My Thoughts So Far (pages 262-305)

Hi!

This blog post is going to be a little bit different. Today I'm going to talk about my personal opinions about this book and what my thoughts are so far. First I'll be running through what was discussed in the last section of my reading (pages 262 through 305), Then I'll share my thoughts about this specific passage. 

As I read the last passage (pages 209 through 262), I made the connection to today's affirmative action, talking more about its occurrence in jobs rather than education. When I began to read pages 262 through 305, I noticed that the author used the topic of affirmative action to transition into the discussion of other races and ethnicities. Specifically, past events that triggered racial biases and thoughts towards them. Tatum also expands on her idea of racial identity, intertwining the idea of several racial groups with the struggle of finding true racial identity. She states, "Asian Pacific Americans, Latinxs, and Native Americans are disparate groups, but they all share with people of African descent the struggle for identity where European heritage--or Whiteness--is defined as the American norm."

As Tatum continues to expand on the fact that racism is present in not just Black and White cultures, a part I found interesting was her connection with 9/11 and all the racism it caused towards Middle Eastern people. Tatum interviewed Aly, a Muslim student of Pakistani descent, and he described his experience before and after 9/11. Aly stated that after 9/11, "Having an openly Muslim identity in an increasingly hostile public arena is a daunting experience" and "[he found himself] being more on the defensive."

It oddly didn't surprise me that he got a tremendous amount of hate because of this incident. However, it by no means makes it okay. It's extremely unfortunate that when something destructive and something that has made a dent in society appears, people need a scapegoat to be angry at. I think it's absolutely ridiculous that these Muslims had to, and still, deal with this. 

My overall thoughts about this book are positive. I think at this point, Tatum has provided lots of evidence to her claims, something that was waited upon for a very long time in the beginning (it even made me lose some hope in the book). For this specific passage. I really enjoyed how she branched out and talked about the racism Middle Eastern, Asian, and North African people face, rather than just being focused on the Black and White subject. She informs her readers about statistics on immigration between several racial groups (e.g., Mexican, Chinese, and Vietnamese immigrants), and the history of these ethnic groups (e.g., immigration history, population growth, and several acts such as the Chinese Exclusion Act). I've learned a lot from this book and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the rest of it.