Dominant Vs. Subordinate Groups

For this reflection, I will be taking notes and incorporating some previous information discussed in past reflection papers. These will be some notes for myself to take into account when building my final paper.

1. Placing subjugated lives and voices at the moral center:

• There are many things that I have learned this semester from my community partner, staff and students through my service learning experience. I had never really placed myself in the position of really diving deep into analyzing what and where the help derives from when it comes to communtiy programs aimed to make sure their community thrives and receives as much help and information especially in low income and immigrant communities such as the Canal.
• In a culture of school reform that focuses on student achievement as measured through standardized curriculum and testing, marginalized groups are traditionally less successful. Why is this valuable? .. (Include Ibram X. Kendi quotes: “The use of standardized tests to measure aptitude and intelligence is one of the most effective racist policies ever devised to degrade Black minds and legally exclude Black bodies” (101). “The idea of an achievement gap between the races — with Whites and Asians at the top and Blacks and Latinx at the bottom — creates a racial hierarchy, with its implication that the racial gap in test scores means something is wrong with the Black and Latinx test takers and not the tests” (101–102). >CR 8)
• Belonging as a sense of being part of the “circle of human concern.” “Belonging connotes something fundamental about how groups are structurally positioned within society as well as how they are perceived and regarded. Inequality, if it keeps growing, can be more accurately described a expulsion.” (john a. powell)
• … include the relationship to the 2020 Census and anything I learned from the interview I conducted.

2. Unraveling social ideologies:

• Some social ideologies and structures which cause and perpetuate injustices includes growing up in a wealthy household, or with a family which is very politically involved and looks down upon people of another race or ethnic group, and it can even include religion. Growing up in a wealthy household can make a person believe or think that anything can be achieved with money or that everybody also has it easy/stable financial wise. With a wealthy home, people are most likely to attend top institutions or private schools making it discriminatory for other lower class students/people who are not able to afford attending great schools. Growing up in a family that is very politically oriented can affect a person making them see and believe everything everybody else in their family sees as well and blindfolding them on the experience of having one discover or believe things for themselves. “However, it’s essential to insist on it because, as unfinished beings, conscious of our unfinishedness, we are capable of options and decisions that may not be ethical” (57). This quote from Freire in Pedagogy of Freedom, reinforces what I mentioned before. Many times we are presented with situations and ideas that we do not see a certain way and people are constantly telling us what to do or how to do it in which we are not in full control of being conscious about what we are doing or the way we are doing it is completely ethical or not. CR #9

3. Examining power, privilege, and social domination:

• Horton expresses his way of teaching and how he approaches to always teach, “ To me, it’s essential that you start where people are … I can start where I am, but they’ve got to start where they are ..”(99 and100) This is very crucial for him when it comes to education and making sure his teaching is efficient. He goes about explaining that if a student is being taught at the level his teacher knows the material, it won’t help them learn if they aren’t at the same level of knowledge so, it’s best to begin at the level you know the student is at. When introduced about Neutrality Horton says, “ Neutrality is just following the crowd … Neutrality is just being what the system asks us to be … It was to me, a refusal to oppose injustice or to take sides that are unpopular.. “(102) He believes that Neutrality is just a way of going along with societal norms/customs and not doing anything about changing it or making a difference. CR #2
• Powell defines “whiteness” by stating, “As described by Armstrong, “white privilege involves advantages and options that are available merely because one is white. A white person need not be a bigot to benefit from racial privilege; simply having white skin means having access to neighborhoods and jobs that are closed to people of color”” …( Powell, 78) Being able to be privileged as described by Powell is having “white skin” meaning you will not be denied from anything unless you are a person of color. This applies to the community partner site I am at, Canal Alliance, because the community who builds it are subordinate. They do the jobs that the dominants, as described by Tantum, aren’t the preferred roles and even then, they are all united and have a similar goal in common which is to educate each other and support their children in aiming higher towards a college degree. CR #3
• A larger context which I believe perpetuates structural injustice is by focusing on the negative effects social rules persistently generate for members of such groups, for example, by considering the amount of resources comparatively available to them, their access to offices and social positions, their opportunities for further development, and so on. This in turn points to the degree of power controlled by members of oppressed groups and to the use of such power to scrutinize, question, and amend dominant social rules which also ties back in with the census definition of being “hard-to-count”. I believe that we all bear an ethical responsibility to examine and challenge social ideologies and power dynamics and structures that perpetuate inequality and cause suffering. CR #9
• Through the Census interviews conducted through this class, I was able to get a bigger picture and insight with some of the voices of community members from Canal. It surprised me to hear the interviewee’s ideas and thoughts about what they thought is able to get done in order to motivate others to complete the census this upcoming year. Many of these people have brilliant and well thought out ideas on bettering the community which many do not get to listen to which would help out community services like Canal Alliance better their services. The participation in the census is important for these communities to receive more funding for schools and community organizations as well as housing. The Canal area inhabitants are also, always complaining about the parking space situation where they cannot find a parking spot for their cars due to the insane amount of people that live in one apartment because of the high amount of rent they need to pay. Completing the census would be able to help out in this situation by letting the county workers know that there are a lot of people living in this area of the county and that more parking spaces need to be made. Building more public schools for the children of all the people in this area, who most of the time are not able to have their kids attend schools nearby because they are completely full and have no more space, even if they live right next to the school, would benefit the community greatly. This also connects back to us and our humanization and acknowledging that there are lots of people who have it harder on them and completing the census and making ourselves be counted for, will eventually benefit the people around us as well as ourselves. CR #9

4. Identifying victimization and agency:

• However, Baldwin does mention that the paradox of the education system is “as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated” (Baldwin, 1). A myth Baldwin says is that the identity people of color suffer throughout their times of development over and over again is being inferior to the white upper class. CR #4
• Audre Lorde in “The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action” writes about her silence being transformed into language and action while fighting against a malignant breast tumor, “Some of what I experienced during that time has helped elucidate for me much of what I feel concerning the transformation of silence into action” (Lorde, 40). She encourages people to speak up about their own beliefs and not be afraid of letting their voice be heard. Jose Angel N speaks about the myth of economic growth that drew many to immigrate to the United States, the “cup of promise” including himself. He says “I too drank from the cup of promise … Just like my neighbors, I sneaked into the United States thinking that escape from social stagnation could be found in economic advancement alone”(Angel). He draws an image for his readers of the United States for foreign countries being a place where all their sufferings will be taken away from them and a promise of prosperity. CR #4
• Lorde uses her story to tell these truths by encouraging women who are still in silence to come out from that corner and not be afraid of doing so, “And I began to recognize a source of power within myself that comes from the knowledge that while it is most desirable not to be afraid, learning to put fear into a perspective gave me great strength … My silences had not protected me .. Your silence will not protect you” (Lorde, 41). Many times when faced with a situation that is a big part of who we are like Lorde went through, we tend to isolate ourselves from society including family and shut our voice rather than speaking about what we feel and that is what Lorde is trying to speak about when telling her truth. She had to go through a tough time in her life in order for her silence to be turned into language and action which is why she is trying to bring awareness to others who aren’t going through a situation like she did to come out from their silence. CR #4

5. Creating a Social Movement:

• According to Tatum and Powell, the unequal relationship between the dominant and subordinate groups can be changed for the better being beneficial for both sides. As stated by Powell, “In transforming whiteness and privilege, whites would get the chance to be humane beings” …(Powell, 101) Not only would it benefit both sides but it would also let dominants experience what humanity is according to him. Going back to last weeks’ reading of Verghese, the connection there was between the doctor and the patient he was treating is the connection Tatum and Powell are referring to. The separate relationship between the dominant and subordinates needs to come together like that doctor(dominant) did for the patient in listening for what he had to say and be emotionally supportive for the patient(subordinate). CR #3
• Community engagement plus course texts, themes, ethical principles and methods have deepened my critical consciousness. A key component of critical consciousness is the ability to recognize inequality and injustice. I am able to put this into practice more often now that I have deepened more thought into it through this course work and will continue putting it into practice and making others aware of it too. I believe that when people understand the social, economic, and political forces threatening their communities, they’re more likely to engage in activities that challenge those forces. The ways in which I have benefited from community strengths and wisdom from “placing subjugated lives at the moral center,” is that it has made me more aware and a critical thinker. Paulo Freire writes, “What makes men and women ethical is their capacity to ‘spiritualize’ the world, to make it either beautiful or ugly. … It is impossible to humanely exist without assuming the right and the duty to opt, to decide, to struggle, to be political” (53). Working with the community like Canal Alliance has definitely created greater awareness of diversity and at the same time, given me insight into where I feel called to make my small contribution to the good of society. CR #9