After watching the Tim Wise video in class, what do you think about the idea of privilege?Please support your answers.

I think privilege, after watching the Tim Wise video, is something extremely important and something that is considered taboo and therefore is not talked about as much as it should. I, being a Caucasian female never really thought about privilege that much which in itself is a privilege that I don't have think about the daily struggles that minorities face. I think the video was extremely informative in a very easy to understand and digest sort of way. He was not pushy, extremist, demanding, or fabricating anything. He was honest about the facts with a twist of humor and sarcasm.


How does the media utilize privilege in media representation?Give examples.

The media uses privilege to the majority because they want to gain the most consumers and the easiest way to do that is to cater mainly to the majority. They also do what is comfortable. Although the major Women's Civil Rights Movement, African-American Civil Rights Movement, Native-American Civil Rights Movement, and the Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights Movements are in the past, embarrassingly change from the majorities safety zone is not widely accepted. The media like most feel that the more they suppress a race or culture or the minority the more it disappears. If the media plays on stereotypes the stereotypes will not die because they only continue to fall down the ladder and continue to get passed down from generation to generation. Although I will admit to loving Grey's Anatomy it keeps some typical stereotypes alive through its characters. Christina, who happens to be an Asian who also plays a supporting role is the typical Asian however she is female: top of her class, non-emotional, hard-working, independent, driven girl. Meredith, the character the show is based around, is a Caucasian female who is typical white girl: emotional, has father issues, in-love with the attractive leading male star, smart but usually makes wrong decisions, whereas Christina never does. Alex, a supporting role, is a white male, he is the rebel: dark, emotional, reserved, and comes from a abusive and poor home life. George, a white male playing a supporting role, is the typical nerdy best friend boy, who: is in love with Meredith or the main character, not the most attractive, goofy, non-aware, comes from a big loving family with strong older macho brothers, and constantly battling the rebel.

For the next several days, please keep a list (try) of the privileges you see in your daily experiences. They can be your privileges or what you believe to be someone else's privilege. You should have a minimum of eight and they will be listed in your blog.

1. Being a girl, I find that on most occasions a boy opens the door for me upon entering a building.
2. When a white male or female turns on the tv or goes to see a movie, they are usually surrounded by their white counterparts
3. I am able, for the most part, to express my thoughts and feelings towards the government without being seen as uneducated
4. I can and do go most anywhere in public without fear of being hurt or in danger
5. I have more options in the grocery store beauty aisle when it comes to Caucasian make-up and hair products
6. I'm on a strict budget to save money while one of my best friends is blessed to not have those worries while she explains to me the troubles of trying to plan a trip when her family is so picky about the thread count of sheets in certain hotels.
7. Since I went to a private high school it is assumed that I am super smart and come from a super wealthy family
8. I am able to go for a jog on campus at 10:00 pm and don't have too many worries about my safety


Do you think society still believes in the one drop rule?

I would like to believe that society as a whole does not still believe in the "one drop rule." However I do feel that their are some people who may still believe in this idea. As for myself I honestly had to google the term which makes me feel that it is most likely more a generational term than widely known. Since I had to google it, it makes me feel like perhaps a lot of my generation and generations below me do not use this term regularly or even now of its meaning and existance but maybe i'm just naive. I also think that America now, more than ever is so diverse making it truly terrible to judge someone based on their ancestry. I'm sure, like myself, most people can't even name all the races or cultures that make them who they are.


Reflection: At the end of the video Tim Wise talked about responsibility of knowledge and Beverly Tatum (1992) suggests that as adults we have a responsibility to identify new information and change our behavior based on this new found awareness. Please discuss from your perspective.

I could not agree more. I think that as a human being I have a responsibility to treat other human beings the way I would want to be treated. A human is a human, we are all 99.9% alike, that small percentage that is different is mostly displaced in our outer appearance. Just because someone has a different skin color or different features than I do, does not give me the right to treat them any differently. This responsiblity is placed on the adults, I believe because we have the maturity to handle it. Kids can be rude but they also may not understand what they are saying, they learn everything from the powerful adults in their lives like older siblings, educators, parents, and other family members. If a child grows up in a household where all the adults do not respect one another or any other adults especially ones of a different race that may be the only interaction that child has with people of a different race. The more responsible adults are the more stereotypes and racism will die. It is 2009 and our technology and wealth of information has grown tremendously from the beginning of time and will only begin to grow. Everything must evolve and grow in order to sustain life, with this adults should constantly be open to consuming all types of information in order to grow in life. Whether the information is bad or good, it all has something to teach us. As an adult I have a responsiblity to take in as much information I can in order to change my actions and help others change their actions to make this world a better place.