What we think
In terms of race, we have covered how we perceive different races. We also talked about how we act differently to different people based on their race and create a preconceived notion of people based on their race. Most people might not be consciously racist but they are subconsciously racist. People are always judging people based on their race and many times can’t even figure out one’s race based on appearance. We watched a video that showed us that people of different skin colors can be more similar compared to others of the same skin color. We read a few pieces on people judging others based on skin color as well and had to decide what is racist and what isn’t. We also talked about how we are racist if we try to avoid the topic of race. If we talk about skin color and our differences then we are racist and if we don’t then we are racist for ignoring it. There is no way not to be racist. Some places like colleges become racist against whites because they try to compensate by admitting minorities instead of whites with the same credentials. I believe that race is something we should talk about openly but not have a negative connotation associated with any of them.
A sociological definition of race is classifying people based on genetics. It can also be determined by geographical region. The biological one focuses on the physical aspects on the outside such as skin color, face shape, and eye color. I think the purpose of the IAT test is to show us whether or not we are a bit racist or have a certain connotation with a certain type of people. It is meant to show us that the society we live in has influenced our beliefs and led us to be unconsciously racist. I do not think that it is accurately measuring what it is trying to because it cannot judge our perceptions on different types of people by having us press a few buttons. There are too many variables involved. For example I had white and good together first and grew accustomed to it. For this reason the first few with black and good together I got wrong. At other times in the test, I couldn’t focus as much on the task because it became repetitive and tedious. What I was thinking at the time could have also slowed my reaction time. I did believe that sometimes black people could be superior athletes. I thought this because most professional players are black and they almost always seem to be faster than white people and be able to jump higher. Even recently the winner of one of the major marathons in New York was African. The winner last year was African as well. The school record holder for long jump is also black. I believe it even more now because there is scientific reasoning behind some of my assumptions that states it is partially true for black people to be better than white people at several athletic events. At the end of the day practice probably wins out but there could be a slight advantage for one athlete over another due to genetics.
There is no doubt that this class has definitely changed my view on several sociological concepts. Even if my thinking has changed for a few months and even if it reverts to my original thought process, I have come a long way from barely knowing the whole concept and ideology of sociology. Sociology teaches us not only what people think and function but also why they think and function that way. I would have to say that I have developed a sociological imagination. Some things that I see differently include looking at things such as beliefs and values from different points of view and understanding why we are a culture that places emphasis on education and material possessions instead of just not thinking about it. I also can see how some cultures think a preset caste system is fair based on their beliefs. I also have realized that gender is more of a mindset than a trait. Boys don’t always want to learn about cars and sports and girls don’t always want to play with makeup and Barbie dolls. Our culture has just instilled in us that we are to behave a certain way based on sex. A article about parents not telling anyone about their baby’s sex appeared on yahoo yesterday and the first thing I thought about was sociology. Sure enough the parents in the article stated that they don’t want society to influence their baby and want their baby to decide for itself how it would like to behave. This confirms that surroundings affect us more than our internal or hereditary positions. I have seen the effect of societies on different individuals as well. I often hear talk girls talk about their weight obsession. This is because we are taught through media like advertising that skinny is good and fat is bad. We are also led to believe that white is good and black is bad. I often hear people talk about bad neighborhoods, but instead of saying bad they substitute the word with black. A black neighborhood is understood to be a bad one.
In terms of topics I might have liked to talk about more, maybe talking about the clothing we wear, food we eat, and things of that nature might have been interesting to talk about more and get in depth in. All of these things reveal how a certain person might think and act. The idea of the looking glass self was also very interesting. We could also have talked about how most people are who they think others want them to be instead of themselves. I also enjoyed the section we had on people living with animals and how it changed their interaction with others. This once again showed us that society is the most influential things in our lives. There aren’t really any topics that I would have liked to spend less time on.
No comments:
Post a Comment