EDITED POST: if you have commented already, don't change your comment.
USE COMMENT to write what it the single 'thing' that you remember most vividly from Monday's lecture?
Don't dwell on major topics. Rather, focus on ONE LITTLE DETAIL that was particularly meaningful to you, that probably only you noticed but that made a distinct impression.
In a separate paragraph try to explain WHY it stuck in your mind.
MAKE AN EFFORT TO BE CONCISE AND TO THE POINT. Maximum two paragraphs.
Also, if you see that a topic has been mentioned several times already, choose a different one.
WAIT until at least 10 people have left their comments.
At this point you are free to USE REPLY to "like" a comment left by a classmate, and explain why you chose that particular one
Sounds clumsy and complicated? It won't be for very long. I will always ask to you write your own comment AND to reply to someone else's.
The one idea that stuck with me the most from the lecture was the fact that Italian Americans were portrayed as being Black in the cartoons. This was eyeopening because it showed a strong sense of racism toward both the Italian American community and the Black community in America. What is pretty interesting to observe is how the Italian American community transformed into being considered white (rising into the "dominant class", while the African American, Caribbean, and other Black communities of America are denied the access to being in the dominant class due solely because of their skin color. I believe it is necessary to question how a ethnicity rises into the dominant class and why society refuses to allow other minority groups that privilege.
ReplyDeleteNot only as Black, but as animals! There were some images that portrayed Italian-Americans into an infestation of vermin, but the one I remember most was the Italian-American shoe-shiner cartoon. In that one, the shoe-shiner looked like an ape with his hunched back, wide and flattened nose, and dragging hands. Reverse anthropomorphism - whenever it occurs - is probably the most dehumanizing thing political cartoonists can do in their "art."
DeleteI agree, nowadays you are thrown into a group by skin color. Majority race is white which now includes Europeans such as Italians. The minorities are the dark skinned black people and Latinos. It poses the question of how an ethnicity rises into another class and why we allow the color of one's skin to judge that. Love sees no color, shape, or size - so why is our world spread into groups of color and even size (take a look at the media: mostly thin models). This can go into a whole other tangent but I will leave my comment as is.
DeleteOne of the things that I remember from Monday’s lecture is that if a group is not in control of its own image then there will always be tension or a struggle. If the tension or struggle becomes extreme, it ends up turning into a civil war. Relative equality is reached only when the subordinate is able to reach self-representation and achieve equal footing. This can happen by renouncing self-identity. Women along with the civil rights movement in the 1960’s and gays in the 1970’s were able to start melding in. Italians however did not start this integration.
ReplyDeleteWhile taking a different core class at Brooklyn College, I met my fiancé who is an Italian American. One day after class before we were dating, I asked Chris what he planned on doing after graduation. He chuckled and said, “anything but what my father wants me to do, I’m here for a reason.“ I nodded in comprehension, yet only yesterday did I finally understand his response. My future father-in-law who just retired from the Department of Sanitation often mentions that he is very educated despite the fact that he never went to college. I had always thought that this mantra was told exclusively to me as the “new member of the family”. Ironically, he never supported Chris’ decision to go to college. According to my father-in-law, Chris should be a fireman, a police officer or a sanitation worker. I started to realize that this was the paradox that Chris was fed as a child. On the one hand he saw society stigmatizing Italian American men as un-intelligent and on the other hand he was told that if one wants to be smart he should go to college. He also saw his father’s constant apologetic undertones and decided that the only way for him to avoid perpetuating the model was to integrate into society and create his own image.
Being Italian-American, what you said about your fiancé and the expectations of his family after high school or even before it, I can relate completely. For me, my great grand parents came here after my great grandfather earned his citizenship fighting in WW I. The next generation, my grandparents all graduated high school or trade school. Then my parents and aunts and uncles all split, half went to college and the other half did not. It was a choice, but it wasn't necessary. But myself and my siblings and cousins, nearly all of us went to college. But the consistent through the entire integration process had to be two things, and that's hard work and family. We're all told the stories of our relatives and the journey it took to be where we are now and I believe that still drives us today.
Delete"He also saw his father’s constant apologetic undertones and decided that the only way for him to avoid perpetuating the model was to integrate into society and create his own image."
DeleteI understand what you mean by integrating to society in this case because there seems to be a lack of vision on his father side but there are instances that integrating to society means renouncing one's culture, and that I disagree with. I can attend college and better myself without loosing my roots. I wasn't born in the U.S. so inevitable although my lifestyle is very American, I still have my Dominican roots and I don't think that's an impediment to what I can achieve intellectually. However it seems that in the US the more your loose your identity to blend it the more you are accepted. I can just picture a very boring world if we were all the same.
I just want to clarify that I was speaking in terms of groups of immigrants/new americans not of myself. I personally haven't experience roadblocks because of embrace my Hispanic background, but then again I live in New York (or a major city) where there are large population of hispanics. Historically though, the more you renounce to your culture then more easily you can integrate. Hope my comment makes sense.
Deleteembracing*
DeleteLeslie, I do understand what you mean. Chris's issue was that he didn't want to be like "everyone else" but that doesn't necessarily mean that he wanted to cover up his identity. He is definitely not trying to hide being Italian. Ironically, I find that he and his brothers speak a better Italian than their parents as all 3 of them took Italian in HS as well as the Italian regents. His parents were probably pushed by their parents to "integrate" into society and therefore they didn't really learn Italian.
DeleteThe thing I remember most about the first lecture was the political cartoons that we saw. When we were looking at the anti-Italian cartoons, I can honestly say that I wasn't surprised. I've taken history classes before, and I knew that Italians/Italian-Americans were hated during that period. I've heard stories from my own family about how we were treated like garbage in the past. I expected to see cartoons with racial slurs, like the shoe shine cartoon, where the caption was "A WOP." I expected there to be references to mob ties, like the mafioso cobbler cartoon. I was truly surprised, and shocked when I saw the first cartoon - the one with the five different images. Four of them were run-of-the-mill anti-Italian cartoons, but there was one that was much more. I'm talking about the one where it said "the way to dispose of them" and had the image of a cage of Italian-Americans waiting to be drowned to death like rats. I found this image to be particularly disgusting because it not only insulted Italian-Americans, but it promoted the extermination of Italian-Americans. The way I see it is that insulting a person is one thing, but when a newspaper can promote the extermination of people as if they were rats, that's taking it to a whole new level.
ReplyDeleteWill, I completely agree with your post. What I find extremely shocking is how little people know (myself included until just a few years ago) about the internment of Italians in America during World War II. While the internment of Japanese Americans is common knowledge and they were repatriated, it took congress approximately 60 years until they investigated what happened to Italians in America during WWII. If this was their findings, we can only imagine how much worse it really was.
DeleteWhen I learnt about this for the first time my viewpoint on "organized crime" or the "mafia" completely changed. When society prevents a group from integrating by marginalizing them, the only way for the group to survive is to create its own "societal structure".
The one thing that was most vivid for me during our class meeting was the description of ethnic identity as a "tribe." This really took a hold with me because I have never heard of a tribe being used as a description for an ethnic group, beside Native Americans. This idea of a tribe really stuck with me because it made perfect sense. When people immigrate to America, they tend to stick with the people they are familiar with, i.e. their own tribe. They do this for many reasons such as safety, language difficulties, religious and cultural values, etc. The tribe is exclusive and exists to carry on cultural diversity that is usually lost when a group assimilates completely into American society. The tribe perfectly describes the groups of (_____)-americans, who continue to identify themselves with their cultural background, and throw in -americans for good measure. I felt that the tribe was a way of holding on to ones identity, history, and background, in a society where the ideal is the white anglosaxon male. The tribe is in essence a rejection of such an ideal and an attempt at expression and cultural diversity being the norm in America.
ReplyDeleteI see what you're saying, Michael.
DeleteIt's interesting that after decades of migration into the United States, many ethnic groups choose to live in communities with each other only, to preserve their culture and heritage. I've seen this with people of my own background. It's common for Filipinos to live in New Jersey and near San Francisco, they tend to live in Daly City. I don't find anything wrong with wanting to be around people who share the same language and beliefs, but I do feel that part of the experience of living in a new country is to delve into that culture, explore, and discover new things. I wonder if there is a way to meet in the middle?
The thing that most stuck in my mind was the exercise where we all wrote different stereotypes people have of us. It was fascinating to see that everyone was okay with acknowledging the faults or perceived faults of their tribe in public, and with out any hurt feelings. It was also amazing to see that we were able to identify a tribe just by their negative factors and that students with nothing to do with each other and coming from so many diverse backgrounds all thought alike.
ReplyDeleteThis particularly stuck in my mind because never before has a teacher or any one i have dealt with really, been able to demolish cultural differences by just acknowledging them and accepting them as givens. Doing son allows the students to unite, knowing that we have been bred with prejudices against other tribes, but if one comes to the realization that we all have flaws, and all people see us with negative stereotypes, then we can learn to start with a blank slate when meeting people and participate in the academic and business world with a much healthier perspective towards life and people in general.
This stuck out to me as well David! I found it very interesting that everyone was so open and honest in addressing their own stereotypes. Sometimes people can be embarrassed to openly discuss what people say about their "tribe," but the fact that every single individual in the classroom was so willing to share the stereotypes associated with their race contributed to a great class discussion. At times it may be hard to look at people with a blank slate, but I also think that in certain cases it may be possible to beat the stereotype. Some stereotypes such as Italians having big noses cannot be beaten, but others such as Blacks are always in jail can be broken if people are able to rise above their stereotype and go against what people consider the "norm" for that race.
DeleteWhat stuck with me the most from the first lecture was the idea that women are the largest group that do not yet have control over their representation. Women are constantly bombarded with images of what they should look like (in magazines, on television, in advertisements, etc.). Recently, there have been more and more "campaigns" for women to achieve self-representation. Take, for instance, the Dove Beauty campaign. In a series of videos, Dove has tried to expose the viewer to the process and sheer amount of photo-editing that occurs to make a female model look "perfect," or to reveal how many images women are subjected to in a day that give them messages about how they look. While these messages appear to be positive for women, all the videos lack the racial, ethnic, and anatomical diversity that is absolutely necessary before women can even begin to self-represent. The actresses in these videos still conform to the normalized, male-defined standards of beauty; no progress towards women's self-representation can be made until those standards are rejected.
ReplyDeleteI think its also interesting to examine successful women and their conformity in adhering to societal stereotypes. In one chapter of her book 'The Age of Oprah', Janice Peck examines how Oprah Winfrey conforms to the stereotype that women should solely be homemakers, housekeepers and loyal wives and mothers to their families. On one episode of her talk show dedicated to women (in the early 90's), various questions came up regarding a woman's ability to work outside of the house. Each time this issue became apparent during the talk show, Oprah would subdue it by saying that women should stay at home and be loyal to their family.
DeleteOprah's willingness to allow stereotypes of women to continue also shows how she became successful. She did not win her fame and fortune by advocating for women's rights, but rather by adhering to the narrative that society has built for women and also African Americans. Even today, Oprah rarely talks about structural inequalities for minority groups, but instead focuses on self-help ideologies and the idea that its the minority's fault for not integrating properly into society.
I wonder if you knew that until a few years ago all clinical testing of new drugs used only male subjects. Not only, but even the guinea pigs, mice, rats and rabbits used for the experimental part on animal, was done exclusively on MALE animals. In Ohio there is a law that states that "Nobody will be given an abortion against HIS will." Go figure that out.
ReplyDeleteI did not know that, but I'm not particularly surprised. In my introductory Womens Studies class, we discussed one article that said many researchers think that the female body is "too complex" for experimentation, as if the human body in general isn't miraculous enough. I also worked on a project on Tourettes Syndrome for a Special Education class, and I was shocked to find similar gendered responses. When Tourette first defined the illness, it was diagnosed almost exclusively in males. It wasn't because the illness occurred more often in males, but because when females exhibited those symptoms they were only diagnosed with "hysteria." Its amazing how frequently women are disregarded in the medical system because they are thought to be too "emotional," "unstable," or "hormonal."
DeleteOne small thing that really had me thinking was the Father Sarducci video regarding the 5 minute University. I work in academia and one of the issues that I have with colleges is that I feel that students aren't getting their moneys worth. Especially now with Pathways taking effect this coming fall. Several schools have cut down classes and have taken various important subjects out of their core curriculum and yet tuition is the same if not higher.
ReplyDeleteNot to be misunderstood, I really enjoyed and understood the video so much in fact that I shared it.
I agree, I also thought that the video was very funny. I think it was mostly humorous because its somewhat true. How much will you truly remember from your math, or Spanish, or economics(etc) class 5 years ago? Its really interesting that you mention pathways, I was able to interview the Chancellor of CUNY last semester and he described it as a way to increase graduation rates as well as transfer rates from community colleges into four-year schools, such as BC. Basically it is supposed to level the playing field among all CUNY schools. Luckily I was able to stick with the original Core Curriculum, which I am so far satisfied with.
DeleteI happen to have found that particularly amusing as well, and sadly insightful. Many times throughout my classes here at BC, I have thought to myself, imagine I wasn't so consumed with getting an A so i can go to an Ivy League graduate school, I might actually learn something. The pressure that is created by the collegiate world and business world to memorize material and do well on tests is really a pity because without having to worry about 100's on exams, I would just be able to come to class and listen and think, rather than write notes to memorize for the exams. Maybe one day someone can reform the system and actually begin educating people.
DeleteI've been a fan of Fr. Guido Sarducci for years. I especially like when he brings out Cardinal Dario Funghi (a dummy who is always asleep with jet leg) and does his Lincoln-Kennedy coincidenza routine. I had never seen the 5 minute university clip before, but it, too, was hilarious. Aside from just being funny, there's a part of that routine that rings true. I just took a final a few weeks ago, I got an A in the class, and I can't tell you one thing that I learned. That's hyperbole of course, but my point still stands. I really can't tell you a single thing that I learned from my core Philosophy class that I took 2 years ago. Rosamaria says that "one of the issues that I have with colleges is that I feel that students aren't getting their moneys worth." I completely agree with this. Schools in NYC like Fordham, NYU, Columbia, etc all cost a quarter of a million dollars or more for a BA/BS. There is no education in the world that is worth half that much. I have a scholarship to CUNY and I still feel like I'm getting ripped off. Like David said, one day, someone needs to "reform the system and actually begin educating people." Until this day comes, people should prepare for the same education that you would get in Guido Sarducci's 5 minute university.
DeleteThe saying: "It's funny because it's true" comes to mind when watching that video about college by Father Sarducci. I mean the fall 2013 semester is already starting to fade from memory and for some the last semester that just ended starts to fade for them. It's almost seems like our brains are like a filled up harddrive: we have to delete some to make room for more? or maybe we just need to figure out a way to "plug in an external harddrive"? I have a few friends that are in debt tens of thousands of dollars upon graduating college with not always working in the field that they majored in.
DeleteThere were many interesting things said in class but what stuck with me the most was realizing that Italians were treated just as bad as African-Americans and now Mexicans.
ReplyDeleteI have heard about Italians being discriminated but I didn't realized it was to this extent.
I agree, those cartoons were mind-blowing. Who would have thought that Italian-Americans were discriminated and thought of in such a negative way. Even in our history courses, many of us have not studied what they've faced as a "tribe." The class we had on Monday surely opened our eyes to this and left us all thinking... Does this really still go on today? In ways, it does and in ways we have evolved. However, the most unfortunate thing is that women still are inferior to men.
DeleteI definitely can piggy back on what everyone else has written so far. My own ignorance blinded me and led me to believe that Italian Americans weren't as oppressed as other races. However, to know that they were was really shocking to me. As not to dwell on this too much as it was already discussed, another topic that stuck out to me from class was the fact that women are still seen as inferior to men. I always knew that women made less money than men in the workforce, however it's still always mind blowing whenever I hear that this is still going on. It's quite ridiculous that America today can even brag about equality when women as well as other minorities are obviously not being shown the same treatment as others. This really stuck out to me because it then begs the question of when will true equality among all individuals really exist? And I guess this seems to be a question I pose to the rest of the class as well... is it even possible?
ReplyDeleteOne thing that definitely stood out for me was that I did not know the treatment of Italians was that bad as I learned in the cartoons shown. Sad to see it still goes on today with others.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I kind of forgot that Obama's mother is white until it was mentioned in class and thought to myself : "oh yea, I forgot about that". The New York Times "mixed identities" article in our lecture talks about how people were only able to choose one classification and since everyone says the president is black, the mix is forgotten. One drop rule?
Something that resonated with me was the mention that in order to reach self-imposed representation, an image that is imposed upon you by the dominant class must be diminished.
ReplyDeleteThis struck a chord with me because of my Filipino background and the way Filipinos are viewed here in America. The stereotypes imposed upon us suggest that we're not the most intelligent bunch, who always end up being nurses or maids.
I've never seen a Filipino represented as an intellectual, who can accomplish much more than what the stereotypes indicate.
As an artist who is especially aware of these issues, I feel that it is my responsibility to begin breaking these societal barriers through my work.
The one thing that stuck with me after leaving your classroom on Monday was the little exercise you had us do. I was surprised at how open you were to discussing sterotypes and racism. Not many professors have the nerve or patience to go into touchy topics like that. It was definitely an eye-opening experience to see how many of us see certain "tribes" in a similar light. For example: many of us thought Italians are loud, close-minded, and dishonest. Where do we all get these common viewpoints from? The media, for sure. I study journalism, not mass media but can see this in the news daily. When there is a bombing or mass murder it always goes like this: if it's a white man then he's mentally unstable, if it's a muslim then it's a terror attack, and it it's a black man then it's gang violence. The world is a scary place when people think this way, but such is life.
ReplyDeleteExcellent point in showing how the same action can be attributed to different motives according to which tribe a person belongs.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, it's ridiculous but if you are aware of it then you will go out and do your own research. The media not gives us the information they want us to have. That does not mean that that's the only information out there.
ReplyDelete