ethnicity

I want you to write a (somewhat) more personal blog this week. Think of an experience in your own life that you would describe as having to do with ethnicity, race, or racism. It might have involved you, or you might have been a witness. Alternatively, you may have just read about something that struck you in a particular way. It could be positive, negative, or neutral. And remember -- everyone has a race/ethnicity, not just racial and ethnic minorities.

So. In your blog, I want you to:

1. Describe the experience/event/state of things

2. Apply one or more of the theories discussed in Chapter 9 (Mansfield) to it.
You can use a psychoanalytic perspective (e.g. Spillers), a Foucauldian perspective (e.g.
Mama), Spivak, Fanon, and/or something that Mansfield himself discusses.

Think critically, and remember that talking about race isn't racist. However, choosing to not talk about race is a privilege of those in the unmarked category.

Last summer I took a class at the university of colorado. The class was about the social construction of identity in the US. I walked in on the first day knowing that people who take summer classes tend to be different from those who take normal classes. I assumed my seat and waited for class to begin. An older woman late 40's early 50's entered into the classroom. She was a black woman with springy gray hair. I thought: huh, interesting maybe she is taking classes for fun, or something like that. Turns out she was our professor, she was a guest professor from CU Denver where she is the chair of the communication department. I felt stupid for making the assumptions I did. In a one on one meeting with her later in the term I confessed to her my initial perceptions. She laughed and said she wasn't all that surprised. This seemingly insignificant event has been in my mind since it occurred.It seems to have some sort of significance in terms of how i have organized the world around me. Mansfield discusses postcolonial discourse in this section and the perceptions we make about the subalterns. In my reality having a black woman professor was very fringe. I had not had one at the university of colorado, I don't remember ever seeing one prior to this event. Thus I had constructed that These women were not professors at this university. I had constructed the typical professor in my ind and she did not fit. I assumed that black women would be students not teachers. I assumed these roles were all encompassing. This was a stretch and i am not sure how i came to the conclusions i did. At Hawaii Pacific University i had two black female professors in one year. Upon transferring to CU i had none. The campuses were markedly different in terms of the diverse make up of the student body and it is in this fact that i think my challenge lies. When we see the other as part of our community it is easier to expect them to play a role within the community which is part of what mansfield is saying in the subaltern section. My prior experiences superseded by my current suroundings and i failed to identify her group as part of the community with which i belonged. Although not completely as i was able to identify her as a student just not as a professor.

All in all it was an embarrassing learning tool and a great class. I think it helped prepare me for this one. Dr Allen is one of my favorite professors i have taken a class from.