Tag Archives: Race

Race and Ethnicity

February 2015,

Written by Yara Tashkandi

It was late at night. No one was awake to share with this huge decision I just made. I walked nervously around my room, giving my decision the time to sink in.

I looked closely at my self-reflection in the mirror. I noticed my white skin, my slanted Asian eyes, my hand holding a green passport that says (a citizen of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia), and my heart,  filled with love and sense of belonging to all Arab countries.
I had a puzzled look on my face, and my head was spinning with thoughts. I was wondering how could all these different identifications form a person? What am I? Am I a Saudi? An Arab? An Uzbek? I stopped questioning myself and remembered my decision. I had one last happy and relieved look, because I ended up choosing humanity. I could wholeheartedly say that I belong to one race, the human race.

During my childhood, I was always looked at as the Uzbek girl in school. My friends and classmates found it interesting that I didn’t have their beautiful wide brown eyes, but instead, I had really small black eyes. Also, they picked on me because of my last name, Tashkandi, which is taken from Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan. They were sure that a girl with my eyes and my last name could never be Saudi, and will definitely have to go back to her original country. They kept asking questions about Uzbekistan and promising to visit me when I go back. No matter how hard I tried to tell them that I am Saudi, that I was born and raised in Saudi Arabia, and that I will not go back to Uzbekistan, they just decided not to believe me.

As I grew older, the tone got harsher. Instead of promising to visit me in Uzbekistan, people started asking me to go back to Uzbekistan. Whenever I tried to contribute in anything as a Saudi citizen, opponents of my opinion would just pull the Uzbek card on me. “You’re not originally Saudi. Go back home!” They spread their poisonous words all over me. Right then, I knew that I would never be looked at as a Saudi, so I might as well stop trying to be one.

After that, I decided that If I couldn’t be a Saudi, then at least, I’m going to be an Arab. When the Arab Spring began back in 2011, I felt that I finally belonged to something. I could feel my soul flying over Tahrir square in Egypt, participating in a march in Tunisia, and protesting in the streets of Libya. But after a few months, when the protests got harder, and the killing and arresting were on a daily basis, I knew that I could never possibly identify myself as an Arab, since I have never actually tasted the bitterness that they have tasted. I didn’t know what a martyr’s mother’s sad tears, or even a victorious revolutionist’s happy tears felt like. Maybe I can’t be an Arab after all. But then what can I be?

For a long time after that, I was worried about figuring out what I can be, and finding the race or the ethnic group that I belong to, and I forgot to just be myself. I forgot to just simply be a person who has ideas and beliefs, without all of the other complications. All of these previous incidents made me realize that I do not need to fit a certain criteria. I could just be myself, and be identified as a human being whose identity was shaped by going through a lot and experiencing many things. This decision has helped me a lot, especially after coming here to the U.S. and meeting people from many different races, and cultural backgrounds. Now, I feel confident enough not to let anyone label or classify me into a specific group. I am who I am, and I belong to only one race, the human race.

First Encounter

February 2015

Written by an anonymous CELOP student

When I entered the counter to check in at Logan international airport, the security asked my brother and I nicely to follow him to another place, and asked us if we have any luggage and we told him that we had, he accompanied us to the place where we picked them up and followed him again. At that moment, I was really scared but my brother was so calm, I think because he used to come to the US every year for business so he has been in such a situation most frequently.

Then we arrived to an isolated place; nobody was there except for one or maybe two passengers who were leaving at that time. When we got there, the police asked us to open the luggage and started to search for something that might incriminate us. I was very frightened, not because of that, but I was scared that he might ask me to turn on my laptop which has a non-genuine copy of windows operating system which would cause me a lot of troubles, fortunately he did not. The funniest thing was when he found my notebook, he was turning the pages desperately to find a page in English to read, but all my handwriting was in Arabic. Ultimately he released us. I really breathed deeply as we exited the airport and thank God for his help.

Before coming to the USA, I had this imaginary picture about the US reflecting an equality and undiscriminated attitude from both the government and the people themselves. However, this image has changed after I just arrived in the USA last year.
Now, I have spent almost a year in the US, a year enough to erase that image and replace it maybe with a more factual and darker image as I see how African Americans are not treated equally as their white peers. The Media always draws a misleading picture about the US, especially when it comes to the unspeakable issue, racism, especially towards African Americans as they are as American as white people. They do not have the same opportunities as white people have. Worse education, lower income, higher unemployment and a higher homelessness rate. I could not see the equality that I always have heard about. On the other hand, I can’t judge other races but I can see Hispanics are not better than African Americans. Moreover, in the last couple months, there were many administrations across the US as in two different cities, two African Americans were killed by a white policeman and they were found not guilty by the court. Both cases
support the assumption that in America racism still is a huge issue that the government should take more seriously.

However, after 9/11, I think Americans do not look at Muslims as they used to before that. Last Tuesday, the tenth of February, three Muslims were shot by an American and the media, I mean all the media, just ignored it like nothing happened, but social media really exposed the incident and criticized the media because they did not even mention it until after a couple hours because they were Muslims who were shot by a white man, what if it was vice versa. I think it would become the headlines in all the news channels. I think most Americans are not racist, but the hate speech, which is protected by law, can trigger such racial crimes and increase the gap between different races.

As a person, I respect free speech and I believe that everyone should be able to express his opinion without fearing the consequences. However, this speech should not escalate the racism and drag down the country into a worse situation.

50th Birthday of the Civil Rights Movement in the US

January 2015,

The civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s was started by people in favor of giving the same rights to African-Americans as those of the white population.  Fifty years have passed, since people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds began to protest about inequality and discrimination.  The Civil Rights Act of 1964 became a law and banned segregation and discrimination in the workplace against African-Americans.  To remember this significant change fifty years later, celebrations across the states have been going on since 2014 and continue to go on today to show great appreciation for the change.  Last year was the 50th birthday of this law.

Why did the civil rights movement take place?

Segregation

www.crmvet.org/images/imgyoung.htm

In the 19th century, there were laws that favored segregation and discrimination against African-Americans.  They were relegated to separate schools; they had to use public restrooms designated “colored” or “negro”, and were denied service at many restaurants; and voting qualifications were constantly changed and limited their right to vote.  These were only some problems they experienced in the 1950s and 1960s when something began to change.

That change happened when people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., along with many others, began fighting for equality.  He wanted all minorities, African-Americans, women, Hispanics, and others to share the same constitutional rights.  His tireless work along with that of many others helped foster the women’s movement and others in later years.  Therefore, we consider Dr. King a national hero who was seeking equality for all people no matter who they were.

For additional information about this historic event, take a look at this link:
http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/civil-rights-movement-overview.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day in the States

January 2015, ,

King Dream SpeechOn the third Monday of January every year, the US celebrates Martin Luther King, Jr. day to honor the memory of this important freedom fighter during the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s.  Above is Dr. King speaking to the people during the March on Washington when he gave his famous “I have a dream” speech.

King in Jail
King sitting inside his Birmingham jail cell

Dr. King was a political activist who supported equality for everyone regardless of color, gender, or nationality.  He led African-Americans in their fight for freedom at a time when the country was suffering from intense hatred between the white population and the African-Americans, especially in the south.

To work toward ending racial segregation and discrimination, Dr. King at times put his life in danger and was even imprisoned during a march in Birmingham, Alabama.  This man was an advocate for all people who suffered inequalities and discrimination, including women and immigrant groups.  Dr. King fought hard until the end of his life when he was assassinated in 1968.

Free At Last Sculpture
Martin Luther King Jr. obtained his doctorate degree in theology at BU. The "Free at Last" sculpture of 50 doves in the center of Marsh Chapel commemorates Dr. King, and his dream for peace in the 50 states of this country

 

To honor the life and legacy of this important freedom fighter, a movement started to make Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a holiday after he died.  After a bill was introduced in congress, it gained support in 1976.  The bill became law in 1983, and in 2000 this holiday was finally observed in all 50 states.

For more information about Martin Luther King, Jr. and this holiday, please visit this site:  http://www.thekingcenter.org/king-holiday.

Photo Credits in order of appearance

  • andreakrobson.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/the-new-civil-rights-movement-a-new-generation-begins-the-fight-for-civil-rights/
  • www.crmvet.org/crmpics/mlk-jail-a.jpg
  • www.bu.edu/today/2012/celebrating-mlk-day-at-bu/

Ferguson and Beyond: Race in America

December 2014,
Ferguson
Protesters and the police force stand off in Ferguson, Missouri

Written by Felix Poon
For international students, race in the US can be a new and foreign idea, especially for most CELOP students who come from less diverse countries.  Consider the fact that the US is 72% White American, 13% African American, 5% Asian American, and 1% Native American; and 16% of Americans are of Hispanic/Latino origin (www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-02.pdf).

Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by Darren Wilson, a white police officer, in Ferguson Missouri.  Ferguson is predominantly black, while the Ferguson Police Department is predominantly white.  Protests erupted in Ferguson after Brown’s death in August, and another wave of protests happened recently after Wilson was not indicted, which means that the case would not go to trial in a court case.  Different witnesses gave different stories about what they saw, so it is difficult to say if Wilson fired his gun in self-defense, or not.  The grand jury ruled that it was in self-defense, which is why he was not indicted.  (The New York Times has an excellent article presenting the facts about this case: www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/08/13/us/ferguson-missouri-town-under-siege-after-police-shooting.html?_r=1)

Glossary

  • Predominantly: most, or majority
  • Indict: to bring a formal accusation against, as a means of bringing to trial
  • Witness: somebody who sees an event
  • Overreact: make a big deal about something little
  • Institutional Racism: prejudice or unfair treatment that is built into institutions such as the government, police departments, workplaces, etc.
  • Prejudice: assuming things about somebody because of the way they look
  • Subtle: hinted or implied; not obvious
  • Perpetuate: to make (something) continue
  • Acquit: free (someone) from a criminal charge by a verdict of not guilty

The question is: are the protesters rightfully frustrated?  Or are they overreacting?  Americans will answer this question differently depending on what they believe about race in America.  To try and make sense of a difficult topic, I present two viewpoints.  Of course, there are many more viewpoints than just two, but at least this helps us understand the range of views about race.  Most Americans’ beliefs would fall somewhere in the middle..

Viewpoint A: Race no longer matters

  • Institutional racism ended after the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Equality is ensured by law.
  • There are very few people who are racists – people who believe in racial superiority. But most people no longer have prejudice, or at least do not treat others differently because of race.
  • It is best to be colorblind, since everyone is treated equally now.
  • If a black man (or any person) is treated aggressively by a police officer, it is not because of his race, but because he is disobedient and not respecting authority.
  • It is unfortunate if any person is killed by a police officer for a minor crime, but this has nothing to do with race.
 Viewpoint B: Race still matters

  • Institutional racism still exists, but it is subtle.
  • White Americans have “white privilege” – the favorable treatment for being white.
  • To be colorblind is to deny that racism still exists, therefore perpetuating racism, and perpetuating white privilege.
  • Black men are treated aggressively by police officers because of their race, and the color of their skin.
  • When a black man is killed by a police officer, it is just one example of many of police brutality.  If that police officer is not tried in court, or is acquitted in court, it is also one of many examples of racism in the American justice system.

After the events of Ferguson there was a second non-indictment case decided in New York City on December 3rd, 2014, involving a black man named Eric Garner killed by a white police officer for a minor crime.    These events have sparked nationwide protests, and a heated debate about race and policing.  The issue of race in this country is older than the country itself, going back to European settlers taking land already inhabited by Native Americans, and employing Africans for slave labor.  It goes back hundreds of years and has been an integral part of the American narrative.  As we can see, it continues to be an integral part of the American narrative.

The views and opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of CELOP, or Boston University.

photo credit: http://media2.s-nbcnews.com/i/newscms/2014_34/630656/140820-michael-brown-ferguson-1930_506586b1b847cd8dd9581b4568af334a.jpg