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“Do no harm” is the oath all medical practitioners swear when becoming a doctor, why is it that for women of color that oath may not always apply? 

Having the right to medical treatment, and the best possible medical treatment should not be a privilege, especially if it is only for people who are white. In this country women of color are oftentimes not taken as seriously in hospitals or places of care. This is not only instilled racism, but it is extreme negligence. Not only is this known by listening to experiences of women of color who have been treated awfully by doctors and hospitals, there is statistics to prove it. According to the CDC women of color are two times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women are. It also states that pregnancy related deaths per 100,000 live births for women of color are also 5x as high as it was for white women. This is because of these doctors and care-takers instilled racism and microaggressions. A very noteable and public example of this is Serena Williams. She opened up about her birth and shared her experiences whilst in the hospital. She had to undergo an emergency c-section with her daughter, the next day she didn’t feel that well and noticed she had shortness of breath, and also made the doctors aware about her history of pulmonary embolisms. Even though she detailed this all to the doctors, instead of them running tests, they told her she was confused from the pain medicine. She then asked them to just run a CT scan, and instead they ran different meaningless tests. Sure enough when they finally ran the original test she asked for, they found small blood clots in her lungs. Thankfully in this instance she ended up being okay, but a lot of times these women do not end up okay. Serena Williams is a world class athlete that knows how her body works inside and out, and doctors didn’t even listen to her or take her seriously. Why is this happening, and why are we giving doctors leeway to act in this manner. 

Not only are there severe cases of mistreatment of women of color, there are also many microaggressions displayed as well that usually end up leading to severe damage. A lot of times while giving birth women of color are shouted at or may be forced into a treatment plan they don’t agree with. A lot of women of color said they have just been ignored or shouted at for no reason at all. A woman named Paress Salinas who gave birth in 2007 experienced microaggressions during her birthing experience that leaves her with scars to this day. Her doctors tried to give her a c-section although she did not want one, and it was not obligatory for her situation. She was then ready to deliver within 45 minutes, and since the doctors nor nurses listened to any of her wishes, and neglected her, they also neglected her preparations to give birth which resulted in a physical scar due to damage along with a lot of mental scarring. This left her feeling very scared and nervous of hospitals, and it took a toll on her mental health. Going into something with expectations on how it should go, and then having to endure all of this maltreatment during one of the most painful experiences in your life, really can have a negative impact on someone’s mental state. 

This is an issue that is not a quick fix and ties into reform of systemic injustices overall. With that being said there are ways to start at a lower level in order to start bringing this reform to the healthcare field. I believe that in order to help to put an end to this, and to help combat this issue this needs to be a nationwide approach. Many hospitals and healthcare institutions will have bias training programs, but there are not usually anything of significance and are obviously not actually educating these professionals. Instead of just giving a software program to complete that people can just skip through, there should be interactive events and seminars that these healthcare professionals should have to attend. I also think that diversifying the healthcare force would also be beneficial. I think it is important for women to feel completely comfortable when needing healthcare and giving birth, and I think that women of color may feel more comfortable if they have someone treating them that better understands their experiences and emotions than someone who is white could. There also needs to be more accessible healthcare to help combat this issue of systemic injustice in the healthcare field. This can range from insurance so women of color have the resources they need when they do need to seek treatment, from making midwives and things like that more available. Although there are also many mistreatment cases seen with midwives, sometimes it is easier to personalize your experience. There are also some midwives or midwife groups that specifically practice with women of color. This is beneficial because if they specialize in this, they are highly educated on the topic. 

This is also something that I think needs to be looked at from a legislative level as well. If there is more funding that can come from the government in order to help establish more inclusive programs in healthcare it can also help with better educating people, and reducing the injustices that I have written about. If there were to be more funding there could also be so many more resources for women of color before,during, and after birth. This means that items like prenatal vitamins can be universally given. There is also not enough talk about postpartum depression, which is very real. It is very common to be depressed after giving birth and it can sometimes lead to a mother feeling incompetent, which isn’t the case at all. These women just spent nine months with their hormones fluctuating, their body going through major changes, and producing a life, it is normal to experience some highs and lows and to feel depression afterwards. Not only is it not really de-stigmatized, but for women of color who already may have had a very traumatic birthing experience, now may be sent home with not a single asset on how to help their mental health post giving birth. What is extremely unfair a lot of times for women of color is they may have postpartum depression because of an incident that may have happened while giving birth, so why is it okay to just send them home with no help for the after part? 

There are a lot of ways that help to determine what the causes were when there is a pregnancy related death. They look at the mother’s age at death, timing of the death in relation to the pregnancy, race and ethnicity, and they will compare this data with previous data. There are an extensive number of ways to determine a cause of death, but there are not extensive amounts of ways to prevent these deaths in the first place. If they are able to gather all this research to study this problem, and to determine causes, there should be more done for a fix. What also frustrates me is that there is a starting place, and there are a million articles with ways to reform these systemic injustices, but for the most part none of these procedures have been put into place.

No one should have fear when they are in need of medical attention. The point of healthcare is to save your life, not to put it in danger. After nine months of growing another life inside of you, you should not have to face negligence because of the color of your skin. There are many ways and ideas people have researched to help to combat this problem, it is time to really start educating people, and actually putting these new procedures in place. Women of color should not be experiencing life long negative influences from a moment that is supposed to be one of the best in life. Anyone who gives birth should have the access to proper care, and deserves to be treated with the absolute best care possible.

Yo is this Racist podcast 

Paula Luis: Okay, welcome to the “Yo, is this Racist” podcast. My name is Paula Luis and I’m going to be one of your hosts for this podcast.

Connor Wolford: My name is Connor Wolford. I’ll be another one of your hosts for this podcast.

Cong Wei: My name is Cong Wei and yeah i’m one of the group in the podcast.

Paula: Yeah and our goal for today’s podcast is to just kind of talk about racial discrimination and the law enforcement process and then just kind of talk about the systemic injustices we see in the United States of America, specifically against African Americans so Cong, if you want to take it away with that that’d be great.

Cong: Okay starting with the broad topic, I will talk about racial discrimination in the law enforcement process, which is what I wrote about in the diary entries. Okay, the injustice in the United States is concentrated in the foreign aspect. First, there are many unjust and wrong cases in the US judicial system and many innocent people have been serving sentences or even executed. One of the examples is the Ferguson case. So the US judicial system has unjustly protected criminals who should have been severely punished. In particular, many African Americans believe that the US judicial system showed that dirty police abused force in recent years, in many cases of shooting and killing African Americans. Most of the police officers involved were actually involved in protests and even riots. The Ferguson case had a great impact in August 2014. Brown, an 18 year old young man in Ferguson, was intercepted and searched by a workplace officer without a weapon. But the police involved in the case were exempt from persecution. Many people believe that white police officers do not need to be punished after shooting an African-American teenager. This is absolutely racial discrimination and this result triggered the large scale protests and demonstrations across the United States.

Paula: just going off of that and I think a really relevant case in today’s time is obviously you know the death of George Floyd 

Cong: Yeah the other case was Floyd at the end of 2020. Its about the murder of George Floyd, a black male who was shot in the United States by a white police officer just for one day shoplifting in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then, riots of varying degrees broke out in major cities across the United States. Although most of the demonstrations and protests were nonviolent, discussion after the incident quickly shifted from police violence to violent disturbance. American right wing media Fox News characterized protesters as anarchists who want to overthrow the US Government after the riots broke out. Former President Trump also denounced the protesters as radical leftists. This revived the Black Lives Matter movement that had faded out of public view in the past two years. Black people’s fate was considered a civil rights movement, since its inception. Because its radical protests strategy was not widely accepted by mainstream society at the beginning, Black people faced another major social movement about Black civil rights after the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The black civil rights movement in the 1960s is generally regarded as a milestone in the use of non violent means of social movements. The movement ended the segregated system and the series of discriminatory Jim Crow Laws and it promoted the monitoring of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, thereby officially, making racial discrimination illegal from the legal level and Martin Luther King is another leader of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, who also became a world known leader of the civil rights.

Paula: yeah obviously like this past year, I think we can all agree that has been a critical moment in terms of, you know, racial issues being brought to light and now talking about you know the George Floyd death that occurred last summer. One thing that came to mind when I was reflecting on that was that you know, obviously, George Floyd was discriminated against for being a black man because black men in our society are deemed as intimidating for no apparent reason and then, as I thought about that I thought about something that Matt James, who was the first Black bachelor, said a few weeks ago, in an interview. He said that he feels an immense pressure every day in his life because he feels the need to constantly make sure that his personality and the way he talks has to make up for his intimidating appearance and stature which I thought was really interesting because I, as a white woman, don’t really have to worry about how I present myself to the world, but then we have cases where black men are just deemed always as intimidating and threatening. It’s leading to a lot of wrongful deaths, which is what we are seeing in these recent years.

Connor: yeah definitely we have seen more of an uprising in the Black Lives matter Movement that happened after the George Floyd incident. I think it really showcased more of what a lot of people weren’t seeing or realizing what was happening in our country, especially towards black men being discriminated against, especially in police brutality.

Paula: yeah it’s definitely something that’s always been happening, but in recent years, it has come to light and it’s just it’s very crazy to think about some of these things that specifically African American men have to endure just because of their appearance like murders are happening because of this. That interview that Matt James had really made me reflect on that.

Connor: yeah and going off of the Black Lives Matter movement that everybody heard about, and everything, I kind of wanted to just start off saying something about how something that people don’t necessarily hear about or think about when it comes to racism kind of an entry that I did myself. I don’t know if you guys heard on the news, but there was a Coca Cola company that was sharing a specific slideshow that I found very racist, but a lot of people wouldn’t recognize it as racism at the beginning, because it wasn’t against black people. The incident in question was they had training for certain employees. In the slideshow it informed them on “how to be less white” and they were specifically telling them to be “less arrogant” and to be “more humble”and  “to break with white solidarity” in the world today, especially after the Black Lives Matter movement. And I just kind of wanted to say, because a lot of people wouldn’t realize that as racism or think about it, because most of the time when you think of racism you wouldn’t necessarily think of whites being oppressed or anything in that sort, so I just kind of wanted to know what you guys thought about that.

Paula: yeah I mean it’s definitely something to think about because I would say, at least for myself, I won’t speak for anyone else, but for myself when I think about racism, especially in the US, I instantly think about racism against Black people, against African Americans but we keep forgetting there are so many other types of racism. Especially, even now in these recent weeks, with the increase in all these Asian hate crimes that are happening, those are like other types of racism, so we definitely have to keep an open mind towards any type of racial discrimination, so that’s that’s kind of my take on it.

Cong: So, I want to say the recent, you know, anti Asian racism has appeared and is increasingly happening. So I think racial discrimination is very bad and the best thing that we should do is to avoid it

Paula: Yeah and just going off of that, now that we’re talking about different types of racism. Another one of my diary entries was regarding the Meghan Markle interview with Oprah and how she really talked about all of the racial discrimination she faced in the Royal Family. Tthen there was one instance where she talked about how the Royal Family was concerned with the baby’s skin color, how dark it would be specifically, and then it made me think. I’m from Puerto Rico so i’m Latin American and I mean you think about how even us as minorities, you know Latin Americans, there’s still a lot of racism and colorism in all Latin American countries so it’s something you don’t really think about because usually you think that minorities have our eyes open to all that sort stuff and we’re against that, but at the same time, even in minorities there is racism and there is colorism and a lot of it comes from just our society, which is what we’re talking about when we’re talking about systemic injustices. Our society right now is just built in a way that is rooted in racism. Our legal structure, the way we run, so I think that’s just something to think about. Very interesting that just because you are a minority it doesn’t really exempt you from anything like I think we still all have the responsibility to be anti racist and educate ourselves and try to have solidarity with everyone and try to free ourselves from these biases that are rooted in our society. This is what we talk about when we talk about systemic injustices. It’s not just one instance, it’s everything that is rooted with these racist ideals.So that’s kind of my takeaway from all of these diary and entries, and all the topics we’ve been discussing over the past few weeks, and this class.

Connor: yeah I feel like I learned a lot more and it taught me to open my eyes to more different kinds of racism that I might not have been more aware of. Especially seeing everything in the news and not focusing more on like what’s happening close to home and kind of helping out with that kind of stuff, but it has opened my eyes and I saw some different things that I was kind of unaware of.

Paula: Definitely, and I think like going back to the our topic for this podcast which is racial discrimination in the law enforcement process it definitely has opened my eyes because, you would think that the law enforcement process is fair and it brings justice but over these past few years I’ve been realizing that that’s not always the case. So it’s just important to be aware of these types of things because that’s the first step is just being aware of it, so that we can actually act on it and just try to inspire change in our society. That’s kind of my takeaway from this assignment. So anyone else, do you have any concluding thoughts to say before we wrap up today’s podcast?

Connor: No, I think we covered a lot today and i’m actually really happy with what we’ve learned and talked about.

Paula: me too, definitely. Cong do you have anything else to say or do we do wrap up today’s podcast?

Cong:I want to say that just to link to today’s topic with the class. This case may be, just like the civil rights movement in history, like John Lewis graphic novel The March and something like Dr Martin Luther King’s The Letter from Birmingham jaw and these activities may improve civil rights for minorities. I think it’s also something like the One and the Other theory. 

Paula: yeah. Well Thank you everyone for tuning in to this podcast we hope you enjoyed it and we hope you learn something from it.

It is clear that the United States is no longer a country in which the lower class had the same opportunities as the upper class. Over the past half decade, the wealth gap in the U.S has been on a consistent rise with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. This dynamic has created a very toxic divide in the country and has further split the country politically. According to the Pew Research center, over the last 50 years, the highest earning 20% of households have steadily brought in a larger share of the country’s total income, meaning that the majority wealth generated through income belongs to only 20% of the country’s population. But not only that, the wealth gap between the wealthiest households and poorest households has more than doubled in the last 30 years. Further on to display the unfairness in the capitalistic system that is the United States, the U.S has the highest income inequality of all the G7 nations which includes the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Canada, Germany and France. Although incomes throughout all classes have been growing the disparity shows in the rate at which the individual classes’ incomes grow. Pew Research goes on to state that from the year of 1970 to 2018, the median middle class income had risen 49 percent from 58,100$ to 86,600$, while the median income for upper class households had risen 64 percent from 126,000$ to 207,400$. These numbers are hard facts that oppose the idea that the United States is the land of equality and opportunity, it shows that that in the U.S, the only way to succeed if one has the money to generate more wealth by taking advantage of the less fortunate and exploiting their labor. Now is this not this classism?

The topic being discussed is whether or not the U.S financial and economic system perpetuates the injustice of class discrimination which I believe it definitely does. The Google definition of class discrimination includes individual attitudes, behaviors, and systems of practices or principles that benefit the upper class at the expense of the lower class. By the looks of the wealth trend among classes, it is obvious seeing one class benefiting, while another is suffering, so by the definition of classism it can definitely be argued that the financial policies in the U.S are based around a classist structure. These policies stem from the root of the United States economy, which is the idea of capitalism. The goal of this Op-Ed is not to argue whether or not capitalism is good or bad, rather take a look at certain events that have occurred within the capitalistic structure and show the classism embedded in those events. 

The first of which was a recent scandal involving the stock trading app Robinhood, which is ironic with the tale of Robinhood being a man of the people. Robinhood was a trading app founded recently in 2013 and unlike most trading platforms, it was targeted towards everyday people with its simple to use interface. Robinhood soared in popularity with the app being most new traders go to options of stocks. However in January, it turned out that Robinhood was not so much for the people after all. What happened was that certain companies such as Gamestop, AMC, Blackberry, and Nokia weren’t doing so well at the time. In stock trading when a company is believed to be under performing or headed towards bankruptcy, the big financial institutions will often bet against these companies which is known as shorting a stock. They basically borrow a stock from a lender which they then sell, and when the stock price drops they buy it back to return to the lender, pocketing the difference. The important point to remember is the key to making money by shorting is that the price of the stock in the future needs to go down. Since these certain stocks were deemed underperforming by the hedge funds and banks, they attempted to go on a short position. This is where the internet came in. A large group of everyday investors that had a forum on the website reddit, known as wallstreetbets, found out about the intentions of these large financial institutions for those underperforming stocks and banded together to start buying shares of the stocks and in doing so the stock prices rose at the expense of the banks and hedge funds. This soon gained a lot of publicity and media attention and even people that were not a part of the forum began buying shares of these stocks. As the prices of these stocks began to soar, these everyday people that bought the stocks began to make money like they never had before. There were stories of people that were able to pay off their college debt, credit card debt, and even the mortgage on their homes but all of this came to a sudden stop. Since the big financial institutions like the banks and hedge funds were losing a ridiculous amount of money, they began coordinating with trading platforms such as Robinhood to halt all trading on certain stocks, only allowing holders to sell what they owned which would inevitably drive the price down so they could make the money they had intended on making. This caused major uproar and backlash in the financial community because it was seen as market manipulation. No one seems to care if the regular person loses money in the stock market, but as soon as the investment banks and hedge funds begin to lose money it’s a big issue? The unfairness of the whole situation was pretty clear and Robinhood attempted to give reasons for them halting trading, but it was clear that the app that was supposed to be “for the people” was just for the hedge funds after all. What was even more frustrating was that there were seemingly no consequences for this market manipulation, they had every legal right to do what they did, so it seems to me that the financial markets are not a fair place where people can go to make money, rather it is always in favor or the upper class with the wealth. This incident showed that the policies in the financial markets are favored towards the upper class at the expense of the lower class and it without a doubt fits the definition of classism. 

Another instance of class discrimination in the financial market was the 2008 financial crisis. The crisis occurred when the banks working with mortgage lenders, began to give out widespread subprime mortgages. Basically taking advantage of people and giving them mortgages on homes they couldn’t afford in the first place. They did so in order to sell off these subprime mortgages to other investors knowing that what they were selling were empty investments. Since these mortgages were not going to be paid off, it eventually all came crashing down in 2008. The values of homes dropped, people lost their jobs and it became the worst financial crisis in history since the great depression. But no one was held responsible, and once again the banks were let off from government funding and not one person went to jail even though what had happened was corrupt. The wealthy got to consequences from their greedy attempt to take advantage of the working class Americans. 

The government had always been at the side of the upper class and the big financial institutions when they make mistakes while letting everyday people fend for themselves. From these two instances we can see that policies and principles set by the government along with the securities and exchange commission (which monitors the markets and trading) clearly favor the upper class. It’s as if their mindset is who cares if regular people lose money, as long as the rich are making more. 

This is clear class discrimination within our financial system and economy where the regular person has no voice. When Gayatri Spivak wrote “Can the Subaltern Speak” we see how those who are marginalized or do not have power have no voice and cannot get their opinions heard. In the U.S, where money is power, those without the money are the subaltern. Their voice goes unheard and the government who is supposed to protect its citizens, sides with the wealthy. In order to combat this, major reform needs to occur within financial institutions and new policies need to be enacted that prevent large financial institutions from getting away with taking advantage of everyday people. Presidential candidates such Bernie Sanders had the right idea in mind by running his campaign on the premise that the big banks were evil and needed to be abolished. So to answer the question Yo, is the financial system of the United States Classist? Yes, and these incidents should be a remembrance that this will continue to happen unless we have reform with the aid of new leadership that is really for the people. 

References: Pew Research Center

Transcript

Hello everybody thank you for tuning into the Yo is this racist podcast.  I, Jonas Woelk, will be your host today, and we will be delving into a series of topics to determine, yo are they racist.

The subject matter for today’s podcast will include discussion of unequal protestor treatment, Asian American hate crimes, and immigration policies. Alright so starting off with the wrongful treatment of protestors by the police. We will be comparing two different scenarios and determining if the magnitude of police force was justified based on the scope of the violence occurring. And once again we will be determining yo is it racist by seeing if race played a part in the brutality by police force. The first event goes as follows Donald Trump losing the election stirred up supporters and fueled a capitol riot where predominately white supporters went to storm the US capitol causing lots of havoc and damages up to $30 million dollars worth. Clearly, this matter had violence and destruction and yet the police used little to no intervention to diminish the situation. On the other hand another protest last year around the White House consisted of a very peaceful protest where mainly African American demonstrators were chanting and holding up signs of those who have fallen victim to police brutality. This protest however ended with police officers in riot gear clearing out the crowd with stun grenades while the storming of the capitol consisted of little to no brute force from the police to decrease the scope of the situation although the level of destruction and danger was much greater. So the question stands Yo is this racist? And my answer to that is yes, because the government and police force have plans and policies set in place for situations such as these and they handled both incidents very differently based on the identity of the majority of the protestors. The storming of the capitol with white trump supporters was much more severe and had limited injuries to protestors compared to the peaceful African American protestors speaking out against police brutality. This was clearly racist and can be seen with numerous other examples during the Black Lives Matter movement. In order to improve on the situation those involved in the situation, specifically the police force, should determine treatment of the scenario at hand based on the severity rather than the race of the protestors. 

On the second installment of yo is this racist we will be discussing Asian American hate crimes. Specifically, attacks such as a New York neighborhood stabbing and a shooting of a primarily Asian staffed spa in Georgia are events as of recent where it was said claimed that the perpetrator was targeting Asian Americans but this was not confirmed. However, proving a racist motive can be particularly difficult with attacks against Asians because there is no widely recognized symbol of anti-Asian intentions such as the Swastika for Anti-Semitism against the Jewish population.  This demonstrates how the crimes against Asians are usually dismissed as crimes unrelated to race and are not given as much attention and importance as they should due to there not being a specified hate symbol associated with them. Another point that needs to be brought up is how some people claim that due to Asian Americans being more socially privileged with good steady income jobs with financially stable families means that they can not have a hate crime associated with them. I believe this is completely false because although a group of people may not be struggling in the fiscal department, they can still be attacked or targeted. This perception of Asian Americans having power and privilege comes along with mistreatment in the form of hate crimes and microaggressions. This is of great importance because it demonstrates that although having social status and being privileged there are still racist actions that can be committed against you. So the question stands, Yo is this racist? Here this is a very tough call because as mentioned previously we do not know for certain the intention of the attacks due to the Asian American population not having any specific symbol that is associated with their mistreatment. However, using proper assumptions I would deem these crimes as hate crimes and therefore determine this issue as racist because Asians can be seen being targeted in these crimes and if most governments such as New York do not consider them hate crimes they do not prioritize their resolution enough and this is quite an issue. A solution to this systemic injustice would be to educate more people of the issue as well as encouraging governments to use probable reason in considering these crimes as hate crimes. Conclusively, using my probable reason, I believe these are hate crimes and yes this is racist.

For our final topic of the day on the Yo is this racist podcast, includes a discussion about immigration. We will be talking about two varieties that immigration policies come in. One being refugees fleeing their countries in Europe for a specific reason to escape the hardships faced there and the other is the immigration policies of the US created by the Trump Administration. Taking a look at the refugee crisis in Europe a specific event I would like to feature on Yo is this racist occurred around a month ago where Rohingya refugees were found by Indian coast guards in the Andaman Sea attempting to flee to India. There were eighty-one survivors on the ship and eight pronounced dead and of the survivors there were many in dire condition being severely dehydrated and sick. The people were taken to the closest safe location and denied entry to India. I believe India’s denial of entry was not racist but if we delve in deeper to determine the root of why the Rohingyan people fled their country we have another decision to make whether racism is occurring. Through further investigation and research it was determined that that over 740,000 Rohingya people fled Myanmar since 2017 due to institutionalized discrimination, such as exclusionary citizenship laws. Clearly, this can be seen as a systemic injustice because the government has specifically placed laws on a group of people to revoke their citizenship and limit their rights, therefore, forcing them out of the country. This act has impacted over hundred of thousands of peoples lives specifically those of the ethnic Muslim minority group going by the name of the Rohingyas. They have been forced to leave their homes and move to another place in the world involuntarily due to the Myanmar government. Therefore through greater analysis of the situation I can determine this exclusion of the Rohingyas and their motive for fleeing was most definitely due to racism. So transitioning to the immigration policies within the US, specifically during the Trump administration when President Trump decided to strengthen immigration laws and put a ban on immigration from many Middle Eastern countries. This act seems to be targeted towards the false generalization that many Muslims are linked to terrorism. Trump was clearly targeting the Muslim population with this ban, which is not fair or justified to the majority of immigrants from these regions that have no ties to terrorism and just want to escape from their possibly war-ridden areas to the United States for a better life. These racist policies also extend to other groups such as Mexicans who are stereotyped by some illegally entering the country. Clearly, these racist immigration policies have quite an impact on people’s lives. Now for the final Yo is this racist? I would deem it racist due to immigration policies being specific laws and rules that were set with the intent to disable people from entering the country. Therefore, to rectify these actions the immigration policies should be removed and border security and background checks should be improved therefore to acquire a nice, perfect middle ground between desirable policies of each party. 

Alright, that will be concluding this week’s segment on Yo is this racist? where we discussed three various situations plaguing society currently and determined, Yo is this racist? Thank you again for tuning in and we will see you next week for another edition of Yo is this racist where we will be discussing more issues around the world. Thank you again, signing off.

Yo Is This Racist

Madalyn Morman

As terrible as it is, racism still exists in all sorts of places around the world and even close to home here in The United States of America. It is so horrible that such cruel events happen to those who are from a different race than another person. Racism occurs when people think that a certain race or color of the skin is superior to another, and based on that they do not treat those people fairly. In this article, I will be discussing two events that demonstrate an example of systemic injustice along with analyzing the situations and how they need to be corrected. 

We are all well aware of the COVID-19 pandemic and how hard it has been on everyone, especially those in the healthcare field, but what about how hard it has been for many African Americans. There was an article that talked about how African-American doctors have to carry double the load as they have to fight a virus that has unreasonably harmed their communities more than others while dealing with discrimination at the workplace (Williams). On top of the stressful job, the doctors have to deal with constant discrimination they get because of the color of their skin. 

“Being a black man in a white coat has never been easy”

-Dr. Steven McDonald

Many patients would ask for another doctor when an African-American doctor would walk into the room or they would rate them lower for patient care and cleanliness. Dr. Steven McDonald says that “being a black man in a white coat has never been easy” (Williams). These physicians are also more likely to practice medicine in underserved communities with fewer resources and testing, making them more vulnerable to contracting the COVID-19 virus compared to white colleagues (Williams). African American doctors have faced many more hardships in the healthcare field compared to white doctors. 

The pandemic may even take away all of the progress that has been made in increasing the number of African American physicians. This is due to all the stress, depression, and survivor guilt that they face every day (Williams). All of this is evidence of the “minority tax”. This is the invisible cost that people in minority groups face while working in a mainly white environment. 

So the question asked, “Is this racist?” and the answer would be yes. We see in this example that African American doctors are not being treated with respect by their white patients or their white colleagues. We also see how much harder it has been for African American doctors during this pandemic. I would label this as an example of systemic injustice because the system of power uses its authority to promote unjust behavior and prejudice against a social group. Here the system in power is the predominantly white workplace and profession and it is putting down against the African American physicians working there. The category of identity involved in this situation was race, and that should not be a factor in a workplace environment.

I think we can relate this problem to the concept of the One and the Other. The One claims superiority over the Other and the Other is defined through the dominant One. In this example, the One would be the white individuals either the patients or the fellow doctors who mistreated the African American doctors. That makes the African American doctors part of the Other and classified as inferior compared to the Ones. 

It is awful to hear about this current example of systemic injustice especially in this difficult time for healthcare workers. Not only do they have to worry about saving lives and preventing the spread of COVID-19, but some individuals have to carry the weight of having colored skin in a world where racism still exists. I believe that for this wrongdoing to be changed, essentially the profession has to recognize that racism in the workplace is inadequate for not only the patients’ health but also the physicians’. But also, the citizens and patients need to realize that they are only being part of the problem by acting racist or biased towards the African American individuals not only in the healthcare field but in general. 

We also hear another yet similar example of systemic injustice that has occurred recently and it happened to be in our own beloved country… again. The United States is well known for the racial segregation era of the 1900s. This was a time where many schools, restaurants, restrooms, and many other things were labeled as “white’s only”. Many people discriminated against African American citizens because they had a different color of skin. That historic and horrendous part of history eventually led to the Civil Rights Act which prohibited discrimination of individuals based on race, color, sex, etc. Still to this day, racism and discrimination exist in some sort of way in various places around the United States of America. 

In this current example, we see the school boards of many American school districts stepping up and deciding they are going to create an “equal” dress code policy. In reality, the enforced policy was racist and discriminatory. Several individuals even labeled this new enforcement of bigoted dress code policies to be the new “White Only” signs. This example appeared in a newspaper headline that stated that many school districts across the United States started to enforce dress code policies that restricted associations with the African American style. Male students are not allowed to have their hair extend below the eyebrows or the top of a t-shirt collar (Perry). Students were disturbed by this sudden dress code policy that was put in place. 

One high school student, DeAndre Arnold, has always worn his hair in dreadlocks. DeAndre had an in-school suspension and was told he could not attend class, prom, or graduation until he followed the dress code policy (Perry). Another student was pulled out of class in California because he had shaved-in designs in his hair which would be too “distracting” to his classmates. 7-year-old, Tiana Parker, was sent home from school one day because the school did not think her locs looked “presentable” (Perry). Several students have been told that their hairstyles represent “gang culture” and that they need to “fix” their hair to return to class. 

 

So again the question asked was, “Is this racist?” and the answer would be yes. The way that this sounds like is that the school boards are asserting authority over African-American students based on their hairstyles, but hair has nothing to do with academic success. We just heard that the school board gave a high school student an in-school suspension because his hair was in dreadlocks. Not only did another school district send a student home because of their hair, but the fact that it was a little 7-year-old girl makes it even more heartbreaking. These are primitive years for children and what they will remember from their childhood school would be the time that they were sent home or threatened to be suspended. What makes it, even more, worse would be the fact that it was not because of their behavior or grades, but because of their hair. 

I believe this is an example of systemic injustice because the system of power uses its authority to suppress African-American students the right to wear their hair in a way that connects them to their ancestors, family, and traditions. Here the system in power is the school boards enforcing bigoted dress code policies.

I think we can make a connection between the African-American students and the concept of  Spivak’s subalterns. The school boards have silenced these students and ingrained this as a “normal practice” within the school system. The students are being denied their right to express themselves and have no say in the rules being installed. Just like Spivak’s subalterns, the students must accommodate themselves to the new change to continue getting their education. 

The category of identity involved in this situation was race and ethnicity, and that should not be a factor in school districts. Having a racially diverse school board would protect against dress code policies from being prejudiced against individuals and be more understanding of the children’s traditions and lifestyle. It would allow for more of a broad understanding and allow more viewpoints to be expressed before making an irrational executive decision. 

After discussing these incidents, it is clear that racism is still present in today’s world, and it is occurring right under our noses. It is dreadful to hear about the African American doctors dealing with the current hardships from the pandemic and on top of that experiencing racism at the workplace. It is also heartbreaking to learn about the young students being forced to follow the new racist dress codes so that they can attend school. These were just two examples that were pointed out to be discussed, there are so many other unmentioned examples of systemic injustice going on in the world still that we need to be aware of and help shut them down.

Now the question is, what can you do to help. One of the best ways to help stop discrimination or racism is to bring about awareness. Make people acknowledge racism in the situation and try to bring about equality. 

Perry, Andre. “Racist Dress Codes in Schools Are the New ‘Whites Only’ Signs.” The Hechinger Report, 30 Mar. 2020, https://hechingerreport.org/dress-codes-are-the-new-whites-only-signs/  

Williams, Joseph P. “With Black Patients and White Colleagues, Black Doctors Carry a Double Load.” U.S. News & World Report, 1 Feb. 2021, www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2021-02-01/black-doctors-covid-burden-patients-social-ills-and-workplace-bigotry. 

Websites for Pictures

https://malden.wickedlocal.com/news/20170522/cook-family-retains-legal-defense-fund-aclu-to-explore-legal-action-against-mystic-valley 

https://tulsaworld.com/archive/schools-criticized-for-bans-on-dreadlocks-afros/article_1336da02-f6a3-5a42-9fcd-08659d0755a7.html 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/23/us/barbers-hill-isd-dreadlocks-deandre-arnold-trnd/index.html 

https://abcnews.go.com/US/philadelphia-doctor-takes-streets-black-communities-tested-covid/story?id=70405257 

Intersectionality is the overlap of cultural or social categorizations such as gender or race and the ways that these identity intersections impact an individual’s interaction with society.

As a woman I believe that I notice sexism in culture and in systems fairly easily. I pick up on circumstances where gender inequality exists because it impacts me personally. However, it is often harder to recognize injustice that does not impact us or even worse, that benefits us. I am a white woman which means I experience the privilege that comes with being white in America. As I dive further into understanding intersectionality, I realize that perhaps the most oppressed group in the United States is women of color. This group faces both racism and sexism. Many nations in the world have systemic injustice related to both of these but today I will focus on the United States. The United States has a history of deeply rooted racism and sexism dating back to before the country was even a country.

Most situations can involve intersectionality so one of the best ways to gain understanding is to compare several different ones. It is often best to begin a search for understanding by asking questions so here are a few that guided my investigation. How does intersectionality impact different people and groups of people in the United States? How and where do sexism and racism overlap? How do they contradict each other? What impact does economic status have on how severely an individual is impacted by racism, sexism, or both? What are the differences in experiencing racism when comparing people of different occupations?

I want to begin by exploring a specific area that impacts me personally. I am a woman in the engineering field, a field that is still largely dominated by men. I remember my very first engineering class in high, school, I walked into the room and immediately noticed I was the only girl there. I had never been more aware of the fact that I was different than I did in that moment. But as I wrote in my diary of systemic injustice, it is also a field dominated by white people. So, to be both black and a woman in the engineering field is to be in the absolute minority.

According to a study conducted by the Society of Women Engineers in collaboration with the National Society of Black Engineers, 20% of engineering graduates are women and only 1 in 5 of those women are women of color. That is a very small percentage. But the question is why is the field so unbalanced? The study discovered one of the major areas was lack of minority female role models in the industry. It is challenging to dream of being someone or doing something when you have no one that looks like you that is already doing it to look up to. In addition, women of color face unequal pay, lack of professional development opportunities, and racial biases/stereotypes in the workplace. (Rincon).

This graph clearly depicts the severe inequality of STEM fields.

The concept of intersectionality is present here because these engineers are not solely identified by their career, gender, or race but rather all three. They are engineers but they are also women and they are also people of color. They may face discrimination due to their gender and race especially in the workplace, but it is also important to note that due to their careers it is most likely true that economically, they experience advantage compared to women of color in other lower paying fields. For example, they can afford to live wherever they may want, they can afford healthcare, and their children probably receive good education.

So, the next question this brings me to is how does the intersection of career identity further separate women of color?

In a separate entry to my diary of systemic injustice, I discussed the recent shooting of six Asian American women in Atlanta. Robert Long shot and killed 8 people, 6 of which were Asian-American women. Authorities have not spoken out about whether these crimes were racially motivated however, many other political leaders including both the president and vice president have made statements following the event condemning hate crimes against Asian-Americans. Long had been at a frequent customer at massage parlors and claimed to have a “sexual addiction”. Police say that the shooting was in his mind a way to take out the temptation. Many have spoken out about how these claims are a cop out for what is really a racially motivated hate crime. (Fausset).

Intersectionality of gender, race, and career is again at play here. These women were targets of violence because of both their race and their occupation. The over sexualization and fetishization of women, specifically Asian women, is all too common in the United States. Unlike the engineers discussed before, these women do not experience financial privilege because of their career. These six Asian American women faced discrimination aimed specifically at their occupation, race, and gender.

The last angle that I will explore regarding the intersectionality of women of color and career is in government and politics. We recently experienced a historical moment when Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first female vice president, the first black vice president and the first South Asian vice president. She is an incredible example of someone who despite facing opposition from both racism and sexism, has achieved great success. She now holds a position of power that would have been unimaginable for women a few decades ago. (Facts on Women…).

34.8% of the women in congress are women of color. This number is low and more work needs to be done but it is still impressive considering the history of exclusion in U.S. government. The importance of having women of color in positions of power, specifically as lawmakers, is that as a diverse country, we need diverse opinions making decisions. The more perspectives and backgrounds that are considered when making laws, the better. In addition to this, our children need role models and women like Kamala Harris and the many congresswomen of color are making history by showing girls around the country that they can be and do whatever they dream. In her own words, Harris sums up the importance of breaking barriers for the women who will come after her, “My mother would look at me and she’d say, ‘Kamala, you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last,’ That’s why breaking those barriers is worth it. As much as anything else, it is also to create that path for those who will come after us.” (Harris). Kamala Harris is a role model for women, for people of color, and for anyone who is doing something that has never been done before. Because of her, little girls everywhere can more easily dream of being politicians.

“… you may be the first to do many things, but make sure you are not the last.” – Kamala Harris

We must understand that our identities can not be separated, and they are more powerful in fact when they are together. To be vice president is impressive, but Kamala is more than her job title she is also a black, Asian, and female. These parts of her identity are what make her a person that the American citizens desired in power because she can relate to so many different groups, groups that are often silenced. Because of this, she is able to be successful at her job. The intersectionality of her identities is what makes her so unique.

Race, gender, and career are just a few of the many defining identities that we possess as human beings. We may relate to one person in one of these areas but be entirely different in another. These connections or lack of connections influence the way we view others and the world around us. Through exploring the concept of intersectionality further, I have become more aware of the need to look at all the parts of what makes a person who they are before I can analyze or understand their decisions or circumstances. A person may experience discrimination due to their race, but they may be able to lessen the impact of that discrimination due to their economic status. Or another person, may experience privilege because of their race but may not feel privileged because they were born into a poor family.

When we discuss intersectionality there are so many perspectives to explore that it would be impossible to look from all angles. However, the more we explore the more we find that human life is so complex it is unfair to try to categorize people into one box. To identify myself solely as a woman ignores so many other aspects of who I am. Exploring intersectionality allows us to understand people and circumstances more fully.

We can all benefit from humbling ourselves and understanding that different experiences and perspectives are not what divide us but rather what makes our connections so much more vibrant and beautiful.

Works Cited

“Facts on Women of Color in Office.” CAWP, 23 Mar. 2021, cawp.rutgers.edu/fact-sheets-women-color.

Fausset, Richard, et al. “Suspect in Atlanta Spa Attacks Is Charged With 8 Counts of Murder.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 18 Mar. 2021, www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/us/atlanta-shooting-spa.html.

Rincon, Roberta M, and Nicole Yates. “Women of Color in the Engineering Workplace.” 2018. https://www.nsbe.org/getmedia/b01e0f12-9378-46b0-ad4d-a0f513b947a5/Women-of-Color-Research-2018.aspx

Resource: https://www.washington.edu/news/2021/03/19/how-white-supremacy-racist-myths-fuel-anti-asian-violence/

The worldwide epidemic of COVID-19, as well as the subsequent social unrest across the United States, has intensified plenty of disparities that predate COVID-19. The effect of hate crimes on Asian American communities, however, has received little attention in comparison to the health or economic breakdown experienced by native Americans before the recent Spa Shootings in Atlanta.

On March 16, 2021, three spas or massage parlors in the Atlanta, Georgia, metropolitan area were targeted in a string of mass shootings. There were eight people killed, six of whom were Asian women, and one person was injured. Later that day, the attacker, 21-year-old Robert Aaron Long, was arrested. The horrific shootings triggered tremendous outrage and fear among Asian-Americans. And though the attacker denied any racial hatred while in detention, investigators said they had not ruled out bias as a motivation. According to investigators, the gunman admitted to police that he had a “sexual addiction” and that the killings at the massage parlors were carried out to remove his “temptation.” He also said that he used to visit massage parlors and that the attacks were a form of revenge. The police claim that, however, only one of the victims were women. Regardless of the motivation, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said that the accident was unforgettable. “Whatever the motivation was for this guy, we know that the majority of the victims were Asian,” Ms. Bottoms said. “We also know that this is an issue that is happening across the country. It is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop.”

This is definitely a frightening nightmare for all Asian-America. But let’s hear what a sheriff said about this shooting crime. The official with the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department, Capt. Jay Baker claimed that the suspect was “having a really bad day.” Apart from that, on March 17, Capt. Jay Baker was accused of racism and anti-Asian racism by Twitter users for potentially promoting xenophobic t-shirts.

In March of last year, Stop AAPI Hate was created to resist racism during the coronavirus pandemic. The organization gathers reports on instances of hatred and abuse aimed at Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders in the United States. The group said it received reports of 3795 cases between March 19 and February 28 in a report released this week. However, the number may be higher since not all accidents are registered.

Spa shooting crime is just one case among all of the nearly 3800 recent hate crimes against Asian and Pacific Islanders over the last year according to the Stop AAPI Hate organization, and it is everywhere. 

The threats and even killings of Asian Americans blamed for the outbreak of the so-called “Kung Flu” are only the latest in a long line of  anti-Asian racism and abuse against individual Asian Americans for world incidents that have nothing to do with them. Even the previous president Donald Trump renamed the coronavirus the “Chinese Virus” on purpose.

A number of viral videos showing violent threats against elderly Asian Americans across the United States have sparked concerns that racism against members of Asian community is on the rise once again.

Resource: https://abc7news.com/chinatown-push-91-year-old-pushed-to-ground-opd-suspect-oakland-attacks/10322263/

The old man walking down the street in Oakland’s Chinatown neighborhood does not even see the face of  his attacker, a man who violently shoves him to the ground and runs away. The assault on the 91-year-old man was caught on camera on January 31, and it became the most recent example of a surge of largely unreported hate crimes targeting Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

So why are Asian Americans suffering under this challenging living situation? According to research, Asian Americans are often stereotyped as meek, compliant, or of all traits that would make them more desirable targets. Even if direct hatred isn’t the reason Asian Americans are being attacked, this type of passive racial bias will affect them. Additionally, traced back to history, racism towards Asian Americans can be found a long time ago. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant piece of immigration legislation enacted by the United States Congress, prohibiting all citizens of Chinese origin from entering the country. Literature is littered with government-sanctioned racism against Asian immigrants: In the 1880s, Asian children in California were segregated in “Oriental” schools, and the 1892 Geary Act allowed all Chinese born in the United States to receive and bear government identification confirming their legal status. In recent years, these racist policies have evolved into racism by association, which is followed by brutality.

The community is struggling with the fact that the legislation is clearly not structured to account for many of the ways Asian-Americans face racism as the controversy about what defines anti-Asian prejudice unfolds. Additionally, Experts claim that confirming a racial motive in attacks on Asians can be especially difficult. A noose is probably the most commonly known symbol of anti-Asian hatred. Many Asian crime victims in the United States have historically been small-business owners who have been robbed, which complicates the issue of motivation of the crimes.

However, there are uplifting cases that represent the toughness and courage of Asian Americans. 

Resource: https://abc7.com/asian-american-hate-crime-woman-fights-attacker-san-francisco/10430023/

An elderly woman who was assaulted on Market Street in San Francisco turned the tables on her attacker, hitting him and causing him to go to the hospital. The woman appeared to have been injured on the side of her face and eye, and she was seen with an ice pack on her face. Both the attacker and the victim were taken to a hospital for treatment, according to police. “You bum, why did you hit me?” the woman yelled to the attacker in Chinese. The woman then turned to the crowd who had gathered, shouting, “This bum, he hit me,” as she lifted the stick she cried. “He hit me, this bum,“ she repeated.

Stop AAPI Hate co-founder Jeung believes that the best way to stop racial attacks is through group cooperation and empathy. He took part in a civil peace rally in San Francisco and Oakland and is now assisting in the organization of strolls around Chinatown, where residents walk to provide a sense of safety and comfort for merchants and senior citizens. “We know we need that this is an issue that affects all our communities, and we have to break the cycle of violence,” Jeung says. “And we’re calling not necessarily for more punitive measures but restorative justice models that break the cycle of violence, ethnic studies to teach people about racial solidarity, community mediation efforts to not only hold people accountable, but to work together to resolve issues.”

How can we deal with a hate crime if you find yourself in the middle of it? It is super important to respond to hate crime quickly and effectively. Hate crimes are distinct from other types of crimes in terms of their effect on victims and community cohesion:

• Hate crimes are usually injurious or even vital. 
• Victims usually feel traumatized.
• Others in the community with similar characteristics to the victim may feel victimized and insecure. 

Here are some suggestions for you: 

• Get medical help immediately if you are severely injured.
• File police report and verify that the officer filled out a documentation form and assigns a case number. If you do not get a police report at the time of the report, go to the police department and request one. Even if it’s just a draft report, you can still have your own copy.
• As soon as possible after the incident, write down any and all information about the crime. Sex, age, height, ethnicity, weight, clothing, and other identifying features should all be included. Include any threats or biased statements that were made previously.
• Find support from whether your family or friends, or you can contact the anti-violence support service.

References:

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/03/17/us/shooting-atlanta-acworth

https://time.com/5938482/asian-american-attacks/

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/local/one-week-since-atlanta-spa-shootings/85-dfb769df-f258-4d1e-8ab0-e7177ce85972

https://www.theiacp.org/resources/responding-to-hate-crimes-a-police-officers-guide-to-investigation-and-prevention

When I think of developed and well-put-together countries, I think of those that have been known as the most educated in the world. These countries include our own country, as well as those such as Japan, Canada, Israel, and South Korea. South Korea is the fourth-highest rated in terms of education, with 47.74% of people pursuing post-secondary education (World Population Review Editors, 2021). South Korea also boasts one of the most technologically connected populations in the world, where there 82.7% internet penetration gives them constant access to a wealth of knowledge (Cha, 2013). For decades, we’ve heard from politicians and our media that South Korea is a mecca for intellections and technology, and those interested in video games and anime will recognize their rich culture as well. This country, however, hides a real problem. Its women aren’t equal.

Now the problem of inequality for women dates back for decades, but I’ll be focusing on the recent push for equality. The picture below shows the current state of the country in terms of gender equality. For reference, GMAT exams are college graduation exams to test management readiness, and OECD is a membership group of the world’s greatest economies.

Despite having an above-average rate for the GMAT exam, South Korean women have the largest wage gap among the most developed countries. Compare that dismal fact to the country having the worst female representation on company boards and it becomes clear that there’s a problem.

For the sake of my argument on this injustice towards women in South Korea, I will be focusing on a recent event within the country’s history. In early 2019, the Seoul city government shared several sexist remarks in an online manual. The remarks recently resurfaced on social media which sparked a discussion among the younger generation within the country. Some of these comments included advice to pregnant women like, “prepare meals for your husband”, “don’t forget to look after your looks”, and “maybe hanging smaller clothes in visible areas will work as a motivation to lose weight”. (Moon, 2021) These comments recently brought the women’s movement in Korea back into the public spotlight. The online manual was quickly taken down after the backlash it received, but the damage had already been done. This patriarchal ideology isn’t new to those living in South Korea as many know that compared to men, “The value and position of women are much lower in the society” (Moon, 2021). Starting in the late 1980s, women’s opinions on marriage and motherhood in South Korea had slowly moved away from the more traditional roles of the past century. The country has been making progress in women’s rights, but society still has a long path to gender equality. One college student in South Korea put her situation this way, “I had no choice but to get married as a woman…… not doing so would be a sign of failure.” (Resos, 2016)

I got curious about reading into this situation so I decided to do some more research, and I found this: “In 2016, South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior launched a “birth map” website that showed the number of women of childbearing age by city district and region. That website was pulled after a public outcry” (Park, 2021). The only image I could find of the old website is shown below.

This is just another example among hundreds depicting blatant sexism from the government of South Korea, proving that these injustices toward women are deeply systemic. “Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of racism that is embedded as a normal practice within society or an organization”. The systemic nature of the sexist online manual in 2019 stems from the fact that the elected city government promoted it. By putting out this message, the government is essentially admitting its sexist standpoint against woman’s autonomy. The government of the country pushes South Koreans toward traditional roles through social norms and promoted rhetoric. The elected government in South Korea is a representation of their society, and the actions and comments of that government reflect the society that elected said government. This was many people’s problem with our past President, Donald Trump. Politics aside, his words and actions perpetuated hate and divide among historically marginalized groups such as women and Latinos. Most people didn’t see a major problem with the fact that he was saying this kind of stuff while holding the highest government office in our country. A position where influence spans past America to the rest of the free world. Below I’ve attached a video talking about gender inequality across OECD countries, as well as potential unseen problems with said discrimination. The website also has some insightful interactive graphs to look at.

https://youtu.be/YJXaW_sWMJo

What’s crazy to me is how deep this systemic injustice toward women is in South Korea. I found several more instances within the past decade that are almost identical to the two I mentioned above. I’d compare the movement for women’s equality in Korea to the fight for racial equality in America. Both movements have deeply rooted societal norms to break, and both movements must dismantle systemic drivers of nature. Both have had to fight with those on the opposing side who argue that the problem isn’t as widespread an issue as is led to believe. This fight for Korean women will be especially hard because of how Korean society is structured. Men hold a vast majority of representative voting office, men control most of the economy, and men control the media. This means that if the women want any change to happen in their favor, they must convince men to see their side. This is rather challenging as many men in the country believe that “Feminism is no longer about gender equality. It is gender discrimination and its manner is violent and hateful” (Kwon, 2019). The movement might be a waiting game as the older generation in South Korea favors more traditional gender roles.

The movement for women’s rights in South Korea could learn some things from the decade’s old civil rights movement in America. Martin Luther King and his supporters used peaceful protests to get their message of equality across. We learned during our reading of MLK’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, he calls on the policymakers to spur change as he sits in jail after being wrongfully arrested. Just last summer, tens of thousands of South Korean women marched against hidden cameras taking unsolicited pictures of them. This gathering was reportedly the largest women’s march ever for the country and it marks a massive point in the timeline of equality for women. Oftentimes, human rights movements are often controversial for the time, such as the fight for gay rights recently, but this women’s movement in Korea is something that should have been done decades ago. The rights, freedoms, and securities that these women desire are things that women of other developing countries have had for so long, and it is the purpose of their government to grant these rights to them.

While thinking about this topic over the past few weeks, I couldn’t help but think back to what I learned from Ortiz-Cofer. She suffered similar judgments to her body by her peers like the women I talked about above. Ortiz-Cofer focused more on how nationality changed perceptions, but South Korean women face similar judgments to those written about in Story of My Body. I wish everyone in Korea had to read Story of My Body so that they can see how their upbringing and society affect their perceptions toward women. Maybe then they could gain a little perspective on the topic so that future generations might change the misguided upbringings perpetuation systemic injustice within Korea. My biggest connection between this fight against inequality in Korea and our learning in the class comes from Spivak. Spivak argues that the subaltern cannot speak because their words fall on deaf ears. The women of South Korea have a voice, but with most representatives in government being men, their voice is oftentimes not heard. This was seen with the sexist online manual that I talked about before and in the countless other government-promoted memos. Korean women must fight to make their voices heard within their society, and more and more are doing just that. Finally, if I had to offer some advice for Korean women, it would be to seek to understand their opposition. In Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo treats all the women around him terribly from developed country perspectives. Once you understand his society, how he was raised, and his struggles, you understand why he acts the way he does to those around him. At the end of the story, we see Okonkwo kill himself, and the once-powerful men of his tribe become subjugated to the powerful British rule. Korean women must fight for their freedoms, but not in a way that isolates the men of their society. As I’ve shown above in a statistic, young men in Korea already don’t like the feminist movement because of what they think it represents. Add the fact that men hold the power in the government and you’ve got a recipe for disaster if you strike Korean men with anger and spite. Attacking their opponents is not the key to success, the women must seek to understand their opposers just as MLK did.

References:

Cha, F. (2013, November 27). 10 things South Korea does better than anywhere else. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/10-things-south-korea-does-best/index.html

Kwon, J. (2019, September 24). South Korea’s young men are fighting against feminism. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/21/asia/korea-angry-young-men-intl-hnk/index.html

Moon, G. (2021, January 20). South Korean women hit back as old gender roles return. Retrieved February 21, 2021, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/south-korean-women-hit-back-old-gender-roles-return-n1254704

OECD. (2021). Gender. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://www.oecd.org/gender/

Park, J. (2021, January 12). Seoul city criticized for sexist tips to pregnant women. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/wireStory/seoul-city-criticized-sexist-tips-pregnant-women-75194866

Resos, A. (2016, October 06). The empowerment of women in South Korea. Retrieved February 21, 2021, from https://jia.sipa.columbia.edu/online-articles/empowerment-women-south-korea

World Population Review Editors. (2021). Most educated Countries 2021. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/most-educated-countries

(2021, April 01). Institutional racism. Retrieved April 06, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institutional_racism

A summer full of confusion, anger, and disgust is the perfect way to describe the summer the United States endured last year. The events that transpired during the summer of 2020 left a bitter taste in the mouth of many citizens and left sectors of people angry and begging for justice.  Not only was the country fighting the worldwide pandemic known as COVID-19, but it was also fighting a plague that has haunted the country for centuries, the plague known as racism and systemic injustice. For years the country has tried to sell the citizens of the United States of America the usual propaganda of “we are working on fighting injustices” and “we are making progress as a country.” However, the harsh reality is that progress has not occurred fast enough. In fact last year opened the eyes of many to the massive amounts of injustices that still exist in the country which leads to the massive atrocities that headlined the news all of 2020. The summer of 2020 should be used as a precedent for change as the citizens were witnesses to some of the most blatant evidence of systemic injustice and oppression that caused the country to come to a halt and decide to protest massively in scenes reminiscing of the civil rights movement. 

In one of the most perturbing and graphic videos I have seen we saw an unarmed man be violently detained and choked for over eight minutes until he lost his life at the hands of the police. George Floyd is a name that will forever be remembered, because unfortunately he became another victim. Another victim of the excessive force police use on people of color, another victim of the over policing that occurs in minority neighborhoods, another victim of police brutality, another victim of systemic injustice, and above all another victim of America. George Floyd paralysed a nation because for over eight minutes we see a grown man helplessly lie on the floor as a police officer has his knee over his neck restricting his ability to breath. George Floyd felt powerless and all he could do was cry and yell for his mother and his children as the police officers stood over him watching his last few seconds of life slip away with no remorse whatsoever. This scene is infuriating but it is very symbolic of the system in America. While the majority in this case white Americans stand tall the minorities are down begging for help and justice. The whites demonstrate power at the expense of the lives and liberty of the minorities. 

The haunting video is something that will forever be remembered in the history of the nation. A video this graphic and this infuriating had not been seen since the beating of Rodney King at the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department. The attention the murder of George Floyd got peaked the interest to many other cases of unjust police force against the black community. The names of Breonna Taylor and later on in the year Jacob Blake made national headlines as Breonna Taylor was killed unjustly due to a no knock warrant, and Jacob Blake another unarmed black male was shot in the back by a police officer as he was checking on his kids. The Black Lives Matter movement once again started to gain prominence and black voices were finally being heard after being silenced for hundreds of years. While slavery ended years ago the discrimination and the suppression of the black community still continues to this day. The literal chains and shackles came off but in place a system was created that restored the chains and shackles and silenced the community.

For years the white citizens of America have enjoyed their stay at the top of the social hierarchy at the expense of minorities. As Simone De Beauvoir explains there is a relationship dynamic known as the one and the other that accurately describes this relationship. The one is the person that seeks to establish themselves at the top of the social hierarchy and be the dominant sector of people, but as she mentions to truly be dominant they have to establish another sector of people as inferior or as she calls it they have to establish the “other.” This relationship dynamic is what led to the creation of a system full of injustices that allows the white sector of America to be far more suited to thrive while the black sector of America struggles to even survive. This relationship dynamic is to blame for what happened to George Floyd because it is this relationship that created the system that leads to an us versus them mentality that has fueled years of prejudice and discrimantion. That prejudice and discrimination led to a police system that already expects people of color to be a criminal before a proper investigation has taken palce. This system is what fuels an officer to feel “threatened” by an unarmed black civilian who is simply confused as to why excessive force is immediately used on them. Police officers feel threatened by the color of a minority’s skin because the system created a misconception that they were the stereotypical criminals who were menaces to society. This system is single handedly responsible for the deaths and unjust incarceration of many black people in America.

For years the black community has been the subaltern in America. During the dark history of America they were enslaved and used for arduous labor thus they were simply treated as property who had no say in anything. Not only were they denied their rights as citizens but they were denied basic human rights and at some point were even considered three fifths of a person. As Dr. King mentioned they were asked to “wait” and be patient for reform but as he stated in his Letter From Birmingham Jail the black community understood that sitting down and waiting for change was not an option. They were frustrated because they understood that the word “wait” meant never and they chose to not simply sit with their arms crossed and instead chose to speak up. However, no matter how much they spoke up in true subaltern fashion they were ignored and their pleas were met with resistance and violence. The black community was tired of being vilified and targeted for simply having a different color of skin, but their attempts at asking for justice have fallen on deaf ears for years. In recent years the cases of police brutality have sparked a nationwide debate especially when Colin Kaepernick chose to use his platform to protest against police brutality by kneeling during the national anthem. Colin Kaepernick was a high profile celebrity when he began his protest as he was an NFL star who even played in Super Bowl yet even he was ignored. His message was completely ignored as people focused more on the action of him kneeling as opposed to the reason as to why he was kneeling. His decision to continue to kneel as a form of protest ended up costing Colin his career as no team has given him a chance since that season. What happened to Mr. Kaepernick is indicative of the term subaltern and it is a demonstration as to what society has done to black folks every time they speak up. 

Being a person of color in America is not easy. Being a person of color in America means that there is a genuine fear that you could be the next victim of police brutality. Having to fear if you are going to die when an officer stops you is a disheartening feeling but it is the reality of America. The sad reality of an America who has continuously justified the murders of black civilians at the hands of the police. The truth is that these occurrences are not accidents, they are not mistakes in which a cop panicked or felt threatened. The sad and unjust reality of all of this is that these deaths are a result of the system. This is how everything was designed and none of this will stop until proper systematic reform is done. America created a system that persecutes minorities, especially black and brown people. From the over policing of these communities to the representation of these people in shows and movies. George Floyd was the latest victim of  the American system. George Floyd’s tragic murder should not be another statistic. He should not be just another name added to a far too extensive list of unarmed people of color being unjustly killed by police officers. George Floyd’s murder should be used as a benchmark that brings about changes in the system. His death opened the eyes of many to the systemic injustice in America and the lack of adequate punishment for officers who are responsible for the murders of civilians. The death of George Floyd should be forever engraved in our minds. His horrendous murder should be the final straw that pushes people to continue protesting and continue to fight for reform until change is made. His death should bring an end to the long overdue wait for justice and equity.