Many Meanings behind Quotes
Cynthia Kaufman, Ideas and Action: Relevant Theory for Radical Change. Chapter 1 (7–33)
Quote: “Marx’s theory of human nature tries to avoid making any claims about people’s natural character. Instead, he claims that people are social beings, and that how we experience our world and ourselves is fundamentally tied up with the forms of our society. For example, if we live in a consumerist society, we might find our deepest pleasures by going to the mall. If we live in a small-scale communal society, we might find ourselves fulfilled by helping our neighbors build a house and having a party afterward” (15).
Question: How is that, individuals living in a small scale society are more ignorant and more likely to racially profile a minority, rather than an individual living in a larger society?
Quote: “ All you will do in a Mexican village is create disorder. At best, you can try to convince Mexican girls that they should marry a young man who is self-made, rich, a consumer, and as disrespectful of tradition as one of you. At worst, in your “community development” spirit you might create just enough problems to get someone shot after your vacation ends_ and you rush back to your middleclass neighborhoods where your friends make jokes about “spits” and “wetbacks”
Question: “How can our society become more self aware about their racial jokes that they make in their own community?”
West. “The Moral Obligations of Living in a Democratic Society”
Quote: “Young black people call their block a “hood” now. I grew up in a neighborhood; it is a big difference. A neighborhood was a place not only for the nuclear family, but also included aunts, uncles, friends, and neighbors, rabbis, priests, deacons, and pastors… all of whom served as a backdrop for socializing young people.This backdrop provided children with a sense of what it is like to be a human, with all its decency, integrity, and compassion. When those values emerge, a neighborhood emerges” (20).
Question: Why are black kids so desensitized to calling their neighborhood a hood? What makes their neighborhood so different from a nuclear family.
Connection: All these three pieces, argue how much a typical nuclear family looks down upon minorities living in America today. This shows how closed minded individuals living in our society are today, we tend to stereotype the issues that minorities have about their ethnic background and continue to roll with it.
Connection with my Community partner: Working with a individuals from south America, I am able to learn more about their culture, and this helps me to become more open minded about their culture. It also allows me to immerse myself into their cultures because they enjoy talking about their cultures back at home, and this gives me a greater sense of how life was like back in their home country. Being an immigrant living in America, I can relate to how these kids feel living in such a diverse country like the United States.
