Author: massie.131

Text Review – The Office

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As identity and power are topics that everyone should know the boundaries of, the U.K. based turned U.S. remake TV show, The Office, tests these boundaries of respect or immaturity in the Season 3 Episode 1 titled “Gay Witch Hunt”. In this episode Michael, the regional manager of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, “accidently” outs one of his workers, Oscar, who identifies as a homosexual. Throughout this episode, Michael continually makes comments about Oscar and his sexual orientation. In the end, a meeting is called where Michael forcefully kisses Oscar in front of the office staff to make them believe that he is not against the gay community.

Throughout this episode, viewers are continually reminded about the homophobic actions that happen in many work environments across the world, which I applaud the makers of this show for because it is not an easy task to portray this. Michaels words of, “Faggy”, “can you tell who’s gay and who’s not?” “there’s going to be others” and talk about a “gay-dar” quite literally gives Oscar a negative identity relating to his sexuality. These terms give Oscar the unwanted identity of being less than his peers, the “other”, “different”, and unequal. He feels “different” when Mindy chooses to say, “[it’s] so cool that you’re gay, totally underestimated you”. While when Michael says, “there’s going to be others” he is indirectly othering or singling out Oscar for who he really is on the inside. Much like Simone de Beauvior explains in this paper The Second Sex, “it is not the Other who, in defining [them] self as the Other, established the One.”, Michael sees himself as the One, while putting Oscar into the category of “Other” for being different than himself; Oscar is discriminated against. Michael goes too far in the end to assault Oscar with an unwanted kiss, which further makes Oscar feel ashamed in the workplace where he says he wants to quit his job. In the end, although this show is supposed to be comical, I believe the producers/writers did go a little too far with the identity images in this episode. Through watching this episode, viewers should realize Michael’s ignorant thinking and immature actions are not okay. A clear line between homophobia and workplace humor should be drawn. I would recommend this piece for anyone who wants to learn about identity images from a popular, humorous TV show that crossed the line on this episode.Michael kissing Oscar was the best part of the Gay Witch Hunt episode. This scene is a close second: : DunderMifflin

In the end, I think the producers/writers want viewers to take away the idea of workplace discrimination regarding sexuality. They want viewers to realize that being gay should be celebrated, but they don’t want people to act like Michael Scott did. I would imagine the producers want to challenge the views with this question: How can workplaces become more inclusive to the diversity that is often found in American offices? I believe the producers want to show identity in the sense that it is okay to be gay and to express sexuality freely should someone choose to.

Diary of Systemic Injustices Showcase – Minority Healthcare

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When the start of Covid-19 really started up in late March, it was very terrifying and unpredictable as there was no clear way to just tell if someone had contracted the virus or not. SARS-CoV2 is a once in a lifetime virus that will inevitably be a part of humans lives forever. Although this pandemic has brought a halt to much of the world, it has stricken lower class people a completely different way. For people of the poorer classes, this virus has changed their lives for the worse when it comes to healthcare. I remember seeing a news story about a month after the outbreak first started which showed that people of color were more likely to die from the virus than any other racial group. The story explained how because of the high prices it costs to see a doctor and purchase health insurance policies, many people of color who contracted the disease could not seek the medical attention that need and deserved without inquiring very large medical bills. This is very alarming because is all boils down to the American health care system. I believe this is an example of a systemic injustice because the very broken American health care system makes it hard for people in the lower classes, and people of color, to obtain health insurance for themselves or their families. The impact of this instance shows how there are several inequalities in the healthcare system, which is mainly in the fact that health insurance is EXPENSIVE. Some people have to choose to put food on the table and/or have a roof over their head instead of health care, which is completely understandable, but wrong. This singles out lower-class citizens and makes them more susceptible to dying from this virus because they cannot get the medical attention they need and deserve. Minorities and people of color are singled out in this instance and are often seen as the “Other” or just poor, even though they are much more than those harsh categories. In this example there are many persons that are the “One”: some upper-class people and policy makers that have the ability to make a change to this injustice. In the end, this systemic injustice is made obvious through the health care system in the U.S. This system is broken because of the unjustly cost that is required to go see a doctor today. Affordable health care is a must for U.S. citizens, and some may even argue that universal health care needs to be the move for our government (it has worked for Canada and the U.K.).

Taken from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/coronavirus-covid-triage-rationing-ventilators.html

Taken from: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/31/us/coronavirus-covid-triage-rationing-ventilators.html

Resources: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/health-equity/race-ethnicity.html

Week 8 Context Research Presentation – Migration to the U.S.

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First when discussing immigration, one aspect is the sizable amount of Chinese people that have chosen to come to America. It is reported by the Migration Policy Institute that Chinese immigrants are one of the largest migratory groups that have come to the U.S., the third largest to be exact (Strom). Most of these people have come here in search of a better life, and to have less control from government figures. There were two major waves of migration to the Unites States from China, the first being the gold rush, with the most recent one taking place in the late 1970s (Strom). It is estimated that because of policy changes in the late 60s, that immigration of Chinese residents doubled from 1980 to 1990, which lead America to having 2.1 million Chinese immigrants in the U.S. in 2016. (Strom) Of course, all of these numbers do not account for undocumented immigration to the United States.

            As stated in the book, Chinese immigrants have not always had the time or money to wait for a visa and green card to lawfully enter America because they are fleeing from threatening and oppressive situations; situations where actions have to be taken immediately. In these situations, often important measures are taken to ensures ones safety as well as family safety. According to the Migration Policy Institute, approximately 326,000 Chinese immigrants in 2016 were undocumented (Batalova). Because of these numbers, China accounts for the fifth biggest undocumented immigrant population residing in the United State (Illegal). It is explained that, although smuggling is not always inhumane like it used to be, there are still some unfortunate cases (Illegal). Some of these cases could be where the basic human rights of people are suppressed, therefore immediate migration has to happen to get to a safer and more equal society. More currently, the South China Morning Post explained how often undocumented immigrants first come to California, through Mexico, and the conditions are not always humane, “They [Chinese illegal immigrants] were being held [in an attic of a home in San Diego] without food, very little water and no access to a restroom” (Illegal).

When thinking about the other ways Chinese immigrants seek refuge in the United States for their overall well-being, the New York Times explains a new strategy being used. Miriam Jordan explains how Chinese people that are looking for asylum from China will often come here with visas in hand but will extend their stay after the visa has expired, while often not being caught. Overall, whether coming here and staying illegally or being smuggled across the U.S. boarders, many of these people are looking for job opportunities and to build a better life here in America without government control, just like Polly (Deming’s mother) decided to do when she came here as an undocumented immigrant, in a not so humane way.

Sources:

Batalova, Jeanne, and Carlos Echeverria-Estrada. “Chinese Immigrants in the United States.” Migration Policy Institute (MPI), 7 Aug. 2020, www.migrationpolicy.org/article/chinese-immigrants-united-states-2018.

“Illegal Chinese Immigrants Are Flocking to San Diego, Smuggled over the Border with Mexico.” South China Morning Post, Tribune News Service, 8 June 2016, 8:09am, www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/1968984/illegal-chinese-immigrants-are-flocking-san-diego.

Jordan, Miriam. “The Overlooked Undocumented Immigrants: From India, China, Brazil.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Dec. 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/12/01/us/undocumented-visa-overstays.html.

Strom, Adam. “Chinese Immigrants to the US: Past and Present – Re-Imagining Migration.” Re-Imaging Migration, Adam Strom Https://Reimaginingmigration.org/Wp-Content/Uploads/2020/09/RM-Logo-High-REZ-300×194-Copy.png, 19 May 2020, reimaginingmigration.org/chinese-immigrants-to-the-us-past-and-present/.