Thesis: Slavery importation was abolished in 1808 but just because there was a law about it there was, still many people who imported illegal slaves. In this chapter Zinn talks about how slave’s families were split up, slave revolts were actually not that common in the U.S., and how blacks would escape to freedom.

Harriet Tubman- Was the most famous “conductor” of the Underground Railroad.

Underground Railroad- A series of checkpoints that runaway blacks would stop at and it would help them to reach freedom.

Fugitive Slave Act- made it easy for slave owners to recapture ex-slaves or simply to pick up blacks they claimed had run away.

This chapter begins talking about how when slavery was first abolished the plantation owners didn’t realize that they would need more slaves, so even though slavery was illegal they would import slaves anyway. It then goes into how people usually think that there were a lot of slave revolts, when in fact there were hardly any and probably the biggest one which took place in New Orleans where a group of four hundred slaves went from plantation to plantation but were quickly stopped by the U.S. army. Following that point it goes into talking about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad. This system and Harriet alone helped lead thousands of slaves to freedom. It then goes into this thought that slavery hurt the black family but in fact it has been shown in the Federal Writers Project showed that it was just the opposite. The slaves felt like they belonged to their own community where the all adults looked after the children as if they are all related. Then the Fugitive Slave Act comes into play in 1850. It made it easy for slave owners to recapture ex-slaves or claim blacks that they believed to be a runaway. All of this was fuel to the fire which eventually led to the Civil War. One of the bloodiest wars ever to happen and most American deaths even with other wars combined.

1. When the Fugitive Slave Act went into affect did a lot of slave owners just claim any black people as runway slaves, and if they were free slaves would the free slaves be able to fight it?
2. Why would the country abolish slavery when they would know that it would make a big dent in the economy’ profit, I mean isn’t that what were about?

I found this article to be kind of boring. I found it hard to stay focused, not because it was a tuff read but it just wasn’t that exciting. I did pull some information away from it but it was not an enjoyable read.

Pre-writing #2

I have changed my idea from using the capitalism idea and have decided to go with the argument that deals with the video The Power of An Illusion Part I and II. My argument will be how we as Americans have created this thing called race and how we believe that there is a biological reason for it, how we as a country believe that all men are created equal but do not carry out that fraise.

1. I will be using the video The Power of An Illusion Part I and II
2. First I will discuss how we have created the idea of race and how we believe it is biological. Then I will add support by using data or information from the movie.
3. Then I will talk about how we as Americans do not really act upon the phrase “all men are created equal” and also use supporting detail from the movie.

Rosenblum & Travis

Thesis: Difference is classified by the American conception of race, sex, gender, social class, and sexual orientation. In this chapter of Rosenblum and Travis it talks about all of the different ways and how people are looked at by the society.

Master Statuses- Race, sex, class, and sexual orientation. Master statuses are the ones that (in most or all social situations) dominate or over power any of the other social statuses.

Constructionist- Belief that conceptions have no meaning except that given by the observer.

Essentialist- That certain things exist in the world and we just simply observe them.

Stigma- A bodily sign designed to expose something unusual and bad about the moral status of an individual.

This chapter gives a variety of ways that society looks at people or groups and how our society is separated into statuses. Our society revolves around these things called statuses, which separates classes. These statuses consist of race, sex, gender, etc. There are also differences between the statuses such as the master status, which in whatever case overpowers the other statuses. This chapter then goes into this idea of essentialist and constructionist. The essentialists “are likely to view categories of people as essentially different in some important way; constructionist are likely to see these differences as socially created and arbitrary. Naming is another category which creates social conflict because what can really be classified as a name. If someone is white does that just mean that or are there other possibilities such as German, English, Gay, or British. Then there is this creation of categories or dichotomizing. This means that people are separated into certain groups or classes based on their appearance or other criteria. This leads to the construction of others such as aggregates which are the master statuses and they ignore the other statuses and their problems. The last thing is sanctioning of those who associate with the “other.” The best example would be those who marry outside their race, religion, or social class. This can lead to the person being placed in that category even if they accept it or not.

1. How can someone be identified as a certain category of race if they are split in half? (For example I am half Mexican and half white, but people don’t look at me as Mexican. But on the other hand someone can be half black and half white and they are considered black.)
2. For the physical disability idea how would someone be categorized if they are in a wheel chair or have other disability’s and they are rich?

I thought this article to be somewhat interesting. I kind of knew most of this stuff from learning it in my SOC class, but provided me with a little more in depth look. I didn’t realize that there were so many different ways people were categorized. I mean I heard of the basics but there are so many sub groups.

Ideas for Analysis paper#1

1. Where Zinn, Johnson, and Takaki stand on the idea of capitalism
2. Takakis point of view of the "savage" person

I am leaning more towards the first idea because it would allow me to compare the three authors and be able to see how their view are the same and how they differ. I would basically start by giving an introduction of the basic idea of capitalism and how it affects/affected our couontry. Then i would maybe dedicate a paragraph to each of the authors perspective and explain where their coming from. I would then possibly give a a paragraph that summarizes the points, showing what they agree on and disagree on. The end of the paper would be the conclusion which i would maybe give my point of view.

Take home quiz 3

Thesis: We should stop worrying about the little things that triggers diversity and realize that we are all equal. Sarah’s main points in this article we should not have a month dedicated to a certain race or group because we should treat people the way we want to be treated everyday.

In this article Sarah discusses the different kinds of aspects or so called whining that people do. She uses the example of the women complaining that they are not treated like men and they do not have the same opportunities. She then talks about the homosexuals and wanting to also be treated as a normal human being. Sarah states that the homosexual group is looking for equality, but on the other hand they parade around telling everyone that they are different. Finally she uses the example of an authority figure slipping on words and saying something that is not politically correct.

1. Does she truly believe that everyone has an equal opportunity?

2. Why do we have black history month/haven’t there been other groups that have also been treated unfairly?

I thought this article to be kind of harsh and biased. I can see where she is coming from, but she is not looking at the whole picture. Yes we all believe that everyone should or is suppose to be treated equally, but we all know of many cases where that belief is not true. We desperately want everyone to be able top achieve the American dream, but we all know that some people may just be stuck. For example I was watching a show last night called “True Life” and I was about people that live in the projects. One of the women that was apart of the show explained how hard it was to get a job because she was a black women coming from the projects and employers might not say it to your face, but they are probably thinking this person is bad news. I know everyone wants to believe that everyone is treated as an equal, but the truth is that we have a long way to go until that happens. I would also like to compare a method that Johnson calls "deny and minimize" and how what Sarah says about certain issues. For the minimize part she says that slavery was a cruel thing but it was in our past time and we shouldn't dwell on it. She recognizes the fact that it happened but kind of pushes it under the rug. For the deny part she says that women and men have equal rights. she totally denies the fact this theory doesn't exist.

Johnson chap6 "what it has to do with us"

Thesis: To do something about the trouble surrounding privilege, power, and difference, we have to talk about it. The main idea of this article was to show how we as people act certain ways because that has how society has taught us. We do things that are considered the norm to avoid embarrassment or confrontation. Also we learn how society sets certain standards that people are suppose to act a certain way. This article explains how in order to make judgment on the social life you have to understand it and study it. Some key words in this chapter:

Individualism- This belief that the social world begins and ends with individuals. Individualistic thinking leads to us assuming that what is someone else’s problem isn’t ours.

Social systems- Is a group of people that participate in relation to one another. For example a university is a social system because teachers and students come together with different roles, but interact with each other.

Personal Identity- This includes gender, race, ethnicity, class, religion, disability status, and sexual orientation.

This chapter starts off talking about how people do not like to feel uncomfortable. This leads to the problem of not realizing that privilege and power do exist. In order to even begin to start to solve these problems we as humans have to recognize that they exist. Until we do nothing will get accomplished. Johnson then talks about how society thinks individualistically. People feel that they should not have to deal with problems that are not their own. For example sexism is created because it is the “men’s” fault. Individualistic thinking leads to an issue like sexism being talked about or not being talked about at all. In order to surpass this we have to recognize that the individualistic way is wrong. The media, parents, peers, coaches, etc. shape the way we think. An example from the chapter is a TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, Ray Barone routinely treats his wife Debra in ways that are insensitive, sexist, and adolescent which in then end of the show Debra forgive him and still loves him. This sends a message to that women are suppose to basically take that kind of mistreatment without complaint and love their husband no matter how they are treated. Another way that people are shaped is through the “paths of least resistance.” This means that we choose ways that will not cause commotion. For example if you are in an elevator you do not turn around and face the other people in the elevator, you stand facing the door because that is what is considered the norm. People do not like to go against the norm because it makes them feel uncomfortable.

1. Is thinking individualistically a bad thing?

2. Does Johnson believe that people will drop the idea of individualistic thinking?

I found this chapter to kind of boring and repetitive. It was informative for the most part but I found it hard to stay focused. He provided some examples to support his ideas but stayed on the topic of monopoly to long and it kind of got confusing at times.