"O Come All Ye Black Folk": A Satire of Affirmative Action, or The Venting of White Frustration

The Primary Source, Tuft's on-campus publication of conservative thoughts and opinions, recently published an issue that included a so called satire of affirmative action policy titled, "O Come All Ye Black Folk". As Robinson, the president of the student government, stated "if the satire was meant to focus on affirmative action, 'It did a poor job." (http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/12/12/tufts). This 'carol' did not seem to address many issuses regarding affirmative action or the University's policy regarding affirmative action. The carol has the line "Fifty-two black freshman.” (http://unc0mm0n53n53.wordpress.com/2006/12/17/o-come-all-ye-black-folk) at the end of every verse, like it is or should be shocking that there were 52 black students admitted to Tufts with the freshman class. This is appaling. As I see it, it should be shocking that of out the over one thousand admitted freshman, only 52 students admitted were black. The carol conveys a sense of frustration from white students that these students were admitted. The carol also makes the assumption that none of the 52 black admitted students deserved to get into Tufts, but were only gained admission due to affirmative action. I don't know how the editors or publishers of The Primary Source could possibly print a line saying "No matter what your grades are, F’s, D’s, or G’s,Give them all privileged status" (http://unc0mm0n53n53.wordpress.com/2006/12/17/o-come-all-ye-black-folk) without realizing that the statment is not based on fact and, above all, is a direct affront on the intelligence of every colored person at Tufts. If The Primary Source wished to satirize the University's policy of affirmative action, they should have used more fact and less racism.

White Privilege In My Life

I never really thought about the concept of racism as a two way street; for one race to be disadvantaged, another must be advantaged. Like Peggy McIntosh, I never even took the time to consider how I have personally benefitted from being part of the 'Master' race. I never trully realized that being white gave me more privileges or advantages. In order to illustrate how these privileges have impacted my life, I will discuss the more important privileges I have listed on the class blog.
The first privilege I listed was 1)People of my race hold a overwhelming majority in government positions. This is an important point to pay attention to. Minorites live seeing their government run primarily by white people and have to also live knowing that these government positions are just begining to open up to them, and the highest level positions are unattainable for them and their future offspring.
Another privilege I listed was 3)I see people of my race on money. This might seem like an unimportant detail but is actually a form of oppression. I remember watching the news and hearing the announcement that Saddam Hussein's image was removed from the money. The reporting anchor then discussed how this was a big deal because the money featured the face of a cruel dictator. This could be applied to the money we use here in America. The great thinker on the subject of race, Dave Chappelle, once stated that U.S. currency "looks like baseball cards with slave owners on them". Minorities, African-Americans in this case, are forced to use currency with the images of the very people who enslaved their ancestors.
Untill people realize that "Hate is baggage" (American History X) and do something to stop the perpetuation of White Privilege, racist thinking will persist and so will the archaic system of oppression that holds Whites as the privileged class.

Datum's article "Talking About Race, Learning About Racism..."

I found this article to be very interesting and also enlightening. While reading the Racial Development Identity Theory for Whites I asked myself what stage I would put myself in. I know that I have moved past the Contact stage of development and can remember being in it. I also realized that, many of the White people I know are stuck in this stage. I grew up in a suburban neighborhood in CT next to Bridgeport, a major city. Living here provided me with the opportunity to meet and form relationships with people of different races. When I moved to the town i currently reside in, I was first able to see the impact of racism. My town is very small and is essentially segregated; for example there were only three African-American students in my entire high school!!! Living with and interacting with many of the people of the town illustrated to me how people can be stuck in the Contact stage. These people maintain their naive curiosity and fear about people of color because they rarely have or take the opportunity to interact with them. Without getting to know people who are different from you, you can never even come close to understanding their unique experience or forming a open mind. I am not pretending to be the perfect image of White understanding, or even an example of White understanding, but I am a White person who is trying to overcome the obstacles of racism in my own life and thinking. To answer my initial question to myself, I believe that I am past the Contact stage and I am pretty sure I have reached the Disintegration stage; hopefully I will skip the Reintergration stage.

Week 2 assignment #1 Asian Americans on Screen and Stage

When you think of successful popular Asian music stars in America not many names come to mind, but one of those few names is William Hung. Wulliam Hung was a contestant on the hit series American Idol. He was everything the American Idol shouldn't be; goofy, nerdy, and above all horrible at singing, but he somehow achieved national fame and recognition.
Why was this no talent excuse for a singer given so much attention? I didn't really think much about this paradox until I was given this assignment in my first english class. After thinking about the assignment I realized that there is much more to the William Hung phenomenon than meets the round eye. William Hung is, and is supposed to be, a comical image. Just look at the picture. Everything about him is humorous; he stands and looks awkward, has bad teeth and is paler than freshly fallen snow. In this picture he is an icon, a role model for the freaks and geeks. This image screams "Hey if this guy can make it, anybody can!".
When observing this image one must ask, who is controlling this image and what is its target audience, to reveal the racial implications. The makers and promoters of American Idol, and the reality TV fad, are exploiting William Hung's image and using it as an advertising ploy. William Hung is not being celebrated as a musican or entertainer, he is being mocked and humiliated as the audience laughs. The target audience of this fiasco does not encompass the Asian American community, that should and most likley does take offense to the fact that many talented Asian performers struggle to make it and one of the few to be recognized is a mockery and shame.