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