Facebook

Facebook is full of important information. Most people believe that facebook is a pastime that basically just wastes time. When in reality, facebook is one of the most important social institutions of all time. Facebook has an exclusive image. At one point only college students were allowed to have a facebook, so instantly the culture of college students was pumped into the many pages of facebook. As students mature, it seems as if they use facebook less. Freshmen are extremely into it, and graduate students barely seem to be in use of it. The facebook image is constantly being re-constructed. In the group page that I looked at, facebook inadvertently defined race and class. The group is called book swap. One of my close friends created the group because she sold her psychology book to the bookstore and received thirty dollars. The bookstore proceeded to sell the book for over one hundred dollars, giving them over a two hundred percent profit. Out of her anger, she created a group centered on helping students, and hurting the bookstore. This is very apparent because the picture representing the group is a picture of the bookstore crossed out. Immediately she constructs the class of those involved. Those who belong to the upper class would buy all of their books new, and not care about the cost. By joining this group, people obviously want to save money, so it places them in at most middle class. Another thing that this group constructs is race. On the wall of this group there are nine wall posts. All nine of these individuals are white, and a majority are girls. In no way is this group a supremacist group of any kind, nor is it a group that has unethical laws. I’m sure that Rebecca had no idea that her group would reflect the things that it does. According to this group, only white individuals are looking for a deal, and women are more persistent than men. By being in this group it already has been decided that you are a white individual that is not high class. This group has seventy four members, and they are defined by nine wall posts and a picture, because that is what represents them.

"El Norte"

The basic overview of Takaki Chapter 12 is that people from south of the border were not treated the same as those who already live in America. They moved away from their country because the conditions were not favorable, and expected to come to America with a new hope. Yet, instead of greeting the newcomers with love, and assuming our position as the “melting pot” we exploited the Mexican Americans and paid them less money than they would pay Americans, to do the same jobs that Americans would do.

A big push on the immigration started with the civil war. The fact that there was a civil war is enough cause for someone to move. But not only was there a war, the way brought starvation to the people, and they needed a place to flee. One of the closest places was “Los Estados Unidos”, Spanish for “the United States”, was known to be prosperous and wonderful. Once they arrived there, it wasn’t as great as they had pictured. Even before the civil war, immagrants had started to come over, because America is a land of great opportunity. The only problem is that people were coming over to be unemployed, or to receive jobs that were not the best. The inner city organizations that provided jobs would expand, and deflate their job offers, stringing the people along with hope. Another factor dealing with why people lost jobs had to do with the fact that many immigrants were coming over from Mexico on the railroad. Takaki says that every week 5 or 6 trians full of Mexicans were coming to America, that amount of workers is an insane amount, especially because they all needed jobs, and to partake in the land of opportunity. The Mecican population was so great that they covered about 75% of all the construction labor forces in the state of California.

One thing to keep in mind is that the time period was between the 1900’s and the 1930’s. The fact that it was in this time, meant that the great depression not only affected the Americans, if affected all the immigrants as well. During this time, the Americans did not forget that the Mexicans were from Mexico, and quickly did a very unethical thing. They would kick Mexicans out of work, because they were Mexican, and give the jobs to those who could not support themselves.

Because of the way that Mexicans and Latino Americans are treated in general it is easy to see our history did not smile upon them in their time of need. I’m sad to say that this is America, and that this has not been the first representation of racial injustice, and I believe it won’t be the last.

Race In Cyberspace

In this story the author really talks about how we lose our race on the internet. This happens, because when we go to our computers, we immediately go into another world. We go into a world in which we lose our sense of sight. We do not become blind, because it is still necessary to look at the computer screen. Instead, we lose sight of race, and our first impression of people. The way that a computer works is not like people. A computer takes what we think, requires us to translate it into text, and then transports that text to another person. The only thing that is transferred is the language, and the verbal communication. Since a large percentage of communication is nonverbal, a large percentage of the message is not sent, or received. Therefore, when we type on the internet, smaller, more subtle clues are the things that people strive on to construct race.
This argument is very true. When we speak to our friends online, it’s much harder to re-construct race, because we can imagine one another’s mannerisms. We can imagine the facial expression that your best friend would have, if you told him/her that you were pregnant. Not because of the immaculate communication on the internet, but instead because of the relationship that is there. An attempt at such a relationship is made, when it comes to the virtual identities. When people are made to make a character that represents them online, that has true facts. Usually an “avatar” goes along with such an image. An avatar is a image, usually a cartoon that is expected to have the person’s race represented in it. Usually the things filled out are quick important information, such as age, gender, level of play, and other things. These things are important, but cannot be proven, and does not necessarily need to be true.
In conclusion, race is not totally erased, just hurt greatly. Real people who have jobs, lives, and even familys are reduced to an online persona. A few lines of information that at one glance can be read, and a small picture called an avatar. No one online knows for sure who it is, even if someone tells the whole truth, if that person were to let a relative sign in under the same name, people on the internet would be confused because they would know no different.