Tourism is another form of flexing

Over the past week we have been reading Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid. Her story over the citizens of Jamaica being used by their corrupt economic system. Over these class discussions and documentary Life and Death, I decided to talk about my ethnicity Hawaiian, and how their culture is being oppressed with tourism and the US government.

https://www.culturalsurvival.org/ourpublications/csq/article/tourism-and-the-prostitution-of-hawaiian-culture 

In this article, Tourism and the Prostitution of Hawaiian Culture, discusses how tourism is actually driving Hawaiian natives out the state for numerous tourism problems. The article states facts how tourism is negatively hitting the Hawaiian natives such as, nearly one-fifth of Hawai'i's resident population is classified as homeless due to tourism because with tourism is foreign investment which means high inflation,and high cost of living. It is very depressing to know that some of family go through these hard times due to tourism. These natives were there from the very beginning and to have the US government just take over their land, my families land, and Hawai'i's government and use tourism against these residents, "tourism is the state's only money maker". Hawai'i is known for way much more than the US government tells us.

This article is awesome because it breaks down the prostitution of Hawaiian culture. Quoted from the article which sums it all up short story short "Hawai'i, our ancient and erotic land, is the female object of degraded and victimized value. Our lands are no longer the source of food and shelter, but the source of money. Land is now called "real estate", rather than Papahanaumoku, "she who gives birth to islands". 

How would you feel if this happened to you? All this issues to live a life in Hawai'i, what if all these issues were where you were living? How would you make ends meet? 

Middle Class or Nah?

In reading Gregory Mantsios, "Class in America", it revealed many things 1. Our government is continuously lying to us and 2. If we don't inform ourselves we are doomed to repeat this cycle. Class has become a rather taboo topic in our society, many shy away from class because they don't want to acknowledge it exists. Our nation prides itself on meritocracy and anyone who works hard enough can be successful, we know this to be entirely false. A lower class family can work their entire lives, as many do, and still remain in the lower class standing.
 On the other hand, our country prides itself for being a "middle- class nation" (one of the lies I alluded to earlier). The simple fact is our nation is only keeping the poor, poor and allowing the rich to get richer. The "middle class" is shrinking and the divide between rich and poor is growing bigger each year. This article outlines some myths (lies) surrounding class in our society: 1. We live in a classless society and are all equal in the eyes of the law 2. We are a middle class nation 3. We’re all getting richer 4. Everyone has an equal chance to succeed. The reason class has become such a taboo topic is because class brings privilege. And as we've learned in class most people with privilege are 1. unaware of that privilege and 2. don't like to discuss their privilege. Those of higher class standings are afforded certain liberties those of lower/working classes cannot attain i.e. better health care, good education, better jobs, better housing, and wealth.
These differences not only affect our livelihood but also our physical and mental stability.
Future generations are almost guaranteed to repeat this cycle because they can only play the cards they are dealt. Those who are born into higher standing classes have a higher likelihood of being successful than someone from a lower class family. This so- called growing middle class is the way society tries to reject the truth of class oppression. Class oppression can be just as detrimental as race and gender oppression but also offers privilege to marginalized groups. A minority or woman can be granted certain privileges if they're rich. These article also reveals many realities surrounding the lies of the growing middle class ranging from the lack of accessibility to not every American being given a chance to succeed. What are some ways in which we could combat these class infrastructures to truly uphold the meaning of meritocracy?

The Brown Family and the Real World

My thoughts for this week come from Shapeshifters and specifically part one and the Brown family. This family, largely made up of women in a poor black community raises questions about the dynamics of intersectionality and how certain combinations of qualities such as blackness, girlhood, and poverty can be as Aimee Meredith Cox puts it “dangerous.” When we enroll in our women’s studies courses we sign up to talk about a whole bunch of intersectionality and really breaking down what this term even means and how different individuals are faced with different types of struggles because of their own intersectionality. Cox narrates the lives of a particular family that is made up of black women and girls in the poverty stricken middle of the city in Detroit. This ties into the article we read in class about the cycle of poverty because it goes through 3 generations of the Brown family and really gives us a look into whether the poverty cycle is a myth or not. What is also interesting about this portion of the book is that we get to see the certain levels of privilege that come into play due to intersectionality.

                So is the poverty cycle a myth or real? We could probably argue both ways if we just examined the Brown family because the second generation of women is stuck in the same sort of rut that their mother was when she was raising them. They have children to provide for with little education meaning they are limited to the type of work they can acquire and they receive little to no support from the father of their children. This is the exact situation many other real life families face in America and they are often deemed lazy for their class status, when in reality they could be working 2 to 3 jobs at a time with very little sleep and nourishment. So in this case this the poverty cycle could be seen as real because the hope for these women looks bleak and like there is very few ways out of the lifestyle they are living. However, the 3^rd generation Brown family can be proof for the other side of the argument that the poverty cycle is not real because a lot of the women that are the daughters of Bessie’s children are working hard to get more of an education or a vocational degree in order to be able to provide more financially and have a better chance at higher pay. However, not all of the women in this generation are able to get past some of the struggles that school provides them with and seem to be complacent with the consequences of giving up. But I think that the majority of the family are proof that the poverty cycle is a social construct made in order to keep individuals down and in the shadow of their family’s past.

                Another thing I saw to be interesting in this portion of shapeshifters is that we really got to see intersectionality in action. Black men are obviously often times stereotyped against as criminal and maybe even “ghetto.” But we see because they are males they still hold a high level of privilege in relation to black females. We can see this in movements like President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper,” and the Moynihan report that really demonizes black women to be at fault for their lack of support from the father of their children. This is also displayed through the views and attitudes towards the men in the Brown family. For example, Bessie was never angry at either her brothers for leaving her with the sole responsibility of their mother even though they were probably better off or her children’s fathers who took little responsibility for them. We also see it with Phillip and Bip because neither one of them are carrying much weight for the family while their sisters are all working double the amount, yet there is no animosity towards them and the young girls are first to move out when it gets overcrowded not them. This is yet another privilege the man gets to experience.

Are you socially aware?

When I started thinking about what I wanted to write I truly had no idea at all. In an earlier conversation this week, I was explaining about The Dreamers and how it was my turn to post on the blog. Of course I had several ideas but none really seemed worth pursuing.
"I've just hit a brick wall on what to talk about."
Well, that was simple enough, as soon as that came out of my mouth I knew what I was going to talk about. Walls.
Here in recent times my social awareness has been lacking. One thing that is difficult to not hear about is the presidential elections. While I have no idea who I support I know who I do not like. I'm not feeling the Bern, not a fan of Hilary's purge mask looking self, and if Trump wins I just don't know what I will do with myself. What we all hear in politics is, you just have to pick the lesser of the two evils.
Okay, so now I'm just ranting, but the point im trying to make is that so many other Americans are truly unaware of whats going on in the world. Because many lack to see it, take the time, or care to understand. In the future there will be people wondering how gay marriage was ever illegal. We are living in history, its important to not let history repeat itself either.
There are people who say we should not allow Syrian refugees in the country, well what if it was their family members? Many people have made connections between the Holocaust refugees and the Syrian refugees, because the reaction of the American people were almost the same in both situations.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/11/19/yes-the-comparison-between-jewish-and-syrian-refugees-matters/
Trump has been a huge person to oppose letting these refugees into the country, really anyone. Even though his wife obtained citizenship because she married him. He is so opposed to Hispanic people documented or undocumented he wants to build a wall. He does not care about people building better lives or how they can make this country a better place. Instead he calls them murderers and rapists, he is categorizing the Hispanic people. Just like people have done with the Syrian refugees and the Holocaust. There's good and bad in all kinds of people.
The Berlin wall was constructed for many reasons, but what I think of is their delusional excuse of national security. Sound familiar? Because this is how Trump is able to gain a following, any Hispanic person is a threat to our national security and a breach in the national security would be "Un-American".
 

 Leo Chavez helps us to understand this in his book, The Dream bill is something that has really stuck with me. The Dreamers are standing up for rights so bravely. Everyone deseves a chance, a fair chance.
So, are you socially aware?

Institutional Influence

In the first chapter of The Latino Threat, Leo Chavez discusses the reinforcing of racial stereotypes by the way Mexican immigrants are represented in magazines. As I was reading this, it took me back to the "Couple in a Cage" video we watched nearer to the beginning of the semester. While we were watching this video, I kept thinking how the people viewing the couple were so influenced by the fact that the couple were being presented by a museum or other seemingly trustworthy institution. The information, however ludicrous it may have been, was taken as must-be fact solely because of its source. We saw this in Between the World and Me, when Coates talks about Prince Jones and his death, and the history of police violence in that county. Coates tells us about the official statements made by the police, and we can replace that scene in our minds with countless press conferences that we have seen on television, chronicling the police's version of the violence that we have witnessed in recent times. Most people take these for truth and fact simply because the police, a seemingly trustworthy institution, are the ones making the statement. This blind trust of institutions, be it police, museums, or magazines, has proven in each of these cases to be possibly very dangerous. We forget that even if the words we hear or read come under the official letterhead of a reputable source, the words themselves are written by people, people who do not live in a politically isolated bubble, who have different experiences and prejudices, and who may or may not have ulterior motives in including or leaving out certain pieces of the puzzle. If we are to move forward as a nation, we must learn to take everything--even information from seemingly trustworthy institutions--with a grain of salt.

"The Comments That Sting"

This video is from The New York Times video journalist, who have provided insight on college campuses, with students who have noticed racial microaggressions, but they are not ignoring these comments like most people do, in this video Harvard students are using campaigns such as school plays involving student interview project to make everyone else aware of their racial microaggressions. I used this video because it not only relates to class discussions, not only targets college student audience but it targets our generation. I also relate to this video, because of the comments, coming from a culture that is not the "social norm" is quite different. I am Hawaiian, I run into racial micraggressions all the time when meeting people for the first time, such as, "What are you?" "You gotta be Mexican because you're tan" "So you aren't white at all?" "I bet you're exotic because of your tan skinned". I never knew these comments were called racial microaggressions, iI never knew it was an actual thing/word before taking this class, but i always had this negative gut feeling when being asked those questions. I could not understand why these comments were affecting me in a negative way, I saw in the beginning of the video, one of the Harvard student says "am i crazy or did they just do this.." when a person just made a racial microaggression, which is EXACTLY how I felt before recognizing racial microaggressions. I never called out the microaggressions because of the risks, making the situation worse, being more uncomfortable, but now being "conscious" "aware" of these racial comments, I have begun to call them out, no matter how awkward it is, because Id rather in the end, feel prideful than regretful for not saying anything. In this video it states that critics are viewing these student campaigns over racial microaggressions, as overreactions of unintended offenses. 



My question is, when people are coming together protesting, bringing a huge community in, over a topic that has impacted them in such a negative way, why do people instead of get in line, try to help, or simply ignore it move on with life, but instead most of our people dig the hole deeper or build a barrier for the protesters to prevent them from reaching their goal? We are all human beings, if someones down, we help them up, the type of life philosophy I go by and I know not everyone is like me, blase blase blase, but like the video stated, critics say these student campaigns over racial micraggressions are overreactions of unintended offenses, why do people have to say something already so negative?  Like why do people automatically make an excuse for something they do not simply understand? I know these critics are NOT "colorblind" I know deep down these critics see the real issue, because I know they have to look in the mirror every day. 

The Dream

 When I read Between The World and Me, one of the biggest issues that stuck out to me was when Coates talked about 'The Dream'. In the United States, we are known for being the land of possibilities and that anyone can achieve the American Dream if they are willing to work for it. . My father was an immigrant from Honduras who was able to achieve upward mobility, but although he did attain the definition of the American Dream I know that it isn’t the reality for most that are in this country. Even though my father did achieve 'the American Dream', he was still subjected to the racial stereotypes that come with men of color having money. Growing up, I can remember people saying my father became successful by selling drugs. Some people couldn't accept the fact that a man of color we're doing better than they were. Growing up in a small town, from an influent family I was never really made aware of my race until I was in an airport in Miami with my father and my brother and I was asked to come into a private room, where a security guard told me they needed to pat me down. I couldn't believe that just because I was Latino, they assumed I was trying to smuggle drugs. At that moment I realized what it means to be a person of color in the United States. In the film Inequality for All showed that is not the reality for most people. The whole idea of the American Dream is that people can get out of poverty and be able to reach upward mobility, but the United States has a high percentage of people staying in poverty. The video revealed that 42% of children born into poverty will stay there. We learned that consumer spending is 70% of United States economy and that most is on middle class spending. We know the issue isn’t wealth but the amount of wealth. Most wealthy people aren’t spending enough to generate the economy and are also saving their money. Now there is the issue of less people at the top and less people in the middle class and paying more to the people at the top and not enough to go around to the people at the bottom. The video displayed the few opinions the middle class came up with to keep spending even while wages were flat. The first was women went to paid work in huge numbers, the second was people worked longer hours, and third people went into debt, particularly in housing. So the current system is set up for only a small percentage of people to achieve upward mobility and keep the wealth to a small percentage of people. The United States government was meant to be a voice of the people but with lobbyists giving millions to politicians it becomes the big money that is the voice of politics. A perfect example of income inequality, as the rich get richer they have more resources to influence policy making, while the working class may not have their issues heard. The video also discussed the issue that the U.S. has a low upward mobility rate compared to other developed countries and how the cost of education has been steadily rising. So if such a high percent of Americans stay in poverty and the cost of getting a higher education is rising how do believe there is equal opportunity for every American to be successful. There is also an issue with the current tax system in the United States. There are many loop holes for the 1% to get different tax breaks. While many make the argument that those who are at the top have earned it and everyone has the same opportunity to make it if they are willing to put in the work just isn’t the case. It seems that the current system in the U.S. is meant to keep the working class working and the rich get richer. The reason I talked about this documentary is it further shows that the American Dream leaves out many Americans.  One question that really impacted me that we talked about in class was what would The American Dream look like without the destruction of African-Americans and Latinos?