Blog #2 Karla Bermudez

When I first think of the word barrio, I vision a huge land in Mexico where farmers and their families live, every little contact with the big cities, no work, no school for the children, and not really helped by the government. The people there just do the things they need to do to live. When I read Redevelopment Policy in the Barrio it really gave me a sense what a barrio was here in the United States. From what I read, barrios are places where low-income people live, where there are very little jobs, and not a lot of things to do then to get in trouble. In this article, there wasn't very much of feelings involved, it was more from the political stand point. This actually helped me understand the barrios a little more, since I got to know the way the government dealt with the low-income community. During the time period, I believe the Chicano community was torn apart and were only seen as cases that need to be helped and guided. I do not understand how the government could make so many mistakes, as though the Chicano community were guinea pigs to all of their proposals and policies. None of those policies worked and they continued to try, to this day barrios are still fighting for a say. Elected officials did not want to listen to the people that lived in the barrios. They thought that they knew what was best and never once wanted to listen to the Chicano voice. It seemed as though the officials were not putting all their efforts to fix the barrios, it seemed as though they were just “half assing” everything. Officials did not seem to care if they really did the job right, they just wanted to make it seem like they were working hard to fix it. Officials would tear down houses and businesses to rebuild the community but never thought to worry about what the people living there would do after. They never gave them a place to stay when they would tear down homes. It is shocking that before I was born cities very close to my hometown were going through all this. My vision from a barrio was not that different from a barrio in the United States, both were cities where there were no jobs, little education, and when someone would try to help they did not want to hear the voices of the people living there. Do you think people wanted to move out of the barrios? Do you think that people that lived there thought they had no other chances anywhere else? Questions that these must make you think how everything felt back then. If you were a Chicano living in a barrio, do you think that you belonged there for a reason, that you were not worthy of anything better than a place where you had to live pay check to pay check or be jobless? 

This blog was published earlier in February, but I re-posted it because I wasn't  under my name

The Prison System

My group and I present the week we read about the prison system. We did activities like secret keeping and or our final activity we handed out little pieces of paper that had different crimes with different punishments. There was a set of people that did the same crime but according to the color of the card they got, they had to either sit down or do an exercise. We tried to focus on the fact that minorities races get published differently than the white race. In a situation, a white kid was able to leave juvy and go to school and have a job set up for him after he violated rules at the prison where they were evaluating him while a African American boy had to stay in juvy and work on a field. The white boy was in juvy for attempted murder and the African American boy was in juvy because of property theft. Situation like these make you wonder how many other people that have to stand in front of a judge or a jury get judged on by their color or race.

Are Prisons Obsolete?

By, Angela Y. Davis

 

            In this, article Angela Y. Davis is analyzing whether or not the prison system needs to be reformed or abolished. By reading through this article, I started to notice that most of the United States prisons are located in California, and created during an era which world economy was globalized in; many factories closedown, or moved out of the states especially in California. Many minorities that worked in these factories lost their jobs, housings, and incomes in general. Many of these workers were manual laborers with limited education. At the same time, informationalism that needed higher education was introduced to this devastated areas.

            One of the main reasons that I think prisons turned from institution to industry was the increasing amount of people who were looking to illegal activities to gain money and create their own ground-rules. In addition, many minorities like Black, Latino/a, and Chinese, from the fear of white communities, and comfort that they felt in their own communities started living in quarters that were left out of the main urban plans. As the article describes, many of these events happened around the 1970’s until now. By this time, the prisons shifted from being a place to go to and reflect on what criminals did wrong, to an industry that tries to accommodate more inmates’ per-square-feet rather than a system in search of ways to help correct a criminals path and to release them back to society. Everyone is entitled to fix his or her wrong doings by doing their fair share of time in prison and coming out as a new person.

            Most of the countries that have low rate of prisoners, like Saudi Arabia, Emirates, and most Muslim nations are due to the harsh criminal laws that the public is subjected to. For example in Saudi Arabia if someone steals something and are caught, the law would amputate part of the thief body, in public viewing, and some public exactions, so they have almost zero criminals in their country.

For the second part of this reading, my opinion is that the prison system was created to correct a criminals path. I believe that a prison is a place where one can learn to better shape their future by learning a trade and even to become literate. I do not agree that prison is the same as slavery, because the choice of food, interaction and work are limited. Slavery was something forced on an innocent individual, and it would be a disgrace to use the word slavery, to define a person who has either monetarily or physically hurt another person. A prisoner is not someone who has earned free-living expenses and shelter by committing a crime there for I do believe that they would need to pay back to the community who is spending their tax money on the correction and rehabilitation of these individuals. I believe in the programs set by authorize and human rights organization that help excavates to find jobs and to be reinstated into the community.         

1.      If a criminal victimized you or someone you knew, would you want them serving their time in prison where they would be subjected to change their behavior and learn a trade or would you rather have them not serve time in prison?

2.      Do you agree with the second article that a prisoner is the same as a slave?

                        

                           

                        

                           

pgs. 268-309

When you are driving through Los Angeles, it is pretty intense. Especially SOuth Central. It is an area with a lot of activity. Back then they used to have programs and organizations that helped the youths get out of crime. Throughout the years the government has reduced its fundings and now those organizations are almost nonexistent. It is really upsetting to me because like it says in the reading, they reduced their fundings to basically drive out the Latino community. It seems that way. Many at risk youth looked forward to being able to go to a place where they could focus and learn and serve as a positive distraction from the gang life outside of place. I found it very upsetting that any program that would seemingly help the Latino community was continuously shut down. The money that would have gone into those org. was used for unnecessary construction. 

     On another note, the description of the Rodney King riots was very interesting. it made a lot sense. The community could only take so much oppression. So when the jury found the three cops not guilty, it was the straw that broke the camels back. The media also played a huge role in that decision because they portrayed Rodney King as a very dangerous and lazy man, as well as a typical criminal. The jurors were white as well. He never had the chance of winning and that was another reason that fueled so much anger leading to the riots. It is really depressing as a Mexican, to see my community as well as other minorities, being oppressed and discriminated upon. This reading helped open my eyes and i found a way to connect the pieces. How did you guys interpret this reading and how do you feel about it?

Youth in the Era of Mass Incarceration

The Hyper-Criminalization of Black and Latino Male

 Youth in the Era of Mass Incarceration

            The article by Victor M. Rios touches on key aspects that label Black and Latino young males as “deviant”. The term “deviant” means dissimilar from traditional standard, moving sharply from a traditional, customary, generally accepted normal, or displaying such different behavior. The key terms in this article are showing how minorities are marked by words such as: criminalization, youth, Latinos, deviance, and penalty.

            Rios suggests that Black and Latino youth are branded with “hyper-criminalized” when they come across the juvenile justice system even though most of them have committed non-violent offenses. All of these start for these young men around the age of eight.  Moreover, Rios describes, “These scholars have argued that punishment not only affect the confined individual but rather expands itself to family members and the inmate’s community.”(Page 226) which means now everyone is being punished for things that they did not do or take part in directly. Nonetheless, article suggests that mass imprisonment combined with political and economic arrangements, and culture makes an overwhelming negative impact on this young population. This population is so venerable that even when they have not done anything wrong, they are  being labeled as “at-risk” children. It is similar to saying that if you do everything by the book, you are acceptable, but if somehow you find yourself in bad circumstances, you would be marked as juvenile offender and end up as a criminal. Under the same law, something that in white community would look as an unwise act of childhood is now an act of crime in Black or Latino community.

            The article suggests that “governance” or the lack of it is the reason that this population is suffering. Overwhelming lack of jobs, education, and not being able to provide economic and social security to this most needed portion of society is the leading cause of the problems. If a young man cannot find a job because of his ethnicity, color of skin, or lack of education, he is going to end up in criminal activities and try to express his anger on his peers or bystanders. Many of these kids are bulled by their peers, ended up defending themselves by committing an act of violence, which in the end sends them to juvenile court. Most of them are so poor they cannot afford to buy essential goods that they need for school, nutrition, and clothing. They do not steal because it is enjoyable and fun, they do it because no one is there to help them, and to give them some directions to how they can make some money. In the white communities, poor children can work in school cafeterias during school hours, or in Unified School Districts summer job programs. Nonetheless, these kinds of jobs need and require having a higher GPA than other applicants.

            This article ends by saying that “dangerous moments” is facing Black and Latino youth community, and the way to find a place for these poor youth, from the governing point of view is hyper-criminalization and mass incarceration.

            This is something that I do not want to participate in or see.    

 

Q1. As a Latino youth, did you feel you had equal opportunities in your life?

Q2. Did you have any struggles as a high school student due to your race/ethnicity?

Q3. Did you see this type of discrimination taking place towards your family or friends?

Welfare and Demoralization

This reading is discussing the impact of conservatism on the social class system. The time period begins in the 1980s and onward. One quote that stuck out to me was by Charles Murray. He said, "We tried to provide more for the poor and produced more poor instead. We tried to remove the barriers to escape from poverty, and inadvertently built a trap". Murray criticized liberal welfare programs and said they "demoralized"urban poor. Murray became the most influential commentator for poverty. He was influential during the LA riots in the early 1990s. He advocated for the diminishing of aid to inner-city communities.

In general, whites find it easy to blame those of lower social class. As in our class activity, people in the upper class often blame those on welfare, EBT, disability, and other government programs. Many upper class people do not think they deserve to live in the same areas as those on these programs. On the other hand, many people on these programs often feel so comfortable with their accommodations that they do not work harder to get out of government assistance. This causes tension between the two social groups.

Do these welfare programs demoralize the urban poor as Murray suggested? Demoralize is defined as to "Cause someone to lose confidence or hope". In a sense, those on the programs that do not strive to better themselves are in fact losing spirit and confidence. It can be embarrassing to those on the program, although there is nothing to be ashamed of. As long as the person tries each day to better their situation, they should feel no shame and should not feel like they are being demoralized.

-Danielle Shapiro

Chapter Four

The fight mentioned in the beginning of the text was very significant because the fight is what woke Beto up and prepared him for the real world. When he came to the realization that his opponent was going to keep hitting him in the boxing match whether he fought back or not reflects social construction in a few ways. Even if we sat here and did nothing about it, the social structure of schools will keep coming at us. We are all in a situation that cannot be ignored, just like being in a boxing match and not fighting back. Eventually somebody has to step forward and lay out the truth about what is going on. In the case against three San Fernando High School administrators being tried as guilty of harassment and violation of the first amendment, a crucial question was brought to attention: Do teachers have the right to speak on matters of public concern during their off hours? I agree that they do. If a teacher is at a coffee shop complaining about the drop out rates at SFHS, the principle and staff do not have the right to treat the teacher any differently than the others for expressing an opinion out side of the classroom. Qualified immunity was being used to protect the administrators and say that they were not aware of the harassment that had occurred. SFHS claims that Beto broke school policies, and constantly did things his way. They claimed the problem with him was that he was self righteous in his approach to teaching and that he felt entitled to break policy based on observations of others. The truth of the matter is, he was not just simply observing others. He was taking into consideration that SFHS is an extension and continuation of white domination and the fact that the existence of white domination depends on social mechanisms that mass produce failure and ignorance within communities of color. However, the principle of SFHS does not believe in rocking the boat or exposing students to information that can be too controversial for their own good. If this information is never exposed to students, this social construction will never change. The administration is just an ugly extension of history. Times have changed. Reprimanding a teacher for making facts public to students such as the high school drop out rate in comparison to the excessive military recruitment is not right. Students have the right to be exposed to facts and teachers should have the right to speak on matters of public concern.

Anyon Social Class and Social Knowledge by Kathy R.

Reading this article opened my eyes to the level of education each social class attains. I always had an idea that most teachers cared more than others but to read an actually study and see the findings was very shocking. Most of the working class schools being observed showed teachers who did not seem to care in my opinion. They sounded lazy with no interest in making a difference in these children's education. In regards to the books that they used for social studies, it amazed me that they would get Textbooks that were meant for mentally disadvantaged students. All because they believed the students "won't get it". In my opinion, i believe that as a teacher it is obviously your job to challenge the students to make them understand. Social class should not be an excuse to let slide ones responsibility as a teacher to evoke knowledge from the students. It kind of disturbed me to read that most of the children from these working class school had no aspirations to go to college or obtain a high paying job. They all believed that they were not smart enough to do so. When Anyon observed that the students would sabotage the lessons, she noticed that they would do so because they did not care for the teacher. They wanted to see her angry, they said that they were making the teacher upset because "he did not teach them", or "make them learn.'' In the beginning he mentions how a newly higher teacher was nervous to work at that school because it was hard, and the principal told him that if he taught the kids adding and subtracting, that would be a bonus, if not that it was ok. If that is the type of mentality that teachers have when they go into their jobs, then its no wonder the education system in working class schools is horrible.
     Anyon later went on to observe middle class school and noticed how the teachers cared that the students were more understanding of the material. As well as the elite schools. Both of these social classes showed a higher level of knowledge that the other school. They are supposed to be at the same grade level but it so clear that they are not. The kids in these types of schools were more educated and knowledgeable. They aspired to be more and they had higher expectations for themselves. They actually wanted to be there. Unlike at the other school. I myself have gone through both levels of education. I went to an elementary school in a working class society, it was a very low income community. When my parents moved to a higher income community i changed schools. When i got to my new elementary school, i had such a hard time because what i thought i knew at my old school, was something so different there.It took time but i eventually got the hang of it. It just makes me upset that these kids are basically being denied the right level of education. Working class communities also deserve to have teachers who are motivated to teach and want to change the way the system is. Myabe its just wishful thinking, but i hope that this changes.

Response By: Daniela Rodriquez

People of the same race tend to always live with or around each other. When it comes to any racial group, living in a community with people that look like you tends to make life somewhat simpler. Of course, you never seem to escape other forms of indifference, but as far as race is concerned you are equal. If you drive around different parts of Los Angeles, that becomes very clear. I understand that living like this didn't happen accidentally but we have grown so accustom to it that it seems abnormal to have it any other way. We know where our boundaries lie and where we are welcome as well as not. For someone part of a minority group, frustration has got to be the number one emotion that comes to mind when thinking of these "invisible lines" one can not cross. Being confined to one section of a city is not exactly the type of living situation we all hope for. Nowadays it is more acceptable for people of minority groups to live outside these boundaries, but as far as the readings, it wasn't always like that. For a Chicano/a to live outside their barrio was just not going to happen and there were people who were going to make sure this didn't happen. it opens your eyes to the kind of world we've grown familiar with when a property looses value because of where it is located or who happens to live in the surroundings. Growing up, my family was fit to this mold. Looking back now, i realize we only lived in areas where we had other Hispanic families around us. I must imagine that to my parents living in a community with people who came from the same background as our family made the transition to living in the United States that much easier. I can most certainly say that attending public schools rather than private schools made my childhood a significantly easier just by the fact that my classmates too were of Hispanic descent and we understood each other. My parents could communicate with theirs and there wasn't that economic barrier of not being able to have things in common because of the different lifestyles we lived. I can imagine that not only would it have been difficult for my parents to afford private schooling, but to them it was like living in mexico where everyone went to public school. Living in a Hispanic community was simple and "safe" for us. Also there was no need for private schooling because again living among other Chicanos we were safe. We didn't bother questioning why it had to be that way, it just was. i can't help but feel a sense of anger that right from the beginning families are pushed into a mold that has been around for so long and shows no signs of improvement. It amazes me how even though these small communities have so little, when a freeway or public building has to be built, they are the first to go without proper compensation for kicking someone out of their homes and having them relocate and find a home elsewhere. people living in these barrios don't have the funds or anything to compare to what a wealthy person can pay to make sure their homes aren't near highways or public buildings. Minorities simply get the boot and have to accept the fact that it is suppose to be like that, because honestly there is only so much you can fight back until they decide to drive you out or fight back until you have no money left to keep attorneys and to appeal them. At which point they make you settle for a "pay out". 

Economic Restructuring and Labor Organizations

The reading on “Economic Restructuring and Labor Organizing in Southeast Los Angeles   1935-2001” by Myrna Cherkoss Donahoe, describes how history changed in the most important neighborhoods of Los Angeles; more specifically in Southeast L.A. It talks about how Native Americans were displaced by the Hispanics, and how they received their lands through Spanish monarchy. It also describes the way in which Mexicans gained independence from Spain and became Californians. At that time, Southeast L.A was called Rancho San Antonio. By 1848, United States under the Manifest Destiny occupied California as one of its territories and claimed it to be a state. Undoubtedly, by then the white population known as Anglo Americans moved to this state and specially Southeast L.A, which had the best affordable lands and geographical position for creating factories with minimum costs and cheap labor.

The white population’s working class men made the first unions. However, over a long period they learned that it would be impossible to gain the goals that they desired. At that time, they included people of color and Latino workers in their union’s strikes. Many cases went to court and lost and even if they succeed to win, it was too late to gain anything from the lawsuits due to the closure of the factories. This was the beginning of representing the minorities in general, and the union made cross-racial alliances.

Global economic process also played a crucial point for the minorities and especially for the Latino working population. To make more profit, capitalists moved labor-intensive jobs and manufacturing out, and brought modernized factories that required the knowledgeable and the educated. Many jobs that were not part of Latino minorities and people of color were lost. However, since unions were created they opened a new point of view for minorities to exercise their rights, it created a new climate that gave hope to low class workers. Therefore, new organizations were created to stop the closure of plants.

The fight for creating and maintaining jobs in Los Angles in 1992, was arranged by Los Angeles Manufacturing Action Project, also known as (LAMAP), which used Latino union organizers who were involved in political and trade unions to lead the cause.

The main lesson that I learned from this article is that one individual alone cannot bring changes to his community, nor can he voice his concern about problems in his neighborhood. It takes a large group networking and gradually asking for change that would make a path for future concerns to be brought to light.      

How would you live your life back in 1840s, with restrictions placed based on race and gender?

How would you achieve the living standards of an Anglo Americas life?

Would you say your life is different now from what it would have been in 1840s?

            

      

Blog #1 By Karla

When I first think of the word barrio, I vision a huge land in Mexico where farmers and their families live, every little contact with the big cities, no work, no school for the children, and not really helped by the government. The people there just do the things they need to do to live. When I readRedevelopment Policy in the Barrio it really gave me a sense what a barrio was here in the United States. From what I read, barrios are places where low-income people live, where there are very little jobs, and not a lot of things to do then to get in trouble. In this article, there wasn't very much of feelings involved, it was more from the political stand point. This actually helped me understand the barrios a little more, since I got to know the way the government dealt with the low-income community. During the time period, I believe the Chicano community was torn apart and were only seen as cases that need to be helped and guided. I do not understand how the government could make so many mistakes, as though the Chicano community were guinea pigs to all of their proposals and policies. None of those policies worked and they continued to try, to this day barrios are still fighting for a say. Elected officials did not want to listen to the people that lived in the barrios. They thought that they knew what was best and never once wanted to listen to the Chicano voice. It seemed as though the officials were not putting all their efforts to fix the barrios, it seemed as though they were just “half assing” everything. Officials did not seem to care if they really did the job right, they just wanted to make it seem like they were working hard to fix it. Officials would tear down houses and businesses to rebuild the community but never thought to worry about what the people living there would do after. They never gave them a place to stay when they would tear down homes. It is shocking that before I was born cities very close to my hometown were going through all this. My vision from a barrio was not that different from a barrio in the United States, both were cities where there were no jobs, little education, and when someone would try to help they did not want to hear the voices of the people living there. Do you think people wanted to move out of the barrios? Do you think that people that lived there thought they had no other chances anywhere else? Questions that these must make you think how everything felt back then. If you were a Chicano living in a barrio, do you think that you belonged there for a reason, that you were not worthy of anything better than a place where you had to live pay check to pay check or be jobless? 

Experiencing Barriers By Danielle Shapiro

Last week we read two stories. The theme of barriers came up in both stories, but about two completely different cultural groups. One was about African Americans and the other was featuring Latinos. In “The Construction of the Ghetto” by W.E.B Du Bois, a story is told about African Americans in the twentieth century. Southern African Americans were pushed into confined places, which became a problem when more African Americans migrated to the area. Whites wanted more space because landowners could regulate it on their own. They went through extreme segregation and lived in extreme poverty. In “Barrio Logos” by Raul Homero Villa, the Chicano community is discussed at the setting of the 1840s, which was the height of their annexation from the United States.

During class, we participated in an activity. A few students entered a confined space and were told to move in specific shapes or patterns. Later, more students were gradually added in. The more students that joined created more difficulty. This is a mere glimpse of what the African Americans had to live.

Barriers can be both physical and metaphorical. Physically, barriers create a confined space where the simplest task is made almost impossible. Just as in the activity, movement and missions were difficult to accomplish. The thought of living in a small space with many people is disturbing. I was in a confined area for no more than 15 minutes and I felt claustrophobic. The forceful nature of being put in these barriers would be indescribable. As a metaphor, a barrier can be seen as anything in the way of someone’s goal. The activity got me thinking about my own personal barriers. I am studying as a Nutrition and Dietetics major in my sophomore year. I have many barriers in my way of becoming a Registered Dietitian. I need to keep up my GPA, which is conflicted with my difficult course load. My work schedule is also a barrier to keeping up with studying and juggling a social life. I have other personal barriers as well. These include regrets of things in the past that possibly hold me back today. This lesson was more than just learning about a terrible time in history by restricting human rights, but it allowed a lot of reflections for myself.

After reading this post, I hope you think about your own personal barriers. Write them down and try to overcome them everyday. 

Further Reading:

This is not a past issue. This ill-treatment still happens today. Here is an article about physical barriers and the mistreatment of impoverished people living in Hong Kong.

http://news.yahoo.com/poor-cages-show-dark-side-142611366.html

http://christinaproenza.org/HSS4WEBDUBOIS/timesonseg.html