Chapter four focused on the dynamics of family structures between minority groups in the United States. The chapter takes care to highlight the challenges each group is facing in the present, and to debunk some common myths and stereotypes.
Some of the traits that all ethnic and racial minority groups share are strong kinship groups, whether they may be within nuclear families, single-parent families or extended families, and resilience in the face of economic hardship and discrimination.
What I found the most interesting was the clarification of some generalizations and stereotypes. It caught my eye mostly because they're either hardly discussed or highly speculative. Particularly the discussion of the facts and myths of Latin American machismo, Native American alcoholism, and the "model minority" label of Asian Americans(including why it's harmful rather than helpful). Showing the wide range of behavior within the minority group can show how much diversity there is within a single group. People sometimes fall into the trap of assuming most minority groups' family structures are the same when they're not.
What I've heard in class and in the readings states that families in minority racial or ethnic backgrounds need to teach their children how to resist discrimination, and how to retain their self-identity in the face of hardship. But I wonder how many white families teach their children to refrain from discrimination in return?
---Leishanda G.
I find that question very interesting. I live in a house with an Indian, 3 Pakistanis, an African American, and an Asian (I am white) and one thing I've noticed is that it's easy for everyone else to be racist against white people, but somehow it's okay for them to act that way? My answer to this question is no white families do not teach their kids how to deal with racism, prejudices, and discrimination.
ReplyDeleteStboser- My take is maybe because culture pays so much attention to how whites discriminate against others that your situation seems ok to them because it's sort of like the saying, "you can dish it out, but you can't take it."
ReplyDeleteAbout the question of how many white families teach kids not to discriminate, I think plenty of families do that, but it's just not stressed as much in discussion. Why, I don't know, but I'd argue it's taught. ~~~~
Hey, I just realized how vague that question was and thought I'd come back to it.
ReplyDeleteI was just curious to hear that a lot of emphasis was placed on racial-ethnic families to be able to cope with discrimination and racism, but not a lot of emphasis was placed on white families teaching their kids not to discriminate.
I'm sure there are families that discuss it--as we've been seeing in the past readings, there's a lot of variety when it comes to the family. But on the other hand I know that my family didn't really talk much about it. I learned more about it from school(and TV, of all things!).
And while I don't know of anything to cite off hand, I feel like even with white families that want to teach their children not to discriminate or think racist and prejudiced thoughts, there's probably some well-meaning but otherwise hurtful biases that slip in.