Perspective

We have seen how Race has played a significant role in the United States to not only maintain a hierarchy of power but also a hierarchy of labor. This has helped me put slavery into a different perspective. The role it played is crucial to the current moment of "othering" the black community.

So then what is the significance of slavery today?

W.E.B. Du Bois asks similar questions we have been thinking about. He writes:
"What did it mean to be a slave? It is hard to imagine it today. We think of oppression beyond all conception: cruelty, degredation, whipping and starvation, the absolute negation of human rights; or on the contrary, we may think of the ordinary worker the world over today, slaving ten, twelve, or fourteen hours a day, with not enough to eat, compelled his physical necessities to do this and not to do that, curtailed in his movements and his possibilities; and we say, here, too, is a slave called a 'free worker,' and slavery is merely a matter of name" (DuBois, Reader p.6-7).

Slavery in this light exemplifies the necessity to deploy race as a social structure to hierarchize labor in the "free world." I think this is critical to my understanding and to the course because it exposes the ways in which slavery has been re-established through multiple processes of subordinating the proletariat. DuBois here takes on a Marxist perspective to the Post-Industrial World. This article will be taken with me throughout the rest of my years as a student and hopefully scholar.

Thank you all for the wonderful discussions, they were truly insightful! Happy Holidays!

Best,
Nick Noriega

Extra Credit: The Myth of the Black Rapist

 

  We have seen what Angela Davis has said about the myth of the Black rapist as something "methodically conjured up whenever recurrent waves of violence and terror against the Black community have required convincing justification" (Davis, p.177 of Reader). In relation to the film above, we have seen this correlation between its release in 1998 to the excessive violence of it's time, specifically through the Watts Riots in Los Angeles.

Blade is generally, at the surface level, about a black vampire who happens to hunt other vampires, to rid them all from the human world, alongside trying to suppress his own vampire urges through some kind of chemical injection. It gets increasingly difficult for him because vampires must live off the blood of humans. 

He is told my a Vampire enemy that "you needs to cut the Uncle tom Crap. You cannot deny what you are!" This explicitly points to a history of Racial subordination which placed the black man obediently subservient to the white man. This correlates the human world with whiteness and vampirism/monstrosity with that of the black rapist or monstrous black community.

There is even a more shocking scene where he finally succumbs to his "monstrous" urge to feed. He is tied up, nearly naked and is being drained of his blood until death. His human friend who helps slay vampires comes to the rescue and sees that he is dying. So, she sees no other way to revive him, than to let him drink her blood until he is well. He begins to drink and jumps on her, while shirtless, unable to stop. She screams no and stop many times but he continues to drink like the Black rapist who is unable to stop, until she finally plops to floor while he screams and moans in pleasure.

This is the resurfacing of the Black rapist Angela Davis is speaking of; during the time of the Watts riots, many needed a black hero but not one which re-appropriated the myth of the Black rapist, furthering a justification of the violence over the Black communities across the United States.

Nick Noriega

Racism in San Jose State (Extra Credit)

San Jose State University is about an hour or less from UCSC. My sister is currently attending San Jose state and I was surprised to hear about the racial controversy that is going on in that campus. I was surprised not because I was astounded that racism occurs, but because I only found out about the incident through my sister. I was not aware of what happened about a month ago and the way the school responded to the incident is infuriating.

A foundation board member, Wanda Ginner stated during a small February meeting, “I contribute to this university because these little Latinas do not have the DNA to be successful.”  This statement was made in front of the president of the school but it was an employer who was present who had to file the complaint.  However, nothing happened and in August she decided to file a formal complaint since the previous one had been ignored.

My sister informed me that a friendly protest took place where a group of students marched to the president’s office with a petition requesting San Jose State to take action against the racist comments. The president acted immature and locked himself in his office. He sent out his secretary with a walky-talky to talk to the students instead.

I was very disappointed to hear about the issue going on. Racism is clearly still an issue but it saddens me to see how the staff reacted to the issue. They chose to keep receiving money instead of confronting Ginner for her uneducated comments. It was not until students found out of the incident and took action. They have been very persistent and have organized rallies and protest. Faculty advisors have actually joined students in the protest. This is actually not the first racist issue that was ignored on campus. My sister also informed me that an African American student was locked inside a closet with racist flags and items but the school decided to ignore the issue. Students and faculty are fed up and fighting back. Although we live nearby it’s sad to see how this information is not being shared. I had to look into it after my sister informed me on it.

http://www.mercurynews.com/education/ci_26909908/san-jose-state-ethnic-dispute-draws-protest

Extra Credit Post: Neoliberalism in Action

I'm not too educated on the issue of Monsanto or GMO foods. I haven't read up on it too much and as science is not my strong suit, I really have no concept of what it means to genetically modify food. But I think I know enough to stand by my words when I say: Fuck Monsanto. Monsanto's actions are perfect examples of neoliberalism in action. Not only that, but they are perfect examples of neoliberalism that has hurt my home and my people specifically.

Until I took this class I had no concept of what "neoliberalism" meant. David Harvey's "Neoliberalism On Trial" does an exceptional job of explaining accumulation by dispossession, and cites many ways in which poor countries essentially "subsidize the rich". The article explains how "surplus populations" are created when people are essentially expelled from the economy. Now that I understand these concepts, I realize that my first lesson in neoliberalism occurred around the summer of my first year of college.

Although I was born in Colombia, I am not up to date on news about what happens in the country. My mother, however, often knows what is happening in the Colombia. That summer, her computer and phone screens flared with tweets and social media posts of devastating news for our homeland. A law had passed in agreement with the U.S government that many crops grown by farmers would be outlawed, and replaced with U.S imported, government-issued Monsanto GMO seeds and growing materials rationed out to farmers. What!?!? What about foods that don't grow in the U.S?? Would those be outlawed?? What would happen to our yuca? Our guanabana? What are Colombians expected to do? Replace their yuca with Monsanto approved all-American baked potatoes? Damn. There goes a staple of our culture. There goes our freedom to choose. And what about the farmers who made money growing these native crops? They would likely be out of work. There's that "surplus population" Harvey was talking about.

Protests broke out in the streets of Colombia. Police turned violently on civilians and the media was not allowed to report on it. My mother furiously scrolled through social media, obliging the pleas of so many Colombians. "SHARE WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE. SHARE WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO OUR PEOPLE." The issue may seem miniscule in the context of the United States, but Colombia is not much larger than the state of Texas, and farmers, many of indigenous descent, make up a large portion of the population. They are also the poorest of the country's poor. It blew my mind that these processes of violent capitalism, colonialism, classism, and police violence were happening all at once in my home country. I now realize that what I witnessed was a perfect example of neoliberalism, and after making this connection, my disdain for neoliberalism is personal. My heart broke for my people. I tried to get the word out myself on social media, but I didn't succeed. I didn't know what else to do. Thanks, Monsanto. Thanks, USA.

Extra Credit: Isang Bagsak! One fall, One Down

Good evening everyone!

For my extra credit blog post, I would like to talk about how our Filipino Student Association here at UCSC uses a “unity clap” to close our events. The Unity clap originated from the United Farm Workers Movement of the 60's which consisted of mostly Filipino/Filipina and Latino/Latina farm workers. Due to a language barrier (many were illiterate in English and only spoke their native tongue) and physical barriers of the cornstalks, they needed a common way of communicating with each other. At the end of each day, the farm workers would start a unity clap. They would start off slow like a heartbeat then increase in speed. The unity clap/common heartbeat symbolizes our solidarity with our allies in our similar struggles and experiences. In unison, we say "Isang Bagsak", which in Tagalog means "one down" or "one fall". We carry this meaning so that we and our allies know that we rise and fall together.

Our campus barely instituted a Critical Race and Ethnic Studies class which is not enough to satisfy any needs for learning about one’s culture. Our association created a 2-credit class called Pilipino Historical Dialogue (PHD) which is taught by undergraduates as a mean to teach about Filipino history. One thing that resonated with me is the United Farm Workers movement. My father picked fruits in Hanford, California when he came to America. He worked all kinds of jobs over the course of his life such as driving small trucks, peeling potatoes (which is why he rarely eats French fries), and custodian work. Even after the bargaining agreements for better conditions, he said that the reason he still is dark skinned was from the sun that roasted him when he was still a teenager.

I would like to pay my respects to the Filipino farmworkers as well as the Latino farmworkers since we did not get to watch the Delano Manongs. During the Cesar Chavez movie, it didn’t fully capture how powerful it was to unite the two farmworker groups. The leaders of the movement were Larry Itliong and Philip Vera Cruz and they were powerful speakers and united the voices of Filipinos all around. The Delano strike was a turning point as it crippled many of the capitalist owners of the fields. Under the Feet of Jesus makes a good point that we are very disconnected with the labor that goes into picking the produce we eat. It’s a strange feeling knowing that my dad did a unity clap just as how I do after we finish our events here for FSA.

Know history, know self. No history, no self.

Extra Credit: Home of the Aztecs

The video provided in the link is about my hometown, Mendota, a small rural community located in the Central Valley of California. The video speaks about the struggles the people of Mendota have to endure. From working long hours under the blazing sun, to constantly having to worry about being deported.  

In class we read about how Mexicanos during the mid 1900s did most of the agricultural work throughout the United States. As you can see, people of Mexican decent continue to do the same type of difficult labor. Not only is the labor tough, the wages are cheap. Field laborers only get a paid $9 per hour. 

In class, Professor Hong stated that many of the children who have been diagnosed with Leukemia, had parents who worked in the fields. The reason why is because the fields have been drenched with pesticides. These pesticides have been proven to one's risk of developing cancer. Not only are the pesticides bad for the laborer's health, the pesticides are also bad for the soil. Towards the middle of the video, Rodrigo is presented during a prep talk. Coach Beto states that "Rodrigo is currently in the process of defeating Leukemia." Rodrigo's father, like most of the father's in Mendota, toiled in the agricultural fields. This is the perfect example of what Christine was talking about.

Our mayor, Joseph Amador, and Coach Gamez speak about the deportations which have taken place in our community. These deportations have split various families, leaving children without their parents. Many of the deportees never even committed a crime and had no intentions of doing so.Their sole purpose of "coming" to this country was to work, in order to feed their families. Various Mexicanos have been criminalized for crossing a border, which actually crossed them in 1848.

The beginning of the video starts off with Coach Mejis speaking to the youth. Mejia tells his players that if they don't get it together in school, they will either be stuck toiling in the fields or end up in the prison that was recently built by our community. The video does directly speak about the exponential incarceration rates of black and brown youth, but it is hinted at. As my friend Marc Banuelos has stated, "It's kind of shitty when the prison lights are brighter than your city, what a pity, now a days it pays to be witty."
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=10602304

Sleep Dealer Analysis and Thoughts- Extra Credit

After I have watched the amazing film, Sleep Dealer, I was absolutely enthralled by the amount of social issues and innovative concepts addressed in such a creative manner.

One aspect of the film that caught my attention, was the innovative idea of the use of "nodes" that basically connects a human's nervous system to a machine. Due to the never-ending immigration issue of the Mexicans crossing the U.S border, the invention of nodes serve as an alternative to finding jobs in America without physically crossing the border. Just like how today's military drones are not operated by pilots but rather people at the home base.  When the individual connects their nodes to the machine, the mind is immediately transported into the "brain" of a working robot in the U.S as an avatar. 

The purpose of having these avatars seem to primarily serve as a solution to the Mexican immigration issue. There is a supposed advantage of having robots working in the U.S instead of humans. Artificial intelligence lack the ability to think abstractly, thus no emotions nor opinions being expressed, which could potentially influence others later resulting in uprisings or "inconveniences".  Furthermore, robots also have no skin for a finger to point at or an eye to gawk at how different it is to their own. In addition, they are generally a lot more efficient than the human work force. Which inevitably poses some debatable questions; to what extent can robots replace human workers? Can their reliable unbiased mindset and dependable efficiency outweigh human performance?

Another use of nodes that I found interesting was the girl's way of making a living. She appears as a undercover journalist, and instead of implementing the traditional way of recording stories with paper and pen, all she had to do was to simply transfer her memories through the connection of nodes into a device. This enables and encourages truthful facts towards stories out to the public based on her own personal experiences. However, as Memo later discovers, she is ultimately selling her memories including private ones which makes herself exposed and vulnerable to the world. 

Reflection

Signing up for this class I had a minimal understanding of what the focus of the class would be on. I knew there was much more knowledge I needed to grasp race and labor especially when it came to other groups besides the usual concentration of African American's and Latino laborers. As the class progressed I realized I had no knowledge of race, labor, and migration as all intersecting concepts. This class concentrated on a lot of different aspects of all the ideas from different races, oppressed and oppressors, and sexes, which breaks these concentration into deeper ideas that I had never even thought of. Combination of proletariat Literature, articles, and class discussions I was able to have multiple times an eye opening to ideas that I would haven't even thought of as sources that lead on to political problems we have today. 

From Kindred's brutal details of the haunting life as a slave to Bulosan's true account of the horrific obstacles he went through I was able to get a better perception of the challenges that a person of color had to endure long before regulations for migrant workers had developed. Of course there is a long way to go before any sort of equality is spread along all people in this country but there I had seemed to miss the intensity of the brutality people had to go through before getting where we are today, I didn't realize I was even lacking this knowledge until this class. I got a better understanding of  people that have been fighting for what seem basic rights to me now and the fact that these struggles and changes where happening not too long before I even became a member of this world. Being able to go to school and not having to fight to be where I am but was an actual option for me to even go to school seems like something that I have never given much thought about, about how much effort it came from the Latino, women and women of color voices. 

I learned trails and tribulations from different groups around the world whether it be from a specific country, sex, or age. I saw that when people are oppressed and get together there is a difference that can be made. This difference is not necessarily made within one attempt to change or even within a decade of trying, there is serious work and thought that goes into any attempts of change and bettering for people. This class was insanely informative and there were so many voices and individuals that enriched the whole learning process which made observing that much more elevating. 

Reflection

I honestly take every class I can that has the word "race" or some permutation of it in the title. I am a feminist studies major because I care a lot about race issues and the way I am able to better understand the world through ideas connected to race. I came into this class with a lot of hopes and expectation for it, and it, but I am not sure how much (in a sense of arrogance) I considered the other voices that would be in the class. It was illuminating and awesome to hear from my classmates on their personal experiences with the issues that we discussed in class. I find it difficult to speak up in classes in general, but the bravery to talk about family and personal issues that have so long been invisiblized or demonized in society is incomprehensible to me. It really shows how real life what we're talking about is, how we can't pretend the last time revolution was on the table was in the 1960s, and the types of oppression going on today have greater effects than we might readily admit. It was also good to see the ways that people's perspectives changed throughout the quarter, a lot of people began the class new to the university or to literature or to classes around race and labor issues and looking at our discussions now they are so nuanced with different perspectives and ideas. I think the constant loop back to class consciousness was also really great and important, considering the ways we often try to understand one of the other, without the ways they are undeniably intertwined. I am happy to think about the web of conversations we have had, and the ways that they have evolved from the beginning of the course, especially with the demonstrations for rights going on around the world and on this very campus in the last couple of weeks. I hope we can all take this class and put its ideals into practice in our futures, myself very much included.

"I will be a writer and make all of you live again in my words." (Tem's Reflection)

It is very easy for me to come into a class thinking I am well-versed with a topic that I am so passionate about. However, Christine’s class always finds a way to create insightful dialogue with the people around me so that there are multiple ways for me to gain knowledge. The overarching topic of race, labor, and migration are so compelling to me that every time I step into class, I do so with an open mind so I can absorb everyone’s contributions.

Starting from the first few weeks of the class, I knew very little about Marxist ideals and literature. The different articles pertaining to wages and labor gave me a solid foundation of what I needed to know for the literary works in the course. It never occurred to me that capitalism has a way of taking a minimalist approach in paying their workers the minimum amount just to survive and work another day. This is a powerful concept because it resonates with a lot of past and previous labor.

With that foundation, I was already hooked with Kindred as it is an Octavia Butler work. I found this book to be a quick read and just reinforced everything I learned about slavery. Butler’s sci-fi approach makes it intriguing to analyze as temporality plays a key part in the story. A slave narrative like this book made me realize the horrors of being a person of color returning to a past of physically and mental abuse. While we have make leaps progressively, we are still far from where we can be in terms of our “post-racial” society.

Something I am unfamiliar with was the coolie how the need for their labor was in part due to post-slavery. I knew very little about the Asian labor, specifically Chinese, other than they helped built the railroads. The dynamics of de-gendering and feminizing their labor reminds me of M. Butterfly. This confusion of the sexes made it easy for capitalists to oppress the labor of the coolie. One thing that helped me with this particular section is my political thought background and the Lockean notion of property. Understanding that while one’s own work means one is deserving of the fruits of that labor was not the case, especially for the Chinamen.

On a contemporary standpoint, understanding the bracero program and the primary Latino workforce made me recognize that our fight is still going. In my organization, I always emphasize that the UFW would not be powerful if the Filipino and Latino workers were not in solidarity with each other. While our histories are different (being a little brown brother vs. alienation), the paths will always intertwine. NAFTA, globalization, neoliberalism, the core/periphery…all of these attribute the unfair practices and exploitation of the immigrants toiling over the land and the workers in Central America.

As for Bulosan…well I can write a whole paper on that. ;)

One of the most powerful-est things I've learned is that literature like the proletarian novels we've read...give a voice to the voiceless. When words and stories can be preserved and retold again, that's where people can reflect and build off the past. Even if memories become a commodity like in Sleep Dealer, you can't truly put a price on the past.