The Lines We Cross

If you are of color but could pass for white, would you do it? All of my sisters have really light skin, and my skin is dark. If you saw us, you wouldn’t think that we were sisters. They often teased the fact that I was black and their skin wasn’t. Oh the names they had for me were so cruel. Growing up I could not understand why things came easier to them than it did for me. Strangers treated them friendlier and seemed warmer to them. Even males gravitated to them more. It was really frustrating and I soon grew resentment for my skin color. One day, a distant family member was giving my sister a piggy-back ride and when I asked for one, he said I was too black. That stood with me for a long time.

In her essay, “Racialization, ‘Flexible Ethnicity, ‘Gender, and Third-Generation Mexican American Identity”, Jessica Vasquez describe how some people use “flexible ethnicity”, to dodge the burdens of inequality or how some are automatically racialized and treated differently because they look white. Although I already figured out why my sister were treated better, this reading really struck a chord and 

reminded me of the unfairness I experienced because I was obviously black.

It’s sad to see that certain ideologies of white being better is still very much prevalent in our society and run deep within our minds. And we respond to it without even knowing that we are doing it.

So, if I could have passed for white, would I? If you had asked me that when I was younger, I would have said yes. But now that I am older, I wouldn’t because I know that even though my sister’s have gorgeous light skin, I have a better body. 

Climbing The Social Ladder

I really enjoyed reading “Black Middle-Class Suburbia”, by Karyn R. Lacy. African Americans that climb the social ladder often come under fire for the choices that they make in choosing to assimilate. Sadly, a lot of the criticisms come from fellow African Americans. Lacy talks about the different choices that these citizens make as they rise in economic status. They often move to different neighborhoods and have their children attend different schools. However the neighborhoods and the schools are usual predominately white. The parents all express that they felt that the only way for their children to have an advantage is to be comfortable being among other social classes besides their own. They are often judged for this decision and are told that they have missed out on the black experiences.

I personally agree with the idea of assimilation. As much as we would like to admit it or not, we live in society where Caucasians own most of the wealth, property and businesses. I feel that if we want to be successful and move upward in the social class system, we need to understand that America is made up of lots of races and cultures. It would be in our best interest to learn how to socialize with people that don’t always look like us.

Are We Truly Free?

America is known to be, “the land of the free.” Are we truly free? Can I truly do whatever I want? Because of society, no one is truly free. When we are born, our society and our culture teach us the rules and traditions of environment. Thus we are trained to control certain behaviors. Before I was even born, what will be and what won’t be tolerated was already determined. Although total control of my thoughts and actions do not exist, I am allowed certain freedoms. However, within what society allows, one may not truly be free.

Consider people of the upper versus the lower class. Charon says that, “ One does not generally control one’s own existence if one is poor.” This is shown to be very true in our American society. Think of the many celebrities the news has shown that have broken the law. Sometimes they seem to get a slap on the wrist compared to the severe punishment a lower class citizen might receive for the same crime.

I also believe that poverty denies certain freedoms as well. One on the kids that I work with is the eldest of her siblings. Because her mother cannot afford daycare for her other siblings, she has to be responsible for taking care of them. This young girl has lost some of her freedom because of economic status. This is the case for many larger lower class families. Some people might argue that her mother shouldn’t have so many kids. However, in the context of freedom, the mother then wouldn’t have the freedom to have as many kids as she wants because of her class status. Where as a person who is born in the upper class, these are not common issues. I’m sure we can think of tons of ways where the upper class has more freedom than the lower class.