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May 18, 2006
Unaffirmative Action
In one of my classes this term, we are reading Iris Young's Justice and the Politics of Difference. Long story short, Young is a strong feminist who defines oppression and begins by describing oppressed groups within society and ways they are oppressed. You either read this book and agree wholeheartedly or disagree completely.
Do you think you live in a patriarchal, racist, and classist society? Then, this book is for you. If you think the world if perfect, you will say this book is simply about victimization and whining --you might even say minorities need to "shut up" and "pull themselves up by their bootstraps."
We've only had one class discussion on the book so far. I think there are three more to go. I'm not looking forward to it. Last time, I almost broke down in tears. It's really difficult at times to not only have to speak for yourself, but for your race, and all minorities in general. I was deeply surprised when the professor asked the class to explain one way that a person of darker skin faced oppression in everyday life and all he received were blank stares.
This is one of the difficulties I have as self-proclaimed "ethnic" student in a white dominated large public university in a liberal studies class. I always feel like I can read the material three times over, but I'm at a disadvantage just coming into the class, so I'm working harder to get the grades that the other students easily take for granted. Often, I will work on a paper for seven hours, just to have the professor read it for ten minutes, and then give me a C, explaining to me that "it just felt like a C paper." How can I improve? The only reply I get is, "I suggest you start from scratch."
Today in class, we'll talk about affirmative action, and I know that will be a little less than heartbreaking for me. I don't know if I don't look ethnic to my classmates, or if they simply ignore me, but it is clear that many of them think that Asians are better-off than whites, so Asians deserve the opposite of affirmative action. The Washington Post say Asians are already in that situation.
Posted by Stacy on May 18, 2006 09:18 AM | Filed In: Ethnicity
Comments
As a filipino American student in U North Dakota, I find myself in your position as well. A person may come up to say to the effect:
Your ancestors were killed/oppressed (insert negative action here). What's your preferable method for revenge?
I tell them off of my immigrant experience and it is in the most positive light. I am not oppressed. The reason why I would be
in school is get my degree for the work force. With the liberal posturing of "caring" about me, Fish I would be a looser till
the day I die. It's a perpetual motion machine of the liberals. Not only do they get votes by justifying policy on race, since
race can't be changed, WELL that must mean YOUR a perpetual looser! What the so-called objective Professors have in mind is to make
me into the sounding board of their political digressions in class. As a result I am one of the most vocal Republicans in
any of my classes. These guys are really sneaky!
Meecher is wrong on so many levels. The conflict between Christians and Muslims isn't racist. It's a culture war. The Darfur rapes
weren't caused by Arabs acting against Africans. The culture of Islam breeds people that allows "infidels" to be killed in the name of their
God...What God is that! It is a God-concept that is actively bastardized from its Abhrahamic roots on a daily basis by radical imams. They are
irreconcilable and need to be dealt with accordingly.
Your Professor's dismissal of your work is probably a sign of confusion of good work ethic over emotionally-based work. There
is another "Iris" you should know about and that is Iris Chang. Do not be that woman. She researched an emotionally volatile
subject of Japanese invasion of China. Having gathered her knowledge through hard work of first-person interviews and
faded memory accounts she wrote a book about Chinese victimization. She became the activist by putting herself in the shoes of the
oppressed past individual. A bright woman who worked hard with every opportunity she recognized, and unfortunately her emotion
got the better of her and commited suicide. Consider it a bottleneck within any work ethic by being emotionally attached to the
subject.
The funny thing with emotion is that it tends to make a person stick to a certain subject rather than move on. Think
of this as a model for thought. I am a transcendent soul. Things that benefit me stick to me. Things that are bad are actively
thrown out. I exit buildings with the same clothes on my back that have when I entered. I may shake hands, exchange numbers, and all
that is expected of busy people in rooms, but I will get to keep the things that have brought along.
Within the measure of common law my spirit can still rise. Capitalism is the vehicle for which it rides!
p.s. DO NOT BE IRIS CHANG. Looking back at my content I've compressed too much. But for the sake of First Amendment...don't delete this.
I am not a perpetual motion machine for the ones who choose to take
what I have made. I am not oppressed.
Posted by Long Time Reader at May 18, 2006 04:16 PM
The action of affirming is a more universal and humane response.
Sure, people won't get it (discrimination), when they hear of experiences they haven't known. But I think most, with maturation, if they are considerate people, eventually will.
Posted by Kevin Hayden at May 21, 2006 06:57 AM
