We talked about in class how African Americans, as a race, has a strong feeling of representing their race in everything they do. An example given was when a black member of the community shows up on TV with charges of murder, or drug dealing, etc. African Americans feel like this one person represents them as a whole. There is also a belief that they feel this more than any other race. While that may or may not be true, I feel all people have this dilemma.
As human beings, we naturally tend to organize and assemble ourselves in groups. We use these groups to identify ourselves, not all of ourselves, but a part of ourselves. As a member of a group one would feel the need to give the group a good image, or however you want to put it. When a member of a group does something that brings attention, positive or negative, it is seen as making a step, backwards or forwards, for the group.
A good example of this would be Catholics. I can write on this topic, because I am Catholic. When a priest is accused of pedophilia or of stealing money from the church all Catholics worry that this is giving people only negative appearances, and they aren’t going to see the good of the group. Muslims are internationally accused of being radical and causing conflict, because of suicide bombers and extremists. Most people who are Muslim, their core belief is of peace. Republicans and Democrats feel they are represented by the people who say or do things that the whole party does may not agree with. Members of law enforcement go through this battle when one of their men (women) abuse their power or hide behind the badge. Individuals go through this with their families as well. When a member of your family is arrested or expelled from school, or something to that effect, you will feel like people will now associate you with that, and not for who you are. You feel they are representing your family.
I do not want to take away from African Americans’ struggle for being recognized for negative actions of certain people, but I do want to bring attention to the fact that people feel this way about any group they are apart of. Everyone feels that there are preconceived notions formed about us, from the general public, by the groups we choose to associate ourselves with. I hope that this was not offensive to anyone, but I feel strongly that is something to think about, and that every group of people go through this.
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Christa, you bring up a good point in that all groups tend to be defined by the actions of a few individuals. I agree that everyone has at some point during life felt misrepresented or ashamed of the mistakes committed by a fellow "group" member; however, it's easier to conceal membership to some groups than it is to others. Many of the groups you mention(political and religious affiliation) are formed by people who choose to join. Not only can they choose to join, but they can choose to leave. People can change political party registration or convert to a different religion, but they cannot adopt a new racial identity. You can choose whether or not to reveal your religious affiliation or voice political opinions that may get you type-casted, but you cannot hide your skin color.
ReplyDeleteWhile I understand the idea that all groups feel the negative attention when one member of the group does something that is not socially acceptable, I have to say that race is not the same as all other groups. In class Prof. Johnson explained it best when she said it is a priviledge that African Americans do not have to disregard a negative action done by someone of their same race.
ReplyDeleteRace is completely different from a religious group. While it may be true that when a priest in the Catholic church is accused of being pedophile the entire community is looked down upon, the distinction is that you don't wear your religion on your face. You have the option of disregarding or people not even knowing you are Catholic unless you tell them. African Americans do not have this luxury. The reason why African Americans feel this strong sense of responsiblity is not because of African Americans but rather because of how we will all be perceived by the white community as a result.
I think Shanon articulated it very well. Certain groups are ones you choose to join, but being BLack is not one of them. I do not have the priviledge to disassociate myself from being black. When one person of my raace does something negative I am automatically type-casted. Furthermore, I do not think that all groups share the same feelings when they are misrepresented. When a political party or religious affiliation is misrepresented there is a feeling of embarassment. But when African Americans are misrepresented there is so much more.
I think that Shannon and Jasmine are both right, but Christa's post brings up something very important regarding the construction of the white privileged, and while these construction may not be so concrete and oppressive in other systems of privilege, they operate in the same way. The structure of institutionalized racism is founded on stereotypes which alienate and objectify their target. Albert Memmi addresses this when he says that the colonized are given the "mark of the plural," which reduces them to a preconceived identity. The mark of the plural can be applied to any group about which stereotypes or generalizations can be formed, but the mark is only oppressive to the extent to which it penetrates into cultural and governmental institutions. This is what occurred with blacks, where their stereotypes, their mark of the plural, became institutionalized, which was done at first through slavery, and then laws such as the Jim Crow laws more recently through media portrayals. Their identity is currently set, and diametrically opposite, it seems, sits the white, who is beneficent and noble, and about whom there are very few stereotypes. White people (I'm speaking only within the context of race) don't have to constantly struggle transcend a ridiculous and inferior identity that has been unjustly assigned to them. They are individuals, and to prove it they have the millions of other white individuals who consume the pages of the history books. This seems to be how racial institutionalization has panned out in the grand scheme of things, where the mark of the plural, which is reduces one (or elevates on, I suppose in the case of white people) reduces one to something one is not.
ReplyDeleteI think there are similarities between groups as defined by Christa and racial groups. We do feel ownership with the groups we associate, whether that is a sororiey or a football team. Unfortunately, there are differences between social or cultural groups and race, and several of these were discussed in the above comments. Another distinction that I could think of is that groups we associate with, have been built on positive experiences of the group (whether that is being Catholic, or a sororiety, etc.) Thus, when something negative happens, yes it reflects badly on the group, but the group takes solace by knowing all the good it has done. For the black race, it was labeled by whites throughout history as inferior, or poorer moral character, etc. Thus, when something bad happens to the group, the majority (whites) feel that the action of the individual validates the preconceived (and wrong) assumptions labeled to the group. It is probably similar to the American Indian although the constructs are different. There are examples of "bad" social groups such as the Nazis...that still exist. I would maintain that many of these "bad boy" groups exist because the members like their label. It does not bother them that bad labels are attached. Thus, these groups cannot be held to the same accountability as others we have discussed. My final comment on this topic, as reflected in the posts, is that there is a degree of "hyper-acuity" that is unfortunately present in today's society among the blacks. I understand why it is there after the past several hundred years. However, I certainly don't judge my black friends by what I read in the newspaper or see on the news. I think that is something that continues to change from our parent's generation. However, the more we write about these things and discuss them, the more it will dampen that "acuity" that has been carved so deeply and sadly into American culture.
ReplyDeleteWith regard to Jasmine's post, I'm not sure that I agree with the fact that people automatically associate the actions of an African-American with the African-American community at large any more so than they might with the white community, asian community, middle-eastern community, etc. While I certainly agree that the distinction between identification with a race and with other organization that one chooses to associate with, the difference between the various races seems negligible at least in my experience. More importantly though, I don't think that people fabricate the link between a person's actions and that person's race as often as people in this thread seem to think that they do. While one might identify with a person if they feel a link to them with regard to some sort of injustice (this often seems to be the case when there is a perceived racial injustice involved in a criminal investigation), generally it seems as though there's not any sort of attachment to a given race just as the result of the color of an offender.
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ReplyDeleteIn response to Steven's comment I was not saying that this sense of responsiblity is exclusively an African American issue but I used that because it is what I am most familair with. I still have to disagree that the white community fels the same kind of responsibility as African Americans or any other minority group for that matter. While there may be a sense of responsibility the degree to which it is felt by a minority group is more substantial. Steven's comment also made me think of another point of issue which are stereotypes. This question is posed to anyone who chooses to answer. Are stereotypes fabricated generalizations or are they more authentic characterizations of a group or race?
ReplyDeleteI'd say stereotypes are over-generalized attributions of certain characteristics or features to a particular group. Though they might be fabricated....I don't know if they have to be, since it does seem to me like stereotypes are typically based off some sort of actual experience (something like, only the 4 asian students in my math class of 15 earn As), albeit a strong misreading of that significance of that experience and extrapolating far beyond the experience itself (all asians are predisposed to do well or better in math).
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