Erasing Race

In “Erasing Race” by Beth Kolko the article talks about technology drawing people to the internet where virtual worlds define what race is. People then create identities that determine who people say they are even if it is not a person’s true identity. The author tries to explain how race tends to be missing from the cyber world and how it affects the communication process within our social networks.
These cyber worlds, also known as MUDs, can be broken down into different categories such as text-based descendants of the old Adventure game, three dimensional graphic worlds, and business environments, just to name a few. The one main element about these worlds is establishing an identity within a network. The author states, “[you] must assemble a virtual self. While the elements of identity that are offered to users vary from world to world, the general act of creating a persona within the world does not change.” Language is another key factor when it comes to cyber networks. The language you use also describes who you are because if you talk a certain way people may have an idea of your background. I like the quote where the author states, “The lack of an @race property means that the MUD is an environment where racial identity is presumed to be either irrelevant or homogeneous.” What she means is that most people are going to be assumed to be white unless some factor suggest otherwise. The networks out today and the rapid growth of personal computers makes it easier for people to create a person online that may seem to be more appealing because of the different networks and the requirement of an identity.
A quote in the reading that stated, “ Too frequently people must adapt to technology rather than adapting it to their needs.” Why do people care so much about technology. People can just as easily go out and meet people in person, but the cyberspace just made peoples’ search ten times bigger. It seems like people are losing touch with reality and meeting people on the internet is tricky. People give false identities and make them seem a lot more attractive or more outgoing when in reality you may not even know the race of a person because of these fake identities.
I thought the reading was different and it seems to be true how cyberspace is taking over and making people different.

Facebook Analysis

The Facebook page I chose to analyze was a girl named Whitney DeGendt. Whitney’s profile states that she is in an “open relationship” with another girl. A lot of people tend to do this because they think its fun or the person is their best friend. But most people do not take thing like that seriously because someone’s profile, who is a female, may be married or in an open relation ship with another female yet they list that they are interested in men. A picture I found on her page came from a spring break 2007 album. The picture show Whitney at some kind of restaurant and she is holding a cup of beer and a cigarette to her mouth. The caption under the picture says “I have problems.” But Whitney’s facial expression shows that she is laughing and just joking around. Whitney is a white heterosexual female college student. Although Whitney may or may not drink or smoke she is portraying the image of a “typical” college student who drinks a large amount of alcohol and smokes and like to party on spring break. Not to mention she is wearing four leaf clover head piece that lights up.

ill take my stand in dixie net

In the article “I’ll Take My Stand in Dixie-Net” by Tara McPherson cyberspace seems to be the place where people can express their views without pushing the boundaries of race. The article explains how she came about the neo-confederate sites that explained how people wanted the south to be today and how people viewed such sites. When the sites have such slogans as, “Preserving OUR heritage is preserving YOUR heritage” they mean white people from the south.
People are glad that the cyber net has overcome boundaries of race in a way that people do not feel like discrimination is a problem or such an issue as it was years ago. Others believe that the cyber net is a place where people can have multiple identities to but has the “ability to destroy one’s sense of place.” Race and identity have been major issues throughout the years but people may think the cyber net doe not apply when it comes to those terms. When the author told her friends about going to such sites they responded with grimaces and questions about why someone would even go to such sites consisting of “rednecks and racists.” Many of these sites try to uphold the meaning of a confederate and southern heritage. They also explain the heritage violations meaning the people who try and ban the confederate flag. Other sites may talk about what a southern woman must be like and provokes images of a black male rapist. Such stereotypes make it hard for people to even look at such sites because it is almost as if you’re an active participant with these sites you are racist or you HAVE to be racist.
Why do these people want the south to remain like it was so many years ago? After everything that has changed over the years society has become more accepting to different races and cultures than ever before. These people can have their sites and express their personal views, but not everyone will agree with their views. Overall the south is not going to change into what it used to be, but if these white southerners feel it should be changed they have a right to think that, but in reality society will not go back to its “old ways.”
I thought the reading was decent and it made me think about the cyber net a little more. There are so many good and bad sites out today but I really do not even realize, or take notice, to such sites.

Cybernetic Tourism, the Internet, and Transnationality

In the article “Where Do You Want to Go Today?” the article talks about cyberspace that has no boundaries. For example there is no racism, discrimination, no gender, and no age limit. Yet the commercials these big companies put out, such as IBM MCI and Anthem, use a technique that pushes the racial barriers to try and promote their company and products. The “other” groups that these companies are referring to are Arabs or people in African tribes. The companies also are trying to keep the privilege of the white society.
The ads that these companies put on TV makes it seem as if Americans are the dominant society and how we are able to go to different places and experience different thing because of the privileges that Americans have. Nakamura states, “Like the Microsoft and AT&T slogans this one links networks with privileged forms of travel, and reinforces the metaphor by visually depicting sights that viewers associate with tourism.” The author is explaining one of the commercials put out by Compaq. Even ads put on TV by Coca-Cola have a distinct image they are trying to portray to people. One of their ads consisted of the slogan, “I want to teach the world to sing.” The ad features people of all ages and races and tries to get people to be “uniform” and get the idea that people can all be “just minds”.
Why do these commercials have such underlying meanings? Why do people not see the techniques these companies are using to advertise their product? Some people may not think about the commercials in a discriminating way, but others take it in to consideration. The strategies to promote such products could be changed, but the companies are only thinking about the privileged community and how it may apply to them.
I thought the reading was different. I did not enjoy it that much because I somewhat lost interest in the piece. But overall I think that the reading does have a point in how these major companies advertise their products and try to eliminate race discrimination in cyberspace. I believe all advertisements have some sort of underlying theme that people do not usually see unless it is pointed out to them.

Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch

In the reading, “Why I Hate Abercrombie and Fitch” the author talks about a side of Abercrombie that people do not like to talk about, but still knows that it exists. First the author asks the question about why white gay men wear Abercrombie. Then goes on to talk about the history of Abercrombie and what it has stood for over the years. People may not realize the types of actions related to race and discrimination that has been associated with Abercrombie.
The author, Dwight McBride talks about the history of Abercrombie and how it all first started with David T. Abercrombie. Abercrombie was known to be the clothing store for the rich and famous. Some famous people that first wore Abercrombie included some presidents, Amelia Earhart, and Katherine Hepburn. The company was popular for selling clothes for both men and women in one single store. Over the years Abercrombie changed its headquarters and expanded its shops across the country. In 1977 the company filed for bankruptcy. Over the years other companies tried to revive what was still left of Abercrombie but no one succeeded except for Michael Jeffries. Jeffries hired a professional photographer and targeted the college students who were white and in the upper class status. The author states, “Abercrombie has worked hard to produce a brand strongly associated with a young, white, upper-class, and leisure lifestyle.” Abercrombie has a quarterly magazine that comes out and a look book for the employees. It was noted that, “of the group shots [in the magazine] two include the one African American model in these pages, while all of the rest of the photos are of male and female models who appear to be white.” Abercrombie has even faced a lawsuit because of the company discriminating against hiring people of color, and firing people for not fitting the “Crombie look”.
When the news of Abercrombie got out people may not have been too shocked about what was going on with the company. Why did people not say anything about the stores and what they were doing? Why did it take so long for a lawsuit to be filed? People wanted to keep Abercrombie an all white store but in reality that was never going to last. People do not realize how situations like this affect other ethnic groups looking for jobs. Discrimination will always be present in the world but Abercrombie seems to take it to a whole different level.
I was disgusted when I read this. Growing up I wore some Abercrombie but it was maybe one or two shirts I owned. People used to talk about me when I wore it and now I realize the true meaning why. I think that people need to wake up and realize times have changed and discrimination like this needs to stop.

Takaki Chapter 12

In chapter 12, “El Norte”, Takaki talks about the struggles of the Mexicans and how immigrating wasn’t always what it seemed to be. The Mexicans were not shown respect and their children were not given a valuable education. Throughout the struggle the Chicanos fought for higher wages and equality.
Many Mexicans left Mexico to escape from starvation but others went to America to be with family that had already settled in and established themselves. They wanted to find jobs and have their own wealth. But another factor that forced the Mexicans to move was the civil war in Mexico. The war forced numerous industries to shut down, such as mines and factories, leaving the Mexicans out of jobs and no money to support their families. Inflation was also a problem because it made the cost of food rise up to 2,000 percent. The development of transportation was also another reason why the Mexicans moved to the north. Although there are numerous reasons why the Mexicans crossed the boarder they were soon being welcomed because their labor was needed. “Mexicans represented about 75 percent of all the construction labor in the state.” A Mexican worker talked about his view on the jobs the Mexicans have and how they are not able to succeed in getting promotions. He stated, “I know that if I want to amount to something in any work I will have to do it in Mexico.” The Chicanas had horrible jobs and get the lowest wages and most Chicanas worked as waitresses, cooks, and maids. Most Chicanos worked in agriculture and really had no other choice but to work on the railroads. Most of the workers in agriculture could not leave their employers because the employers set up a system to put the Mexican workers in debt. During that time the workers had to pay off all their debts before leaving.
The Mexicans would send their children to school, but when they sent their children to school they would only learn about jobs that their parents were doing and how to take over those jobs when their parents could no longer work. A teacher even told one of her students, “Your people are here to dig ditches and to do pick and shovel work….I don’t think any of you should plan to go to high school.” Why would someone ever say this to a child? People really did not have respect for the Mexicans even though they were the ones who did the hard labor that others did not want to do. It not that white people were incapable of doing work it is just they wanted the Mexicans to do it for them.
I thought the reading was sad for the facts about the education the children got and how they were not respected. No one deserves to be treated that way but everyone deserves to be treated with respect.