Race, not to be confused with ethnicity, is a social
construction that varies according to societal experiences and time. Tragic or impactful events can change social
perceptions of race; for example, many American opinions regarding “middle
eastern” race changed post-911. Ethnicity,
on the other hand, is related to cultural factors, such as nation of origin, belief
system, language, and heritages. An
excellent comparison of race and ethnicity can be found here: http://www.diffen.com/difference/Ethnicity_vs_Race.
In class, there has been considerable discussion about what it
means to be Latino, and the impact that discrimination from Anglo-Americans has
had on Latino-American and native-born Latinos lives. Many articles have shown that Anglo-American
perceptions and attitudes regarding the Latino culture cause Latino-Americans
and native-born Latinos to challenge their own self-identities in terms of the
expressions of the Anglo-Americans. In
addition, its common knowledge that upward mobility and certain measurements of
success are statistically lower for Latino-Americans and immigrants versus
their Anglo-American counterparts.
I do not in any way question the very real, present
discrimination faced by minorities, specifically Latinos in the US. However, I find the class discussion limited
and simplistic, as race is an extremely broad topic and class time is limited,
and would like to introduce several topics of conversation.
Firstly, discrimination exists in many forms and in every
country. It is extremely common for
receiving societies to be frustrated with an influx of immigrants, regardless
of skin color, as studies on discrimination in Africa (http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---declaration/documents/publication/wcms_decl_fs_88_en.pdf)
These frustrations inevitably lead to discrimination in the provision of social
services, limited job resources, low-status social position, and often verbal
and physical abuse. And, unfortunately,
despite well-meaning governments, many lack the financial resources and training
to curb and prevent discriminatory practices.
Also, in societies where the major constitution of people
shares the same skin color, there is still discrimination and racism (http://idsn.org/fileadmin/user_folder/pdf/Old_files/africa/pdf/Africafull.pdf,
http://pri.org/stories/2012-06-11/documenting-caste-discrimination-india). People not living in these societies will not
consider the repressed minorities to be of a different race than the majority; but
within these cultures, the belief of an inferior race is still an excuse for
discrimination. This reinforces the idea
that race is a social construct, and also allows that even without skin color,
societies will still invent some concepts regarding racial differences.
Another topic that I think would be interesting to discuss
is that of reverse discrimination.
Reverse discrimination is defined as discrimination against members of a dominant or majority group or in
favor of members of a minority or historically disadvantaged group. Groups may
be defined in terms of race, gender, ethnicity, or other factors (Wikipedia). Racial
reverse discrimination is often used to correct for some inequity experienced
by the minority in question, and is often historically justified.
The fear of discrimination
has become so ingrained in Anglo-Americans, that reverse discrimination has
jumped out of legal practice, like in the necessary Equal Opportunities Act, to
every day practice. For example, and
interesting study by Donald Dutton titled “Reverse discrimination: The relationship of amount of
perceived discrimination toward a minority group on the behavior of majority
group members”
shows that Anglo-Americans, in some situations, will treat perceived minorities
better than they will treat other Anglos.
I think I would enjoy a class conversation on causes of this
behavior. Is it “white guilt”, is it
pity, is it fear? I have to admit that I've witnessed, and perhaps participated in reverse discriminating activities.
My last complaint about many of the articles and discussions
in class is how we've victimized Latinos repeatedly. Constant study about the helplessness and perceived
inadequateness of Latinos in the US could lead to further discrimination,
identity-questioning, and self-esteem issues.
Even the organization of some of the articles reinforces the negative
view of the situation by diminishing improvements or by diminishing victories
by placing them in portions of the articles that readers are more likely to
give less precedence. Why can’t we read
about something positive once in a while?
These few items do not come close to exhausting my thoughts
on race and how it pertains to Latin American issues; however, there is only so
much room in this blog (I’m already 200 words over). I believe that all discrimination is truly
awful and I am embarrassed that it takes place so frequently in my
country. However, with little effort,
one can see that it takes place the world over.
Given this knowledge, I feel like it must be human nature. So, why are we like this?
image source: http://www.punitivedamage.com/cartoon_lg.jpg
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