Racism, classism, and diversity

   There is so much to blog about this week! It was a wonderful week full of so much excitement! First of all I am going to talk about the Adams chapters. Reading about class made me think a lot about my past and how class has affected my entire life. I was never in an upper middle class, but I can say that after my father passed away and left my mom with my brother and I, we were in the poverty class. Luckily I have a very strong mother who pulled us through and tried to give us the best life she could. However there was only so much she could do. I was always in the lower class and around lower people. In middle school and elementary I was always with the lower class people. Our  schools were pretty much divided. Once we got to high school, there was only one high school in my town so everyone got mixed in together. I started having all my classes with the rich kids yet for some reason I could never be friends with them. It was as if our class defined our friendships, our lives. I had never thought about this but now that I do, so many crazy things come to mind.
     Another thing that has been on my mind that I have been wanting to blog about is about or guest speaker on Monday. When we were asked to share in class how we felt about it I realized that the speaker had brought about several different emotions in different people. In my opinion, I saw the speaker as a very positive thing. Although I do feel that the speaker was very negative about Mart and gave us a very bad view about it, her visit brought out a really interesting topic. And although it felt that the visit from the assistant dean felt a little awkward as well, I saw her as a positive thing. Her question to Gwen brought out something positive in all of us.
    The class culture boxes were amazing! We are getting to learn so much about our classmates! It would be awesome if we had more time to go over them and learn a lot more about everyone. I can't wait to share mine next Wednesday and to see the rest of them!

Racism

    After reading both Zinn's book, Adams readings, as well as the discussions and material in class, I have been thinking more and more about how corrupt our country is. I have always been proud of being an American seeing how great this country is. But this class has completely changed my way of thinking. Zinn's book has really made an impact in me. Seeing how the Indians and the slaves were treated really angers me. the worst part about it is that things have not improved as much as they should have. The great flood information we received in class reminded me so much of Katrina! Katrina was only 7 years ago and  there was so much discrimination. I am from Galveston therefore I saw many of the Katrina refugees come into town. I volunteered with the red cross and I got to see and hear horrible things. They were all talking about all their horrible experiences and how the government did not help them. Last month I went to a comedy show and the comedian made a comment about all of the Katrina refugees who came never went back to New Orleans. He mentioned it as a joke but the truth is that they never did. And why? Because they never received the help from the government to go back. For hurricane Ike, I evacuated and they told us they did not know wether we were ever going to get back. It was my senior year and I was being told that i had to graduate in a completely different school. The thought of not going back to where I was raised in was devastating. I cannot imagine how these poor people are still feeling. This only shows how the government does not help those in need. And my only thought is that it is due to racism. All of the Katrina refugees from New Orleans were African American. And most just stayed in Galveston. Being such a wealthy country and a country with so many resources it is sad that we cannot help those in need.

from Gang member to academia

  As I watched the video from gang member to academia, i was completely shocked! I have watched so many documentaries on gangs and there is nothing but bad in them. In California there are more established gangs than what we have here in Texas therefore I always thought that those who were involved in gangs were all either going to end up in jail or dead. When I was reading the article about Victor Rios before I watched the video, I was in shock when I saw he was a professor at the University of California. As I watched the video so many thoughts came into my head. How did he do it? Why did e do it? How did he get out of a gang? Not only did this man graduate from high school, or simply graduated from college, he got his PhD! This video completely changed my views on gang members. With him helping others involved in gangs it made me realize how not all gang members chose to be that. These people that were able to change their ways was because they did not want the life they were having. Like the guy in the video said " theres always room for change. This was a great video that completely changed my way of thinking and reinforces my beliefs that one cannot judge a book by its cover. I leave you guys with another very interesting video about juvenile delinquency and education. Hope you guys like it!  

 

Racism

    As I continue to read Zinn's book, I get more and more amazed at the reality of our country's history. It is clear to me that racism has existed since the beginning of the United States history however I did not quite understand the reasons and the severity. As a Catholic it makes me so sad to see that even the priests and bishops did not see any wrong in having slaves. How could they go on with this seeing how they were being treated? If they knew that God loves everyone the same way why did they continue to do it?
The hardest part for me to understand is how the slaves were brought to the Americas. How can people be so cruel and put them in those conditions? So many died and yet they continued to bring in more and more because they were still getting profit. Zinn mentions that Africa lost 50 million citizens due to death and slavery.
    The natives in Mexico, the natives in the U.S., and the African slaves were all treated in a very cruel way by people of "white skin". Why? For the simple fact that they were dark skinned, different and not from Europe like everyone else. The more I think about it it angers me to think that even after all those deaths and all that cruelty, segregation lasted until the 20th century and racism still goes on today. History is there to teach us a lesson, to remind us of the mistakes we have made in the past, and to guide us towards a better future. Didn't we learn from our ancestors? Why did segregation continue and why does racism still exist today? Even if racism towards African Americans is diminishing, hatred towards Hispanics is increasing. With illegal immigration Americans are becoming more and more resentful towards the hispanic community. We not only see if in our citizens but also in our leaders. The presidential candidates are stressing their plans on immigration and their views on that issue are the ones that will determine their future. I will leave you guys with two videos on racism and immigration. Tell me what y'all think :)

Guest Speaker Diane!

    Our guest speaker today Diane was great! i really enjoyed the beginning exercise and I think that was were a lot of the discussions came from. One of the issues that stood out to me the most was how when we were asked if we agreed or disagreed that poverty was a social problem everyone agreed. However, when we were asked if wealth was a social issue a lot of people disagreed. When I saw this, the first thing that came to my mind was " how is poverty a social issue but not wealth?" As I began to think about it more I realized that maybe some people just thought that wealthy people are happy and don't really have issues. I disagree. Wealthy people suffer from depression and many other disorders because of so much wealth they have. Wealth is also an issue for those who don't have it.
     Another very interesting thing that Diane mentioned was how a person in uniform can be as violent as they want but that as soon as they took that uniform off, they were criminals. I had never thought about it this way and I could not agree with her more. Another issues that really caught my attention was the one about the Penn State coach. When I first heard about the issue of course I thought about the children. But as the news became bigger and bigger, I noticed that they only focused on the fired coach. The media kind of made us forget about the poor children and focus more on the coach. It is crazy what the media can make one do and how it can change ones mind.
    Overall I really enjoyed Diane! We discussed great issues that everyone can relate to. I would really love talking to her again. She brought up a lot of thoughts into my head and made me really think about what social justice and how social problems are.

cultural competence & History shock!!

   With Dr. Aguilar's visit, Lum's chapter 1 and 2, the race culture theory article and Zinn's book I had a big culture and history shock!
   First of all with Lum's chapter about cultural competence and social context as well as the race culture theory article that was about cultural competence, my beliefs about the importance of cultural competence were strengthen. I feel like it is commonly known that cultural competence is very important especially for a social worker. A social worker must be able to understand their clients culture and background in order to properly help them. But when I really think about it, its not that easy. Since I am bilingual, I was raised in a Mexican home but grew up in an American community. I consider myself really blessed to be table to share both cultures equally. This will be very beneficial to me as a social worker. However, not everyone is as lucky. It can become difficult for a Caucasian social worker who knows nothing about the Mexican culture to try and help a client who is having cultural issues. Also, I believe culture is a very big and often confusing thing. I at times even have trouble understanding somethings. I can't imagine how hard it would be for someone who knows nothing of the Mexican culture. I am not really sure how much and how specific cultural courses are. So far, all of my social workers have talked about culture but have not gone into specifics about it. Since the minority population in the United States is growing at a fast pace, this only shows how important cultural competence is. I believe that in order for social workers to be completely successful, there must me specific courses for each culture and they must practice with minority clients in order to help each individual. Yet again this seems very difficult as well. However, something must be done.
    Now Zinn's book, that was something else. When the professor said that Zinn's book was going to be one of the most interesting books we were going to read, I did not think I was going to like it this much! First of all, I love history! I was immediately hooked! As a Mexican, I was always taught that the Spaniards were greedy, that they took all the gold from us. However in this book, things were a lot more intense. I did not realize all of those "Indians" were killed. Not only in South American, Central America, and Mexico, but in the United States as well. This book shows how even back then there was cultural oppression. That just because the natives spoke a different language and used different weapons, they were still human beings like the Europeans. Just because they were different they should not have been treated that way. It angered me so much but it also made me realize that there is still oppression today. Some are still racist and oppressive over others of a different culture. I extremely enjoyed this book and I am really looking forward to reading the rest!