TEACHSOC: Re: Minority/Race/Ethnic Groups

[Robert Hironimus-Wendt]

Hi Kristen, et al.   I watched the show last night. My students have been telling me for months that it was coming on. I personally would not recommend the show just yet since (a) I have not seen the entire season, and thus (b) I would not be able to control the teaching points. But I would (and will?) discuss it as my students bring it up (which I am sure they will). I am not teaching race and ethnicity this semester, but instead, two sections of Introduction.   My teaching points thus far will be to:   Make it a point to remind my students that the views expressed by the two families are anecdotal, and should not be construed to be representative toward any group. I personally found the interactions and relationship between the two fathers intriguing. The naturally white guy seems to represent a conservative view (i.e., work hard, get a good education, do not legitimate racists). The naturally African America guy seems to represent the view of many middle class black men I know, although again, I am not sure how representative his views are (I am white Anglo, myself, and this was only the first week). I think the naturally white guy’s continual attempts to explain away potential race acts are worth focusing on. My sense is that many white Anglos do this a lot, out of naiveté More intriguing to me was the perspective of the naturally African American teen. I sensed that he was a GEN-Y type kid, who wants to believe that the world is good. Thus, he did not seem comfortable with the whole experiment, intended to expose racism in his world. I sense he will be hurt emotionally by being made to realize racism exists in his world The naturally white teen seemed pretty open to the experiment last night, and seemed to wish to learn about race and ethnicity. I wonder if she is going to focus on learning to interpret the dominant world from a minority perspective, or if she will simply attempt to learn black culture. I hope the former.   My thoughts on the mothers are still out, since there was in fact little focus on them last night.   Off to class…   Robert         Robert J. Hironimus-Wendt, Ph.D. Sociology and Anthropology Western Illinois University 1 University Circle Macomb, IL 61455-1390 phone: (309) 298-1081 fax: (309) 298-1857 email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]   "It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If   you don't use your power for positive change, you   are indeed part of the problem, helping to keep   things the way they are."     -Coretta Scott King   From: teachsoc@googlegroups.com [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Kristen Hefley Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 7:32 AM To: teachsoc@googlegroups.com Subject: TEACHSOC: Minority/Race/Ethnic Groups   Good morning!   For those of you teaching Minority, Race, or Ethnicity classes or teach classes with this as part of the course, there is a new show on FX called “Black White,” in which using make-up, a white family is given stereotypically black skin and hair, a black family is given stereotypically white skin and hair, and then the families live together to teach each other how to “pass” in each other’s culture and discuss what happens to them.  Hidden cameras capture what happens to them as they are out and about in their communities.  It comes on Wednesday nights at 9:00 central.  It is absolutely enthralling!   Here is the website for it to get more info:  http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/blackwhite/main.html     Kristen Hefley University of Oklahoma Department of Sociology Kaufman Hall 331 780 Van Vleet Oval Norman, OK 73019 (405) 325-1751 [EMAIL PROTECTED]   --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Teaching Sociology" group. To post to this group, send email to teachsoc@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/teachsoc -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---