Can you guess my race?

In class this week we discussed race. The activity we did online where we had to place people into different races based on a small picture was eye opening. We hardly placed any of the people into their correct classification. My one friend, who is black (far right), gets mistaken on what race she is often. People will ask her if she's part Asian, Filipino, or even Caucasian. She told me the other black kids at her school don't accept her as one of them because A) she hangs out with more white kids and B) they think she is only half black. One time she was at the gas station and the cashier asked her what race she is. Her response: "I'm black". The cashier was shocked and asks her: "Are you sure?" Of course she's SURE. Her only response to that man was: "What the hell??" She couldn't believe that someone would be so ignorant to not even believe her when she tells them the truth of her race. There are many different degrees of black. There is coffee bean black which is the darkest of all, mostly native Africans, and there is all the way to mocha black which is so light it's more of a milky chocolate. She said that on her dad's side of the family there are people that have even lighter skin tones than she does, and they're still considered black. Her one uncle is actually albino so his skin appears white in pigment even though he is really black. Same goes for Caucasian and Asian. For white people the spectrum can go from olive-like dark skin all the way to pasty ghost white while Asians can be anything from Korean to Chinese to Japanese and still be simply classified as Asian. I can tell how frustrated my friend gets when people question her race, in fact I even get mad for her. To me, since I know her well, I can CLEARLY tell she is 100% black. She even invited me over for Kwanzaa this year so I can get the full African experience with her and her family. For me, even though I am not largely Native American, people tell me all the time, "No you're not". Truthfully, I am Native American but others just have a hard time believing it because physically I don't look the part. Sorry, just because it's in my blood doesn't mean it's in my skin too...

Monopoly Class

This week in class we played monopoly based on social class with regulated rules. For my groups case, the richer only became richer and the poor became poorer while everyone seemed to remain in their original social class. This just goes to prove how hard it is to move between social classes in society. Typically if you start out with money, if you're born into it, it is easier to become successful and harder to lose big. Those who play smart, take risks, and have some luck are those who tend to move up in social class. Same goes for real life. This game was a perfect example to show the structure of the economic ladder and just how difficult it is to move out of poverty or out of wealth. For some people this may be a huge let down while for others it is more of a safety blanket. But there are those cases in which people move down in social class, but that is mostly due to poor decisions with a bit of bad luck too. Also, those people who started off with more property were able to gain more from rent and also able to afford more land. This just goes to show how big companies survive at a higher rate as opposed to privately owned ones. There are mass branches of target and its great success while it beats out those smaller businesses trying to become a part of the business world. However there are those few cases where these small stores do survive, yet not as often as the chain ones. Basically we should not look down on those in poverty because most likely it is not their fault, we should rather try to help them.

Social Class

When we were watching the video this week in class it was hard to believe that some of those people were being serious. The crude remarks the "high class" ranked ladies and gentlemen made were unreal. By saying because of their lifestyle and money they are automatically smarter, better looking, nicer, and have more friends was the most pompous and ridiculous statement I've ever heard. Personally by watching the video and the "old money" upper class people's lives it seemed boring, stuck up, and there was no room for error. If you were not born into that life style, you don't belong there. Same goes for if a person was born rich but was then kicked out of their house for any reason and forced to live with low income, they wouldn't be able to fit into a poverty stricken class because that's just not their life style. I don't like how it is unrealistic to move between class levels just because of who your family is or what you represent. Class is something that society puts in too high of esteem. It shouldn't matter how much money you have or where you're from, people are people. We should make friends based on the person, not their class. Anyone who is willing to be a friend to another should be able to be friends with that person, and not resist because their "class" told them to or not to be. I don't feel the reality of class is as apparent in our area as if someone from the city were to visit the suburbs around here because it would be harder for them to fit in and feel equal. Overall, I do not approve of social class because it is just a refined version of the ancient caste system, which did not last.