This assignment contained two readings, so I will begin by first discussing my views on Armstrong and Wildman's   Colorblindness in the new racism.   Reading this article was difficult for me, it brought to light that although I always considered myself to not be racist, I do fit into the profile of colorblindness.  As quoted by the authors " If a racist is a person who categorizes based on race to the detriment of non-whites then, whites reason how can they be discriminating if they do not think about no -whites in a derogatory manner, especially when they are thinking about race at all".  This particular quote touched a nerve with me because I always considered myself as non racist because I don't see color at all I just see people.  However this author argues that not seeing race, and not doing anything about the discrimination's that non-whites face is pretty much the same thing.  The exercises that the students did concerning paying attention to discrimination's or white privileges they saw for a 24 hour period really opened my eyes up to the everyday struggles or privilege's that I encounter myself that I don't pay attention to.  For instance, one of the students spoke of going to a nail salon where Asians work, and observing how most people do not speak to or barely acknowledge the men or women whom are waiting on them.  Thinking back to the many times I myself have gone to these salons I can safely say that I have observed and participated in the same behavior.  Because of the language barrier and fear of being insensitive when I don't understand what they are saying, I myself have avoided conversing with these men and women.  I am always very polite but the conversation is usually pretty null and void.  Another quote from the article, pg 67 " White fear creating the impression that they are insensitive or prejudiced".  Is this me?  Am I colorblind?  Am I part of the new form of racism?   When I think back to Johnson I realize that he hit the nail on the head when he said that " we don't have a complete understanding of the problems we are all facing regarding gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity and social class".    Both authors also touch on the fact that it is difficult and uncomfortable to talk about race, however, Armstrong and Wildman state that " because colorblindness has become the new touchstone in race discourse it is more difficult than ever to recognize discrimination and talk about it" .  This again struck a chord with me because now I feel as though by participating in colorblindness, I am also participating in discrimination.   This article, however does believe that there is a way to work on overcoming colorblindness, and that is called color insight.  Color insight is defined by the authors on pg 67 as " Color insight admits that most of us do see race and underlines the need to understand what that racial awareness might mean".    They even go into 4 steps to developing color insight on page 65.   These steps are "considering context for any discussion about race, examining systems of privilege, unmasking perspectivelessness and white normativeness, and combating stereotyping and looking for the me in each individual".  While reading this article I kept thinking of the song Free your mind by En Vogue, which I am including here.



My favorite quote from this article is from pg 67, " Society cannot battle a phantom that it cannot recognize and name".   We can name it, it has been named as color blindness, now lets start to fix it.   Lastly on this article I am attaching a link that is a movie that is mentioned in the article, but also really supports the premises of the article that we don't realize how extensive the problems of race our in our culture.  This is Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible.

     Next on the assignment was All lives matter by Kevin Roose.  This article/blog has to do with people changing the slogan of Black Lives Matter to All Lives Matter and how this is again taking a movement that was designed to bring light the racism that African Americans face and making about whites.   Black Lives Matter is not just a slogan, but a movement that was started in 2013 to bring attention to the police brutality that black people face.  As Roose states " saying all lives matter is willfully going back to ignoring the problem.  It's a way of dismissing the statement by falsely suggesting that it means only black lives matter when that is clearly not the case".  This movement was started for a reason, can't we as people realize that that reason is important and stop trying to diminish what this movement actually means and stands for?  Are we that ignorant and uncomfortable that we can't even admit that this is a legitimate movement and leave it as it is and maybe support it instead of trying to change it to be more socially acceptable?

I truly enjoyed reading this excerpt from Johnson book and I completely agree with everything he had to say.  I agree with him that we don't have a a complete understanding of the problems we are facing regarding gender, race, sexual orientation, ethnicity and social class.  As Johnson states we are ll stuck in out social class mindset but unfortunately it is not something we have created but rather has been passed down to us from generation to generation.  The author also states that " as a species we are creative, generous, loving, helpful, and adaptable".  Yet we are still unable to provide an answer to Rodney King's exasperated question of " Can't we all just get along"?  The author admits that he himself has fallen into the trap of being able to openly discuss these social issues while working with an African American woman with whom he was teaching a class on with regarding this very subject.  SO if he is having a hard time how are we, the average person supposed to step up and start making changes.  How do we go about not pitting people against each other, especially when competitiveness is humanly ingrained in each of us.  How do we get these conversations started without putting people on the defense or offending others?  How do we open up "privilege to everyone so that there is no more privilege just humans?  These are some of the questions that came to mind while I was reading.  Just a few sidebars.  Johnson talks about how blacks have to learn how white males live and respond so that they can please them, especially the cops.  My son has a friend who is multiracial and there was an incident at school.  Long story short, his fathers response was "I was about his age when my father had the talk with me about being a black man and how we need to work harder to stay out of trouble".  When the mom of this boy, who I might add is one of the most amazing, well behaved and caring boys I have ever met, told me this it broke my heart.  But unfortunately it just goes to show that the world, as much as we want it to, is not changing.  Our children are continuing with these same stigmas and it needs to stop.  The author argues that its easy for the white privileged heterosexual male to take a back seat and not work on solving these problems, when in reality they are the ones with the power to do so.  I am including a short excerpt from a stand up that Chris Rock did on being black,  Please note that there is strong language and if you will be offended than please don't watch it.  But as I was reading this article, this popped into my mind and I had to share it  .

 I also am including the wiki site for the plot of Watermelon man, which a movie mentioned by the author that I haven't seen so I looked it up to read what it was about Watermelon Man.   I am looking forward to discussing this in class!!!  I believe that the author is arguing the point that it is easy for the white heterosexual privileged male to take a backseat and not work on solving the problems, but they are the also the ones who have the power to solve the problems.

Hello!!!  My name is Danya.  I am an RN and currently working as a substitute nurse for the Coventry, Johnston and Lincoln school systems.  I am working to get my SNTC through RIC.  I have been married for 12 years this year and I have a son named Patrick who will be turning 11.   I love my family and spend all of my time with them.  I come from an Italian American family so I have a large extended family but I also have 3 siblings, I am the oldest.  My husband also comes from a large family and has 4 siblings so my son Patrick has a ton of aunts and uncles and cousins.  I am also currently working per diem at Oakland Grove in Woonsocket, where I work with dementia patients which I love.  I originally went to school for Marketing and Management, where I obtained my BS at JWU.  I worked in management for approximately 15 years, both while I was in college and once I graduated.  After having my son I decided I no longer wanted to be in management but I wanted to change careers and become a nurse.  My husband completely supported my decision and now I am truly doing what I love.   When I actually have free time I love to read, and I actually have a room dedicated as a Library in my house because I have so many books.    I am nervous and excited to begin this class and start my first blogging experience!!