Who am I: Take 2

At the beginning of the school year, many teachers will ask their students to describe who they are. We were asked this question at the beginning of the semester and I wrote down some generic things. My age, interests, family, etc. Thinking back to that question I realize that, yes, things that describe me still include my age, interests, family, etc., but I now see how a lot of the topics that we discussed in class have an impact on who I am. For example, we discussed how teens are socialized to think about themselves and how society expects us to behave. I can see that a lot of what I do is a reflection of what society expects of me as a teen. Same thing with the way females are socialized to think about themselves and behave. I also learned that society categorizes me as a saint, meaning I get special treatment from authority figures that roughnecks don't, even though statistically we don't behave any different. From sociology, I can see how my definition of who I am has been influenced by society.

CRASH

Crash was such a good movie. Unlike so many other movies, Crash had a message and there was something to be learned from the film. It really is a piece of art. One part of the movie that I noticed especially was the relationship between Shaniqua Johnson, the cop, and the rest of society. Toward the beginning of the movie, the cop got into an argument with Shaniqua. He implied that she was an outsider, saying things like "your people." I feel like he's implying that African Americans aren't a part of the predominantly white society in America. In this scene you can see the racial tension that exists, and how differently the two races treat one another. However, at the end of the movie a Hispanic man crashes into Shaniqua's car. She starts yelling at him and when he tries to respond (with an accent) she tells him that this is America and we speak English here. I thought it was ironic that somebody who is treated like an outsider will go and treat others the same way. It's like an endless circle. You'd think that somebody who understands what it's like to be treated that way would try to stop it, not promote it. I thought this contrast brought the movie full circle. It connects everybody in that each character in the movie committed an act of racism, implicit or explicit. I think that we can take a lesson from this movie and try to stop the endless circling of racism. Even at our school you see that the different races tend to separate themselves. Racism does not benefit our society in any way, so we should all that we can to stop it.

Race

So this week in class we've been discussing how race doesn't actually exist biologically or scientifically. There's nothing in our genes that determines our race. Society has made up this idea called "race." Skin color was determined by where you lived. If you lived near the equator, you had dark skin. If you lived up North, you had light skin. The problem with race is that people will automatically stereotype someone based on the color of their skin. When a person doesn't act like their race is 'supposed to', they are considered outsiders. People can't be defined by the color of their skin. Take Barack Obama for example. People refer to him as our country's First Black President, but he's just as much white as he is black. Skin color is merely a physical characteristic and shouldn't be used to define somebody. However, it's very difficult to avoid doing so. I can relate this to my life by looking past someone's skin color when I first meet them.

Social Class and Mobility

Playing Monopoly following the rules of the U.S class system was interesting. It supported the idea of people generally not moving up (or down) in social class that we've been talking about in class for the past few weeks. I understand that it might be really difficult to move up in social class, but I don't think it's impossible. My family and I immigrated to America when I was five years old. We didn't come from a background of wealthy people, so we basically started off with nothing. We lived in a small apartment in the city for about two years, but then we were able to move into the suburbs. Now we live an upper middle class lifestyle. I've never been able to understand how people who were born in this country and had way more advantages than my family did aren't able to move up in social class. Maybe my family is just the exception? I'm really not sure.

Tammy

The movie we watched this week in class featured a segment where a woman named Tammy was interviewed. We learned that she lives in a trailer with her four kids, doesn't own a car, and walks 10 miles to her job at a Burger King. I felt really bad for Tammy and her family. To me it seems like Tammy is trying so hard to make something of herself, but she's not really succeeding. That's kind of a difficult concept for me to understand because I've always been told that if you try hard enough, you'll be able to achieve anything. Apparently that doesn't apply to everybody. I don't know if Tammy will ever be able to achieve her dream of being a school teacher. Her kids have a better chance at achieveing their goals, but it will still be very difficult for them. Even if the kids succeed in moving up to a higher class, they will still be known as the outsiders. They won't truly belong. I think the son will be able to achieve his goals. He, unlike Tammy, doesn't really have anything holding him back. He doesn't have to care for others, he only has to worry about himself, which makes it easier for him to move up a social class.

Drugs and Deviance

       In the United States, drugs are generally considered deviant. Punishments for drug possession are so harsh in some states. In one state (I forget which) you can get a life sentence for selling, even if it's your first offense. That's at the same level as serial killers and rapists. Some rapists/murderers actually end up serving less than their sentence and getting out. Should drug dealing really be punishable at the same level as killing somebody? I don't think so. There's no direct harm occuring when drugs are sold. If somebody wants to risk taking the drug, then that's their decision. The dealer isn't forcing them to take it, so why would someone who sells face such a harsh punishment. They're just trying to run a business. In reality, it would actually be really convenient for the government to legalize certain drugs. Imagine all the money they would make off of the taxes. It would reduce a substantial amount of our country's debt.
       Also, it seems that only the lower classes are busted for drug possession, use, etc. It's something that all classes do, so either punish everybody or punish no one. Punishing the impoverished people does no good. If law enforcement really wanted to stop the usage of drugs, they should go after the heads of illegal drug selling operations. Those are the guys who bring it to the people in poverty. They're the ones causing the so-called problem, but because they're wealthy they're overlooked. Drug usage goes on in all different kinds of neighberhoods, but only the lower class areas ever get busted. I can definetely see that going on around where I live.

Saints vs Roughnecks

The study done by Howard Chambliss about saints and roughnecks was really interesting to read about. The results of it, however, were not that suprising. It's only logical that the kids with money will get away with more stuff than the kids without money. The kids with money have influential parents who will be able to get their kids out of trouble. It's not that big of a deal for them to hire an expensive lawyer who will make the problem go away. On the other hand, roughnecks don't have the money to hire a lawyer who'll make the problem go away. They have to face the consequences of their actions. Also, the kids with money have a place to go to be deviant and they have means of transportation to get them to that place. Roughnecks don't really have a place to go to be deviant, so they're more likely to get caught. I think our school is definetely personnified by the saints. We live in an upper middle class neighberhood. Most families here are wealthy, meaning the kids in this neighberhood have places to go to be deviant. If somebody is caught, then parents can pay off a lawyer to make the problem disappear. I'm sure there are some roughnecks at are school, but they are overshadowed by the saints. Not everybody at our school is socially deviant, but of those who are a majority of them are saints. Because I go to a school where so much deviance occurs, it's almost a social norm for me. Not that being the "good kid" is deviant, but how can rule breaking be deviant when everybody does it? Wouldn't it just become a norm for our community?