Introduction
The purpose of this assignment was to interview someone who is more than 30 years of age and who is of a different race than oneself. Research on the person being interviewed ethnic background had to be conduct, in addition to, materials covered in class and previous experiences were compiled into 7-10 open ended questions that were discussed during the interview. Below you would see the seven interview questions that were discussed, the answers given, and a biographical piece that bring everything together.
Interview Questions
Why do you think the term “Euro American” is not as commonly used a “White American” or “White”? White is easier, more homogenous, and more likely to support quick assessment. By saying Euro or European, you are conveying a sense of enormity that is too vast for quick contemplation. In our culture, speed and efficiency are far more important than accuracy.
Do you consider yourself to be privileged? If so, to what extent? Yes, but only as far as my race is concerned. My SES throughout my life has been low, and in my opinion, has effectively mitigated my white privilege on countless occasions. But there is no denying that being considered white has afforded me opportunities, accommodations, and entitlements that are out of reach for folks of other races and ethnicities.
As it relates to your country of origin, how do you express your sense of pride? That is difficult to answer. I used to be proud of my national heritage and that of my immigrant predecessors. However, as I get older it seems that my pride is more reliant upon things like my sense of accomplishment. George Carlin said it is silly to be proud of something that you have no control over, I agree with him.
In what forms have you experience discrimination? I have experienced racial discrimination in subtle and blatant forms. However, most of the discrimination I have experienced has been based on my SES, geographic region, or both. Additionally, most of the discrimination has come from other Caucasians.
How do you view opposing culture that is different from your own? I am mostly open minded and, in fact, greatly interested in other cultures on a personal and academic level. Something that I believe many Americans take for granted is our rich mixed cultural heritage and our proximity to some of the oldest cultures on the planet.
As a woman of mixed race, I don’t think I’ve experienced white privilege. As a child, I never noticed the disparities between races, but that was because I was young. As a child I grew up around many different people of many different races. That was until I moved to Blair, I remember being the only child in my class who was a different skin tone. I also remember being the only family in my neighborhood that was a different race. My dad always tells me the story of how our elderly neighbors would always talk about how nicely dressed we were, and how nice our hair looked. My dad asked him “What are we supposed to look like,
Firstly, I identified myself as white. Being white in today’s society means you are automatically given privilege the second that you are born. Skin color is something that you carry with you your whole life. It cannot be changed and it will most likely be used against you or in your benefit at some point in your life. In America being white means that you are on the top of the social hierarchy, and that you are given the
Yes, it does, as you can see by my previous statement I too get judge by my appearance and background but that isn’t really why my life is affected by privilege. My life is affected by privileges because I have the rights granted to me by my forefathers. Things like freedom and the right to vote, the fact that as a woman I now have as much right to work or get a higher education as the men do. The word privileged in my eyes is a word that should never really be used to describe another person. If I looked at you and said you are privileged, it kind of seems like an insult right. However, to me having a privilege is a good thing and something that should not be taken for
Have you ever been turned away or discriminated by another being? Patricia Williams was and she wrote about it in “The Death of the Profane: The Rhetoric of Race and Rights”. Williams was discriminated by an employee at a Benetton in New York because of her skin color. She was told the store was closed at 1:00pm while there were still others in the store. Williams created a poster about her rage and posted outside Benetton when it was truly closed. She attempted to write a story but her race, rage, and the stores name was edited out of her paper. Williams convinced them to put her race back into her story, she then spoke at a convention and talked about her experience at Benetton and the struggles of getting her story published. Williams is
...American often assumes a person ethnicity by their appearance rather than their ancestries. The race relations in the U.S are nowhere near the idea of a blurred color line.
Privileges are things that a person receives that gives them an advantage over most people (Merriam-Webster). These are benefits that only certain people receive for being in a certain group or discourse. Peggy McIntosh, director of the Wellesley College Center for Research on Women, wrote “White Privilege and Male Privilege” and states “I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privileges, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege” (605). She argues that whites and males receive certain privileges, yet they do not even notice them. This shows that different races and women are still put at a disadvantage, but the people who receive the benefits are blind to the problem.
Privilege is a topic with, any definitions and many angles of interpretation. My definition describes privilege as a step-up or positive opportunity in a specific situation or circumstance that is not available to everyone. These privileges are sometimes earned while others are totally unwarranted by the recipient. An example of what I consider an unwarranted privilege would be a child living in a certain county and being able to attend a highly sought-after school strictly due to the way an area is zoned by the county. The privilege of a military veteran having his tuition paid for by the Government is a earned privilege by my beliefs. Privilege far extends far outside the boundaries of education. You will find privilege in virtually all facets
Writing a self-reflective tirade is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks to perform. I have found myself pondering this topic for an unusually long time; no one has ever asked me to write about my culture-- the one thing about myself which I understand the least. This question which is so easy for others to answer often leads me into a series of convoluted explanations, "I was born in the U.S., but lived in Pakistan since I was six. My brothers moved to the US when I was thirteen" I am now nearly twenty, which means I have spent half my life being Pakistani, the other half trying to be American, or is the other way around?
To completely understand white privilege you first need to understand what white privilege is. White privilege is defined as a set of advantages and/or immunities that white people benefit from on a daily basis beyond those common to all others. White privilege can exist without white people 's conscious knowledge of its presence and it helps to maintain the racial hierarchy in this country.(mtholyoke.edu) There are many examples of white privilege. They range from people’s thoughts to people 's court cases, to actions. Basically to sum that up you have more privileges and fewer assumptions get made because you 're white. These privileges are not a conscious bias and do not make the person a racist.
I classify my race, ethnicity, and culture as a white, Irish-Italian- American, woman. My mother was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and my paternal grandparents are from Sicily, Italy. I imagine being first generation Irish and second generation Italian helps me relate with my ethnicity.
The prevalence of white privilege had not occurred to me previously, but after reading White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack I have a better understanding of the impact my privilege has on myself and others. I also started to realize that this privilege can not only cause emotional distress for people, but also prevent them from achieving success. For instance, privilege can cause people from wealthier areas to receive more money for their school compared with those from poorer areas. This does not only impact the student by affecting the quality of their education, but also makes it harder for these students to rise above the poverty
For the interviews two individuals who self-identify as African-American/Black were recruited. The individuals were previously known by the researcher and were not compensated for their assistance. The interviews were semi-structured in nature and some questions had been previously prepared and they are found on Appendix A. One interview took place through Facebook chat and the second interview took place outside of the UCI Starbucks near the Student Center and lasted approximately 45 minutes.
Broadly speaking, race is seen or is assumed to be a biologically driven set of boundaries that group and categorize people according to phenotypical similarities (e.g. skin color) (Pinderhughes, 1989; Root, 1998). The categorical classification of race can be traced back to the 16th century Linnaen system of human “races” where each race was believed to be of a distinct type or subspecies that included separate gene pools (Omi & Winant, 1994; Spickard, 1992; Smedley & Smedley, 2005). Race in the U.S. initially began as a general categorizing term, interchangeable with such terms as “type” or “species”. Over time, race began to morph into a term specifically referring to groups of people living in North America (i.e. European “Whites”, Native American “Indians”, and African “Negroes”). Race represented a new way to illustrate human difference as well as a way to socially structure society (Smedley & Smedley, 2005).
This article, written by Margaret Smith and Diana T. Sanchez looks at multiracial heritage under a sociological lens; meaning that they are analyzing the psychological, sociological, educational, cultural and political aspects of race in a functioning society. The key question the authors’ research aims to answer is, what the social experiences are of multiracial individuals.
Generally, the meanings of race and ethnicity have their starting points from sociological and biological variables. The physical appearance of a someone, for example, eye shading, skin shading, jaw/bone structure and additionally hair shading depict race while ethnicity is related to the social elements, for example, culture, convictions, heritage, and nationality. Race is a term that depicts a group of individuals with comparative characteristics. I think race is resolved by physical characteristics, for example, type of color skin, language they speak, eye shape they have, or even things, for example, blood classifications. Individuals in general are portrayed as "humankind". Race is an undeniable theme in American culture. Despite the fact