All of the Orals

Oral #1

In class after watching a video we were asked how racism in Russia and USA seem different. I contributed to my group by saying that is much more “in your face” in Russia after watching the video. The USA was bad before but they have gotten better, in my eyes. Some of my group members agreed and some disagreed.

Oral #2

In class we were discussing minority groups, and what minority groups their might be where we live. In the group of four students we were discussing and I discussed a couple minority groups, and Native Canadians, African Canadians or Indo-Canadians.

Oral #3

In class we discussed where we locate ourselves on terms of geography and which race we are. I discussed with my partner that according to this sheet I am of Indian race but my parents are from Pakistan.

Oral #4

In class we discussed what we think of common sense if we have ever looked beyond common sense. In my group I contributed that I thought common sense was obvious and everybody should have “common sense”. I also said that I felt stupid saying so but I never really looked beyond common sense. All of my group members agreed that this was the case with them as well. We know realize that common sense is not always the right way of looking at things but critical thinking is.

Oral #5

We were asked if we think colour blindness will end racism. I contributed to that class that I do not think so, because in order to end racism we need people to acknowledge our race. We should be proud of it not ashamed, most of the class had similar answers.

Illustration #5

Illustration #5

We were discussing the topic of white flight in class, in which white people leave a certain area once another race starts to come. It was how the whites like to stick to their own kind. I found that it is true in our own Country, in our own city. In surrey people would say there are more brown people, and in Richmond people would say there are more Asian people. They got me thinking of how there must be white people there before, but now they aren’t. That proves the concept of white flight.

Illustration #4

Illustration #4

In class we discussed critical thinking, prejudices and stereotypes. We discussed that everyone is prejudice or stereotypes against people. I related this to the video I watched for one of my blogs. In that video Black males in Toronto felt that the police are targeting them when asking questions. I started t think that the police officers in the area could be stereotyping or having prejudices. I know wonder if I myself stereotype or have prejudices against some cases, I hope not.

Illustration #3

In class we watched a video on ethnocentrism. In this video there are student in a classroom ready to do a DNA testing. This is a multicultural classroom with all kinds of races. The teacher asks them to predict who they think their DNA will be close to. All of the Asians say their DNA will be close to other Asians, White people say their DNA will be close to other White people, and so on. Then when they do testing that is not the case, people who share no physical characteristics are similar with each other. I related this to when I was watching the Olympics and people would say Black people run faster, but there is nothing in their genetic makeup that says so. I found this concept very unique and different, and that Asians are not always smarter or some race is not physically more faster.

Illustration #2

Illustration #2

In class when we discussed debunking very thoroughly. The concept of Debunking was one that highlights Sociology class for me, because of the example professor gave. Professor told us about when he took his class to Ghana and how a child was trying to kill his morning breath with a chewing stick. We do the same thing but with toothpaste and toothbrush. This was the concept of seeing the familiar in the unfamiliar. Now when I see places from Africa on the news I see that they are just like me. Everything they do is just like Canadians. I was watching the news and a child was washing himself in a lake, with the purpose of cleaning himself. We do the same thing every day but with showers, it makes me grateful what I have and respect other people more.

Illustration #1

Illustration #1

In class we have always been discussing the one drop rule. The rule is that even if you have one drop of non-white blood, you’re blood is not as pure as someone who is fully white. I found this interesting but what I found even more interesting that this statement today is still true. It was the day after Obama’s election and professor told us that Obama is actually half white. I considered myself a strong supporter of Obama but did not know at all that Obama is half white. Now I watch the news and wonder why they never mention that Obama is half white but always mention that he is black. This one drop rule concept has stuck with me.

Reflective Essay

I have learned and unlearned much in my Sociology class, it was an eye opener for me. When I say unlearned I mean that I unlearned things I thought were true about other races but actually are not.  I have found many concepts really interesting in this class but the most interesting and eye opening would be the concept of Debunking.

            Debunking defined in the textbook as: looking at both obvious and surface-level and the less obvious and deeper explanations for social behaviour. My definition for debunking is looking at everything beyond what you know and trying to understand the other side’s story. The best definition that I like to give is the definition our professor gave us, seeing the unfamiliar in the familiar. Debunking in general makes us better people, because we learn not to take anything for granted. We turn into better human beings if we use debunking in our everyday life. It makes us challenge what we know and what we do not know. The example that I always like to give is when professor took his class to Ghana, and a student stopped the class and asked what was familiar about a particular live picture in front of them. It was a picture of a boy who was using a chewing stick and water to brush his teeth. That little boy was trying to do the same thing we do with toothpaste and a toothbrush, to kill morning breath. He was just doing it in a much similar was because he did not have the fancy tools we have here. That example when professor explained to us really hit me in the heart and I have thought about it more than once. Now I just look at different images of people on the road and think to myself what I am missing in this particular picture. Debunking has really helped me to have an open mind.

            It challenge realities of life and this has changed my life, in a really good way. I think Debunking is a concept that should be taught to students throughout school, it is a very important concept. Debunking  allows us to see what we cannot see with all these racial differences or prejudices blinding us. When we use debunking it allows us to be both strangers and natives. When we debunk we may see something we have not seen before and because of that we learn more every day. It may be hard to use debunking in the beginning because we are so used to our old blinded way of thinking but when we start to use it the world will seem much more clearer and beautiful. That is how the world seems to me since I started using debunking. Debunking taught me that challenging myself is very important and I try to find something familiar in the unfamiliar everyday. Because, as humans we all are the same, no race is faster than the other or smarter. Debunking has taught me to challenge myself and has changed me in many positive ways.

Video: Shown in class when professor was gone to Gana

I don’t remember the name of this video but I found it very interesting and I wanted to do a blog post on this one
Dialectic Reading

What question did the text/chapter raise?

Is there something genetically different in races?
Something that makes one race inferior to the other
race? Are we more alike within our race or could
we be more alike with people who are not the same
race as us? Those people who do not share the same
physical characteristics?

How did the text answer this question?

In that video a class full of students of different races
did a DNA testing. The purpose was to see who is more similar
to who? Most of the teenagers predicted that they were similar
to someone in the class who is the same race. Though, when the
results came back that was not the case. The class was shocked at
how off the mark their conclusions were. They were more similar to
people in the class who did not have a single physical characteristic
in common with themselves. This video show that no race is inferior
or superior to another race we all that the same. There is nothing
in our DNA that marks us in common with others of our race.

How does the answer match our own ideas and experiences?

If I was don’t that experiment I would predict just like the
classroom did. I would predict I am closer to those of my own
race. This matches my ideas but it changes my opinion. I would
think Asians are smarter, Africans are physically faster because
that is what I have heard all my life. This video was a reality
check for me. It teaches me to critical think and not accept
everything as it seems.

Video: Chimamanda Adichie: The danger of a single story

Affective Reading

This video is about a girls story who was from Nigeria and goes to the United States and her life’s story. Chimamanda talks about how people think that a single story is everyone’s story. Chimamanda talks about how when she moves to United States her roommate in school just by looking at her felt bad for her. Chimamanda was expected to know the tribal music and it was a shock to her roommate that she knew how to speak English. Her professor gave back her novel to her and said that her novel wasn’t authentically African? Chimamanda also says that she herself was at fault. Because, when she went to Mexico she had expected Mexicans to be a certain way by the media’s representation of them. She was labeling all Mexicans as one, when they are all different. Chimamanda talks about how she found her cultural voice.

How do I FEEL about the reading I just finished?
I feel proud of Chimamanda because of how she was expected to behave a certain way. I feel that everybody is different even if they are from the same race. I am different from my own sister so why am I expected to be that same as another person from the same race?

What do I THINK about the reading I just finished?
I think that if people stopped labeling everybody as a certain type our world would be much happier. Chimamanda could have been much happier if she wasn’t stereotyped.

What do I BELIEVE about the reading I just finished?

I believe that everything Chimamanda said is true, that a single story robs people of dignity.

What do I KNOW about the reading I just finished?

I know that I will be more careful to stereotype others. I will critical think before I come to conclusions. I know that Chimamanda story is true and everyone gets stereotyped including you, and including me.

Video: Race Matters

DIALECTIC Reading

What question did the text/chapter raise?

Why do black always get questioned more so than others by the police? Why don’t other people get asked as many questions as much as black people do by all police officers in Toronto? What information are they basing all these suspicions on? Is it just because of their color or are there more factors involved in police officers questioning black people more.

How did the text answer this question?
A couple of the police officers think that they question people equally, but most of them have said that because there is a higher unemployment rate for black people in that area, and they think that factor can cause them to do something in desperation. Police officers admit that they do question them more at times but because of all the high community problems in that area. They say certain situations cause them to ask the black people more question which makes them seem as they are picking on people.

How does the answer match our own ideas and experiences?

I have not have heard of this problem around where I live, this issue does not match my own experiences. It also be a fact that if you are black you would notice this more. Because, of this video I will be keeping an eye if black people get questioned here more as well. Our community here seems more equal than the other communities than Toronto or I hope so. I have seen a lot of black police officers so I hope nothing like that is happening around me.