Post-reading: week seven

How would you recommend to change DV services as to better serve some people who don't fall into the master narrative we discussed on Monday? How might you change some of the services? What would you add or take away?

Traditionally a victim of domestic violence is a female in a heterosexual relationship, and most of the time the female is being physically abused. There are many different types of domestic violence, such as physical, emotional, sexual, verbal, and financial. Domestic violence also happens within homosexual couples, and the victims who do not fall into the description of a domestic violence victim, often do not receive help. For example, if a gay victim was to go to a domestic violence shelter they would most likely not be accepted because they are male. 

If a lesbian was being physically abused by her partner and called the police, the police would not take her seriously. They would not think this is a case of domestic violence because the people in the relationship are both female. To better serve lesbians who are being physical abused in their relationship, I think the police should serve all domestic violence cases the same, either homosexual or heterosexual.

In order to keep all the victims safe, the shelters the victims go to will have an advanced security system, which shows everyone who enters into the building to everyone in their rooms. So if someone was try to get into the shelter to find his or her partner, the victim can alert the authorities and have them arrested. The victims will also have to give a description of their partner, in case someone else sees them.

To be able to accommodate all people of every race, services should be offer in every language. Domestic violence victim often need counseling to restore their lives, which includes finding a new house, or getting a job if they were relying on the partner for financial support.  The victim might also need to learn another language if the they dependent on their partner to translate for them. Services such as the police, would have to know English and Spanish to be able to communicate with all domestic violence victims. If there was a domestic violence incident, where the victim did not know English, and the officer did not know Spanish, the problem could not be resolved. The abuser might not be arrested either.

Word Count:401

Post-reading: week five

1. I am unsure if this is a form of colorblind racism, but I think it is, because it is discriminating against undocumented students.

3. I do not think this is a form of colorblind racism because people of color and women need the money to attend school.

4. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because the participant refers to the parents at the urban school as “those parents”, and she believes that parents of color don’t care about what their children do.

5. I am unsure because religion doesn’t deal with race, but it is discriminating against Muslims.

6. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because the counselor thinks all Latinos are house cleaners or work in a restaurant.

7. I do not think this is a form of colorblind racism.

8. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because the cosmetics company is inferring that all African Americans have exotic hair.

9. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because the party was meant to mock people of color.

11. I do not think this is a form of colorblind racism.

13. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because it is inferring that all immigrants are Spanish speakers.

14. Yes, I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because the realtor is assuming that the African American woman wants to live in an urban neighborhood.

15. I think this is a form of colorblind racism because calling a white person a “cracker” isn’t equivalent to calling a black person a “nigger”.

16. I’m not sure if this is a form of color blind racism, but given the fact that she has a black boyfriend doesn’t excluded her from being a racist.

17. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because Newt Gingrich is being stereotypical.

18. I feel that it is a form of CBR because the university isn’t honoring the American Indians it’s mocking them instead.  

19. I feel this is a form of CBR because the teacher is inferring that all Salvadorian don’t know how to speak English well.

20. I feel this is a form of CBR because the colleague is assuming that the Chinese worker knows how to speak a certain language.

21. I feel this is a form of colorblind racism because the couple refers to the black babies as “those babies”, and they are inferring that all black babies are in need of special help.

WORD COUNT: 419

Post-Reading Questions for Week 2

What might be the differences between racism and ethnocentrism?

Racism can be defined in many ways. Racism is the belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, and a person’s social or moral trait can be determined by their inborn characteristics.  Racism may also be defined as the hatred or dislike of one race by another. Individuals who feel this way think that people of a different race are less than a human because of skin color, religious beliefs, etc.  If a person is racist, they believe that other people are inferior because of such reasons. For example, during the civil right movement, African Americans fought for equality because they were being discriminated against because of the race. This would be considered a form of racism because African Americans were disliked because of their physical appearances.

Ethnocentrism is the belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group. It is one of the main reasons for division between members of different ethnicities, races, and religious group in the society. Even though ethnocentrism is the belief of superiority of one’s own ethnic group, it can also develop from racial or just the one-sided belief that their specific race, religious group, or ethnicity is superior to any other group of that kind. For example, a form of ethnocentrism would be if a person felt their religion is more important than another.

Racism and ethnocentrism are often confused because they are both based on cases where people are discriminated against based on their race or beliefs. For example, after 9/11 occurred, racism spiked towards Muslims based on the fact that it was Al-Qaeda, (a Muslim based organization) that collaborated to organize the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.  Muslims throughout the United States began to fear for their lives because people assumed they were terrorists based on their race and how they looked.  This is not ethnocentrism—people like this do not believe that their religion is superior to the Muslim religion. People who are racist towards Muslims are so only because they believe that their religion is inferior and that they are automatically a terrorist because of who was against the 9/11 attacks.  Racism towards Muslims is still a problem even though 9/11 happened 11 years ago.   However, it would be ethnocentrism if a person who practices Catholicism was prejudiced against all Muslims because they believe that Catholicism is superior to the Muslim religion.  

WORD COUNT: 412

What are some of the differences between race and ethnicity?

People often confuse race and ethnicity.Some people may even think it is the same thing. This is because when people define ethnicity and race, each definition can relate to either one.Race can be referred to as an ethnic group but isn't.  Race is usually based on a persons physical appearance, such  as skin color,eye color, hair color etc. For example, the physical characteristics of a Caucasian would most likely be light eyes and light skin, narrow noses, thin lips, and straight hair.
Ethnicity relates to the cultural factors, such as nationality,language, culture, and beliefs. For example their are many different ethnicity's within the Caucasian race, like Irish, Welsh, German, French,etc.