Problem Definition Analysis

1) Racism continues from generation to generation because of what our culture says to children about racial superiority. The negative conotation of race only exists in our ideology. While we can not become color-blind, the same way we cannot ignore if someone has blue eye or green, is 10 years old or 60, we can learn to love people for their differences. Hating someone for their skin color, and noticing it, are two different things.
*This site offers a general view but more importantly several interesting links:
http://www.rubak.com/article.cfm?ID=6
* I RECOMMEND YOU TAKE THIS TEST. This site takes you through a 10 minute test that measures your unconcious preference to race, presidents, old people...you name it: https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/


2) Racism used to be about fighting for "equality under the law," but now, reverse racism is taking place. The goal of these "race leaders" is to provide special quotas and privilages, like affirmative action, for their own race. These groups do not want a color-blind society, they want to make their race superior. http://www.reasonvsracism.com/


3) The fight against racism has lost ground in the past 30 years. Now, racism is more subtle and occurs despite laws against it. Today it occurs through racial profiling, police brutality, residential segregation, and employment discrimination. It is the government's job to enforce laws against these practices. http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/09/21/us.racism.ap/index.html


4) There is such a thing as a difference in races and identifying different races does not make you a racist. If you do not believe in equality between races, THEN you are racist. Therefore the problem is not in the idea of race existing...because it does. http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=983


5) There is only one race in the world...the Human Race. There are 3 types of racists: the open racist, the covert racist, and the unconscious racist. It is fear from these groups that keeps racism alive and groups apart.
*Even if you don't agree with this general statement, this site has several good links to many different view points* http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Hills/8908/rframe.htm

Research Action Posts 2/8/06-"Modern Racism"

Sadie's Post on Racism:
Hello group,I wanted to just offer my own perspective, which is based partially on a prejudice class I took last year. I think it's interesting to think about the ways that prejudice (racism in particular) is different today than it was even 20 years ago. Often racism is not expressed through direct hostility but rather passive avoidance. There is some work by Patricia Devine and colleagues that suggests that there is a difference between explicit prejudice (which the person is aware of) and implicit prejudice (which the person may not be aware of and is harder to fight) (You can find some of her articles online at Google scholar). Implicit prejudice might be expressed in more subtle ways such as taking a seat on a bus next to a person of your own race. But these subtle forms of racism can be self-perpetuating since they decrease contact between races, making it harder for us to disconfirm each others' biases. How do the solutions to prejudice change depending on whether we conceptualize prejudice as overt or more subtle? Do you think it might be harder to change one or the other? Just some thoughts I have...

My Response:
I am glad that you brough this up because I definately think that for the majority of the country, racism is implicit. I also believe that because this is the case, it is harder to fight. If people are not aware that they too hold these internal beliefs or are afraid to admit them, it becomes more difficult to know where to begin in solving the problem. I think that for the explicit racism, that is where the law needs to get involved-to stop such things as hate crimes, or blantent discrimination. However, with implicit, that is where we somehow need to get into peoples' minds and aide in changing their ideology. It may be a slow process but I think the best way to start doing that is to find out first, how people formed these ideas about other races...I think the results of that would help us know where to target.

Response to Nicole:
This is a little off topic but I had to reply to Nicole's response. THANK YOU for bringing up Notre Dame. I have used that example with many people and feel the same way about what you had to say. Hahaha I say that we make shirts that say, what about the leprichaun?

My comments on other blog sites

Comment to Natasha (on Racism)*P.S. Everyone should read her page to see the article she posted. It is great for discussion and has a lot of meaningful points. And while I only posted the things or nit-picky points I disagreed with, I found a lot in the article that I agreed with.*

"I think that you have found an excellent site to comment on. Before I get into what I agree or disagree with, I have to say that I really respect the speaker for presenting the injustices he feels without racial slurs or just emotion.There was a lot in this article that raised good points (that I both agreed and disagreed with), but I will just focus on a few points that I disagreed with in order to stimulate some conversation.As to the dialect comment about the newscaster, I do not understand why it is a suprise that someone who is more easily understood, is hired. I do not mean this to be targeted at any specific race, but if I was looking to hire someone to report news in english, why should I hire a person who is incoherant to the majority of my viewers? Granted there are hundreds of American's that do not speak perfect english, but with english as the official language, shouldn't the news be presented in the its proper form?My second comment is about "reverse racism." Perhaps that is a little far to go, but in certain areas that is what it seems like. For example, let's say that a hispanic student applies to a university. He has utilized every possible form of education available to him, which was not much, but he reached the top. A caucasin student also applies, and is equal in standings to the hispanic student. However, he attended school in a richer school district that offered greater opportunities, such as AP courses. I believe that based on these scenarios, the hispanic student should be accepted...NOT because he is hispanic or poor, but because he should the most drive to use all available resources to his full potential. I do not believe though that it helps the way that people view racism by accepting equally qualified students based on race. I think that these moves for affirmative action only create resentment. The unfortunate part of this is that although I believe this, not every person accepting students thinks in these terms. It is sad that they need a university's law to tell them they should be racially fair.I hope that these comments can add to your page and spark more discussion! :) "


Comments to Naina (on Smoking)

"I am commenting to the last site that you found on meaningful differences in problem definition. I do not think that the person understands what they are arguing. They just argued that they should have the right to choose when they want to smoke, just as the bartender can choose if he wants to or not. But that's just it! With public smoking you are NOT giving the people around you a choice. They have to sit there or keep serving you, while you continue to share your unwanted secondhand smoke. That is not something THEY chose, it is something the smoker is chosing for them.On a second note, I'd like to add that I do not understand why people need to smoke while they eat...eww. "

Opposite Ways of Thinking

I disagree with the opening statement to the Anti-Hate Organization below because that is not the way to open people up to your cause. Allienating people, no matter how hateful and stubborn they may be, puts limits on how far you can spread your message.

Welcome to the Anti-Hate Organization
"The A.H.O is dedicated to promoting non-hate. We are a place where people can share their thoughts and hopefully learn something about each other and about hate. To put it bluntly, if you are racist, sexist, homophobic or other and you're not willing to change...you're not welcome here. "

Below are the Goals of the Asian American Justice Center in regards to affirmative action. I personally do not believe that we should enact affirmative action. I think when choosing between applicants for college or jobs, it should be based solely on merit. With that, I believe that where that person came from financially and in thier upbringing should be taken into account. For example, if someone came from a poor rural community, but used all of the resources available to them to reach the highest potential they could, they deserve the same consideration that someone in a rich suburban area who fulfilled their potential should get. I do not believe that realizing the qualities of someone should equal acceptance based on race...how does that end racism?

Our 2004 Goals
1. To successfully defend challenges to affirmative action as a commitment to maintaining and improving affirmative action programs as a tool to fight discrimination, promote diversity, and achieve equal opportunity for all Americans.
2. To build Asian American and public support by increasing the use of ethnic and mainstream media to promote better understanding within the Asian American community of the need for and relevance of affirmative action and to explain the implications of the multi-faceted efforts to eliminate affirmative action.

My working hypothesis of meaningful difference in problem definition

I am not really sure that I am typing what this is supposed to entail, but let me just make some general statements about what I think about certain areas of this topic and people can comment, and enlighten me from there.
I certainly do no pretend to know the hardships of feeling discriminated for my race. However, I sometimes feel that everything becomes an issue of race. I also feel that certain groups only make racial issues worse, such as the Black Panthers. I recently heard a former woman leader of the group, and it didn't take long before I felt like every person in the room that wasn't white, hated me. I had walked into the room with little mind to who I sat next to, white, black, brown, etc...it's all the same to me. But her speech actually made me think about that and look around halfway through just because I was so uncomfortable...she had brought attention to racial differences and widened the divide instead of bringing us closer together. So instead of being hated for what my ancestors did, I think it is more important to focus on the future.
I suppose my meaningful definition is that we need to offer aid to those that need it in order to get to level ground with the majority in this country, but avoid giving special privilages to people of ANY race because that sadly only creates resentment, and does not make problems go away.

Wiki Problem Definition analysis

Commonalities: From viewing the Wiki responses, we all seem to agree that racism does exist and that the community needs to be aware of it in order to take steps that lead to its end. Although the degree of racism may differ from area to area, it also seems to be agreed that it exists everywhere.

Differences: The huge difference on this topic is what causes it exactly, and how to solve it. The causes are similar despite their variations-difference in opinion, up bringing, skin color, stereotypes, ignorance-, however very few people offer solutions. And once solutions are brought up, I believe that is where we will see the major difference in opinion.

Model Ways of Thinking: Some examples or models of ways that people think:
-A racism problem doesn't exist.
-It is a hierarchial issue
-It is inherant to society
-You can/cannot change the way people think
-It is an issue, but not a main concern
-It only exists in rural areas
-It is all over the world, not just the United States

Wiki Comments

Racism: Growing up in white suburbia, I never really saw the racial issues that so many people in this country preach. I understood that certain areas had problems, but did not think it was as bad as some made it seem. More and more I am discovering the hardships that occur for different races. I feel that discrimination affects all people, even whites. By making our nation truely colorblind, I think that we need to start in the education system by teaching the children of the future to think differently about all people. I take pride in being American, but this is a shameful part of American History the needs to end its existence in the present.

Smoking: When I was little, I used to stick my head out of the window while I was driving in the car with my Grandma. I let her think that I just liked the wind whipping in my face like a dog on a car ride. Well that was partly true, the other part to the story is that I could not stand her smoking cigarrettes and didn't want to hurt her feelings by telling her. I am very sensitve to smells and cigarette smoke is just something that irritates me and gives me an almost instant headache. If other people choose to smoke, why should I have to walk through and entrance/exit or sit in a resturant and share it? Whatever reason appeals to them that made them start smoking (the added health risks or merely the outrageous cost of the habit) is fine for them, but I want no part of it.

Volunteering-Engagement: Too often people get sucked into their own little melodramatic lives and do not see what is going on around them. It is important to get involved in your community. While volunteering is important, not everyone is built for working with children of mental retardation. Start out small if that helps, understand the laws being voted on in your town meetings, or help out with organizing your local carnivals. If everyone took a little time out of thier day to be involved in something more, I think that they would find a lot more meaning in their lives.

Spousal Violence/Intimate Partner Violence (One form of 'Domestic' or 'Family' Violence): I think that most people that are in an abusive relationship do not realize it. So many people think of physical abuse that they forget the most important part of the body can be abused too...the mind. A spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend is often the closest person to you. You see something in that person that made you want to make them an intimate part of your life. Therefore, any violation of the trust and support that should exist in such a relation ship needs to be brought out into the open so that it can stop. The more that people are aware of such occurances, the better they will be able to look for signs of it in their own relationship without being blinded by love