Post #1

     I've spent the last 20 minutes trying to pinpoint a time in my life where race has truly affected me. I've been asking myself questions such as "has anyone ever judged me because of my race?" and "has race ever impacted a decision that I've made?" Then it dawned on me: I've completely ignored race as being a possible factor in any part of my life. I, like most people, have just accepted everything at face value and have never given a second look to any racial undertones that may exist. In her article "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Backpack", Peggy McIntosh describes some of the advantages that some races may enjoy that others do not. As a white male, I've personally never thought of how my race may impact how my neighbors view me, or that my race may be a deciding factor in whether or not I get that new job that I've applied to. I've always just accepted the theory that by working hard and being a kind and genuine person, that I would be able to be successful in life. But then again, as a white male, I am considered part of the majority here in the United States. I've never been singled out or made fun of because of the color of my skin. I believe this is due to the fact that the color of my skin allows me to be grouped with what may people consider to be the majority in this country. For example, a friend of mine is currently working abroad in Jinzhou, China. He can be described as a short, stocky, Irishman with bright red hair and pale skin. Needless to say, he sticks out over many of the other people that live in his town. I've been able to maintain contact with him over the time that he's been gone, and he has told me that many of the locals still look at him strangely because of how different he looks from everybody else, even though he has been living there for the past eight months. He feels as though people talk about him behind his back just because of the way he looks (although he maintains that this doesn't bother him in the slightest). But that's the point that I'm trying to make: racism doesn't necessarily exist in one country or affect one group of people. Racism exists wherever there is somebody outside of the norm. It doesn't have to be obvious (i.e. shouting racial slurs); it can be subtle, such as second glance at someone who looks different than everyone else. Ideally, these actions and feelings would never be a part of our society and every person would be on a level playing field. This is not how the world that we live in operates, unfortunately. People are labeled immediately just based on how they look (i.e. the "Iceberg Theory" that we discussed in class) and are rarely given the opportunity to break that first impression. We have come a long way in terms of granting civil rights to those who didn't have them previously. But t seems as though these underlying feelings that we have towards certain groups of people will never fully disappear.