Norviel's Pacific Crossings

1. The author is talking about the want and eagerness the Japanese people had to be a part of the New World, America. Even though they were not treated the best they still wanted the chance to be a part of something great, something up-and-coming.

2. Takaki writes about the experiences the Japanese people had when leaving their home country to come to America. They were excited to see this new way of life, a way to make money and live more prosperously. The Japanese migrants were leaving their homes and families, to which they would probably never see again. He talked about the "picture brides", which were women who were sent from their home country to America to be with an arranged husband whom they have never even met. The young girls were usually very excited about their journey to the "new world", not because they necessarily wanted to be with their husband, but because they were eager to see this new and better way of life. Many of these new workers had similar jobs in America, that they had back home. They worked hard, long hours out in the fields. Under the sun, with no breeze, Takaki described the undesirable conditions that these people worked under. Much like the blacks, these foreigners were discriminated against as well. They were enslaved and made to do hard manual labor as well. Unlike the blacks, at least this group of people were normally kept with their families, because the owners thought that men with families were more valuable workers so their living conditions were somewhat better than what the blacks had to live in. Later on, even though the Japanese were free and were allowed to own land and property, in many cases they were discriminated against and were denied certain homes in certain neighborhoods.

3. Why would these people continue to come to America if their lives really were not made as easy as they thought? Were these people thankful for their new opportunities that they were given; since they could have been denied or turned away from this new world and way of life?

4. I didn't really like this reading that much. It is really long and drawn out, as well as somewhat boring, making you lose interest in the reading. It was somewhat confusing also because one minute he would talk about how the Japanese were so excited to go and make money and have new and better opportunities, and then the next minute he made it seem like their lives were not so great, and they were treated as slaves. Then it would go back to them being free and being able to purchase land and work. I did like the fact that it was about a different minority group rather than just African Americans, because that can get kind of redundant.

Norviel's A&F Analysis

1. The author's main idea of this piece of writing is to make people aware of the hidden meaning and discrimination that Abercrombie and Fitch is based on. He is saying that A&F is a racially discriminating clothing line, and only directs its advertising to a very specific group of people. For the reasons that I will explain later, is the reasons as to why McBride claims to hate A&F.

2. McBride starts off by talking about how the company of Abercrombie and Fitch was started. He explains that from the beginning A&F was where the wealthier group of people would go for their clothing. Because of this early trend, Abercrombie and Fitch clothing still is used to represent people who come from money, based solely on the name that is displayed on their shirts. McBride says later that people are not buying clothes, but are buying a membership into a lifestyle; an expensive lifestyle. McBride talks about the Abercrombie "look" that people who work for and model for this company must have. There are many rules that must be followed to be an Abercrombie and Fitch employee, that seem to be very unnecessary. A&F is thought to be solely for white, straight, wealthy, good-looking people. He states examples of different instances when black, and/or gay people were not hired or were treated worse than those employees who were not gay or black.

3. If A&F were represented more by only blacks, or gays would it be as big of a deal and analyzed as much? If McBride were really wealthy would he wear this clothing brand also? Or its equivalents such as Hollister or Banana Republic? When A&F was first established, was the criteria that managers looked for in potential employees as strict as now? Was Mr. Abercrombie and Mr. Fitch racists?

4. I have always found it odd that in the catalog for this CLOTHING company, none of the models are even wearing the clothes that they are attempting to sell. This obviously shows that they are basically just selling the image of sex and attractiveness, somehow persuading people to buy their clothes. Even though it seems a little silly that there is such a critique that must be followed when working for A&F, if that is what the owners of the company want then why should it be changed? I have seen plenty of black people wearing A&F clothing, so I have never even given the issue of racial discrimination as a part of this clothing style a thought.

Norviel's Kindred Association

I really enjoyed reading the novel Kindred. I was an easy read and was an interesting story and way of explaining slavery. This book related to many other readings/videos that we did in class. In the Richard Wright reading "Race, Class, and Gender in the United States" it relates to Kindred because the boy in Wright's writing learned how he was to act towards and around whites, much like Dana in Kindred. Dana had to learn the Jim Crow laws, much like the young boy. They were expected to address whites as master, Mrs., Mr, etc. They were neither one allowed to stand up for themselves against whites. When Dana tried to stand up for herself she got whipped, while the young boy was threatened and ended up quitting his job instead of telling the boss about his white co-workers' behavior.
In The Race Part II, it talks about how blacks were used to do work, replacing indentured servants. They decided to use blacks because if they were to run away they would be easier to identify. This goes along with the Kindred reading because there were patrol men who would ride around and look for blacks, slaves. The patrol men would assume that any black person they saw unattended was a potential runaway slave.
In the video "Eyes on the Prize" it relates to Kindred in the aspect of learning. In the movie 19 black kids were enrolled in high school. The white people did not like this and would riot outside of the schools, and threaten the blacks. Much like the movie, in Kindred, the slave owners did not want the blacks learning either. In both cases, if the blacks were to learn like the whites then the white people would not longer be as superior; the white people feared this.
Kindred also relates to the reading "Getting Off the Hook: Denial and Resistance". Much like my previous example about the learning. In Johnson's writing he has a section called Blame the Victim, in this section he talks about how maybe if the slaves were capable of learning then their lives would be better; basically saying that the whites are doing the blacks a favor by enslaving them, because without the whites help in this way then the blacks would not be able to survive. As I said before, this relates to Kindred in the way that the slave owners would not let the blacks learn.

Norviel's Asian Attitude

1. The main thesis to the writing "Yellow" by Frank Wu is that he is saying that when it comes to race people only think of blacks and whites. There is no talk about Asians (those with yellow skin) and they are pretty much over-looked by society. Although a person's skin color should not matter, it still somewhat plays a part in our world today. Wu is saying that being classified as a minority, like those who are African American, is better than having no class or social standing at all.
2. Wu starts off his writing by saying that people want to believe that each individual is just as important as the next, no matter what their skin color is; but Wu is not fooled by this and says that even though people want to think this is so, it really is not how things are. He talks about how "Americans believe in a heroic myth from the nineteenth century, whereby moving to the frontier gives a person a new identity", meaning that at that time things had changed and that everyone was considered equal, even though they were not all treated the same. He talks about some of his person experiences of not knowing his place in society being an Asian and not a black or white person. One of his experiences was when he was going to ride the bus and did now know where he should sit. The front was filled with whites, while the back was occupied by the blacks. Knowing that he did not really belong to either group he was confused as to what he should do. He says that people who are not like them are not acknowledged, and are oblivious to them. Meaning that Whites acknowledge Whites, Blacks acknowledge Blacks, and Asians acknowledge Asians. Although race is thought to be only Black and White, there is a gray area there too that people do not think of, those with yellow skin.
3. Where would Asians like to be classified? Maybe by not being put into a black or white group is better, since they still get minority benefits but are not thought to be over-privileged.
4. I like the examples that Wu used in his writing, such as the one about the motorcyclists in his oblivious example. His writing was simple but still made you think, and got his point across. He almost seems to be complaining too much and in a way makes him seem like he thinks he wants to be classified in a group, after saying that race shouldn't be the reason of how people are treated but rather by their individual characteristics. Overall the reading was not too bad, and with being short it was much easier to pay attention, but I believe I was still able to understand the issue he was addressing.

Norviel's Eyes on the Prize Opinion

1. In the movie Eyes on the Prize, the creator of this video wanted to show what the blacks went through in order to get some of the privileges and rights that whites had that the African Americans didn’t. Even though they were said to be “free”, without the same treatment and luxuries as the whites, they felt as though they were still nothing more than slaves.
2. The movie began with the story of a 14 year old boy named Emmett Till. The boy was not from around Mississippi, and while he was there he was told to say something to a white woman in a store. After telling the woman “bye” he was threatened by a man. Later the boy’s body was found mangled and shot in a river, all of this just for talking to a white woman. The husband of the woman and her brother-in-law were accused of the murder, but were found not guilty. The inequalities of the blacks were then focused on and demonstrated when showing the separate water fountains for blacks and whites, as well as the segregation of buses. Whites were to sit in the front while blacks were allowed to sit in the back, unless there were more whites then the blacks were required to give up their seat to the white person. Later in the movie it talked about what happened in Little Rock. The Little Rock high school was to integrate and allow a few black students into the school. The whites rioted outside of the school, and the police didn’t allow the blacks into the school. The U.S. president took matters into his own hands and assigned the National Guard to escort the black students into the school, while each black student was assigned a personal guard who walked them to each class. After accomplishing some integration within high schools, the African Americans then started attending colleges. There were special seating for blacks and whites so the black students decided to sit in the seats that were set for whites and had a sit in to prove their point.
3. What would have been the result if the blacks hadn’t decided not to use violence in order to get their rights, and started killing and rioting? Weren’t the white parents afraid to send their kids to school too with the rioting?
4. I enjoyed the movie for the most part. It was nice to see the different views of people that actually experienced what the movie was talking about. It gave us a better understanding and personal feel to what the blacks did to accomplish their equality goals. I couldn’t imagine living during that time, and sending my kids to a school where there were people outside with guns and wanting to kill potential students. Even if they were not after my child, accidents still happen, and you never know what people will do when they get fired up. School now is scary enough with all of the random shootings that no one anticipates, let alone knowing everyday that when you try to go to school you may be shot or killed in another way.

Norviel's Ethics of Living

1. In the writing The Ethics of Living Jim Crow, the author is describes the rules and ways of living that African Americans were expected to follow. If they wanted to live and make a living among whites then they had to obey the unwritten rules that the white men created for them. Those African Americans who stepped out of line were often punished for supposedly disrespecting the whites.
2. This piece of writing followed a short time period of a young black boy’s life. It describes the lessons that the boy had to experience throughout part of his life of how to act, speak to, and work for whites. In the beginning he finds that after being cut by a broken glass bottle, that was thrown at him by a white boy while having a war, that his mother was non-sympathetic like he expected she would be. Rather she punished the boy, she wanted him to learn the right way to behave if he were ever going to survive in a world that he was an inferior part of. She knew what she was talking about because she has learned throughout her life how to get along with whites in order to provide food and other necessities for her family. Later when the boy had his first job and was accused of not addressing a white man properly, he learned to keep his mouth shut and to become submissive to what the whites wanted from him; he left his job without saying a word to the boss, even though the white men were ordered to teach him things. He knew better than to talk back. With each new job and as his life went on he learned the tricks that would keep him out of trouble and keep him alive as well. When he was unsure of the proper response to make toward a white person he found ways out of having to make any gesture at all, like when he was unable to remove his hat while in the elevator and the white man took it off for him. He knew he wasn’t really supposed to thank him, so rather than having to say or do anything he pretended to lose his sturdy hold on his packages so that the white man would understand that he was preoccupied with other matters.
3. Why did the group of white men in the car that offered him a ride say that he was lucky that he talked to them that way instead of someone else, why didn’t they treat him the same way that they thought other people would? Why didn’t the whites who had a soft spot for the blacks try harder to help them out?
4. Overall I liked the reading. I liked that it was more of a story rather than simply just facts. It gave it a more personal feel and made it more interesting to read and held the readers attention better.