New Race

February 20, 2008
SWK254.N – Understanding Diverse Populations
Professor Mayra Lopez-Humphreys
Journal 5

RACE CHANGE

· You woke up tomorrow only to find out your race had changed.

Go through the list and respond about whether your “change” in race has helped you to identify more with the privileges listed, less, or somewhere in between? How so?

1. I can if I wish arrange to be in the company of people of my race most of the time.
Answer: Probably identify less because most people prefer to remain within the company of their own race, in which I would not consider a privilege.

2. If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area which I can afford in which I would want to live.
Answer: Identify more with this privilege because “my new race” usually does not experience problems of discrimination in any neighborhood, which is truly a privilege

3. I can be pretty sure that my neighbors in such a location will be neutral or pleasant to me.
Answer: Identify more because most people seem comfortable around “my new race” which is a privilege.

4. I can go shopping alone most of the time, pretty well assured that I will not be followed or harassed.
Answer: Identify more because “my new race” is not a stereotype for theft, which is a privilege.

5. I can turn on the television or open to the front page of the paper and see people of my race widely represented.
Answer: Somewhere in between, because if it is constructive representation I would feel proud, if it is an embarrassing situation, I would feel ashamed.

6. When I am told about our national heritage or about “civilization,” I am shown that people of my color made it what it is.
Answer: Identify less with this privilege because of the discoveries of “my new race” ancestors and the agonizing and degrading things that were done to other races in order to accomplish what is known as our national heritage and/or civilization.

7. I can be sure that my children will be given curricular materials that testify to the existence of their race.
Answer: Identify more because the textbooks are slanted towards “my new race” which is a privilege.

8. If I want to, I can be pretty sure of finding a publisher for this piece on white privileges.
Answer: Identify less because white privileges is not documented as such, therefore, it is not a privilege.
9. I can go into a supermarket and find the staple foods, which fit with my cultural traditions, and go into a hairdresser’s shop and fine someone who can cut my hair.
Answer: Identify more, because it is a privilege to not have to travel far, nor search for these items and opportunities.

10. Whether I use checks, credit cards, or cash, I can count on my skin color not to work against the appearance of financial reliability.
Answer: Identify more, because if I were to use checks or credit cards, “my new race” will not be asked for identification to prove that I am the owner of the presented document, which is a privilege.

11. I can arrange to protect my children most of the time from people who might not like them.
Answer: Probably more, because police and school officials tend to be quite concerned for the safety of “my new race” children, which is a privilege.

12. I can swear, or dress in second hand clothes, or not answer letters, without having people attribute these choices to the bad morals, the poverty, or illiteracy of my race.
Answer: Identify more because it I would not be judged, rather most likely my behavior would be summed up as just having a bad day, which is a privilege.

13. I can speak in public to a powerful male group without putting my race on trial.
Answer: Identify more because it is a privilege of being accepted for who I am as an individual, which is a privilege.

14. I can do well in a challenging situation without being called a credit to my race.
Answer: Identify more because I would be only be expected to represent myself

15. I am never asked to speak for all the people of my racial group.
Answer: Identify more of a privilege because my only need for concern would be myself

16. I can remain oblivious of the language and customs of persons of color who constitute the world’s majority without feeling in my culture any penalty for such oblivion.
Answer: Identify more because “my new race” is not expected to understand other languages, but rather “they” are required to learn mine because they are in my country.

17. I can criticize our government and talk about how much I fear its policies and behavior without being seen as a cultural outsider.
Answer: Identify more because government officials mostly consist of “my new race” that constitutes the policies to accommodate “my new race”. This is a privilege because when and if “my new race” makes enough noise, things changed.

18. I can be pretty sure that if I ask to talk to ”the person in charge,” I will be facing a person of my race.
Answer: Identify more because finding someone of “my own new race” would most likely mean that they would see things my way, which is a privilege

19. If a traffic cop pulls me over, or if the IRS audits my tax return, I can be sure I haven’t been singled out because of my race.
Answer: Identify somewhere in between because regardless of race, the penalty will need to be paid, however, “my new race” is usually not labeled for trouble.

20. I can easily buy posters, postcards, picture books, greeting cards, dolls, toys, and children’s magazines featuring people of my race.
Answer: Identify more because these items are always available in a majority in practically every neighborhood

21. I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared.
Answer: Identify more because the agenda’s of such meetings are programmed to meet “my new race” expectations

22. I can take a job with an affirmative action employer without having co-workers on the job suspect that I got it because of race.
Answer: Identify less because it is most probable that I would be hired because of “my new race” in order to help balance out the racial stats.

23. I can choose public accommodations without fearing that people of my race cannot get in or will be mistreated in the places I have chosen.
Answer: Identify more because “my new race” is usually treated with respect and dignity

24. I can be sure that if I need legal or medical help, my race will not work against me.
Answer: Identify more because the law takes preference to “my new race”, and medically “my new race” is treated with superiority

25. If my day, week, or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether it has racial overtones.
Answer: Identify more because “my new race” in most cases is treated rather fairly

26. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in “flesh” color and have them more or less match my skin.
Answer: Identify more because it is obvious that whoever invented blemish cover and band-aids had “my new race” in mind.