other race wife. The relationship was ended by the hindrances of race and social status. The in-depth priority of race is hardly to be conquered, and especially at that period the privilege of race could be more powerful than owning wealthy. Having a interracial marriage or relationships was nearly impossible in colony, and many love stories ended by the impaction of racism. 

                                    The final scene of the lover: Jane went back to France