I thought I would repost part of Fritz’s blog describing his experience growing up; it mirrors the audio in the last chapter about a very difficult era of our country’s history. For him, it raised lots of questions about race, hatred, how things could be this way, and his own stance in the midst of all of this. When you have read it, you might think about the questions that it raises for you and how sociology contributes to our understanding of such problems.
Student Blog
Race and Ethnicity is a fascinating subject. People of the earth have sought for millennia to distinguish themselves from one another. Ethnocentrism may be the one truly universal trait shared by all cultures. Most of the time it is an issue of preserving heritage or political power within a society. Sometimes it is a belief that a particular way of life is superior to others. One example is that in some countries sharing your beliefs about God will get you executed. In other countries you will never gain political influence or control even if you are elected into office, because of protectionist policies with the government.
A classic example is in 1987 the Fijian military dissolved the government in an effort to prevent Fijian born Indians from assuming power. They stated that “Fiji should be governed by native born Fijians.” This led to an exodus of money and industry from Fiji, to other countries, primarily northern Australia. Until then Fiji had been on the fast track as a resort destination of choice in the South Pacific. The negative press set them back immensely and they never really recovered.
In this chapter I was struck by how all the schools of thought speak in broad generalities regarding race and ethnicity. They speak about society as a whole and how as a group we need to change, as if we said the right things or promoted the right ideas we will have a societal epiphany.
I have great experience with racism; I went to Northridge Junior High. In the 1970’s this school was a grand experiment in race relations. Inner city black student were bussed 25 miles to my school. On the day they arrived some of the buses were malatoved by angry parents. A minimum of eight police officers in pairs were on campus at all times. Four squad car’s patrolled the school at all times. At recess and lunch the number of police on campus would grow to twenty or more.
We were on the evening news more than once as gang wars broke out with in excess of 1500 kids beating the crap out of each other in the name of turf, race, and self-perceived superiority. Why did this experiment fail miserably? I can’t answer that question but I can suggest the cure to these woes is individual responsibility.
My best friend in the neighborhood was black. I still stay in touch with Kent forty years later. I loved his family. They took me everywhere with them and my family reciprocated. His father was a bus driver; he would haul Kent and me around inner city Watts on Saturdays, dropping us off at the movies or restaurants along his route, and pick us up later. An upper middle class white kid in Watts in the 1970’s was a real rarity.
Class Blog 