Pre-Reading Week Twelve

Hip-hop could be used for social justice if it is used that way instead of how hip-hop is portrayed in the time period now. If the artists wrote songs that could do things that do some social justice in the world, then it would be accomplished. People are influenced by the media that includes music even if they aren't aware of it. If they heard more good things in the songs they listen to, they would most likely follow it. If the songs in the hip hop genre were portrayed more of good things, then more good would come out of them.

Hip-hop could be seen as both a tool for social justice and be a critique of it. The way it is viewed could be as both by different people. People who have no power or are trying to make a change in the world may see hip-hop songs about social justice as a tool for social justice. They would follow the lyrics or believe that what is being said is something for change. They would see it as a good thing. People who are in high power or have majority of the power will see hip-hop songs about that subject as a critique. They would most likely not want to see things change if they believe that it will bring bad results to the people. Those instances may not be the only way that people see it. People with little or no power may see it as a critique and people of high power may see it as a tool. It just depends on the person and their view of the songs.

A barrier that hip-hop artists face is the culture and the way that people see hip-hop. If people see hip-hop as the only way, then hip-hop artists wouldn't be able to deter much from what they consider the social norm for fear of not being able to market or sell their music. That social norm that people expect for hip-hop music to be would surely limit to what they could do with their music.

Word Count: 348

Week Eleven Post Reading

I think that the most interesting that I learned in the video was the response that when asked if they felt offended to the way some hip-hop artists referred to as woman. Some of the women that Hurt asked that question to had stated that they weren’t offended or didn't mind the language choice because it wasn't directed to them personally. It felt a little weird to sound indifferent to someone referring to women in general like that. I don't think it made me change how I thought of hip-hop because I always thought like that about it.

I think that hyper masculinity and violence is a part of larger American culture because we see those two concepts in a lot of other places other than hip-hop. We see it in movies when people fight and the guy seems to be at the top of things and doing most of the stuff. We see it in sports like hockey and football where the harder you hit, the better.

I think that hip-hop is both homophobic and homoerotic at the same time because we don't see any artists that are openly homosexual and are successful. In songs the artists seem to bash other guys if they are supposedly not masculine by describing them with feminine qualities. It is also homoerotic because they have scenes in music videos or on magazines covers where the artists is shirtless or it seems really sexed up as if females are the only watching at the videos or looking at the magazines.

I think that hip-hop is denigrating to women because when you see women in hip-hop videos, they seem to wear less clothes and only seem to be there as eye candy. They seem to act like sex objects for the men's pleasure. Artists also seem to use bad words when describing women as if that is the only thing they are.

I think that hip-hop changed from political and social issues to 'gangsta rap' because the people who produced the music (which most cases is white males) didn't want to produce something that went against the social norms. They wanted something that they assumed to be associated with that race and nothing else. Hip-hop changed because the artists changed the style of their music to fit the new style that the producers were producing.

Word Count: 390

Pre-Reading Week Eleven

I think that when people think of hip-hop, they seem to mainly associate it with one race, African Americans. I have heard people say that hip-hop music is black music and that is what they listen to as if no one else listens to that type of music. Hip-hop also seems to be related be associated with more with people who are of lower classes, with males, people who are straight, and with people who are criminals or have bad reputations.

I think that the purpose of hip-hop is just to entertain its listeners as well as the people who make the music. I don’t think it has an agenda. It is just a type of music that people listen to like country or rock or any other type of music.

I think that hip-hop is for anyone who chooses to listen to it or create it, but we see that a lot of hip-hop artists are African Americans and that the people who listen to it are mainly African American as well. I think that hip-hop music is not racially diverse but at the same time it is not completely racially homogenous. They main listeners to hip-hop music may be of one certain race, but that does not mean that other people of different races do not listen to it as well.

I think that hip-hop music is so popular because you have some people that could probably relate to the lyrics in the songs. People might also just like the rhythms or the beats or any other part of the song that has caught their attention.

Rock feels that he has to defend rap music because when people think about rap music they associate it with people who are no good. People believe that people who listen to rap music are bad as well as the people who create it the music in the first place.

In hip-hop, women seem to be just things to talk about explicitly. They seem to be talked about as if they were sex objects and nothing more. I don’t think that hip-hop music is misogynistic because it doesn't seem to show that they hate woman. In hip-hop music, woman seemed to be talked about explicitly, but it has not hit the point where they show that they hate women.

In hip-hop, men seem to be the top guns, the ones who are the best and the ones on top while woman seem to be the submissive ones, as if they were nothing but things to be used.

Word Count: 425

Post-Reading Questions: Week Five

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva refers to Colorblind Racism as 'racism lite' because it is not outright racism. It is more like covert racism. This theory makes excuses that are supposedly the reasons why minorities are not up there in statistics with the whites and says that the reasons are anything but race.

I think that the video is racist because of the things that the girl is saying to the person of color she is with. I don't think that the fact that the girl is impersonating someone who is white. I found it more racist the things she was saying were kind offensive to African Americans. The girl says things that she assumes all African Americans do, look like, or say.

People that are considered to be white gain from colorblind racism because no questions why there is a structural difference between them and people of color. Instead they see the differences as minorities' faults and there is nothing they could do about it because of certain aspects.

Some of the scenarios that I found are "obviously" indicative of colorblind racism are "At a dinner party in the suburbs, the discussion turns to the problems in urban schools. One of the participants responds, 'I don't want to sound racist, but, it is going to be difficult to change the schools when those parents just don't care what their children are doing in class.'", "After the election of Barack Obama, rumors abound that he is secretly Muslim and is therefore unfit to be the President.", "A guidance counselor gently suggests to one of their Latino students that they might benefit from taking a home economic class.", and "A sorority on campus features a 'Ghetto party' where participants are encouraged to dress in things like baggy pants, do-rags, penciled-in eyebrows and other characteristics of the 'the ghetto'." The one that I feel is somewhat ambiguous about is "News media outlets eagerly discuss the release of a new book, which argues that 'over bearing, strict and pushy moms' are the reason behind the success of Asian students in school." I am ambiguous about this one because I'm not exactly sure if this could be considered as colorblind racism or not. I have a feeling that it is but then I feel like it isn't.

The major aspect of American race relations that is 'left out' when people talk about diversity is inequality. This is a problem because if we are not able to talk about it then we will never be able to solve it and get rid of the inequality. If we don't talk about it, inequality will always be there and we will always have to live with it.

We study colorblind racism in Ethnic Studies because it pertains with the races in the world and it shows that it affects some of them. This does matter in our pursuit of social justice because if people continue to think this way then inequality will never be faced head on and there will be no chance of it being fixed.

I think that colorblind racism is somewhat of a useful tool in understanding race in the United States because it shows how some people see racism. It shows that some people will push away inequality and just make excuses for the problems with race.

Word Count: 551

Pre-Reading for Weeks 4

The definition of privilege to me is a certain right that some people have that others may not as appointed to them because certain physical features or certain abilities. Some examples of privileges that people in society can possess would be getting picked for a sports team because you look more athletic and having a higher opportunity of getting a job versus another because of what race you may look like.

I think white privilege means that people who may look as if they are white physically may get certain advantages given to them just because of how they look. I think we would be studying this because it shows that all races and ethnicities aren't equal and some get treated better than others. I think structural inequality means that the way the government treats people are not the same. I think we are studying this is because it may be linked to race. I think advantage means when someone has a better chance at something over someone else because of a physical characteristic or some ability they may have. A disadvantage is when someone has less of chance at something  over someone else because of a physical characteristic or lack of an ability. I think we are studying advantage/disadvantage in this class because it could be linked to race and ethnicity showing that one of those may have better chances at something than another one.

Racism is when someone is discriminated against because of what race or ethnicity are. Racism can be linked to my definition because racism is like someone having a privilege of doing something or going somewhere because of their race.

People of color can be racist. They can be racist because they can discriminate against other people because of the race or ethnicity they may be. It is used by any race or ethnicity and directed at anyone. It does not have precedent over any one race and it doesn't matter who it is against.

It is generally acknowledged that people who are White have some advantages in the U.S. society because in the past they used to have all the privilege. People of other races or ethnicities were discriminated against just because they were different than people who were White. People who were White were seen as superior to everyone else who weren't and that general idea has not left U.S. society no matter how much it has changed over the years.

In this quote, I think that Lipsitz is trying to say that racism may not be the same that it was a hundred years ago as it is today. Racism may also not be used in the same way today as it was used in the past. In Colonial America, people who were White were racist against people who were not like themselves in physical characteristics or what they believed in. They used racism to keep the other racism as inferior to them. Racism now is felt anyone, regardless of how they look. Racism is no longer used to the extreme of keeping other people of different races or ethnicities beneath them.

Word Count: 520