Social Justice Event

I completed my social justice event paper on the Whiteness Project. This project is an assortment of videos by different white/Caucasian citizens who speak about their opinions on race. The videos begin with the candidate suggesting that most white people are afraid or intimidated to say they are proud of their heritage in being white. The idea of white privilege and white’s being guilty of “having power” is a big deal. The next candidate that left an impact on me said, “More than 40% of white Americans say ‘many’ or ‘almost all’ black men are violent.” For the most part I am totally against this statement, but in situations where I am in the middle of a bad area and the population is predominantly black males, I get a little frightened myself.

I related this event to three readings and Lisa Delpit's "Silenced Dialogue," Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, and Allan Johnson's Privilege, Power, and Difference. I chose Delpit’s Silenced Dialogue because here Delpit looks at the culture of power within schools and the significance of teachers often coming from different social and cultural backgrounds than those of the students with whom they work. I believe this relates to the Whiteness project because there they all discuss the culture of power although this is not so much in the classroom but on the “streets.” One quote that stood out to me that relates to this issue states, "they (white people) won't listen; white folks are going to do what they want to do anyway. It's really hard. They just don't listen well. No, they listen, but they don't hear - you know how your mama used to say you listen to the radio, but you hear your mother? Well they don't hear me." Honestly I find this to be very true; I think white people find themselves viewing what they do as the correct way versus anyone else’s.

 The next reading I related it to is Peggy McIntosh's White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack. I found the idea behind this reading was very powerful. I loved the list of examples of "White Privilege" in McIntosh's everyday life. This list relates to this event, but two in particular stood out to me. For example, "if a traffic cop pulls me over or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race" and  "I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me." I come from a town that is not very diverse and I have heard these two phrases in my everyday life. These quotes prove white’s believe they have more power and authority, but most of the time they don’t realize it until situations like this come up.

The last reading I related to was Johnson's Privilege, Power, and Difference. In Johnson's piece he makes a statement, which talks about the social issues in our world and how it is up to us to either make it worse or fix it. According to Johnson, "[A] great deal of trouble surrounds issues of difference in this society, trouble relating to gender and race [...] All of use are part of the problem. There is no way to avoid that as long as we live in this world. But we could also make ourselves part of the solution if only we knew how." I chose this quote because it reminds me of this website. This issue of race can only change if we want it to. Everyone has the power.

As I sat in the dining hall at school completing this assignment, I decided to take a look around. Usually whenever I am alone on campus, I people watch, but now that I think about I find myself watching but not actually observing. Today I decided to observe. As I look around there are people of all different kinds of races surrounding me; whites, blacks, Asians, Hispanics, etc. I see a table full of Asians sitting together whispering; I see a mixture of black and white soccer players laughing; I see a table full of Latino/ Hispanic females talking; and I see a table full of white girls with their MacBook’s and coffees, gossiping. In the moment I felt as though I was in high school again. There were “cliques” everywhere! Is this what the real world stays like? Do we stick to our races? Is it because we feel equal and comfortable in these groups? It is quite mind-blowing because you think the idea of separation of race is going away, but it is the opposite. 

Another outside source I found that relates to this event I found on YouTube, “What is White Privilege? Here’s What People On The Streets Have To Say.” I found this video to be interesting. The interviewer’s final question was directed to those not white, she asked, how would you feel/ what would you do if you could be white for a day? Or where do you think you would be if you were born white? Their reactions were astonishing, all answered with positivity. They thought they would have had a better life as well as treated with more respect. That tells you something. The last outside source is my personal experience. I recently started waitressing at a well-known restaurant. 
The other day a huge African American family came in and was placed in my section. I was very nervous, but it was not at all because they were African American, but because I am new, I hate big parties. This family complained about everything under the sun, thus I had to get my manager involved. When I was talking to another waitress she said, “they are complaining because they want free food, that’s what black people do.” I just kind of starred at her in amazement, how could someone say that? I did not believe that at all. Another comment I received was, “Sam, I hope you know you aren’t getting a tip.” These comments made me feel very uncomfortable. At the end of their stay, I went over and said thank you and they asked me about school and how I liked working at Applebee’s. Then after they left I saw they left me almost a 50% tip. People are so quick to judge others. One of my favorite quotes is, “what you say about a person says more about you than that person.”