Blog Post #4 by Cabrera, Roberto

    Racism is seen everywhere in our society. When I hear that word, I think of it as a way to oppress or discriminate others for their culture. After reading Talking about Race, Learning about Racism, I learned that racism is defined "As a 'system of advantage based on race'" (Tatum, 1992, p.3) as well as being a prevalent feature in our country. Tatum shows how Black-American and White-American students are being separated from each other such as one group being the majority and earning freedom while the other group becomes oppressed or prejudiced for their culture. Many people in our society who identify as Black-American are experiencing oppression, prejudice, and cannot afford to live in a safe environment. As for those who identify as White-American, they feel accepted, have better opportunities to become successful, and spend time with people who also identify as White-American, which makes Tatum ask(s), "Why are all the Black kids still sitting together", which is a question I would ask as well. She argues that "Race is considered a taboo topic for discussion, especially in racially mixed settings" (Tatum, 1992, p.5) and many people do not think about the person's culture or how they feel being different from one another, which is why every person should respect one another's culture and have an opportunity to become friends with them.

    

    One class I took in college where I began learning about racism and seeing my own race was Social Work 325: Diversity & Oppression II. I remember learning about the lives of innocent Black-Americans who were murdered by people of different race. As a class, we were watching the documentary 13th. While watching 13th, we had to write a paper on what we learned and touched us the most from the documentary. The scene that touched me the most was the scene when Trayvon Martin got shot by George Zimmerman, which also happened eight years ago in Florida. Zimmerman was caught by the police after he murdered Martin, but I was upset when "They did not arrest him after killing someone who was innocent (Cabrera, 13th-SWRK 325, 2020) because they assumed Martin was a suspect because he was Black-American. The way I see society makes me think of Martin's death because I imagine what I would be like if someone wanted to hurt me for being Hispanic/Latino. Sometimes, I see people working with others of similar backgrounds and not giving others of different cultures or assets an opportunity to work with them or feel supported by them. They just assume that they are bad people and not getting to know what their race is really like. Something important I learned when taking that course was that everywhere in society, there are "These instances, known as 'racial profiling', this is when people who tend to suspect things about others because of the way they look, anyone who is viewed a threat ends up getting hurt" (Cabrera, 13th-SWRK 325, 2020), and it is time that all of us as a diversity view one another as equals. White-Americans are not the only humans living in this society, there are also other cultures/races including Black-American that want freedom just like ourselves. We must build empowerment and help Black members in our communities feel accepted. There are still innocent Black-Americans being oppressed such as the assassinations of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, and it is time for all of us to make a change in the community. (If you have a chance, please feel free to watch the documentary 13th. It is on Netflix, but it is also uploaded on YouTube. Here is the link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krfcq5pF8u8&t=900s)

    Not only were the article and the documentary eye opening, but it was also hard for me to understand the feelings of those people when they are living in their homes or fighting to earn money or a job to help pay their mortgage and feed their loved ones. Many black families are "More likely to live in poor neighborhoods" (NPR, 2018) and have a hard time finding ways to keep themselves safe. There are richer neighborhoods most White families could afford as "White people flee to the brand-new suburbs popping up all over the country. Many of those suburbs institute rules, called covenants that explicitly forbid selling homes to black people" (NPR, 2018), which not only oppresses them from moving into the neighborhood, but also shows why they think are the majority in their society, which I disagree with them. We all live in a diverse area where every person is different and facing different/difficult situations. Some of us could be either rich or poor, Black or White, male or female, but no matter how different we are from one another, all of us matter in society.

    All this made learn about myself including my race and all the different people I hang out with. This article has helped me become more aware of myself as well as teaching me how to stand up to oppression. Every human being is different, but just because we are a certain race/culture does not show we are either good or bad people. All of us can be unique by stopping racism, oppression, and discrimination. Social Work 325: Diversity & Oppression II was not the only course where I experiences race, another class I remember taking that talked about privilege and accepting others was FNED 346. One quote from Tatum's article that makes me reflect on how I learn racism as a Latino student remembering "White Privilege" was by McIntosh (1989),"I realized I had been taught about racism as something which pits others at a disadvantage, but had been taught not to see one of its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts me at a disadvantage" (Tatum, 1992, p.13). I remember White privilege was described as more opportunities for white students and learning the systems of dominant minority groups they see or interact with them, but not only is race a problem, privilege is another thing that should be removed. I think everyone deserves a chance to be accepted and have opportunities to succeed. With oppression, privilege, discrimination, and negativity removed, it will make every person including myself a better person as well as living a better life in the society. The more we communicate and help one another, the safer it will be for us to live in our society.