White Privilege

When it comes to White Privilege I am slightly educated on the manner. I was one of the students that participated in the first "Understanding White Privilege" course here at UW-Parkside. I didn't get to watch any film because I was absent this class but I still wanted to write something. I went back and reflected on what I had learned years ago and from that I remembered a book I got to read called "Understanding White Privilege" By Frances Kendall

White Privilege refers to the unearned benefits that someone enjoys simply because they have "white" skin. These exist in every aspect of our lives and do so at the expense of people of color. While reading the book I was intrigued by her story. One thing that stood out to me what how she compared her mixing bowl to a young black girls mixing bowl. What makes the mixing bowl significant is because in the south where Frances comes from "People of color" couldn't afford the same things whites could, so for her to go to the east coast and see people of color have the same things in which her family had achieved was shocking to her. This was an interesting connection because in the south she was taught to believe that only whites could be of high standing.

In relation to the book in chapter 1 "Deculturalizaton and the claim of Racial and Cultural Superiority" the books talks about how when it comes to race and cultural superiority it can become difficult to define. The books talks about how often when defining the two it can be seen as prejudice plus power. This means when power can be used to serve feelings of prejudice, then it is in fact an racist act. One benefit of white privileged is having control above someone due to the color of your skin. In addition, to having the ability to know see that you are privileged.

White privilege, is something that I think will always exist. I also believe that in most ways we all are privileged to a certain extent. I feel that this is a sensitive topic but in my opinion it all ties into the tactics that were set in place to belittle other cultures. White Privileged was used when it came down to deculturalizing other races. At the time the white race was the dominate race and were responsible for a lot of the acts that took place throughout the history of Ethnic Studies.

The Hmong Culture

The picture above is a close friend of mines named Shoua Yang and her sisters. Shoua graduated from Parkside last spring and now lives in California. Shoua and I met our freshmen year and we grew close from there. Years passed and I got to meet her family and sister. As we got closer she began to tell me more and more about her culture. Shoua family lives in Appleton, WI where most of the Hmong culture lives besides Green Bay, WI. Nevertheless after hearing about the Hmong it instantly made me think of her. Shoua has done numerous of programs on campus to promote her culture. As Shoua and I got closer she began to tell me more about her religion and how she believed in Shamanism. She also explains some of the ceremonies that take place within her religion as well. Luckily, I was able to experience more about the ceremonies because Shoua had one herself at her house.

Aside from Hmong’s being the largest Asian group in America In the film the father believes in Shamanism and he demonstrates the rituals that they performed as well. I must admit shamanism is a lot different from what I’ve experienced within my own religion but a lot of it makes so much since from a learning perspective. The ceremonies performed in the film were touching. It was interesting to see how up and beyond they go in relation to the religion.

One thing that came to mind when watching the film is how hard it must be as a Hmong to keep your traditions and rituals going? I mean being in America you have so many distractions and at times it’s so easy to explore new things. I again relate this to being deculturalized. I’m starting to think is this why so many Hmong’s live up north? I would think that by them living up north this allows them to keep their cultural identity under control more seeing that by them migrating up north their aren’t really any other races besides whites around.

Native Americans: The Hidden Journey

As I was reading chapter 2 I was now shocked at the information I was reading, I think prior to the class I was educated on the enforcements and damage that the US had done to the Native Americans. In the book, spring talks about the transformation Native Americans had to deal with. This ranged from being stripped away from their families to even bring put in boarding schools. Many Native Americans were not only taken away from their families but they were homes and some never returned. I didn’t really understand why this occurred.

Later, while in class the two films pulled so much into perspective. It was stated during the “Residential Schools Experience” that one tactic that was done in order to try and destroy the Native Culture was by taking their children and stripping them of their language. I guess this was a good tactic because if you can’t pass your history down then there won’t be any. Sooner or later it would all be destroyed.

After seeing the first film the “Return if the Navajo Boy” pulled a lot more into perspective for me. The film focused on a child that was taken away from his family. As I watched the video it brought tears to my eyes to see that this man was grown and at his age he was reconnecting with his family for the first time. It was touching to hear both sides of the story and then see them come together at the end. While watching the DVD it made me think back to the “Residential school experience”. It allowed me to reflect on how unconventional things can get at times just to make sure no one gets ahead of another race. Due to this the Native Traditions were not normal for the gentlemen once he returned home. This was due to him being deculturalized at such a young age.

Hawaii: The untold Story

Before watching the film in class I didn’t know much about Hawaii. One thing that I did know was that Hawaii was a part of the United States. While watching the film this was all put into perspective. It had never occurred to me that the US had unrightfully taken the land away from the Hawaiians. In addition to taken their land away their own cultural beliefs, traditions, and Identity was all taken away. This reminded me of the book when it talks about deculturalization. One way this is done is by changing the language and beliefs. This was done by the US by enforcing American traditions, language, and beliefs on the Hawaiians.

Also, aside from the US taking their land it was heart melting to learn about the “Hula’ dance history as well. Prior to the video I seen it as a cool dance that was done by beautiful women. Anyone who has been to Hawaii or even heard of Hawaii would have instantly thought about the hula dance. In fact many people have hula parties just to do the so called fun dance. Well from the video I learned that the dance ORIGINALLY started as a spiritual dance/practice. Who would have ever known that this would have been the history behind a WORLD-WIDE known dance? As I reflected on it more and more I thought about how the media influences the dance in a fun social way without setting awareness. Personally, I was hurt because I compared it to African Dance. Many people who aren’t educated on the dance/topic take it as a fun activity or a use it as an exercise took. It really hurts when you see something of value to you just being tossed around like it has no value.

A few weeks ago, I was with my cousins and we decided to watch a Disney film called " The Lion King" and their was a part in the movie where they were doing the "Hula" dance as an distraction. Instantly, I got mad. I was up set because it just showed me how careless the media can be or more so it showed me how much power the media has. In addition, to the power our government has to just take something away and display it as nothing. Now that I know about the "Hula" dance I don't see myself doing it again because I believe that it takes away from their cultural identity.

African Americans

The Malcolm X video was moving in so many ways. It was a BIG reminder to me as to why I have the things I have today. It’s interesting to see how many people fought for equality which allowed ALL people of color to get where we are today. While watching the film so many things were put into perspective for me. As I continued to watch the film I started to compare him to Dr. King. I didn’t understand why Malcolm X didn’t get a lot of credit for the things that he’s done. I mean personally if Malcolm X was here today I feel like our generation could relate to him a lot more. I state this because Malcolm X seemed to be a BLUNT individual.

It had been so long since I’ve heard anything about Malcolm X. In fact I was shocked to see that I was finally learning something about a man whose teachings had been kept silent for so long. From the video it was clear to me as to why I never really learned much about Malcolm X. In relation to Dr. King, his teaching was more calm and broad verses Malcolm X, I believe his teaching were to explicit for his time period.

From the video I didn’t really learn anything new that I hadn’t already knew it just re insured me that there are so many teachings from our past that in constantly being kept a secret. In high school when I did learn about Malcolm X he was interpreted as being a BAD man who didn’t want the best for his people. That in fact isn’t true. It was just that his teachings weren’t liked by everyone.