African American and Latino American Culture

African American culture and Latino American culture are alike and different in many ways. This week, I researched the similarities and differences between the two cultures. Through the disciplines of history and culture studies, I look to proves that the two cultures have more in common that many believe.

 

 

 

 Works Cited

Crawford, Clinton. Ebonics and Language Education of African Ancestry Students. New York: Sankofa World Publishers. 2001.

"I am not Broken, I am Free"....Extra Credit

The movie, "Pariah" depicts the story of a girl named Alike who struggles to find acceptance from her peers, her family, and her self. Throughout the movie, she endures hardship after hardship, ultimately searching for peace of mind. It was the battle of being who she was versus what her parents wanted her to be. In one scene of the movie, Alike and her family are preparing to go to church, and her mother has a problem with the outfit Alike chose to wear. Her mother forces her to change and insists that she wear a skirt. The main dilemma throughout the film is that society consistently coerced Alike to be something that she wasn't. The fact of the matter was that Alike was a lesbian,  but society deemed that that wasn't okay. Society said that she had to conform to the the ideal or traditional meaning of being a female. It got to the point where Alike would change her clothes throughout the day so that she could satisfy who she was and her parents.

I think everyone can relate to Alike. If it isn't sexuality, then it's the idea of being normal. If it isn't normality then it's the fight between pursuing your dreams versus a dream of your parents or relatives. Everyone has a moment in life when they had to go against what was expected in order to truly be themselves. This movie made me think of borders. "Pariah" shows the huge border that has been set up for sexuality. While it is becoming more accepted for people to be homo-sexual, there are still many who look at it with disdain. In all, "Pariah" was great, and allowed people to see things from a different point of view.

The New Jim Crow....Extra Credit

On January 26, 2012, Michelle Alexander presented her new book, The New Jim Crow. She spoke of the incarceration of African American males, and how it is affecting society today. I found a lot of what she said thought-provoking, especially because I plan to go into law myself. She told a story of how she was looking for a case to represent regarding racial profiling. She had interviewed dozens of people, and had  yet to find the person who would have a good case for court, until finally a man came having documents describing his encounters with police, the officers' names, etc. The only issue was that this man had a criminal record. Despite the fact that he actually had a legitimate case, Alexander refused to represent him due to his criminal record. This goes to show that the criminal justice system has truly become a caste system. Once a man has a criminal record, he can't buy a house in most areas, get a good job, vote in some states, or even get food stamps. It sets people up for failure.

Eighty percent of African American men have criminal records and are subject to legal discrimination. That statistic is alarming. She pointed out that these 4 out of 5 African American males are convicted simply for having possession of a certain drug. Alexander then stated that Barack Obama had possession of the same types of drugs as those who were convicted while in his youth. The only difference between Obama and  the other African American males is the community they grew up in. Barack Obama grew up in a predominately white neighborhood, where he was given more leeway. Had he grown up in neighborhoods like Oakland, he too would have a criminal record and would not even have the right to vote, let alone be president of the United States.

What Are They Afraid Of?

     As a child, I remember hearing my father say, "If you want to hide knowledge from someone, put it in a book." After giving it thought, he was right. Think of all the things you learn from books, both fictional and nonfictional. No matter what genre or author or time period, there is something to be taught and something to be learned. So what does it mean when those in power ban certain books from the public? Recently, the school districts in Arizona have banned books like Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years by Bill Bigelow, "The Tempest" by Williams Shakespeare and other Mexican American heritage books.
 
 Curtis Acosta, a Latino Literature teacher at Tucson High Magnet School was interviewed about his views of the ban.When asked about the changes in curriculum, Acosta stated that the administration isn't just banning books, but also making limitations and changes to the teaching techniques.“Which means the alterations are not only what we teach, but how we teach,”says Acosta. Curtis was also asked why "The Tempest", of all plays by Shakespeare, were to be banned from the school. Acosta replied saying, “Shakespeare wrote a play that is clearly about colonization of "the new world" and there are strong themes of race, colonization, oppression, class and power that permeate the play, along with themes of love and redemption.”



     As we look from the history standpoint, we see that this isn't the first time an administration has banned books from the general public. During the Holocaust, The Nazis banned and burned all types of books so that the people would not be able to read them. Books such as All Quiet on the Western Front were banned and burned by Nazis in order to "purify" the nation. In actuality, the Nazis did this to brainwash and ensure control over the public. There was no room for revolutionary thoughts, questions or theories. Is this what is happening in 21st Century America?

    In Texas, there was controversy similar to this, regarding if the schools would still teach about the African Slavery. Their argument was that teaching of slavery was unnecessary. Lessons about the American Revolution and Civil War would still be intact, but there would be no talk of slavery. What are they trying to hide? The fact that Columbus didn't actually "discover" anything? The fact that Europeans stole the United States of America from the Native Americans who lived here for centuries before Columbus came? The fact that Africans were stolen from their homes and forced into slavery?

   When the author of Rethinking Columbus: Next 500 Years,Bill Begalow, heard that his book had been banned his response was, "The only other time a book of mine was banned was in 1968, when the apartheid government in South Africa banned ‘Strangers in Their Own Country,’ a curriculum I’d written that included a speech by then-imprisoned Nelson Mandela. We know what the South African regime was afraid of. What is the Tucson school district afraid of?" What a great question. What are the school districts afraid of? Are they afraid that the children will discover that they are not simply American? Maybe it's the fear that students will learn about what their ancestors went through to establish America as the powerful country it is today. Whatever the reason, it is important that each person learn the true story behind America. It's also vital that students learn about their heritage and the heritage of others. The fact is, the history behind America, or Africa, or Mexico may not be pretty or have a happy ending, but it is life, and affects each person everyday.

Works Cited

 

"Ethnic book ban even includes Shakespeare - New York Daily News." New York News, Traffic, Sports, Weather, Photos, Entertainment, and Gossip - Homepage - NY Daily News. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/ethnic-studies-book-ban-arizona-include-shakespeare-tempest-article-1.1007105>.

"Jeff Biggers: Breaking: The "Madness" of the Tucson Book Ban: Interview With Mexican American Studies Teacher Curtis Acosta on The Tempest." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/tucson-ethnic-studies-_b_1210393.html>.

"Texas Board Of Education Approves More Conservative Curriculum." Breaking News and Opinion on The Huffington Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/21/texas-board-of-education-_n_584697.html>.

"Texas textbook war: 'Slavery' or 'Atlantic triangular trade'? - CSMonitor.com." The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Jan. 2012. <http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Education/2010/0519/Texas-textbook-war-Slavery-or-Atlantic-triangular-trade>.

Borders and Transgressors

The video for "Unthinkable" by Alicia Keys depicts an interracial couple and society's reaction to it. This is another example of what it means to be a transgressor.

Works Cited

AliciakeysVEVO. Alicia Keys- Unthinkable (I’m Ready). Youtube. 2010.

Borders in Society

    The theme for Freshman Composition 003 deals with borders, transgressors, and the idea of being normal in society. One thing that stuck out most to me was what it means to be normal.

 As an African American woman, there are many pre-conceived notions and stereotypes that have been presented to me by society. For example, in high school, people assumed that I wouldn't have real hair, that I would be loud, and that I only listened to hip hop and RnB. I was also told that I wasn't normal because of the way I talked.

Their idea of a "normal" vernacular for an African American consisted of Ebonics and slang. As I thought about these things, in class, I discovered that people create  borders in order to define what is and isn't normal. The "border" between being black and white deems that an African American speaking with proper grammar and an eloquent vocabulary isn't normal.

The border between living in a "good" neighborhood and living in "the hood" says that it's only normal for crime to happen in the bad neighborhoods. With so many borders and ideas of normality, comes those who are categorized as transgressors: people who don't form to society's views.

People like Barack Obama, Tiger Woods, and Mariah Carey are all transgressors and have shown that society's idea of being normal is skewed and wrong. At present, I'm excited to dig deeper into defining borders, establishing what it means to be normal, and learning about transgressors.