Readings Related to Voting

The voting process in which we participated was a bit chaotic, and related to one of the readings we did. In the white supremacy reading the people would not voice thier opinions out loud or in public, but rather, over the internet in an environment of people who they knew agreed with them. When we were discussing voting between the last two groups, there were a lot of people that didn't voice thier opinion, or only said things within thier groups where they felt more comfortable. I think it's important for people to speak up when they feel they should say something, however, they should say what they feel in a respectable way.

Class Process

I came to the realization last class during our class process of deciding on a social change project that there were many parallels between this process and the reading. In reading 50 it talked about white suprmeacy and how there are still white people out there who believe they are superior to other races. This reminded me of class because there were various groups in the class who believed there group's oroject is the best. Also in reading 18 talked about society's different views of races and the different preconceptions people have of each race. This reminded me how the class had a preconcieved notion that our teacher was the one who is supposed to be the mediator and to control the class, but that is not the case in this class.
IN order to improve this process nexrt time we need to make sure that we present all the facts first before we vote. Once we agree on how we will vote whether it is anonymous or not, we need to stick to it. When we have a result we need to accept it. There should be no more discussion beyond this point.

Readings + Class Process

During the last class, I felt that we had made some progress with trying to come to a group conclusion, but we still have a long way to go before we are doing something like this properly. However, it was nice to see some improvement from the last time that we attempted something like this. In addition to our own previous experiences, we can use the readings to try and improve what we are doing.

Reading 18, I thought talked a lot about some pre-concieved notions that people carry around with them. I believe that that is a huge part of the problem that we are facing when trying to come to this decision. Each group came up with an idea that they had because they thought it was good and that it would work. Obviously every group came into this thinking that their idea was the one that should be used. And then when their idea didn't get picked, obviously it is going to be a shock and make the people in the group a little disapointed. That disapointment could make the people in each group a little more resistant to accepting the other ideas.

With the reading regarding the white supremasist families, you could see some of the things that the families did happening within the class. Many times, people would not say what they wanted to say out loud because they were worried about the way that their ideas may have been taken. It is not uncommon that in the heat of the moment, an argument can be shot down, and not always in the most considerate way. Instead, people would say their ideas to the people in their group, the people that they knew would think the same way that they did, and if not agree with them, at least support them.

I think for another activity like this, we need to be MUCH more structured if we even want to come close to being successful. I think there needs to be some type of moderator. There is always a problem because people start talking over one another and arguing with each other and no one can actually communicate with each other. There has to be a set of rules and if, after a while, people think that the rules are no longer working, they need to voice that opinion, and we can look into changing the rules. All in all, I just think having it be more structured would help greatly in making it successful.

Class Decision Making

From the readings as well as the class decision making process, we can learn a lot on how to improve this entire process as well as learn how to make this project work in the future. First, the readings were very interesting and they all tie together and give us some insight on what we are doing in class. The readings have to do a lot with groups and how they are organized and where they are doing their work. Chapter 49 and 50 deal a lot with social roles and what is acceptable. 49 deals with the Mothers of East Los Angeles who are nurturing their communities and this is seen as a social role women have had in our society. 50 deals with another social role because the white separatist know it is no longer acceptable in the public eye to practice what they believe in so they have taken their views "underground" and used the Internet as well as private quarters to spread their message and according to them keep the white race alive. The other two readings have to do with racism and how these people have acted toward what society tells them they should do. There is a reoccurring theme between all of these readings, they are following the social construction of society in one way or another. I think all of these readings show how individuals have acted toward what society has given them. We too as a class, must go through people in society to do this social change project and work together to get something constructive done. We must not put down other people while doing the project and support each other for the ideas they give.

The class activity was extremely hectic and we can learn a lot from the experience and try to improve. First, I feel that we were all over the place with ideas on the social change project and that made it difficult to agree which started a fight. The most important change we need is some type of lead figure who can dictate who speaks so we are all not yelling. I was someone in the class who spoke and got her opinion across in midst of many other people talking. In a heated debate, many find it hard to keep quiet and I think that having someone who can attempt to keep it more organized will help everyone talk and get their opinions across. Once we have established a more organized way of getting our opinions across, we should have elaborated more on the next steps before just voting. I liked the idea that we eliminated a few ideas so we could focus more on a few projects and could really ask questions about their plans on the project. I felt it was very important to ask questions and attempt to understand what the group intentions were. Overall I think it would of been better if we would of had some type of system that eliminated the conversation or sometimes yelling between groups. This obviously caused hostility in the classroom and although I feel it was no intentional everyone felt attacked. If we can eliminate that feeling of being attacked I think there will be a better chance of the class talking in a civilized manner. I think people with opinions should speak up because it is useless to keep them to themselves if we are all trying to do something that will in the end affect our community as well as our grades. For the future we all need to attempt to leave the hostility behind and not judge others for their ideas or critiques because it will only end in a negative way.

3/19

There are several ways that the readings relate to how we’re trying to pick a group project in class. The article that we read about white supremacy mentioned how white supremacists today are not open about their beliefs. One man was quoted saying something along the lines of: I treat the people I work with equally even though they aren’t white because I’d get fired from my job if I treated them how I think they should be treated. These supremacists escape to the Internet to post in blogs how they truly feel or keep their opinions within their families. This is because these views are not accepted today. During class, while everyone was screaming and trying to figure things out, I thought in a way the groups acted similar to the families of the white supremacists. Although some people were loud in expressing their opinions, others just kept theirs within their groups and were not willing to speak aloud. Maybe not for the same reasons that the white supremacists do, but because they didn’t think their opinions would be accepted or heard.

You could also compare what our class is doing with what the mothers did in article 49. Although we have not been as successful as these women yet, we are trying to unite together for a common cause. I think we’re on the right track to deciding the social project, but as Olivia mentioned in her blog we need to discuss more and argue less. Both groups left need to have a chance to present why their project promotes a better social change and how they fulfill the requirements of the list we all agreed upon together. I also think that we should have never held votes with the anonymous ballads, especially since people are now being accused of voting for their own groups. Just with moving forward with the two remaining groups, we need to figure out which project we can all take part in and get done. It is not about which group wins, but which one is overall a better social change project.

Group Process

I think a big concept from the reading is the one about having different ideas than what you put out in public. In chapter 50, many of the people were white supremacists, though they do not come right out and say it. It is not socially acceptable anymore to be a white supremacist, so many people keep it just in their family or community. I think that sometimes it is hard to speak up about your opinion, especially if the majority is against what you think. Sometimes if you change your mind mid way through they process, and people are starting to get into it, it is even harder to speak up.

I also think that chapter 18 talks about pre-conceptions. People like to think that their group's idea is the one that will be picked out of the others, and unintentionally we have our ideas about what the outcome should be. People tend to be dissapointed when the outcome isn't what they were expecting. It can be misconstrued sometimes that people aren't listening or taking in what is being said, just because there outcomes isn't what is expected.

Over all I think that process of deciding needs to be more strict and have a more rigid outline. Making the process more of a discuss than an argument and trying to prove whose idea is better.

In Class Simulation

In Wednesday's class, the simulation that we did was a real eye-opener for me about what people go through. It's amazing how quickly people can run through money and suddenly find themselves in debt, debt that can build up very quickly over time. I couldn't believe how difficult it was for us to get the money that we clearly needed. There were forms that needed to be filled out and it seemed like those forms could take days to actually finally be filled out. And as Dr. Johnson said, he cut the forms down considerably. In addition, it was hard reading about how hard our woman had to work to find the money that she needed to support her family because her husband was gone and was no longer paying child support.

In the end the simulation was a real eye opener to what people have to go through to try and support themselves and family members