A Challenge to Democracy

A Challenge to Democracy was a documentary on the evacuation of hundreds of thousand of Japanese-American citizens in the US in the pacific coast region. Produced by The War Relocation Authority, it was evident that the documentary was written from their viewpoint and intended for the American viewers.
The author attempts to convey the thoughts and beliefs of the Japanese-American citizen during this time of war. Without seemingly knowing it, they defined who these citizens were and what they were to become in the future. They described these camps as a reinforcement to reduce military hazards, calling the citizens in the camps dislocated casualties of war. They overlooked the fact that these camps were bound by wire fences and guards. Even though they explained that they weren’t the most suitable living arrangements, the video constantly reinforced that it was comparable to the rest of America’s standard of living at that time. These camps by no means constituted a symbol of freedom. The camps were on barren desserts and unoccupied land. There were many regulations that the evacuees had to follow such as, only being able to spend .45 cents a day on food, small one room houses, low wages (avg. $12-16 a month). Even with the less than adequate standard if living in the camps, the video managed to portray the contentment of the citizens, showing happy families and workers, laborers learning skilled trades and students in standard curriculums. However the producers were impervious to the fact of the class and race separation they were also displaying. In many scenes a white male is overseeing operations as guards, supervisors, or in the case where the white man in the business suit is handing out wages.
I question the producers’ beliefs when they stated that the citizens were loosing a sense of Americanism in the confines of relocation centers. They attempted to portray the beliefs and views of the Japanese-American citizen at the time of war. However they contradicted themselves in many instances. At the end of the movie the narrator states that many of the Japanese-American soldiers were fighting against the militarism and oppression of Japan and Germany, while fighting for their “American upbringing, freedom, democracy, and equality of opportunity regardless of race, creed or ancestry.” Yet the movie struggled to actually display visuals of these qualities.
It would have been more interesting to here the viewpoints of the Japanese-American citizens who were part of the self-supported relocation centers. While the birth of equality was upon our country at the time the movie it is a good display of how we are blinded by our actions involving ethnicity and class separation. I thought it was interesting to see how the documentary continues to relate to the struggle of inequality today. Like explained from Johnson, the dominate culture did not realize their privilege and therefore unknowingly promoted inequality while attempting to portray freedom.

Takaki Ch.10, Pacific Crossings

The story of “Pacific Crossing” develops from the Japanese immigration to America in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Much like the African Americans the Japanese came to America by being pushed by external forces. They came here for the promise of higher wages through agriculture and the ability to develop a family farm in the new prosperous nation. Yet as they soon learned it was merely that, instead it was comparable to slave labor. It was difficult for them to combine the two cultures and remain equal to the dominate whit culture in America.
Takaki questioned the treatment of the new Japanese laborers. Stating that it was no different than another form of slavery, barley legal yet widely accepted; especially in the islands of Hawaii. In the 1800’ thousands of Japanese laborers, most with a farming background, flocked to America because of the higher wages that were offered. The came to realize the extent of their labor and began fighting for equality. Other races joined the immigration hunt for higher wages. When the Philippine people came across the pacific they began working harder and receiving higher wage as a result. The dominant work force of the Japanese then began to revolt and strike. The efforts of the strikes created a spark in the movement against the fight for equality. They began to receive higher wage rates and a greater standard of living. After several years of settlement the Japanese came to realize that they developed new lives on the land and nearly half decided to stay and pursue their life in America.
I argue against Takakis belief of being related to slavery. These people came to America expecting the conditions of the farming life. They new it was competitive and it was no choice to them than to take the increased pay for harsher working environment. These views are still apparent in today’s economy and business world. It was a matter of business and the all mighty dollar which forced the dominate white culture to have less than adequate working conditions for their employees. The Japanese began to understand these concepts and worked continue to pioneer the revolution of inequality. Yet it is visible of these same practices today especially, in capitalistic societies.
It was interesting to see a culture take a stand against the dominate culture on their homeland. By overpowering the dominate culture by shear numbers they were able to set standards on their own standard of living. They continued to persistent through constant struggle of inequality and little by little they were able to overcome their past.

Takaki Ch.3 Question

What sort of consequences if any did the leaders of our country foresee in creating slaves and defining their livelihood; specifically the segregation of the black slaves.

Takaki, “The Giddy Multitude”

Takaki writes, “Driven by immediate economic interests and blindled by a short time horizon, the planters had not carefully thought what they were doing to black people as well as to American Society and future generation.” In short he is saying that the founders of this country created a social disorder which has lasted ever since it’s new found existence. These images of the black stereotype were created even before slavery, and continued to create multicultural wars long after its conception.
Takaki argued on how negative association with black culture has spurred racial inequality in the founding of America. That these stereotypes were based on color rather than character. This was evident within the legal system and the exchange of white slaves and black slaves. Black slaves were almost always given a longer sentence to their servants than whites. Along with that the blacks were traded treated along with animals and materials, not even being treated as humans. This was a result of business, the blacks were considered to be cheaper and easier to maintain than whites because it was how the system set the standard based on color. It was easier to distinguish workers by color than work ethic. Financial advantages dominated over everything it set standards and wrote the laws of equality. The standard was that it was easier to separate someone on the basis of race and not class. There came to be less inequalities within the white culture involving class and a larger inequality between black and white.
The problem at the time was that those founders never considered the consequences of creating black slave labors. It was a quick fix for the current problem which created a crisis for centuries to come in American Culture. I believe that there must have been other alternatives discussed to abolish slavery in the 1700’s. Takaki doesn’t go into much detail on discussions of those in office and what their views were at the time. Even though we’re unable to rewrite history it would be possible that the leaders showed a compassion and realization for the problem they were causing.

Ethnic Notions

Ethnic Notions was based around how images from mass media have permeated the American culture from generation to generation. It described how these images have come to define inequality, specifically race, in society. Some of the biggest flaws in shaping America came from race was created in a nation found on inequality.
The movie argued that the majority of citizens in the last two centuries were susceptible to believing unseen images and stereotypes of certain cultures. Through the mass media, people were compelled to believe the characters that were portrayed without having personal contact with those of the same race; especially those in the black culture. This culture was repeatedly being portrayed in negative ways. There was no intention for the media to represent truths. Exaggerated black stereotypes were portrayed for the amusement of the majority, or the whites. Some examples were the happy Sambo of the happy Nanny. These images were of course false and led people to believe that blacks actually preferred being segregated and were content with it. These images were thought to have justified racial imbalance yet created a bigger struggle for the black community to become equal. Yet when blacks pursued to be equal they were then viewed as a threat, animalistic, and savage.
My concern is that there is too much focus on what is right and wrong through media portrayal. Even though whites mostly controlled the media during these era’s, I believe that we tend to believe the unseen truths for entertainment. These images and beliefs of inequality are brought upon us because it sells and it is good for business. People rarely weigh the consequences of their actions and when it comes in the form of disgracing entire cultures through mass media then it creates a cultural pandemic.
This highly offensive yet truthful video created an awakening of how media has and business has influenced the American culture. It portrays that most of us tend to believe things in which we have not seen or have no experience with, which in turn creates a struggle for us all.

PPD Ch.5

Johnson states that privilege must be as much of an issue for the dominant groups as it is for those who bear the brunt of the oppression it causes in everyday life. The key is to engage members of the dominant groups with issues of privilege as an ongoing, permanent part of their lives. There needs to be a way to remove the barriers that keep well-intentioned members of dominant groups stuck in a place where they don’t see themselves as part of the solution. The best way to accomplish this is to have serious conversations across differences and to act across the same differences toward ending the suffering of indifference.
Johnson argues his viewpoint on the basis of others experiences and thoughts on why dominant groups don’t engage in the issues at hand. Here are the viewpoints of why dominant groups don’t see privilege as a problem: Because they don’t know that it exists, they don’t have to acknowledge it, they think it’s just a personal problem, they want to keep their privileges, they may be prejudiced-racists-sexists-heterosexist-ableist-and classist, and finally because they are afraid.
Johnson doesn’t provide much insight for future solutions in this chapter. However I agree on his viewpoint that short-run competitive thinking is making nearly impossible to achieve a world without privilege and oppression, and that we need to develop a commitment to change. The commitment to change must come from both the oppressed and privileged groups. I believe that we are on our way to achieve this goal considering the awareness of the issue that surrounds our everyday life. Since the mid 1900’s and the civil rights movements we have developed social consciousness of matters pertaining to privilege and oppression.
This reading helped me realize the strides we have made since the civil rights movements, yet it displays the struggle we still face today concerning inequalities and statuses in todays society. Most of us have seemingly developed an understanding of privlege vs. oppressed, it is now time to stand up to the inequalties to fix the problem.

PPD Ch.2

Johnson links the problems of privilege, oppression, and difference to a legacy that we all inherited. Even though it didn’t start as our problem we all take part in it and should work on fixing it. He believes that most of us are uncomfortable in dealing with these situations and that’s becoming a major downfall. In this chapter Johnson describes the two biggest problems as being power and privilege.

Privilege is described by Johnson as being something a group has of value that is denied by other groups. It is an unequal distribution of wealth and resources. Oppression is the opposite of privilege, groups are considered to be oppressed only if there is a privileged group and vise-versa. Most people become offended with these issues but Johnson argues that they we must become aware of them to create a solution.

I believe that Johnson argues some interesting points and defines the terms very well but his idea of creating a solution by becoming comfortable with the topic at hand isn’t enough. Johnson is merely stating his opinion on the beliefs of the oppressed. He seems to be looking for simple solution without searching for other factors in certain situations. By linking oppression with dominance, Johnson is disregarding the characteristics of the individual, each of us has a personality trait which can be similar or different among separate races and genders. Without taking these factors into account I find it difficult for Johnson to support his evidence in some situations.

Many of the situations in this chapter are prevalent in today’s society and it is easily noticeable. Yet without the proper justification of each situation it becomes increasingly hard to define the oppressed or dominant group.

PPD, Ch.8 (Group)

The author states that people leave it to someone else to take care of the problem, yet there is no way to avoid being part of the problem. He refers to this as being off the hook because there is no way to avoid being part of the problem, which occurs from denial and resistance of these problems. He states that subordinate groups are on the hook everyday and dominate groups are too but may not realize it because their privilege allows them to deny the fact. However being aware of the privileges that many of us are given will provide a window for each of us to create a solution.
Evidence of denial and resistance surrounds our lives daily, some problems have become culturally accepted and some cause civil rights movements. Johnson states that the easiest way to get off the hook is to deny that it exists in the first place. This seems to be the most prevalent problem is today’s society concerning inequality… Some examples from the book include:
“Racism and sexism used to be problems but they aren’t anymore.”
“The American Dream is alive and well and available to everyone.”
“Affirmative action has actually turned the tables-if anyone’s in trouble now, it’s whites and men.”
When we deny the reality of oppression you also deny the reality of privilege that underlies it. Privilege gives people the opportunity to define other people’s experience for them which minimizes the situation and problem at hand.
Other methods to get off the hook involve blaming the victim and call it something else. People often draw on negative cultural stereotypes of each other. The result of this is that oppression is blamed on the people who suffer most from it. Some more culturally accepted viewpoints come from people who call the privilege something else. This creates the appearance that the person is in touch with reality but believes he/she has nothing to do with the problem. The problem here is that we would not be able to create a solution without first recognizing our privileges, which is no better than causing the problem.