Malcolm X in prison

In chapter ten of his autobiography, Malcolm X discusses his time spent in prison and the psychological effects of the institution's physical and political construction. He writes, "Any person who claims to have deep feeling for other human beings should think a long, long time before he votes to have other men kept behind bars- caged. I am not saying there shouldn't be prisons, but there shouldn't be bars. Behind bars, a man never reforms. He will never forget. He never will get completely over the memory of the bars" (152). I found this section to be particularly moving. Oftentimes I dare to have opinions and evaluations of actions or institutions which I know about only conceptually, while these very places and happenings are matters of life and death for others. Whether based on racist presuppositions or merely an idealistic view of how the world must operate, such opinions are largely unfounded and at times, tragically naiive. Another point which caused me to question Malcolm's intentions with this statement was the fact that later on in the narrative, he himself morally transforms to a large degree. His time in prison is actually the key turning point in his life. His former hustling ways are jettisoned for intensive reading on the religion of Islam, his life is dedicated to Allah and furthering the message of Elijah Muhammad. His time in bars actually proves to be quite crucial to the overall development of his life. Why then, does he state that a man behind bars will not truly reform? Does the Norfolk colony not have bars, and thus because the majority of his imprisoned time was spent there, he was able to reform? This antithetical foreshadowing is intriguing.

Loewen

Loewen discusses how textbooks rarely look before the 1950s to explain the Vietnam War. Textbook authors should "present several interpretations, along with an overview of the historical support for each, and invite students to come to their own conclusions"(255). Loewen argues that this is often not the case, since textbook authors appear to have a differing opinion on the subject. Authors more than often "seem compelled to present the "right" answer to all questions, even unresolved controversies"(255). And in some cases, textbooks dodge the issue completely. I was very surprised to read that the cause of the war is not explained in many textbooks and all that is stated in American Adventures is that "War broke out." Why does this book only have two sentences explaining why we fought in the Vietnam War? And why do teachers spend the minimal amount of time on this topic? In my past history classes, I never payed attention to how much time my teachers spent on certain topics. Thinking back, I don't remember learning a lot about the Vietnam War. However, I do remember learning a ton about the War of 1812. Loewen writes about how teachers try to aviod topics in which students are likely to have differing opinions or that would make students have a bad recognition about American institutions. I think that teachers need to start giving students the chance to think critically and develop their own opinions on things, but this is only possible if they know the whole story.

Malcolm X and Islam

To be entirely honest I have been extremely frustrated while reading Malcolm X's biography because of the way that he chooses to advocate for a better life for African Americans. I love that he wants black people to appreciate their heritage and value their skin color and hair for what it is and the culture that it represents. These are very good things. I don't even necessarily have a problem with his idea that the 'white man is the devil.' White people have in the past done uncountable wrongs towards the black people in America and beyond. (I wouldn't go so far as to say that there are no good white people though and that even the 'nice' seeming white people have a little devil in them but that is besides the point.) He can believe whatever he chooses to believe and bring as many other people with him as he wishes. If he wants to be separate too then so be it. No, my major complaint is that Malcolm X pushes his ideals through what he deems Islam. The problem for me is that what he professes to represent has nothing to do with Islam in its original and truest form. In fact, there are major theological differences! Malcolm X claims Christianity is the white mans religion and Islam is the black mans but this is rediculous. Black people are christians just as much as white people are muslims. It is kind of ironic really that he decides to hate christianity, the bible, and the white man's God so much because in true Islam they worship the same God. In Core we learned from Professor Raja Tanas that Judaism, Christianity and Islam all share the same God. The difference came with Jesus because they all had different views on him. Now it may be said that he was only being metaphorical when he stated these things but he is wrong even in the basic fundamentals of the religion. For instance, Malcolm X had been a Muslim for years and Elijah Muhammad for over a decade but when Elijah came back from a trip to Africa only then did he correct the mistake of calling his Mosque a temple! He did not even have the right name for his place of worship even after so many years. The same problem goes with their holy day. Malcolm X stated in his list of what the muslims did each day at the 'temple' and stated that they held their services on Sunday! That is a Christian idea because Muslims are supposed to hold their services on Friday because that is their holy day. Finally, I realize that Islam does not necessarily have to be practiced the same way in all places, they are thousands of miles apart. I do wish though that Malcolm X would acknowledge the differences with more than just a couple of disclaimer style lines. If he wants to represent Islam then he needs to represent Islam, not some other version of it. Otherwise at least tell people that it is a different version or sect so that the general population does not get the wrong idea about Islam's values. This is highly important in my view because Islam does not teach hate or racism or anything like that and it does have a heaven (which Malcolm X denied) which is actually rather complicated and has several tiers etc. There is my problem with Malcolm X thus far and hopefully he addresses these problems farther along in his autobiography, otherwise I do not understand why so many people credit him with such wisdom...

Big Brother

For the last few years, I have been paying more and more attention to the fact that we are constantly being lied to by our government. It seems that nearly the whole system is corrupt in ways. Money is the only thing that seems to matter to the people running our country. After reading Loewen's take on our government and how multinational companies practically run our country and even other countries, my ideas about this corruption have been confirmed. I didn't realize the extremes that our government goes through to protect these corporations until reading this. I also couldn't believe some of the actions that our groups like the FBI and CIA do overseas to support militant leaders of third world countries to help protect our interests; while in turn causing corruption and all kinds of chaos in the country being run by these leaders.

The actions of our government in other countries is something that I've heard a little about, but I couldn't believe the kids of things we did to our own citizens. People like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were harassed by government agencies, and the fact that our own government may be involved in their assassinations is just terrible. A government is supposed to protect its citizens, and when a government does things like this to exploit citizens of both our nation and other nations, something should be done to change it.

Variations of History

The catalyst of the Civil War is often debated today. Its causes are many, but still some people try to pinpoint one specific cause. Slavery is a good example of one of these causes. Attending a Southern elementary and middle school, I remember always hearing a completely different story though. From the beginning of the fourth grade when we began studying the Civil War, the teacher and every guest speaker made it completely clear that the real reason for the Civil War was Northern aggression and the South making a stand for State's Rights. The emphasis was on State's Rights. One guest speaker I particularly remember even went so far as to say that slavery was hardly a cause at all, since the only people who could afford slaves were rich, and they didn't usually join the army.

It's interesting how defeated cultures try to hide the oppressive actions of their forefathers. This is not what happens in Sherman Alexie's poem Inside Dachau. The Germans in that poem are praised by the speaker for not hiding past racism. The second tenet of CRT seems like it might explain why the South teaches it like it does, but I can't see the materialistic gain of the guest speaker at an Elementary School saying slavery was dying in the South before the Civil War. He made it seem like the South had slavery under control and could've eliminated it themselves. Regardless of materialistic determinism the truth should be found in textbooks, but it's hard to pick the right one when there are so many variations.

Racism Panel

The prime time I attended in Duvall last night involved a discussion with thirty to forty Whitworth students and four Whitworth professors on the topic of racism. I was pleased to hear the practical application of what I have been learning—specifically in regards to the existence of racism in present-day America. Many of the themes presented mirrored the topics of racism that have been prevalent in the reading over the past few months.

In fact, one of the professors, used an exact reference to Abraham Lincoln that Loewen had used in Chapter 6 that Lincoln had once stated, “I’d keep slavery if it kept the nation together.” This professor explains that students never learn of remarks such as this in textbooks, simply because omitting them enforces the dominant narrative of American history—that it is a continual progression towards equality and certain heroes exemplify these ideals and are therefore not recognized for anything contradictory. I found it interesting that Loewen, in fact, uses this quote to say the opposite. He explains that textbooks today often overemphasize this quote in order to present Lincoln as someone “morally indifferent to slavery and certainly did not care about black people.” He believes that this quote was taken out of context in that the next line tells that he is writing out of official duty and that it is, of course, his personal wish that all men could be free everywhere. Lincoln is merely making an appeal to support the war in order to hold the nation together to someone who already wanted to see slavery abolished.

Yet, beyond the historical implications that the racism discussion, I found more consistency in what was said regarding racism today. I feel as though I have grown up with such a universal consensus that we should just “get over” race—that by dwelling in the past we are only reinforcing it more. For example, I remember having been told how unfair for black students to get better scholarships to Universities or for Native Americans to have certain tax exemptions. We should just forget about the past if we ever want to move forward. I was struck by one of the panel professor’s comment that generally speaking white American’s live in a comfort zone. It is easy for whites ignore racism when it is not a factor for them. “We have to make a choice to think about it,” he says. When there are micro-aggressions occurring all the time, and minority history excluded from our educational system it is not fair to simply ignore it or account it as lack of cultural values/intelligence/hard work.

In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I became frustrated with the social assumptions I had been brought up with. Demographics and statistics speak for themselves. In Chapter 7, Loewen states that “55% of Republicans blamed the poor for their poverty, while only 13% blamed the system; 68% of Democrats, on the other hand, blamed the system, while only 5% blamed the poor.” It is not just coincidence that the individuals that comprise the group who tends to blame the poor for the poverty tend to be older, wealthier and whiter—not affected by any of the social constraints mentioned.

Having just traveled to Ecuador and seen the poverty stricken neighborhoods, I just simply cannot stand back and say that these people have been afforded the same opportunities as me. I cannot look at the story of Malcolm X, and say that he had the ability to rise above poverty, instability, racial slurs and oppression. It just hit home so hard when one of the professors at the discussion explained that as whites in America, we are truly not being exposed to the reality of minorities. The only way—only way we could ever understand is to see things through their eyes.

All of this is not to say that minorities cannot overcome the odds; it’s just that the odds are against them. It’s not to say that we should build a social structure centered on welfare, nor give incentives toward enforcing any sort of behaviors stemmed from unequal opportunity. It is time that we start understanding that the racism in our society has been shaped by real historical realities, rather than blaming it on the victims. We need to seek out what we have not been exposed to, rather than falling for what we maybe have always believed. If we ever want to move forward toward real reconciliation, we need to stand for the victims.

Admiration and Historical Accuracy

Loewen dedicates a chapter in his text to the analysis and emphasis of abolitionists during Reconstruction, focusing particularly on Abraham Lincoln and John Brown. He concludes his treatment of these individuals by noting how, "we in America, whose antiracist idealists are admired around the globe, seem to have lost these men and women as heroes. Our textbooks need to present them in such a way that we might again value our own idealism" (203). This passage prompted several questions for me. First off, is it necessary that as American citizens, we identify certain individuals as historical heroes? Would a history filled with the actions of ordinary people be simply to boring to discuss? Loewen rags on history teachers for identifying founders of the Republic who owned slaves or Christopher Columbus as heroes...crtainly those men were not perfect or even venerable, but is making heroes of other individuals really the answer? The latter portion of his statement concerns me. "Valuing idealism" seems to be what Loewen has been advocating against in his text all along.

Malcolm X, Loewen, & the Confederate Flag

My first impression of the Malcolm X autobiography is one of ambivalence. The stories of his harsh childhood and the way his family was torn apart makes me want to sympathize with him, but some of the language he uses and the way he writes about whites makes me want to take a step back. It is definitely an intriguing read. Also, like Kyle said, Malcolm X has always just been a name to me, so it will be interesting to learn more about him.

The scenes that have caught my attention the most were about the "conk" hairstyle and the mentioned differences between the attitudes of the different people and different races of people in Lansing versus Boston.

Loewen's chapter, "John Brown and Abraham Lincoln" was a controversial one for me. The whole section about John Brown certainly caught my interest. I don't even remember him being mentioned in my high school history books (that doesn't necessarily mean he wasn't). I really enjoyed the section about Abraham Lincoln and his turmoil concerning his personal and public positions on slavery. It makes him so much more real than a lot of people and books would present him. I enjoy learning more about the Civil War, having been to Civil War reenactments and having read extracurricularly about it in the past. I wasn't sure I agreed with everything Loewen had to say though. Some of his ideas (for example, about why the Civil War was fought) 1) go against what I have learned from persons I trust and admire greatly and 2) are not things simply stated or for one person to decide. The Civil War was complicated and terrible. I find it hard to make or hear judgments about either side. I know people who believe one thing with strong reason and people who believe another, opposing thing also with strong reason. The one thing I am sure of is that slavery was and still is wrong.

Our discussion in class about the Confederate flag was a tough topic. It surprised me just how much we had to say and just how different people's opinions were. I thought I knew where I stood, but after class I have been unsure. I have participated in Civil War reenactments though and own a handkerchief bearing the design of the stars and bars that I use as a "Southern" reenactor. I am not ashamed this. Would I fly a Confederate flag in front of my house? No. It's rather crazy how much tension remains over a war that happened so long ago. It just proves that problems as big as racism and states'/individual/civil rights do not go away or get resolved quickly or easily.

Malcolm X

Malcolm X has always just been a name to me, I never really knew too much about what he did or the impact he had on the civil rights movement. When we talked about the Civil Rights Movement in classes in high school, we always focused on people like Martin Luther King Jr or Rosa Parks. Malcolm X was mentioned, but I never really knew too much about his actions.

I have read many stories and seen a lot of movies which show the lives of white people during the depression, but never have read or heard much about how it was like for an African-American family during this time. Reading the first few chapters of this book really opened my eyes to how hard it must have been. Not only were they dealing with a horrible economy like everyone else, but they were being oppressed and had to live in constant fear of what white people around them may do.

While reading through Malcolm X's autobiography, I was very intrigued and am anxious to find out more about this amazing man's life. Though we have only read through his adolescent and mischievous years, I can already see that he is going to be a great leader. The way he seems to make friends so easily and have everyone in whatever town he is in supporting him shows the impact he already has on people.

Urrea and Presentations

I definitely enjoyed reading Urrea's story "A Day in the Life", because I have been a sort of witness to this aspect of Mexican culture. A couple years ago, I went on a mission trip in the Tijuana area, and much of the environment Urrea displays in his story was a reality. One particular aspect of the story that added effect to their situation was the sense of a "routine" format. It seems to go through their daily life, much of which impoverished Mexico may experience on a daily basis, and show the reader the difficulties they suffer. With this it gives an impression of the long and hard days they live, and shows the man tragedies they experience. However, it also gives an idea of the impact family holds, and while they may have close to nothing, the support and love they have towards one another is the greatest gift of all. Many of the families we worked with through my church program experience similar situations, and I distinctly remember visiting a family of eight living in an area the size of my dorm room.

As for the presentations, I especially enjoyed the one presented on Native American medicine. It was presented in a way that caught my attention, and brought about the serious nature of the lack of medical care they receive. They deserve to receive the same medical benefits any other person in this country receives, and should not have to suffer under this form of suppression. This was definitely an issue I personally was not at all aware of and brought to light the need for universal health care.

Urrea and Presentations

The ending story in Urrea's book is very interesting. The feel of death, despair, and hatred are the dominant forces that is hanging over the reader during the entire story until the very end when the theme of new life and rebirth is introduced. At the end of the story while Don Her Many Horses is singing a song in honor of Stormy, who has just died, and asks Bobby to join him in the song. Bobby is mourning the death of his wife, who is Don Her Many Horses' sister, and is able to truly express himself through the song of these "injuns" that he once hated. This type of ending to the book really ties the rest of the book together. It shows that although people have and possibly still do hate each other, there is a common bond in between us. Hopefully we don't need a tragedy to bring us together like in this book however.

Good job on the presentations everybody!!! I enjoyed all of them very much, and really liked the dance one because of the first hand videos, that was very neat. I also enjoyed the political lesson and it was neat to learn about how Hispanics impact the voting and the trends they display in their right to vote.

Presentations 3/8

I found the workshop presentation from this past Tuesday on social concerns of Hispanic Americans to be very informative. It was interesting and disturbing to note how many of the issues which plague Native Americans- high unemployment and poverty rates, low rates of teens graduating from high school, high rates of uninsured individuals- seem to plague Hispanic Americans as well. The specific ethnicity of a minority group appears to have very little effect on social success and well-being; the mere fact that an ethnicity is a minority group makes all the difference. This presents a chicken-or-the-egg sort of dilemma. Are such groups underprivileged because they are in minority numbers or are they represented in minority numbers because they are underprivileged?

I also found the statistic about how 2.5% of teachers in the United States who currently teach English as a Second Language actually have a degree to do so, to be apalling. Marked social change would occur if more aspiring teachers in areas with significant amounts of Hispanic Americans were required to obtain a degree for ESL studies. These qualified teachers would be better able to relate to Hispanic students, and a more accepting culture would be facilitated in classrooms. Understanding the breakdown of tragic social concerns for Hispanic Americans allowed me to more sympathetically view Urrea's points in his short stories, even the ones which discussed Mexican characters. Urrea told a story which had previously not been told with the detail and passion with which he regarded his subject matter.

Hispanic American Presentations & Urrea

The Hispanic American population is one of the people groups I have found myself sympathizing less with for some reason. I am beginning to think now it is due out of ignorance for the most part. While I hold to some of my opinions, the statistics we learned in the presentations yesterday surprised me a little. I had never really tried to look at such things from the Hispanic American standpoint. They didn't affect me, so I never really thought to care so much, as awful as it sounds. It reminds me of Critical Race theory tenet 2 only less extreme.

I found that the clip from the movie about Selena where her father tells her tell that they must be "more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans" struck a chord with me somehow. It seems to be true of many races in American - like the Native Americans - as Loewen wrote about.

As for the presentations themselves, no offense to anyone, but I really found the Native American presentations to be more engaging overall. That's not to say that these presentations were bad.

I like Urrea a lot better now that I have read his afterword about his life and grace. It really allowed me to connect all of his stories in a way I hadn't quite seen before. I had not realized that all of them ended with mentioning the sky either until we discussed it in class. I really appreciate his works more now that I see these things.

The connection to syncretism like we read about in Loewen through the ending passage in "Bid Farewell to Her Many Horses" was especially touching to me. Urrea's words throughout that could, in my opinion, teach a lot of people about getting along across race lines. Like CRT points out, race is a social construction. Don and Bobby connect across the race lines...while the clip about Selena and her father shows how so many people won't accept even those of their own race. With such contracting examples, how can one not conclude that race is a social construct?

Presentations 3/08

The presentations from today were very good. Nice work to the groups that went. Every group provided great information about their topic. I thought that the Social concerns presentation was the most entertaining. I was surprised to hear that such a high percentage of Hispanic women deal with obesity and Hispanics have the highest uninsured rates in the United States. It was sad to hear that only 52% of Hispanics have a high school diploma while 85% of whites do. Another fact that I found interesting was that only 2.5% of teachers teaching English as a second language have a degree to teach it in Hispanic communities. This must make it very difficult for Hispanics to learn English properly. I also enjoyed learning about Political Issues and Cesar Chavez. I compare Cesar Chavez to Mr. Mendoza in Urrea's short story. They both wanted to wake up the population and tell them all what is wrong with the populated thought. "On the road that runs north from Escuinapa to my village, there is a sign that says: Rosario POP. 8000, Below that in Mr. Mendoza's meticulous scrawl: No intelligent life for 100 kilometers." Both Cesar and Mr. Mendoza sought to change society and help better others. They both worked to help changes peoples minds and help open people to new ideas. I also want to give the groups that did the Hispanic Art, Music, and Dance presentations their credit. Those presentations were very entertaining, engaging, and informational. It was nice to learn about Hispanic culture through those aspects.

Presentations February 24th

Native American culture has so much that the stereotype they are given truly destroys. It is a crime that generalization can diminish a culture in the minds of the ignorant to feathers and war whoops and prevent outsiders from embracing a community's ideas. For instance, the stereotype in my own mind of Native American medicine was the mystical and dangerous dances which did little or nothing for the patient. I didn't know that Native American doctors believed in health as being not the absence of disease but balance. The image of the healing circle now replaces the face of a painted medicine man, and I can see more of the Native American way of thinking. Art and music have both undergone similar stereotypical stripping of all true meaning. Chants have become a symbol of danger for the white cowboy and drums strike fear into the hearts of little kids on the Oregon Trail. Why have Indian songs never been seen as odes of love or loss or joy? Because white-made movies transform certain sounds into indications of the savage and the pagan, both with the worst connotations possible. Learning about so many different drums has opened a world of the diverse that I had no idea existed in Native American music. Music is given meaning when the world does not strip its cultural context of all dignity. Native American art also finds itself in the world of the undervalued. Pottery and masks are things that modern Western culture does not really place a high value on, especially masks. Because of this, no one emphasizes the achievements of artists like Maria Martinez or Philip John Charette and their artistic voices are lost in the din of common critics. The work of Ernie Pepion is especially thought provoking, displaying the sadder side of humanity and, unafraid, presenting the viewer with images they would not always choose to look at in real situations. The image that has stayed with me is that of a man sitting in a wheelchair and about to shoot a buffalo with what looks like a toy bow and arrow. Clashing worlds together, Ernie makes people think about what has happened to Native American people and how their way of life has been corrupted.

Concluding Thoughts on Urrea

I found the honesty with which Urrea approached his subject matter in the afterword to be extremely moving and very unexpected. He gives a brief recount of his experiences in Rosario, his childhood, his losses in life, and his passions. He writes, "That's about it. The book is some kind of downward spiral. It starts out all full of jokes and ends in fire and poverty and death. It reflects an early fascination with escape, then deals with returning, then staying put and dealing with it, whatever it is" (145). This statement explores the adventurous tendencies of youth coupled with the sorrows and sad realizations of adulthood. The reality of hardship in Six Kinds of Sky is more grotesque than many readers might enjoy, but the value which lies in sharing this harsh reality with others is unmatched. At the end of the day, regardless of what the day has wrought, God's grace remains. His grace remains in the tragedies which could have come and yet did not, in a character's persistency, in a husband's love, and in all six of Urrea's short stories.

A day in the life.

In relating the story to the Beatles song, one part set itself out among the similarities. In the song, verses two and four both end in the line, "I'd love to turn you on". This line just seems to be random and perhaps even juxtaposed to the seriousness of the rest of the song which covers more of a graphic nature.

Now compare this to Urrea. Sex played in integral role in the lives of just about every character in the book. Just about every other page, women are either talking about pregnancy and the cycles of women, or the men are talking and thinking about sex.

No matter who you are and where you come from; being a rich British rock star, or a poor Mexican working through piles of garbage, we are all human. We are all effected by the likes of sex and just relationships in general, really. These similarities are what make us able to connect. I think that if Urrea had left out all of these relationship issues that riddled the story, it would have done great harm to the integrity of his message; that being, this family is no different than us in function. Only in the details do we find what separates us.

The same thing could be applied to any race relation, really. All of us are humans, yet the details of class and geographical boundaries and melanin might effect how we treat each other. Do these small differences matter in the grand scheme of things?

A day in the life

I thought that Urrea's short story "A Day in the Life" was wonderfully written. The structure that he uses makes it very easy for average US citizens to compare lifestyles with the characters in the book. By laying out the day in time increments we as readers can compare and contrast our own daily events with the daily events of this family. Urrea's goal is to show us the differences in lifestyle and values by allowing us to explore their world on our own. It is one thing for him to tell us that our lives our different, but it is something else for us to discover it for ourselves.

The quote from page 69 says "In stacked bunk beds and on a mattress on the floor, separated from manuel by a hanging sheet, thirteen people sleep in a room twelve feet by ten feet. Of these thirtee, seven are her own children". You simply don't hear of things like this in "White" America. This type of thing is looked down upon as uncivilized and undignified. Why? Is it that bad to care about people enough to offer them shelter in your home? Over half the people staying under this woman's roof were not her family and we think of that as a bad thing? We should be praising her for doing a great work of love! It is simply amazing at how backwards our thinking has become in America.

Writing Styles of Alexie and Urrea

I feel like Alexie and Urrea have a lot in common but also a lot of differences and these show through their writing.
Alexie and Urrea both come from minority backgrounds, Alexie's being Native American and Urrea's being Native American and Spanish (among others), they both chose to project the experiences, histories, and ideas behind their backgrounds in the writings that we read in class. They both seem to hold to the fact that the minorities are mistreated and that your average white american does not only do nothing but does not fully understand the issues either. That is partly why I think that they cho0se to write; to get their ideas out for the public to read so that they will become more knowledgable about people and situations that are different from what the readers are used to. The difference between the two lyes in how they go about getting their ideas across to the audience.
They both have remarkable senses of humor despite the topics that they write about which tend to be serious and at times tragic and/or depressing. The humor is a nice touch to both writings because it lessens the gravity of the writing so that it is easier to take in the broader ideas, almost like a breath of fresh air during a time when you are investigating a rancid raided nest. Alexie's style seems at first to be the more inviting of the two writers. He invites you in with his first poem and throughout his book adds light and easy humor that makes nearly anyone laugh. And yet at the same time there is Urrea who tells it like it is but throws in some amusing events to lighten the stories (even when some of the humor is dark). In the end I find Urrea to be the more inviting one because he doesn't seem to pass a lot of judgments on the people that he is writing about regardless of what their ancestors did; he tells it how it is and allows the reader to draw their own conclusions. Everything that he writes about seems realistic because it is usually based on a true story (apart from the magical realism in the first story). This is more inviting than Alexie's writing because Alexie will not forgive the "white man." The majority of his readers follow his entire story and begin to understand why he cares so much about the wrongs that were done in the past and the ones that continue on, yet when they realize what they have been doing wrong and apologize for it they will not be forgiven. No matter what, even when they had nothing to do with any of the racist events, just the fact that their ancestors were involved is enough to condemn them. This in comparison to Urrea who believes in Grace and how God shows through grace in all of his stories. His stories to me are more welcoming because they want to teach and grow the reader with stories of grace rather than stories of seemingly insurmountable walls of bitterness and hurt.
Both writers obviously have great merit and I enjoyed reading both immensly don't get me wrong, I just find Urrea to be more positive than Alexie (just in concern with the readings that we did for class, not in general) when it comes to minority-white relations in the future and reactions to the material that they have written.

Structures

I really love the construction of the book "Six Kinds of Sky". The book is a piece of art itself, a nice supplement to the real work on the inside. On the cover of the book there are six colors: yellow, red, blue, green, black, and white. The color scheme doesn't stray from these foundational colors. Also, the title is made up of the number six. The words "six" and "sky" both have three letters, combining to make six; the combined letters of "kinds" and "of" also add up to that lucky number six. There are six stories in the book plus one afterword. Surprisingly, the Author's name contains no six-letter words, but instead is composed of four, seven, and five. The package that this book comes in is beautiful.

The structure of Urrea's work "Father's Return from the Mountain" I find to be clever. It is a series of images divided by slants (/). At first I wasn't sure what the purpose of that punctuation was, but then it occurred to me that this piece might be a kind of poem. On a side note, I wonder if Urrea made an intentional Star Wars reference in the scene with his Dad on page 108: "'I love you,' I say.' I know,' he says."

Six Kinds of Sky

For centuries minorities have been mistreated and pushed aside for white gain. Loewen forcibly points this out to us by showing the real history of the United States. Alexie takes a subtler approach by inviting us into his experiences in order for us to feel the cruelty that the American Indians have faced. And Urrea points out the minority struggle even less obviously than the other two authors. He draws us into the stories by using humor and wittiness but then as we are absorbed in the pages he shows us the real minority struggle. Nowhere is this as apparent as in the short story "A Day in the Life."

The family of Dona Juana and Don Manuel survives by "working" at a garbage dump collecting things that will help them live. They do not have much hope for moving past their current struggles and lean on neighbors and the missionaries to maintain their livelihood. This seems to be a recurring trend in these books; the white church members come to help the minorities but always show signs that, as white people, they are above the people they are helping. This theme shows up in Alexie's poetry as he critiques the church and what it stands for in "How to Remodel the Interior of a Catholic Church." Alexie points out that "God loves a circus which loves itself" (Alexie 85) and some "Christians" prove this quote right. They create a show in helping others without really trying to know the people they are helping. Some Christians sign up for missions to seem pious and good yet they leave the mission without gaining any knowledge about the world; they go back to their lives of luxury and forget the despair they have seen.

In "A Day in the Life" the missionaries come to help but are not wholly trusted by the native people. The missionaries do not ask what the Mexicans would like but instead give them what they think they need. Some of the food that the missionaries bring goes "to the pigs because nobody knows what to do with it" (Urrea 89) such as the escargot in a can. Urrea points out that the missionaries "seem to love Jesus, even when they don't always give evidence of loving the poor" (Urrea 87). They are there to be good Christians even if they do not really try to create change. The pastor works hard to make the Mexicans' lives easier but also shows signs of being annoyed with the burden that they bring to him. When Juanita approaches him he "tries to escape her grip" (Urrea 90) because he has two other orphanages to see that day. He also sighs and looks at his watch when he realizes he needs to go see Hermana Consuelo. Overall, the white missionaries seem to try to be working for Jesus but are not wanting to truly understand the Mexican struggle. In order to create change, these Christians need to know the culture before going on the mission. They need to talk with the poor to figure out what they need and want instead of assuming that, as white people, they know what is best. Like Doug said in class, I think that all missionaries should read this short story before completing a missions trip in Mexico.

Thoughts on Urrea in Relation to Loewen

I am finding Six Kinds of Sky a very interesting read, different from anything I have encountered thus far. Urrea is not afraid to make use of graphic and crude language (ex. Spanish curse words, vivid descriptions of death) to either 1) get his point across or 2) to present a reality that many Americans may not be familiar with. I think Urrea is trying to show the very thing Loewen desires to see. In his stories, Urrea is giving intimate perspectives from ethnic "minority" characters such as Don Her Many Horses, Henry Garcia, and Doña Juana that break into that hidden reality Loewen talks about concerning how white America's ethnocentric views have prejudiced history. Urrea may not delve so much into the racism aspect, but he does present clear pictures of the lives of different ethnic peoples.

This underlying racism in a country that prides itself on its freedoms and ability to be a "melting pot" for so many people groups is horrific. We really are doomed to repeat the ignorances and blatant racist blunders if more people do not heed the words of people like Alexie and Urrea. Knowledge is power. I agree with Emily B., education is what we really need. I think that is the point Loewen has been trying to make all along in Lies My Teacher Told Me: "But as long as history textbooks make white racism invisible in the twentieth century, neither they nor the students who use them will be able to analyze race relations intelligently in the twenty-first" (171).

I appreciate Urrea's technique, but find his bold style a little harder to relate to than Alexie's welcoming introduction and more gradual progression in The Summer of Black Widows. I do feel strongly that all three men, Loewen, Urrea, and Alexie, are headed toward the same purpose or end point though they may take entirely different approaches to problems like racism, poverty, and ignorance. The three different genres they do use (history, poetry, short story) really help me to see a broader perspective and clearer visual though.

Lowen 135-155 Urrea 1-66

Lowen's chapter 5, Gone with the Wind, is a scary chapter for Americans to read. We like to think of ourselves as always going forward and never retreating, but he shows how this idea is not true in actual history. Most high school students think that blacks troubles were over after the civil war, when in reality on the problem of slavery was over. America quickly slipped back into the inferior treating of blacks following the war, if in fact we really ever stopped the unjust treatment. Lowen continues his bashing of history textbooks from not telling the entire story.

I am enjoying reading Urrea. He uses a fun and easily read language to portray his points. I am not sure what Urrea is going for in this book yet however, his stories are all very different and random. There seems to be a theme of morals and countering the norm in all the stories so far, so this could be the main reason for the book.

Hispanic Social Concerns

Last week, we were presented with a number of American Indian social concerns, including terrifyingly high suicide, alcoholism, TB, and Diabetes rates, among others. Now that we are reading Urrea, I took a quick peek into Mexican-American social concerns. In 2009, the median age of Hispanics in the U.S. was 27.4, as compared to 36.8 for the general population ("Hispanic"). This is indicative of shorter life spans among all Americans of Hispanic descent. In addition, the average income for Hispanics in 2008 was $37,913, down from previous years, the poverty rate was 23.2%, and about a third of Hispanics did not have health insurance ("Hispanic"). These numbers have continued to dwindle (and in the case of the poverty rate, skyrocket) due to the recession.

Perhaps one of the biggest social concerns for Hispanic Americans, though, is education and career options. In 2009, a mere 13% of the Hispanic population had a Bachelor's degree or higher; only 12% or full-time college students were Hispanic in 2008 ("Hispanic"). And, although there were about 48.4 million Hispanics in America by July of 2009 and 69% were in the workforce, only 18% worked in management or professional occupations ("Hispanic"). Most work in service occupations, followed by sales, construction, and farming. 1.1 million are veterans from the armed forces ("Hispanic").

"Hispanic Americans By the Numbers." Infoplease.com. U.S. Census Bureau, 2009. Web. 3 Mar. 2011.

Lamenting Aspects of Loewen

As I was reading today's section of Loewen, one particular passage seemed to jump out at me. In reference to race relations he writes, "Money can be used to buy many things in our society, from higher SAT scores to the ability to swim, and African American, Hispanic, and Native American families lag in their access to all those things. Ultimately, money buys life itself, in the form of better nutrition and health care and freedom from danger and stress." (170) I am not sure if I fully agree with this statement. Doesn't an individual's access to quality education have more to do with overall success in "life itself" than these enumerated issues? He states this matter of opinion as matter-of-factly as if he is citing a primary source. His writings have proven primarily that opinion stated as fact is not to be trusted!

Earlier Loewen notes how whites acted towards blacks during the Reconstruction following the Civil War, "Attacking education was an important element of the white supremacists' program. ... 'mobs of the baser classes at intervals and in all parts of the South occasionally burned school buildings and churches used as schools, flogged teachers or drove them away, and in a number of instances murdered them.'" (160) These white supremacists knew how to effectively stifle the black population and prevent them from achieving any measure of success. The key was education.

N.A. Presentations

For the most part, I found the presentations about different facets of Native American culture last week very interesting. I was reminded of the white ethnocentrism Loewen talks about during several of the presentations. In particular, the fact that something like 60% of 19th century drugs had contributions from traditional Native American remedies is HUGE. Why isn't that in the textbooks? Ethnocentrism explains much.

I was also intrigued by the Native American art even though I had never heard of any of the artists. I especially liked Ernie Pepion's paintings. Much like with the non-white artists of Alexie's "Totem Sonnets," I was made to realize how unintentionally ethnocentric and blind I can be. Most of the books I read, songs I listen to, and artwork I admire are created by white authors and artists. It makes me want to broaden my horizons.

Reading Urrea's Six Kinds of Sky also has me wanting to broaden my perspective. I have never been to Mexico, am rarely in impoverished communities, and don't tend to delve much into other cultures/socioeconomic classes in general. Both Alexie and Urrea are opening my eyes to many modern realities I was previously unaware of while Loewen has opened my eyes to the past. There are many mistakes that have been made such as the concealing of the Native American genocide after the fact and conveniently leaving out Columbus, Helen Keller, and Woodrow Wilson's true identities. I don't want my generation to be like that, and I fear for our future as a nation if we continue in such a manner.

Presentations

I really enjoyed listening and watching the presentations from last Thursday. Nice work to all the groups that went, it will help me plan and organize my presentation for when I have to go. I really enjoyed the first group that went and presented on Native American Medicine. I thought you guys did a great job on explaining the evolvement of both physical and mental health in Native American Medicine. I thought that it was interesting that in the 19^th century 60% of medicine had influences from Native American medicine and also contained the same herbs that Native Americans used. I enjoyed learning about the Medicine Wheel and how it gave guidance for treatments, and also showed a balance of mental and physical health. I enjoyed learning about the possible connection between Alexie’s poems and the Native American Medicine Wheel. I thought the presentation on Native American Medicine lead right into the second presentation Native American Health concerns. It was interesting to learn that the Indian Health Service provides health care and insurance to 565 tribes. I was surprised to learn that some of the illnesses like diabetes, have been caused by Americans. I believe that we need to provide more help to Native American clinics to help repay them for the illnesses that we have brought upon them. I believe that all the presentations were very informational and all the groups provided great entertaining and engaging presentations.

Presentations

I learned so much from the presentations on Thursday that they left my mind spinning with tidbits of fascinating information as I walked out of class. However there were some pieces that really stuck out at me and I continued to think back on them long after class was over.
For example, I was intrigued by the idea that Alexie might be using the idea of the medicine wheel in his book of poems. If he is then it would mean even more then just a message to the people of America, inviting the readers to share the story he has to tell and challenging them to do something about it. If Alexie is using the medicine wheel you could infer that he is trying to bring balance back to America, heal her and make her whole and balanced again. (Or at least point out the need for this healing and at the end a challenge to do it.)
However, Alexie might also be using the medicine wheel unconsciously. What I mean is that he may be simply writing but the things upon which he is focusing could reveal somethings about Alexie that he never meant to be known. Of course a reader would have to understand how to use the medicine wheel in order to understand what it says about Alexie but that doesn't mean that it is not possible. For is it not obvious based on his writing that he needs more balance in his life (understandably because of the things that he has lived through and learned about his heritage.)
Anyway, I really enjoyed this presentation because of all of these ideas that it brought up for me.

Black Power Movement Lecture

Ph.D. candidate Marc Robinson gave us the pleasure of listening to his lecture entitled “The Black Power Movement on Campus: Student Activism and Black Studies”. In this lecture, Mr. Robinson gave an overview of the Black Power movement as it swept through American communities, including college campuses. While many assume that this movement was yet another that originated in the 1960s, Mr. Robinson claimed that roots for the movement could be found in as early as the 1950s with the beginning of Malcolm X’s career and the rise of other prominent Black Power leaders. Most prominent among the effects of the Black Power movement to college campuses was the formation of the Black Student Union, a group of students that still exists in high schools and colleges today. Students, both black and white, found ways to secure a more ethnically diverse faculty and the expansion of cultural studies to African American history (then called Black Studies). University presidents were sometimes locked into their offices with Black Student Union representatives until they signed documents that would help in reaching these goals. Violence was not unheard of within the movement, but Mr. Robinson wished to destroy the stereotype that African American students started the fights. Escalation of fear and threats led to the formation of gun clubs and many students carried weapons for fear of being killed. Sadly, these violence-oriented aspects of the Black Power movement become magnified in traditional history texts and they are often all that today’s students can remember about the movement.

The emphasis placed on the violence caused supposedly by black students is the exact same bias Loewen is trying to eradicate from textbooks. Blatant racism against African-Americans has taken one of the greatest movements in their history and twisted it into something seen as an atrocity or a tragedy. “The superstructure of racism has long outlived the social structure of slavery that generated it” (Loewen 144). Mr. Robinson said that the Black Power movement was once called the “evil turn” of the Civil Rights movement. Standing up for rights that are supposedly for all people is never evil. It is the perception that skin color dictates action that is evil. Textbooks and history courses hide the Black Power movement as if it is something that America is justifiably embarrassed about. What a contradiction! The supposed ideals of American society include equality, freedom, and something called inalienable rights, all of which were present in the pursuits of the Black Student Unions of the 1960s. This uprising can be seen as a triumph over evil rather than evil itself if only white society can admit to the Black Power movement as being an advocate for true justice. In the poem “Inside Dachau”, Sherman Alexie tells the story of a German friend admitting shame over Dachau and then questioning the existence of death camps in the US, death camps that are hidden rather than learned from. Alexie replies, “Yes, Mikael and Veronika, you ask simple / questions which are ignored, season after season” (Alexie 33-34). In the case of the Black Power movement, Americans mistake a symbol of liberty for a tragedy and hide what should be proudly shown. The simple question to be asked here is why can we not accept that liberty is an ongoing battle and acknowledge the champions who are fighting it?

Presentation Evaluations

The group who presented Native American social concerns last week did an excellently thorough job in addressing issues central to both past and present groups of Indians. They highlighted the increased suicide rates on reservations, the increased likelihood of a young person growing up on a reservation to abuse of alcohol, high levels of poverty among Native Americans, and low health service availability. I almost wish that we would have viewed this presentation before reading all of Alexie's poetry because knowing the severity of these social issues within the Native American culture allows me to read his text more sympathetically.

When Alexie writes a poem such as "Diabetes" which outlines the disparity of the Native American population in their struggle with health problems and a lack of adequate health care options, he uses his personal story as an illustration of a larger social evil. He concludes this poem with the lines, "what/the bread conatins is/what contains me"(44). A literal reading of such a poem would suggest that Alexie is concerned with the glucose levels in carbohydrates such as bread and sugar; however, he is reaching for a concept which is more symbolic than that as well. Food stamps do not typically provide a diabetic with an excellent choice of appropriate dietary options. His disease and race therefore define his quality of life. He did not choose either one.