Blog Post 9- Mentzer

 Zabalegi et. al.'s piece raises a really great point in saying, "The coronavirus only emphasizes an already ongoing care crisis, the profound and planned capitalist inertia of invisibility, gendering, and racialization of care. In Euskal Herria, feminists felt that there was no structural direction that government officials had set for individuals who are marginalized during the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. They were yet again experiencing what it is like to live though a structural care crisis where the health of these individuals are not prioritized. The feminists in this nation had to take their own actions towards care and health of their people because no one else was going to. They state, "We believe that it is necessary to organize ourselves socially to organize care among all, and at the same time address the needs of people without representation. We are ready to work. We will only get out of this together" (Zabalegi 2). 

I find it to be so upsetting, yet extremely powerful that this group of feminists took it upon themselves to attempt to get proper care and health benefits for their people. It is absolutely unfair that our healthcare system is structured to really only support those who are financially able to afford it. These women had to take initiate, recognize their underprivileged state during the pandemic, and take actions to solve this on their own. Healthcare should be equally accessible for ALL individuals. I can remember seeing during the pandemic which communities were the most effected by the virus. And it was always communities that were poor and underrepresented. It is so upsetting that this is the way that we live- only supporting those who can support themselves. 

Zabalegi, Maite Arraiza & Lober, Brooke, "A Communique From Basque Country in the Time of Coronavirus." Commune, 2020. 

Blog Post 9 - Ramsey

 In the article titled "ACT UP, Haitian Migrants, and Alternative memories of HIV/AIDS" by Karma R. Chavez, the depiction of the over 300 detained political refugees that tested positive of HIV, as well as the activism that followed from the ACT UP group as well is expressed. Throughout this piece there is more and more details surrounding the detention centers in which many Haitian migrants were detained in Guantanamo by the orders that the United States would not allow an HIV positive individual into the country. While stuck in the process of trying to get into the country, many people were either struck down and sent back to Haiti, or rarely, given asylum into the United States. Going forward, the ACT UP organization was an essential part of ending Haitian imprisonment due to positive results, and while helping people get out, they also used the collective voices of those affected by this to speak out regarding their treatment from the US government. 

I was surprised after reading this piece because I simply had no idea that there were quite literally "modern day concentration camps" (Chavez, 1). Especially in relation to something as serious as HIV, learning more about just how horrible the treatment of these people were simply because they tested positive is unfathomable. I think that this overall ties back into the concept of how people that are not white simply do not and will not get the same treatment - especially medically or in the world of healthcare. 

Chavez, Karma R. “ACT UP, Haitian Migrants, and Alternative Memories of HIV/AIDS.” The Quarterly Journal of Speech, vol. 98, no. 1, 2012, pp. 63–68, https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2011.638659.

Blog Post 9 - November

The focus of the article by Zabalegi and Lober focuses on collectivization efforts led by women in the Basque region of western Europe, as well as their response to the coronavirus pandemic. The article begins with the phrase, "It's time to seize the means of care" an overt reference to the writings of Karl Marx, who called workers to "seize the means of production." The phrase is most commonly linked with communist projects, but also applies to most efforts of worker collectivization and empowerment. The article discusses how Basque women have faced both violence from men, as well as the strain put on themselves and others by the coronavirus pandemic. The article discusses how problems are often addressed by governments and other institutions with an individual approach, rather than a collective one. This can both be very isolating, and can also increase the pressures of inequality, as those in privilege have access to more tools to address their individual concerns, while in contrast, a collective approach would allow marginalized people to support one another and build power through community rather than individual privilege.

One continuing difficulty faced by many collectivist movements, as well as the main focus of the article is the difficulty in "rising up" and creating lasting, or systemic change. Many of our societies are structured in a way in which to present any fundamental change to their structure as impossible. The status quo is treated as "the way things have always been, and always will be, rather than just one step in on the path to the improvement of the lives of the people. Most governments and institutions oppose any potential shakeups in their protected systems of privilege and power, because those in charge directly benefit from them, and many are even willing to incite or participate in violence, intimidation and suppression in order to prevent change to the status quo. Collectivist movements find their greatest strength in numbers, and the argument made in this article intends to build strength for these groups by explaining their struggle and extending their communicative reach.

Zabalegi, Maite Arraiza & Lober, Brooke, "A communique from Basque Country in the time of Coronavirus." Commune, 2020.

Blog Post 9

    In the article “A Communique From Basque Country in the Time of Coronavirus” by Zabalegi et al. the author discusses how in Euskal Herria a discourse has been brought up about their concerns with their healthcare systems. They talk about how there is a need for a reevaluation and redistribution of care, but covid-19 finally made people realize how badly it was needed. I think this is related to narrative ethics and how sometimes we need to shape the story so that others can relate to it through their experiences. The author states, “One of the main demands of the feminist movement, in and beyond Euskal Herria, is the need to ‘put life at the center’” (Zabalegi et al., 2020). They are trying to create and spread a narrative of putting one's life first and how there is a need to shift the narrative that is currently being spread. 

For a different class, I am currently doing a project on domestic violence in the U.S. While I was researching I found a lot of information about how the systems that are in place are not very effective in helping the victims. There are many different systems that are set up to work against helping women and encouraging them to get help. For example, some don't have insurance, and others who do, when they go in are sometimes not listened to for what they really need or believe. Also considering the number of people affected by domestic violence there isn't nearly enough resources or funding to effectively help all of them.

“A Communique from Basque Country in the Time of Coronavirus.” Commune, 4 Apr. 2020,https://communemag.com/a-communique-from-basque-country-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/

Blog Post 9

 Kira Newman's article, Five Science Backed Strategies to Build Resilience, was very insightful into how we can become more resilient in the face of trauma. One of her points is to build self-compassion towards your current lot in life. Especially in the face of significant trauma or stress. I believe that this is one of the most important talking points in today's world as we have moved towards such a fast-paced environment that rewards instant gratification and subsequently, quick successes. Oftentimes, we find ourselves in a position where many facets of our life are "off" to some degree and the stresses of such issues mount up overtime. From there, we can find ourselves in a position where chronic-stress leads to depression, anxiety, and so forth. Specifically in the context of menta health, having compassion for yourself and displaying a level of EQ is one of the most beneficial things one can do for themselves. I have spent most of my adult-youth advocating for mental health (through NAMI) and have seen, time and time again, the detrimental impact that comes along with emotional suppression. This is an issue that is especially prevalent in men, as one of the primary gender expectations that society has reinforced is this idea that you must be strong in the face of adversity and suppress your emotions. Men, oftentimes, do not find compassion within themselves to understand that, yes- life is not only difficult, but it is our personal responsibility to healthily deal with our own emotions, otherwise you may deal with them in a way that negatively impacts yourself as well as others. Overall, I think emotional compassion is really important for all of us. 

Blog Post 9 - Walkup

  I felt connected to the first strategy to strengthen resilience as a skill. The idea is that one can avoid rumination through something called expressive writing. If you free-hand for 20 minutes, and you talk deeply about everything that is on your mind after a negative experience, it can help you run through it in your head in a positive manner. Not positive as in happy, but positive as in creating change; being effective. You can take it in from different perspectives, get things off your chest, and even find silver linings at the end of the day. 
People don’t usually realize how effective this can really be. Rumination affects some people more than others, and - unfortunately - I am not good at dealing with it. My therapist absolutely roasts me about it. I’m only joking, that would not be a productive form of therapy. But anyways, I took a lot away from this section of the reading because my girlfriend writes in this manner most days before she goes to bed and she says it has been helping her a lot. She’s been doing it for about two years now, and she’s still going strong. I think it’s something that I would like to start doing because, even after a couple years of therapy, I don’t know the right way to go about dealing with sadness, anger, or trauma. I think this form of grounding can be a fantastic way to practice mindfulness, and a good way to get to know yourself as well. 

Blog post 9

Blog Post 9

Emma Martin

    Kira Newman educates her readers on how to build resilience in response to trauma or unexpected issues through her article, Five Science-Backed Strategies to Build Resilience. Newman states that the top five strategies include “changing the narrative, facing your fears, practicing self-compassion, meditating, and cultivating forgiveness” (Newman, 2016).  These strategies are super important when it comes to communication ethics because it introduces a way to better yourself and help you find comfort and happiness in stressful situations, which overall benefits the people around you and the environment you are in. 

    The examples used throughout these strategies are super important for individuals in our society today, especially after the pandemic. A lot of people had to adjust to a new life and many faced struggles that they never expected to face so suddenly. From my own experience, I had to adjust to learning how to live with myself and find comfort in isolation from others. I unintentionally practiced Newman’s strategies such as journaling, practicing mindfulness and kindness towards myself when I would take my daily walks, taking the time to educate myself on how to handle intense emotions after stressful situations, and practicing exposure therapy by going to actual therapy and getting advice on how to navigate my thoughts and feelings. Overall, I see that these strategies definitely bettered me and I believe that others should also look for guidance from them because life is unpredictable and there will always be times when unexpected situations happen.

Blog Post 9

The article “ACT UP, Haitian Migrants, and Alternative Memories of HIV/AIDS” by Karma R. Chavez provides a clear example of Healthcare Communication Ethics. The author talks about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the impact that it had on Haitian migrants, and discusses the different narratives that surrounded the epidemic. As Haitian migrants were seeking refuge in the United States, the Bush administration created an emergency refugee camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, claiming to protect and house refugees. This created a narrative that the United States government was taking the epidemic seriously, this was not apparent decades later. Chavez talks about how “despite the severity of the Guantanamo situation, and the active role some ACT UP members played in calling attention to and eventually resolving the crisis, this moment has escaped public memory, almost entirely” (Chavez 66). Decades later, the HIV/AIDS epidemic appears to be forgotten by the public. 

This article made me think about a class that I took at the University, Psychology of the Pandemic. In the class, we discussed multiple pandemics and how the public responded to them. When it came to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, my professor talked about how poorly the United States responded to it, and how long they took to even acknowledge it. The government's failure to publicly acknowledge the epidemic for four years created a narrative that the epidemic was not severe, and was not a public problem. The government also created a narrative that the epidemic was only harmful to white gay men, spreading even more homophobia through out the country. This resulted in a failure to allocate funds towards research, care, and public education until years later. After taking this class, I realized that I did not know that much about the HIV/AIDS epidemic and noticed how it is not talked about that often.

Blog Post 10 - Miltenberger

 This week's reading by Chavez brought to light some things about AIDS activism that I was not aware of. I had no idea that Haitians were considered on of the high risk groups of contracting AIDS on the "4-H Club", as it seems odd to place an entire country at a higher risk of contracting the disease (Chavez, 2). This piece did a good job at explaining the discrepancy in AIDS activism, specifically with the ACT UP organization. The author states that the reality of the organization was that it was mainly focused on white gay men, and working with government policy and medicine (4). Chavez really tries to explain that whether purposeful or not, this particular activist organization had a model that seemingly excluded a part of the community that was labeled as high risk for AIDS.

I remember reading about the unfair of Haitian immigrants by the US border patrol this summer. Border agents engaged in vastly unjust uses of force, and inappropriate language with the migrants as they attempted to enter safely into the country (Berg, 2022). Agents were accused of using whips and horses to corral the immigrants back across the Rio Grande, and although the use of whips was found not to be true, there was still an egregious use of force to intimidate and move the immigrants back into Mexico. I think that reading this about the treatment of Haitian people, and how unfair it was, doesn't surprise me unfortunately. It seems like there is a stronger bias from people or the government against immigrants from Haiti, I'm not sure if this stems from the government's actions in the 90s, or if it is because of some thinly veiled racist reason. This reading kind of opened my eyes to a bias that I did not know there was.

  Chavez, Karma R. “ACT UP, Haitian Migrants, and Alternative Memories of HIV/AIDS.” The Quarterly Journal of Speech, vol. 98, no. 1, 2012, pp. 63–68, https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2011.638659.

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/08/patrol-agents-on-horseback-did-not-whip-migrants-but-used-forced-and-inappropriate-language-investigators-say-00044763

Blog Post 9 - Knapp

In the “ACT UP, Haitian Migrants, and Alternative Memories of HIV/AIDS”, I found the discussion around the ACT UP and different narratives that are spun about the United States’ handling of political refugees that tested HIV-positive. I had not heard anything about these protests before, and I also had no idea that the government even had a ban on accepting refugees who were HIV positive in the 80s because that wasn’t really something that was covered in school yet. The AIDS / HIV epidemic is something I didn’t really know much about aside from external media like movies.

This article made me think about how little modern history is contextualized in schools. Very little history between the civil rights movement and modern day is told, and if any information is shared, it’s only about what specifically happened on that day and not what led up to it. We learn very little about the Opioid epidemic or the War on Terror except that it’s a thing that is happening right now. We learn nothing about perspectives or context, partly because some of these events still are happening or have on-going effects that might be too uncertain to teach in middle/high schools.

 

Blog post #9 Henke

 This weeks readings were very interesting to me. I am choosing to do my research proposal on communication ethics so it was cool to see the different problems that currently exist. The article that caught my attention the most was by Chávez. I found this article so interesting because it deals with a serious problem that is hard to navigate ethically. A powerful piece that I learned was the quote they chanted that went "2-4-6-8 INS Discriminates" (Chávez 63). I find this quote powerful because I believe that nobody should be discriminated against but how can you ethically handle such a situation. 

AIDS is a serious deal that must be properly taken care of. A mass spread of a disease like AIDS would be very detrimental. How can we ethically group people in such circumstances? I don't think we can and that what makes me so interested in the specific inspiration. If we look at our past whenever people have been put into 'groups' it has always been for a most likely unethical decision. We must accept each other as human beings but responsibly protect all people. I look forward to learning more about this in class. 

Blog Post 9 - Proulx

    I chose to analyze "A Communique from Basque Country in the Time of Coronoavirus" because I was actually able to travel to Basque Country during my study abroad in Spain this spring. The Basque country is the northern region of Spain that become autonomous from the Spanish government years ago, however, is still technically part of geographical Spain. In the article, the Feminist Movement of Euskal Herria published an open letter where they said "for years, we have been talking about the crisis of care, and we are seeing it now with the COVID-19 pandemic. It is not a mirage; it is more visible because this crisis has caused care to collapse. It is not circumstantial- the care crisis is structural. So it is necessary to change the paradigm, change the neoliberal model that has been imposed based on the belief of self-sufficiency" (Zabalegi et. al.).

    Spain had pretty bad shutdowns during the initial years of the pandemic, which made their already rather inefficient healthcare system even worse. They had a high death rate due to a lack of sufficient care and resources. Living there I was able to speak to a gal who worked at my school in Barcelona and told me about the lockdowns. She said each age group had a scheduled time of day they were allowed to be outside for only essential errands otherwise they were legally obligated to remain indoors in their small apartments. That rule in and of itself does not create a healthy environment mentally or physically which could have been a contributing factor to a lot of issues. The point of their statement is that the healthcare system has been insufficient for years and only exacerbated by the pandemic making it obvious it's time for structural changes. 

“A Communique from Basque Country in the Time of Coronavirus.” Commune, 4 Apr. 2020, https://communemag.com/a-communique-from-basque-country-in-the-time-of-coronavirus/.

Blog Post 8 - 11/15

 Russworm and Blackmon's piece entitled "Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought" brings together ideas connecting to many of our discussions on power, culture, intersectionality and games. The authors, being both women and POC, are at the intersection of two forms of marginalization, and the games and computing industry has, since the late-twentieth century become and remained a hostile place, which frequently keeps out all but white men. Russworm and Blackmon discuss a new way of looking at games and gaming culture, through the lens of a mixtape, this framework is important because it gives marginalized groups the ability to talk about their own experiences and the experiences of others through a framework of their own culture and identity. This is perhaps the response to whether or not systems designed to create privilege and oppression can ever successfully fight it, space is needed for those groups marginalized to speak in their own voice, and in ways of thinking and understanding which reflect their cultural identity.

Some of my individual research discussed how narratives of whiteness often push a strict kind of order and individualism, while in the format of a mixtape, different ideas flow together and mix, no one artist or author speaking only for themselves, but rather adding to the larger picture. The text also makes a very important point that a mixtape is an expression of joy. Although marginalization causes pain, it is important that marginalized people do not become isolated from joy. As it is not the identities themselves which bring pain, but the systems which sort them into categories of privilege and denial. It is important that marginalized identities themselves not be falsely assumed to be the root cause of suffering.

Blog Post 8 - Ramsey

 From the chapter titled "The Differential Visions of Queer Migration Manifestos", the author makes it a point to hit on the topic of duality - especially for those who express intersectionality. I found this piece interesting because within the writing, there were pieces of information regarding the mechanisms that can be used in times for "coalition possibilities" (Chavez, 23) which can be presented as manifestos, and differential visions. The author also expands on this notion of "differential belonging", which was introduced by Carrillo Rowe. Differential belonging essentially is used for one to understand how we may be oppressed and or privileged and how we can be able to use our positionality to share our experiences and enact some sort of change or impact. "Differential belonging also compels us to be longing, to desire relations across lines of difference. (Chavez, 27)

The concept of wanting to belong is something that is strong and within most people, if not everyone on some level. It is important to be able to take these different ideas and be able to compile in our minds and our actions how it is we can go about supporting those who struggle with their identities or positionality. This is where being an individual who expresses an identity of intersectionality may struggle, but with the help of others who use their experiences to share, there is possibility of ease and feeling of belonging - even if differential.

Blog Post 8

 In the article, “The Differential Visions of Queer Migration Manifestos” Chávez discusses the concept of differential belonging, which is also discussed by Carrillo-Rowe. They discuss how social relations can be altered and groups can be formed due to our very specific belongings. Chávez states, “Differential belongings ask people to acknowledge how we are oppressed and privileged so that we may place ourselves where we can have an impact and where we can share experience” (Chávez, 27). It's important to acknowledge how our belongings can impact our views of the world. 

I really liked when Chávez said that who a person is, is constructed by where they already belong as well as where they choose to belong. This made me think about how when we are growing up a lot of times society as well as our families tend to put us into boxes of where they think we should belong but as we get older we are allowed to choose for ourselves. We are also able to realize that we can go between boxes we don't have to just belong to one group.

Blog Post 8- Mentzer

Carrillo-Rowe's piece on identity really stood out to me for its compelling arguments on what being who you are really means and how this can shape over time. Rowe writes, "Still, one cannot make a world with simple atoms. There has to be a "clinamen." There has to be an inclination or an inclining from one toward the other, of one by the other, or from one to the other. Community is at least the "clinamen" of the 'individual' ". I found this statement to be interesting because as complicated as it is written, the statement being made is that our identity is formed by being a part of and surrounded by people that influence who you are. Identity is found through community and bias lies within the people we choose to spend out time with/ let influence us. I also think that throughout this piece, Carrillo-Rowe is arguing that we as humans are constantly evolving and shifting our own identities. We are never the same person we were a year ago, two years ago, three years ago. Identity gradually changes as our live events shift and who we surround ourselves with alters. 

An example of this from my personal life is my transition from living in a small town in Wisconsin, to moving to Minneapolis for college. When living in Cedarburg, WI, I was apart of a community that was very white dominated. My sports teams were typically only made up of white women, my classes were never diverse, and my friend group fit this mold as well. Who I was at this time was very blindly privileged and unaware of the world around me. I was in a bubble of the people I knew, who looked like me. It was really not until college that I began to surround myself with people of different races, cultures and backgrounds. Since living in Minneapolis, I really found a new sense of identity. While I still look the same as I did in Wisconsin, I feel that my identity has changed by learning about these different stories and involving myself in groups where I was no longer in this bubble of "safety". My perspectives broadened, my acceptance and understanding grew. I am much more proud of the person I am today, with the shift in identity that I have done. And I attribute that to the location I am now in, and the amazing people I have met in it. 

Rowe, Aimee Marie Carrillo. "Be Longing: Toward a Feminist Politics of Relation." NWSA Journal, vol. 17 no. 2, 2005, p. 15-46. Project MUSE muse.jhu.edu/article/184750.

Blog Post 8 - Walkup

  On page 96 of the Russworm and Blackmon piece, it is argued that if black women had the rights and respect that they deserved, then everyone would be free because they are the more marginalized race (black and white) and the more marginalized gender (women and men). This claim came from the seventies, so it makes sense that it is a little outdated. Obviously there are more races and genders than just those to which they were alluding, and there are also other social problems that happen; classism, ableism, homophobia, to list a few. However, they were right in that if the most marginalized people receive the love and support that they deserve (not that there is ONE most marginalized group, rather the idea of it), almost every societal issue would be solved due to the complex interlinking system of intersectionality. 
This, honestly, doesn’t give me a ton of hope based on past experiences. I appreciate that this has been laid out and shown for us to read and receive, but most people won’t be able to change their tendencies, beliefs, and actions quickly enough for the deletion of societal problems to occur. I know that nothing will ever be perfect, and I’m not trying to be a pessimist. I also recognize that I’m just sitting here complaining instead of working to inspire change or anything. So, sorry for that. Reading this just reminded me of playing FIFA. They had this story mode in fifa a few years back and the main character, Alex Hunter, was black (his mentor was white, of course). Literally nothing was wrong with the game and everybody liked the story, but EA Sports received backlash from this game just for making the main character black. In addition, a few years later FIFA added women’s international teams to the game. The teams were not fun to play with, and not easy to access, so nobody played as female teams in the few game modes in which they were available. I bring these things up to say this worldwide community had such a tough time accepting very calm and passive changes to their perception of a video game that, while there was a lot of love, there was still a lot of hate. This massive corporation could not have taken the incorporation of marginalized peoples any slower, and still, there was backlash. Things like this are what make me think, how long will it really take for significant change to happen. 

Blog Post 8 - Fallon

 Russworm et. al's article intrigued me the most. Their perspectives are so incredibly clear, and advocate for disrupting the erasure of black women in the video game industry. This article stuck out to me the most, as it utilized song lyrics and a "mixtape" to convey their message, and the emotionality of each section, equating the importance of these black female artists as well as the emotions and their significance in each song truly set the stage for the reader as to what they should expect. This really stuck a chord with me, because it showed the truce creativity of these authors, their dedication to uplifting other black women, as well as their own creative spirits. It's clear that, as a reader, I can see that a lot of heart and thought went into the writing of the text, and I was immediately drawn in. While there were certainly excellent academic points, I felt that I was able to emotionally connect with this article in a way I was otherwise unable to. 

The entire article truly painted a vivid picture as to how black women and their impact were consistently erased in the video game industry, and even how the behavior of the dominant class in gaming (heterosexual white men) drove them further into the sidelines. "Probably the most prominent and consistent experiences I've had are men expecting me to be sexually and romantically available, or even to serve as a confidante" (Richard, 105). Aggressive behavior that has been so pervasive in the gaming industry as a whole either tells women like Richard to learn how to deal with it, or to keep voice chat off to not trigger said behavior. 

I also appreciated the section where Scott discusses interviewing older black women on their gameplay. It struck a chord, as this is a demographic that is often overlooked and ignored, even more so than younger black women. As a society, we only tend to think of games as those dominated by heterosexual white men: Xbox, Nintendo, Playstation, PC, and even "nerdier" board games, like Dungeons and Dragons. However, these older women got fulfillment out of playing mobile and FaceBook games. They truly found joy out of these games, and even used them as tools to keep their minds sharp during retirement. Games like Candy Crush can provide a comforting escape, and a way to use your brain; though they're consistently overlooked as they typically appeal to people who play casually. The women didn't consider themselves gamers, even though they spent a significant amount of time per week playing these games. Even though these women are finding fulfillment and fun out of games like Candy Crush, we are taught to not consider them as games that "count", or ones that matter despite their significant impact on these women. 

Wholly, these articles made me reexamine my perspectives on black women in gaming culture, and how consistently they are erased from the narrative. I'd personally love to learn more on their impact or their experiences, as we're only typically taught, at best, a white perspective (as opposed to a white male perspective). It truly speaks volumes to how we are determined to erase black women and their impacts at every turn, and how we as modern feminists need to fight with these women to be heard and to stop continually erasing their narratives. 

Blog post 8 Henke

During this weeks content I became intrigued with the systems theory. My favorite reading for this week was from Carrillo-Rowe because it went more in depth about theory. Theory is interesting to me because there are so many different ways to describe it. While reading I found this quote quite interesting "And the theory we create allows us to live in new and more just ways." (Carrillo-Rowe, 15) This was interesting to me because we as society must create and use new theories to improve our world. Many reforms start by the population coming together for a certain goal which is what I related to most when reading this article. 

We all have a duty to examine the different connections between life and theory as Carrillo-Rowe taught us through this article. It is important to look at the relations that surround not only yourself but also your community. They say the most important part of a plant is the roots and I like to use that as a comparison to political parties, justice departments, and social reforms. I think theory is a very interesting topic and I hope to learn more about it in class. 

Blog Post #8

        The biggest takeaway that I had from the different articles is the idea of belonging. In Chavez’s article ‘The Differential Visions of Queer Migration Manifestos’, she talks about how “belonging, then, is about desire and a longing to be, in the sense of being, but also a longing to be attached. Although being and attachment may connote stability and fixity, as Anne-Marie Fortier notes, questions of belonging also imply movement or mobility” (Chavez pg. 41). This is interesting because I had never really thought of belonging in the sense of movement or mobility. I had always thought of it as a final destination. Carillo-Rowe discusses this in a different way, when she talks about ‘home’. She talks about how the idea of ‘home’ depends on her actual location, and she belongs in every place that she mentions. 

Carillow-Rowe’s discussion of ‘home’ made me think about when people go to a college in a different state or country. For them, ‘home’ has different meanings and locations. One of my friends spent her first two years of college in Colorado and became an in-state resident. When she came back to Minnesota, she talked about how she was home, but how difficult it was to navigate because Colorado was also her home. This article made me realize that home is a feeling and not a location. One’s sense of belonging can also affect their idea of ‘home’. While someone may live in a certain place, if they feel as though they do not belong, they are most likely not going to feel at ‘home’, even though they live there. 

Blog Post 8 - Knapp

 I found the “Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought” article interesting because on the surface, I suppose I never thought about how much the video game industry is tied to “whiteness and masculinity”. I also found the dissection as to why the author decided to frame their argument around the concept of a mixtape compelling because of the means in which artists used mixtapes to bypass traditional commercial mechanisms. I also enjoyed reading about the history of Black women and their part of video game history, in terms of Delores Williams and Delores Barrows and the two arcades they owned in the 80s, specifically regarding the impact their businesses had on their communities. 

“The arcade is the easiest business to run thatI’ve ever been involved in” because “it brings in a good return on each dollar invested”and “people don’t get tired of the games.” Williams went on to share some strategies for maintaining and acquiring arcade cabinets (a costly part of ownership) and revealed that her arcade generated enough profit to allow her to pursue other business ventures, such as opening an adjacent kosher deli and hosting reggae bands. Meanwhile, Barrows’s arcade functioned dually as a space for entertainment and a site for community gathering and social organizing. For Instance she hosted fundraising events to support local charities and after-school programs, and she even used the space to incentivize local children with perfect school attendance by rewarding them with free arcade time."

Blog Post 9 - Miltenberger

     I've done a lot of reading and work this semester about the idea of identity evaluation and formation, it seems to be a common theme in the realm of intercultural and ethical communication to a certain extent. The article from Rowe looks to explore the idea of reconfiguring the notions of "belonging" as it relates to the self and to a community. Rowe explains that there is a formal, white, heterosexual dominant meaning of belonging as it connects a person to certain things: White/Black, Male/Female, and more of these dividers that have been set up in a way that perpetrates this hegemonic order. Individuality, as known mostly be the western reader, in her opinion, is intertwined with "I" as it relates to the self, as opposed to her preference of "others" (Pages 17 & 18). 

    There are a couple other readings I have done in some other classes that also push this more fluid idea of identity. The idea of identity being these barriers of what you are physically (Race, gender, sexuality, etc) comes off as outdated to many scholars. The general idea, at least now is that the identity changes constantly over time, so one rigid notion becomes inaccurate quickly. Nilanjana Bardhan and Bin Zhang classify this idea of racial identity as a factor of western power structures and colonialistic thinking (Page 84). So these seemingly normalized factors of identity in the U.S. and in Western Europe are seen as odd and unfamiliar to many other people outside of this particular zone. Identity, to scholars, works in context with the situation of someone's life, and the person themselves, and changes with the context of the person's life. 

Bardhan, Nilanjana, and Bin Zhang. “A Post/Decolonial View of Race and Identity Through the Narratives of U.S. International Students from the Global South.” Communication Quarterly, vol. 65, no. 3, 2017, pp. 285–306, https://doi.org/10.1080/01463373.2016.1237981.
 

Blog Post 8 - Lauren Proulx

     This class talks a lot about identities, and how one's individual identity can hold more or less power over others than some. When reading "Be Longing: Toward a Feminist Politics of Relation", she says "I am advocating a shift from a notion of identity that begins with "I"- as does the inscription "I-dentity," which announces "I am..."- to a sense of "self" that is radically inclined towards others, towards the communities of which we belong, with whom we long to be, and to whom we feel accountable" (Carrillo-Rowe, 18). This statement really makes you step out of your skin for a second to recognize that we are walking representations at all times of whatever groups we naturally or self-identify with.

    When reading this proposed idea, I immediately think of political parties. Nowadays, I think especially much of the younger generations tend to fall a little bit more moderately or at least attempt to see both sides of the story. We're sick of all this fighting and recognize the need for cooperation and empathy in politics to be productive. For example, we hear the term "fiscally conservative, socially liberal". If you identify as conservative, people assume you completely back everything Trump said and stands for, and vice versa for democrats with those leaders. When in reality, that's just one person that was elected to lead half the country so there of course are a million things followers will disagree with. But it goes back to Carrillo-Rowe's idea that whatever you identify as, is more than about you it's about the broader group you're accountable to. 

Rowe, Aimee Marie Carrillo. “Be Longing: Toward a Feminist Politics of Relation.” Feminist Formations, vol. 17, no. 2, 2005, pp. 15–46.

    

Blog Post 7 - Ramsey

 In the article titled "Ain't I a Woman" by Bell Hooks, the concepts of not only being black, but a black woman at that. The author goes on to express how in a time where racism was running rampant in America, black women were unable to identify with anything other than their race. So although there were Fights for feminism and women's rights going on all around, black women were denied by not only those around them, but as well as themselves almost. The silence that held countless black women back from demanding social equality and justice for feminists came from a place of not knowing they were allowed to and affected by the very things that were going on around them. "Black women were told that we should find our dignity not in liberation from sexist oppression but in how well we could adjust, adapt, and cope." (Hooks, 7) It is wildly important to understand the sexual and racial differentiation that comes with being a black woman - which is exactly what is used to exclude and hold black women back.

This piece ironically sort of reminds me of conservative women in specific. I say this because oftentimes it seems as though women who identify with the label of "conservative" or as someone "on the right",  are too consumed with other topics or concepts to really even believe in or align with feminist ideals. Now, I would not chalk up these women alongside black women who had no choice but to be silenced, but it is interesting to think about how maybe under different circumstances there could be a chance for these women to feel like they are supported enough by those around them, (women specifically) that would allow for more opportunity in eradicating sexist oppression. 

Hooks, Bell. 1952-2021. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015.

Blog Post 7 - 11/8

 

    My central focus this will be the piece by Dutta and Vats, entitled, "Locating freedom of speech in an era of global white nationalism." The essay discusses the racist histories and subtexts buried within our language, connecting language to critical race theory, the article discusses how the power dynamics of racism and white supremacy are baked into the underlying systems which create our modern world. The struggles of minoritized and non-privileged groups today are not the fault of these groups for their increased difficulty in attaining the same results as privileged groups due to (as the ideas of white supremacy would lead you to believe) due to some inherent, racial "inferiority," but rather this struggle is due to the foundational nature of racism in our modern world, and how practices such as policing, generational wealth and austerity politics fundamentally benefit those who are of privileged identities. The article discusses how white supremacy uses language to harm marginalized groups and individuals, how a system of slurs and backhanded compliments has been engineered to be used as weapons against the minoritized, complimented by a system of dog whistles, which typify the speaking style of white nationalism; seemly innocuous statements which would go unnoticed to audiences unaware of their own participation in systems of white supremacy, but simultaneously signal allegiance between white supremacists.

    Another way in which white supremacy uses speech can actually be seen in the article on a metacontextual level. One common tactic employed by white supremacists, in order to make their ideas of racial privilege and hate more acceptable to the complicit and uninformed audience, is the taking one one person or concept which becomes symbolic of an entire group or movement, and attacking it relentlessly. The article features discussion of Critical Race Theory, which conservatives and white supremacists engineered as a kind of fearmongering effigy to convince those privileged and accepting of white supremacists power, but not openly racists themselves, that teachers were telling their students to "hate America." For the white supremacist, CRT represents all progressive theory and ideas about systemic racism, through its assault, the white audience can be primed to react with hostility to all discussions about race or systemic issues, insulating white privilege. The conversation around CRT has come to largely eclipse the theory itself, and although the false claims are easy to debunk, they are so numerous as to eat up much of the focus of relevant scholars. Entire industries exist to insulate white power and its proponents form systemic critique, which is yet another reason why we must elevate the voices of those critiquing our system's underlying inequalities and racism.

    Vats, Anjali & Dutta, Mohan J. "Locating freedom of speech in an era of global white nationalism." First Amendment Studies, Routledge, 2020. pp 156-180, DOI:10.1080/21689725.2020.1838843

Blog Post 7- Lewis

 In Hooks, "Eating the Other" she develops the idea of what the "Other" is and goes into detail on how whiteness and white supremacy is spread through faux acts of white males integrating themselves into other cultures. Particularly, Hooks references her time at Yale and how white males talked about having sex with women of different ethnic backgrounds as if it was a game of cards- a check of the box- where they no longer were associated with their whiteness, but rather believed they had assimilated to a more neutral, equal form of consciousness in terms of how they perceive race. This directly ties into the idea of dispositions and their subsequent impact on communication ethics. 

When you look at the group of white men on campus at Yale that hooks references, as a conjoined group, their dispositions to how they perceive race and racial disparities become clear. White males, in this context, believed that by having intercourse with women of other races they were moving away from being stuck in their whiteness and furthermore, that they no longer were active participants in propping up the dominant, white, racist and patriarchal system they are evidently tied to. The way in which they communicated this was through expressing a feeling that they were in reality becoming champions of cultural, ethnic, and racial integration. They were no longer the racist white male, but rather a well-rounded, experienced male. Furthermore, I believe this signified a significant disposition, that many men hold today, that women are something that can be used in order to elevate their own status in society. They believed that because they had sex with a women, this means they are better, in some capacity. They believed that they had elevated themselves out of the very system they actively take part in reinforcing, through intercourse with a women. In this context, the white male, is simply interacting with the Other in a way that allows themselves to gain a sense of moral righteousness. 

As a personal anecdote, I think about the idea of how white people and dominant white culture have utilized interactions with the other in many different areas in order to elevate themselves in some capacity and one example that I believe to be particularly concerning is when you look at missionary/volunteer work done by predominantly white organizations with dominant western religion/culture coinciding. A year ago I did an economic report on some of these organizations and there was a huge discrepancy between the resources they commit to mission trips and the amount of tangible results that are produced. Oftentimes, children will be sent- who are predominantly white in these orgs- at a cost that doesn't justify their return on labor. Rather than devoting resources to making truly impactful changes to these communities, they would rather be able to say that they interacted with this population, they helped them, and here are the pictures to show you. It is the same concept where we see the white males falsely showing themselves integrating into new cultures.

Hooks, B. (1992b). Black Looks : Race and Representation (pp. 21–39). Routledge.

Blog Post 7 - Walkup

  Something that stuck out to me from this week’s readings was on page 157 of the Vats and Dutta piece. First of all, I appreciate that the subject of this matter is simply labeled as “#45”. Second of all- and more importantly, the idea of Critical Race Theory being banned in the White House because it is “divisive, anti-American propaganda” is shocking. I feel like this is a statement that was hopefully a little eye-opening for people who were not fully against #45, or maybe for people who were somehow not familiar with his past or personality. 
This concept within the reading reminded me of some English courses at my high school. I went to a very polarized school that had almost a perfectly even mix of left and right winged people. Over time, the school board started becoming more and more conservative, and - as you could maybe guess - that came with some negative side effects. Although there were many instances just like this one of #45, the one that came to mind was when they somehow got a bunch of books banned from the English department. Any books with main characters of color, and especially books with any characters from the LGBTQ+ community. At this point, the school was trying to be more “inclusive” so those books were really new, and many of them got taken away within a year or less of being part of our curriculum. It reminded me of what happened in the white house because it’s like, “if we don’t ever show them examples, we can keep telling them our way of thought and they won’t know it’s bad!” While they obviously wouldn’t actually say that, the message of preserving this societal and cultural ignorance is being put across in both situations. 

Blog post 7

 Blog post 7

Emma Martin 

    Chapter 22, "Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance", by Bell Hooks was very interesting when it comes to white domination over media and other races. Bell Hooks explained that we currently live in a society where white individuals have a great desire for those to be known as "Other", stating that that desire may not be considered morally wrong but "is the ever-present reality of racist domination, of white supremacy" that makes this desire problematic (Hooks). Hooks exclaim that this desire for the "Other" adds spice and is a "seasoning that can liven up the dull dish that is mainstream white culture"  really stood out to me (Hooks, 424). How true that statement is today, especially if one were to look at how white media tends to obsess and often sexualize those who are of a different race. Hooks even acknowledges that those who are "often ignored can be seduced by the emphasis of otherness because it offers the promise of recognition and reconciliation" ( Hooks, 428). I find this very sad that marginalized may go to the extent of taking any kind of attention in order to be noticed and treated fairly. Another issue with the desire for the "Other" is cultural imperialism, specifically "white cultural imperialism that maintains white supremacy and is a threat to those who are seeking liberation" (Hooks, 433). White cultural imperialism is masked in the majority of our media today, from advertisements/commercials, and movies to fashion catalogs and brands. Although there may be some media displaying good intentions when it comes to desire, such as the musical Hairspray appreciating black culture, the majority of the time these intentions are to recognize that whiteness equals power and superiority, hence the meaning of white supremacy. I also wanted to acknowledge the importance of understanding racial essentialism and how it affects white culture into believing those who are different shouldn't be treated with affection. This only continues to dehumanize those who are considered to be "Other". 

    I find it saddening how few people recognize the issue of how much power white people hold and aren't accounted for. One example I think of when it comes to racial essentialism and white cultural imperialism is how western movies portray other countries. The most common example of this is when films add a tint when characters visit or travel to other countries, like Mexico or Egypt. They also display these countries as dirty or underdeveloped, when they are far from it. I find it hard to understand how we are able to acknowledge the desire for "Others" to be both good and bad. Yet, dehumanization and neglect towards marginalized groups progress within our media and still create images that these people and countries are inferior to those that are predominantly white. 

Hooks, Bell. "Eating the Other: Desire and Resistance". Black Looks: Race and Representation, pp. 21-39. Boston, Mass: South End Press, 1992. 

Blog Post 7

        I chose to focus on the reading “Ain’t I A Woman; black women and feminism” by Bell Hooks. I specifically chose to focus on intersectionality and how it affects organizational and institutional communication. The reading discusses the black women’s struggle with supporting the women's rights movement, since they have been taught to accept sexual inferiority since the beginning of history. Hooks points out that “contemporary black women could not join together to fight for women’s rights because we did not see ‘womanhood’ as an important aspect of our identity” (Hooks, 1). Contemporary black women have been taught to devalue their female identity, which was emphasized during the 1950’s civil rights movement. Hooks talks about how “Black women were placed in a double bind; to support women’s suffrage would imply that they were allying themselves with white women activists who had publicly revealed their racism, but to support only black male suffrage was to endorse a patriarchal social order that would grant them no political voice” (Hooks, 3). This reading did  a great job of showing how intersectionality shows up in people's lives in regards to institutions, specifically black women. They had to choose between their two evils: racism and sexism. This was very interesting when thinking about the black men that were leading the movement, and how they subconsciously were playing into the same oppressive institution that was affecting them by having black women submit to their sexist role. They encouraged and demanded that black women stayed home and essentially 

        This reading was a huge eye opener and helped me have a better understanding of intersectionality, especially when it comes to institutions. When I think back on history, I don’t often think about the civil rights movement happening simultaneously during the feminist movement. When I learned about them in High School, my teachers had never emphasized the fact that they were happening at the same time, and the influence that intersectionality had on both of the movements. The reading emphasized the intersectionality of black women at the time and their struggles of having to choose one movement to support and stand behind, when both of them directly influenced their lives. I was also upset when reading about how this was the start of black women’s strength and perseverance being romanticized. When hook talk about how “when feminists acknowledge in one breath that black women are victimized and in the same breath emphasize their strength, they imply that though black women are oppressed they manage to circumvent the damaging impact of oppression by being strong – and that is simply not the case” (Hook, 6). This brought up the problem of speaking for and about others, and created a cultural narrative: black women did not need liberation because they could overcome oppression. White feminists should have supported black women in the feminist movement, yet they were hurting and causing more harm upon them.

Hooks, Bell. Ain't I A Woman: Black Women and Feminism. Routledge, 2015. 

Blog Post 7- Mentzer

 Hook's piece on black women and feminism works to create an understanding of how black women in America were discriminated against not only for being African American, but also female. However, when speaking on how they were discriminated against, they were conditioned to focus on racism, rather than sexism. A lot of this, Hook explains, is a rooted issue of male dominance. Because black women were accustomed to being treated unfairly because of the color of their skin, they looked beyond the fact that they were also being discriminated against because of their gender. For example, this unequal treatment was presented as voting rights were shifted. As black men became legally able to vote, black women were still forbidden. Black feminists did not know what to in this situation, as the black men that supported their movement to gain equal rights were not willing to give up their vote. Hook describes this cross-roads by stating, "Black women were placed in a double bind; to support women's suffrage would imply that they were allying themselves with white women activists who had publicly revealed their racism, but to support only black male suffrage was to endorse a patriarchal social order that would grant them no political voice" (Hook 3). Black women did not receive the freedom that black men did. And although white feminists were acknowledging this, they did it in the wrong way. When feminists acknowledge in one breath that black women are victimized while also in the same breath emphasize their strength, "they imply that though black women are oppressed they manage to circumvent the damaging impact of oppression by being strong- and that is simply no the case" (Hook 6). This ignores the fact that to be strong in the face of oppression is not the same as overcoming that oppression. 

I found this reading to be quite upsetting. It is really unfortunate as a woman to hear that white women at this time were not in support of black women. Even as "feminists", they did not support other women. Not only did they lack support, they also made unfair statements about strength of black women. I don't find it to be very feminist of these women to not be fighting for their own kind. Women, especially in a feminist movement, should support other women no matter their race, class, culture, etc. I don't think that these women should have called themselves feminist because of their racist actions. 

Hooks, Bell. 1952-2021. Ain't I a Woman: Black Women and Feminism. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, 2015. 

Blog Post 7 - Fallon

 The article I found particularly interesting this week was Hooks' "Ain't I A Woman?", which discussed the exclusion of black women from discourse in both the historic feminist and racial equality movements. She lays the groundwork as to how she found exclusion from both communities, and how black women are continually excluded and erased from systems, especially when being referred to in historical documents. "Women" exclusively means "white women" and any terminology relating to black people only refers to black men. 

This really brought to mind my understanding of intersectionality. Of course black women would have stake in both of these important movements, being a part of both oppressed groups. However, they are continually ignored, and have proven to be underrepresented. They are very rarely discussed in history classes; I've personally never been taught any perspectives unique to black women in any of my American history classes that I've taken previously. In fact, Hooks brought up that while black women should be encouraged to be feminists and take women's rights seriously, they are continually discouraged due to being told the racial movement was more important. However...rarely do we see any representation or are taught history of black women in the racial equality movements, and is an invalid argument as to why they shouldn't be feminists. Somehow, they were given the short end of the stick simply for being a part of two oppressed groups. When we think of intersectionality, we should be encouraging freedom for all parts of our identity. However, it appears that rather black women were told that they couldn't be both of those at once, and had to be silenced both by historians, and by members of their own communities. While luckily we have much better representation of black women today as well as substantially better rights compared to what they dealt with in the past; there is still an erasure that we see today. There is still an implicit bias that I've even noticed in myself to default to thinking of "women" as white women, and "black" as black men when coming across the term in a book, article, or etc. Intersectionality is a subject we need to discuss more, as it is heavily prevalent and will (hopefully) help us move past our preconceived notions and advocate for more equal representation, and that all facets of our identity are important: not just the ones we associate with the most. 

Hooks, Bell. Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. Routledge, 2015.

Blog Post 7

 In the article “Locating Freedom of Speech in an Era of Global White Nationalism,” the authors Vats and Dutta explore the double standard around freedom of speech and how it is being enforced differently across different groups. Vats and Dutta states, “they continue to produce a world in which freedom of expression trumps the rights of outsiders'' (Vats & Dutta, 159) which addresses the way in which there are multiple narratives around what free speech is and how it should be used. People use free speech as an excuse to say hateful things without consequences. 

In the article, I found it interesting that a lot of the people that opposed the restrictions of free speech argued that it's because it's a slippery slope but as the article pointed out, free speech has already been limited. The only difference between the restrictions being proposed and the ones the examples that were listed is who is being affected by the restriction or lack of restriction of free speech. One example I thought about while reading this article is the Florida law and bill known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill that is trying to be passed, which restricts classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity. I found it interesting that the groups of people that support this bill, which restricts what teachers can talk about in their classroom, also seem to be strong supporters of freedom of speech when it comes to hate speech. 

Anjali Vats & Mohan J. Dutta (2020) Locating freedom of speech in an era of global white nationalism, First Amendment Studies, 54:2, 156-180, DOI: 10.1080/21689725.2020.1838843

Blog Post 7 - Proulx

    In "Locating freedom of speech in an era of global white nationalism" they say "In the past five years, across the United States and indeed the world, hate crimes such as the one Prof. Lawrence describes have been perpetrated against Black people, Asian people, Indigenous people, Muslim people, Palestinian people, and Jewish people, among others, against a backdrop of neoliberal settler colonialism. The "polite and polished" white colleagues persist using seemingly race-neutral standards to maintain power" (Vats and Dutta, 157). I love how they make a point to recognize the negative impact "seemingly race-natural" verbiage can have. Our generation in recent years has been very vocal about the importance of NOT being color-blind and acting with empathy when speaking to someone from a different background.

    When speaking about hate crimes, it's important we discuss the recent events with Kanye inciting massive waves of antisemitism. Someone with as big of a platform and sphere of influence as Kanye plays a huge role in shaping the opinions of the masses, and I'm glad society and the brands he worked with held him accountable for his words and actions.

Vats, Anjali, and Mohan J. Dutta. “Locating Freedom of Speech in an Era of Global White Nationalism.” First Amendment Studies, vol. 54, no. 2, 2020, pp. 156–80, https://doi.org/10.1080/21689725.2020.1838843.

Blog Post 7

I found the Rebirthing a Nation article interesting, especially the dissection of the interaction with the older white relative and their comments about the Diwali lamp. I think that by analyzing the tension that people like this feel towards black, indigenous, and people of color, we can learn how to properly educate and deconstruct these social norms that develop in communities that are historically white. The concept of “identity poltitics” is discussed further and is one that I haven’t really thought about until it brings up specific examples of the concept in play from things like the migration crisis in Europe to the controversies of Donald Trump’s presidency.

Reading about the concepts of “white rage” and “whitelash” made me think about the phrase that people started using in response to the George Floyd protests and the Black Lives Matter, which was “All Lives Matter.” It was white people who started using this phrase and it was kind of baffling to me because it felt like white people felt like they needed to feel like they were marginalized and didn’t like being singled out as oppressors.

 Z., Anderson Wendy K. Rebirthing a Nation: White Women, Identity Politics, and the Internet. University Press of Mississippi, 2021. 

Blog post 7 Henke

 This weeks readings were very interesting to me. One quote from a reading that stuck out to me was "President of the United States has called, in Sinophobic language, the 'Wuhan Flu." (Vats & Dutta 157) It's just crazy to me that a world leader of the United States would actually say those words. When we speak about communication ethics in class there are things that I admit I don't fully understand. One thing that I understand is respect for other people, cultures and I just don't understand how a president of any country would think that's a good idea to say. 

The Trump era was full of poor communication ethics which I would like to use as my real life example. The first thing that comes to my mind is Twitter. Social media in general I think is detrimental to society because it seems that not many people learn how to use communication ethics. I believe we need to do a better job spreading information about communication ethics to younger people. It is hard to accomplish these tasks though when for example, a president of a country, doesn't know how to perform. I think we must spread awareness in order to change the future of social media in terms of ethically communicating via the internet. 

Blog Post 8- Miltenberger

 In "Locating freedom of speech in an era of global white nationalism" Anjali Vats and Mohan Dutta look into the idea of free speech as it relates to the protection of hate speech, and the racial double standard of free speech. I think it was really interesting, reading about how the ACLU technically defends hate speech, especially coming from certain right wing talking head,  under the concern of slippery slope moderation of thought (Vats, Dutta, 6). The authors argue that the marketplace of ideas is already skewed, and have created this overtly racist environment online and elsewhere. The authors also look into the foundations of white liberalism, to explain that the reasons for this type of thinking have historically come from places of colonialism.

I think this article made me think of the recent purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk, because the merger will have some free speech consequences. One of Musk's biggest things he wanted to change was the content moderation, or at least loosen the moderation a bit, and has even limited employee access to moderation tools as the midterms near (Vanian, 2022). This type of rhetoric, of championing free speech has a history especially with applications online, of an underlying message of "I can't say certain hateful things and I should be able to". I get that speech has to be protected, or else it could be a slippery slope, but there are certain things that no one should be saying publicly on the internet. Just these past couple of weeks the use of the of slurs has increased on Twitter, since the takeover from Musk (Cohen, 2022). It is kind of weird, that when these people think of free speech, they go straight for slurs, it sort of shows why these arguments were being had in the first place.

Vanian, J. (2022, November 2). Twitter reportedly limits employee access to content moderation tools as midterm election nears. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/01/twitter-reportedly-limits-employee-access-to-content-moderation-tools-.html

Cohen, L. (2022, November 2). Twitter saw an “immediate, visible and measurable spike” in hate speech after Elon Musk takeover, researchers find. CBS News. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-caused-measurable-spike-hate-speech-study/

 

Blog Post 6- Mentzer

 In this post I want to examine the term racialize. From what I understand, to racialize is to categorize or divide individuals according to race. Now, "divide" can very in terms of definition, whether it be to physically put individuals into groups and discriminate due to racial identity, or it could simply acknowledge someone's race compared to another's. I think that this term can be applied to a quite naïve approach to the term racialize, which Kanjere refers to as "colour blindness: the 'kumbaya approach'". Basically, this approach to race is to completely ignore color at all, and pretend we are all just one happily unified race. Or as Kanjere notes, these responses frequently to, "skin color (which should be ignores), humanity (which should come together) and divisiveness (which should be avoided)" (Kanjere 2164). Although this Kumbaya approach sounds great in theory, it totally diminishes the experiences of race and culture as their own identity. 

If we do not acknowledge race, or categorize ourselves into racial groups, we are not able to recognize each person as their own. We are not giving each race their own story or their own experience. Even if there are not always positive connotations associated with racial divide, we still can not ignore these groups as their own. We have to be aware of what certain racial groups have been through in order to make sure that it never happens again. We have to celebrate race rather than think of it as a bad thing. Although this may not be historically true, we must practice harmony in difference.

Anastasia Kanjere (2019) Defining race privilege on the Internet: how whiteness uses innocence discourse online, information, Communication & Society, 22:14, 3156-2170, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2018.1477972

Blog Post 6- Lewis

 In the article, Defending Race Priviledge on the Internet, by Anastia Kanjere, the idea of white frigility and white vulnerability is discussed in depth. Specifically, Kanjere denotes three ways in which whiteness and white vulnerability is maintained by this very demographic. One of which is by way of appealing to the real world where commentators essentially try to convey the idea that the way in which things have always been, the status quo, is a basis for nullifying the validity that certain things are racist or corroborate biases and inequalities and by denoting racist ideologies in fictional settings as simply being based on historical events and are therefore not inherently actually racist. Kanjere gives frequent examples where this is present, the first being in the HBO Hit, Game of Thrones, where there are many misogynistic and racist connotations reinforced throughout. Kanjere pulled information from message boards where commentators on the subject, rejected the idea that GoT was inherently sexist/racist because George RR Martin intended this to be true based off of historical events, he based the show around. 2 weeks prior to this post, I had actually watched a clip where George RR Martin addressed this, where his defense was that the show was based off of the Anglo-Saxon time period that would have had such inequalities present. However, what he didn't address was the way in which he propagated such ideas of racism and sexism through indirect action throughout his writing and the subsequent live series. Another form of appealing to the real world that Kanjere explains is an appeal to the status quo, the example she gives is a commentator disagreeing with the fact that it is inherently a serious problem that feminism has mainly served white middle-class women because this has always been true and therefore, it is a nonissue. Kanjere notes how this is not only incorrect, but a dangerous slope that many individuals go down to avoid taking substantive action on societal issues. 

I myself have witnessed an appeal to the real world occur. I have been a volunteer with a mental health organization for the last 3 years where I've led support groups for 15-18 year old males where we talk about all things related to mental health- family dynamics, specific conditions, etc. Part of my job as an outreach volunteer has been assess at-risk members and help them find resources to assist in the issues they are facing. As these are often individuals under the age of 18, there is usually a certain level of cooperation with parents. One of our kids had been experiencing significant mental health issues- anxiety, depression, that myself as well as the social-worker I worked in tandem with, believed required more professional help. Upon discussing this with his parents, his father had said that the support group was enough for him and that when he was young- he faced similar challenges and simply needed to get through it. This would be a euphemism in saying "Just be a man" or "Man up". This line of thinking, where you nullify an individuals or a groups struggles by saying that we all go through it, that I went through it and therefore it's not an issue, is extremely dangerous. Although this doesn't directly tie into the article by Kanjere in terms of relation to white fragility, I believe it does help further the concept of appealing to the real world by showing how this is also used in alternative ways to oppress different demographics.

Anastasia Kanjere (2019) Defining race privilege on the Internet: how whiteness uses innocence discourse online, information, Communication & Society, 22:14, 3156-2170, DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2018.1477972

Blog Post 6 - Morgan

     Anastasia Kanjere's article; Defending race privilege on the Internet: how whiteness uses innocence discourse online, the discussion focuses on the frequent backlash of white voices in online spaces to the attempts of BIPOC people, especially BIPOC women contributing to conversations and building their own narratives. Kanjere cites the frequent displays of the fragility of the white ego, and how white people, even those who claim to support racial solidarity, have often constructed spaces of social progress to that they may optically make themselves look good, without the risk of racially minoritized people making any real progress that would be a threat to existing systems of white supremacy. Kanjere challenges the attitudes of innocence of white voices online, who claim to want solidarity and cooperation with racially marginalized groups, but frequently science their voices and hinder their attempts to create spaces for themselves. I personally think that the deep and often uncomfortable connection between racial identity and ego is one of the most ingrained problems within our society today. I myself am far from innocent of it, as I often find writing about race and racial topics to be difficult, and I have to struggle against the urge to refrain from saying anything that would hurt my ego. I think that this is because many white people have grown up in a system of binary morality. Even if we are able to move past the fact that there are not "good people" and "bad people" and recognize that every person does both harm and good with every action they take, there is still a protective instinct to protect oneself from perceived moral judgements. I think it is common for white people to see BIPOC people to progress outside the constructs of whiteness and expose the underlying racism which has benefited all people deemed white, whether they recognize it not, and then view it as "if you participate in a racist society, you are a bad person." This is why Kanjere discusses the innocence discourse, if white people do not have to reconcile what their racial privilege and benefit in a racist system means, they don't have to feel guilty for it, but how white people feel about their own racial status doesn't mean anything to those actually marginalized unless white people are willing to be the kind of allies that BIPOC people actually need. I think as Kanjere's article illustrates, one of the hardest concepts for apparent white allies to wrap their heads around is supporting marginalized groups without always being able to influence the conversation or feel important.

Kanjere, Anastasia. "Defending race privilege on the Internet: how whiteness uses innocence discourse online." Information, Communication & Society. Routledge. pp 2156-2170. 2019.

Blog Post 6 - Ramsey

 I found that the article titled "Defending race privilege on the Internet: how whiteness uses innocence discourse online" written by author Anastasia Kanjere to be an interesting and formal piece of work that encourages the concept of understanding how race and the idea of whiteness plays a distinct role in the world around us. One of the most important takeaways I had from this reading was that although the three different pieces of writing that were talked about we're all from different countries, regarding different kinds of topics surrounding race and whiteness (in television, in the feminist movement, and events targeted only for black and minority ethnic people) that they still all shared commonalities with one another - its expressed just how extremely common it is for people of color to have to deal with aspects of white supremacy and privilege. It is not only angering, but upsetting knowing that messages of hate and racist rhetoric are felt in intercultural communities all across the world. There is also an interesting relation between the concept of people feeling powerful enough to comment certain atrocities when there is anonymity versus how people most commonly comment or reflect on certain forums when a persons identity is not hidden behind a screen name. 

A topic that stood out to me while I was reading this article in specific, relates back to just how crucial it is for there to be a foundation of identification on certain platforms or forums. Not only does anonymity create opportunities for destruction, but it lacks the availability for people to have repercussions.  The idea of being anonymous reminded me of a show I just finished on Netflix called "The Watcher". This show is based off a true story, which is about a family being constantly berated by an anonymous person or persons in hopes to drive them out of their new home. The "watcher" that was sending these anonymous letters had the upper hand in the situation because the family had no idea who it was that could have been doing that to them - this relates back to the idea of people being able to randomly comment on different platforms without having to state who they are. It is a scary concept that in a lot of cases, we don't truly know the people around us or what they have the capability to say when there is a lack of publicly identifying oneself. 

Kanjere, Anastasia. “Defending Race Privilege on the Internet: How Whiteness Uses Innocence Discourse Online.” Taylor & Francis, 2019, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2018.1477972.

Blog post 6

 Blog post 6 

Emma Martin 

    The article, Defending race privilege on the internet: how whiteness uses innocence discourse online, was very engaging and insightful. Anastasia Kanjere exclaimed how social media platforms give people the opportunity to discuss topics, in anonymous settings. In this case, these anonymous comments include the category of white innocence which displays roles of white power, white privilege, and white oppression. “White Innocence is refined as the end of racism: anything that impinges upon the construction and celebration of this ultimate goal, therefore, is frustrating the process towards racial harmony” (Kanjere, 2167). This means that white innocence is white people trying to justify their lack of knowledge and state that racism isn’t their problem. Two explanations and examples of this white innocence that stood out to me include “Colour-blindness: the kumbaya approach and strategies of appeal to the real world.” Anastasia gives a great example of appeals to reality from one commenter, who argues that the show Game of Thrones is real and truthful with its racism. I laughed reading Anastasia's exclaim, “as the show includes dragons, zombies, and magical bonds of green fire, these commenters' definition of true or actual history would appear to be rather generous”. It’s true, in the end, Game of Thrones is a fantasy, imaginative series, and “ these types of comments reject the accusation of racism by appealing to the real world or status quo, which is viewed as innocent” ( Kanjere, 2163 ). How can something that is morally wrong in the real world, be okay and justified in a fantasy world? The second method of white innocence was very interesting to me because of how Anastasia exclaimed that commenters online “share a basic principle: race is a construct designed to divide humanity, and the most effective means to combat its divisive nature is to deny its existence” ( Kanjere, 2164 ). Race was originally created to justify slavery, so yes it is a construct intended to divide. Although it’s not logical to ignore and deny the issue of racism because it is still a very real thing that is affecting millions. Just because something isn’t affecting an individual personally, doesn’t mean it’s not real or not important. 

A recent example of, “strategies of appeal to the real world”,  I immediately thought of was the arguments against the upcoming Little Mermaid remake. People had a lot of anonymous confidence online as they shared how they disagreed with the fact that we will have a Black Little Mermaid. The most common argument people used was the fact that the Little Mermaid is originally white and the movie would not accurate. Ariel is a mermaid, a fictional character. Arguing against a fictional character becoming more diverse, is exactly like expressing that those who look like her don’t deserve representation and the movie has less value because of it. I find it very sad how often this occurs in society and how little people think about others. 

Kanjere, Anastasia. “Defending Race Privilege on the Internet: How Whiteness Uses Innocence Discourse Online.” Information, Communication & Society, vol. 22, no. 14, 2018, pp. 2156–2170., https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118x.2018.1477972.