February 2, 2012 ---> Dr. Aguilar, Critical Race Theory Article, & Political Issues Rap Article
So I must say that I really really enjoyed Dr. Aguilar coming and speaking to the class. I think his story was very inspirational and I feel that I am able to relate to some of the things that he discussed. For example, I am the first person of my family to go to college, and many times I feel like I get left out of family things just because I was the only one who ever moved away from back home. I get treated as though I think I am better than everybody else and that i'm a "Georgetown/Austin snob", so my brother likes to say. It gets really annoying and a lot of times it really hurts my feelings because I know thats not true. When I lived back home I got to go to all the family events, like birthday parties, and go to visit the family all the time. Now it seems that because I moved I don't get included in any of those things like I used to. For example, this past summer I got my feelings hurt SOOO bad when my brother decided to text me at 10:00pm on a Sunday night to tell me he was getting married the next day. Nobody in my family down there bothered to call, text, or anything to let me know that he was getting married on that Monday, even though they were all told the Thursday before. When I finally talked to my brother about it the next day and told him how upset I was, he just said he didn't think it was a big deal and that I wouldn't have come anyway. I was like, "Really? You didn't even give me a chance to." It's not like they only lived an hour away. They live 4 and half hours and if I would have gotten a notice ahead of time (not late the night before) I could have made the trip. So just because I don't live there anymore because I moved for college, i'm the last one to find things out. Its very upsetting. So I can definitely relate to how Dr. Aguilar said he had to sacrifice things and give up family and friends.
I just got finished reading the Critical Race Theory article. I didn't really like it because I felt like it was stuff that i've heard before over and over. I even noticed that a lot of things were repeated. For example, I read the first big paragraph and scrolled down and the next one I read was exactly like the first one I read. It also really got on my nerves how they used the term "people of color" over and over. I hate when people say that because it doesn't really make sense to me. How come people want to label "non-whites" and people of "color?" Uhhhhh, helloooooo, last time I checked white is a color too. So the fact that blacks, hispanics, and whoever else are considered "colored" just seems really dumb to me. Technically, we are all colored. It just so happens that eveyone's color is different, even within the same race. In this article I also noticed that it only talked about MSW. I'm not sure why that is, but shouldn't BSW be mentioned too? I think that learning cultural competence is just as important to BSW as it is to MSW.
Yesterday I read the article about the political rap that was sent in the email with the other article about the interracial couple's photographs. I can't remember the titles of the articles, even though I just read them. Anyway, what I wanted to point out about the rap article is that it reminded me about the famous rap group NWA, who was popular in the late 80s and early 90s. NWA stood for Niggas Wit Attitude and they were a very outspoken group who originated from Comptom, CA. They were banned from the radio because of the elicit nature of their lyrics. In their song "F*** Tha Police" they protested police brutality and racial profiling. In a way, their rap was speaking out at the social injustice that the blacks had to face in Compton. these injustices didn't only happen in Compton, which gave others who faced the same problems in their neighborhoods a chance to relate. After the release of this song, the group faced lots of controversy and conflict with different law enforcement agencies. Since most of the cops that they were rapping about were white, it infuriated them and they lashed out against the group, only proving the point that whites don't like to be called out on wrong doings and racism.
First, I wanted to say that I think that it is very brave of the likes of you and Dr. Aguilar to persevere and follow your dream even if you know that those you grew up with may not accept it. I think it takes a lot of courage to follow your heart, and while it is definitely hard being labeled or stereotyped, it is admirable that you are doing well for yourself. I think it's a huge achievement to be a first generation college student. On the subject of critical race theory, I agree with you that it's annoying how "people of color" are all under one category. Even within a single race there is so much variation, so how can we even put people from completely different backgrounds under one category? I think that it is important for social workers to understand cultural norms because every person has some degree of cultural influence in their life. However, I think that it is also important to not generalize and to view people of a race as individuals with a common ancestry. I remember my friend was telling me (he's black) that a white guy had once told him that "all black people are the same." My friend then talked about how that's not true at all, since there are so many different types of black people (southern blacks, urban blacks, biracial blacks, blacks from Africa, etc) and that they all hail from very different backgrounds. I think as social workers, it is our job to maintain an informed, non-judgmental person and to understand the needs of each individual.
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